Introduction to Your Rising Sign

We’ve discussed what sun signs are, and we’ve also talked about moon signs – but what about your rising sign? What is it, and why is it important in your astrological blueprint?

Your rising sign, or ascendant refers to the Zodiac Sign  that was elevating in the heavens upon the exact moment of your birth.

This illustration might help to concretize the concept:

Consider the 12 Zodiac signs as a moving ring around the earth. If you opened your newborn eyes at the moment of your birth and gazed up into this glittering ring of stars, the first zodiac sign you see rising in the east would be your ascendant.

In this illustration, the newborn has Aries as her ascendant (rising sign). And so, the astrological terminology here would go something like: “This child is born under the sign of Aries.”

You’ll need your birth date, time and place to determine your ascendant. Or, you can make things easy on yourself and cast your own astrological chart here.

So why are rising signs so important?

Your rising sign gives you a masterful view of your consciousness. Because your ascendant is the eclipsing constellation over the horizon of your awareness – the symbolism of your rising sign deals with the dawning of your consciousness.

And, as we’re dealing with consciousness, your rising sign explores the Self: Self-awareness, self-development, and the myriad of aspects dealing with core self-motivation.

Your ascendant also marks the moment of your individuation. It’s a larger look into what makes you unique. It also describes your filters – how you see the world and why you see it that way.

It’s logical to assume your rising sign is exclusively internal or introspective. But it also says a lot about how others view you too. You’ll likely share your ascendant qualities with others quite openly and naturally.

If you’re thinking an ascendant sounds a lot like your sun sign, you’ve got a valid point. But sun signs are the active force, and show us prime motivations for our actions.

Ascending signs underscore our motivations. They point to how our consciousness perceives our actions and our environment. This perception is a filter. And so you could even say our rising sign is the filter through which we obtain our world view.

What’s more, all astrological signs are filtered through our rising sign.

For example, I have a friend with a Sagittarian sun, born under the sign of the ram (Aries is her rising sign). She has a need for brutal honesty (her Sun trait). That need for truth manifests itself in a pioneering, assertive force (Aries ascendant). This propensity to know the truth fuelled by a intense drive to honour that truth culminated into a career of law. As a lawyer, my friend discerns truth easily (Sag. sun) and is driven to execute justice (Aires rising).

In this example, her Sagittarian sun honours truth, and her fearlessly assertive Aries ascendant influences how her consciousness reacts to the truth.

Rising signs may not be the quickest in revealing their secrets (you’ve got to work a bit at understanding them), but knowing what your ascendant is and learning more about yourself through this filter of consciousness will serve you enormously.

Get a head-start on self-exploration through contemplation of your rising sign by having your astrological chart interpreted here.

Written by: Avia Venefica of www.whats-your-sign.com