The Ascendant
Your Rising Sign, or Ascendant, is the sign of the zodiac that was coming up over the eastern horizon at the moment that you were born, and is placed on the left side of the birthchart. It is always the sign on the cusp of the first house and is the most important factor in astrological divination - without the Ascendant a true birthchart cannot be created.
The Rising Sign is the starting point of the chart and the starting point in a person's life. Astrologers believe that the ascendant signifies a person's awakening consciousness, in the same way that the Sun's appearance on the eastern horizon signifies the dawn of a new day. This sign changes approximately every two hours, and so twins born five minutes apart could have different Ascendants, giving them a real difference in their horoscopes and their personalities.
The Rising Sign and its ruling planet provide most of the information about our outer personality and appearance. Where the Sun establishes our character, or who we really are, our Rising Sign determines our personality, or what we show the world as we deal with it. It indicates how we are perceived by others and the general impact we make within our lives.
In this section, you'll find out how to estimate your Rising Sign, and the significance of sun signs and planets in the Ascendant.
