What is a Rising Sign or Ascendant?
What is an Ascendant?
Unlock the meaning of your Rising Sign or Ascendant. Discover how your Sun, Moon and Rising signs work together to create your unique approach to life.
The Ascendant or Rising Sign is the degree of the Zodiac that was rising above the eastern horizon at the moment that you are born. It is unique to you and totally depends on an accurate birth time, as well as the location of your birth.
It is especially significant, and can be found on the left-hand edge of your birth chart, and will most often be marked by the symbol AC.
You will find links to each of the 12 Rising Signs at the bottom of this page
What is My Rising Sign?
Your Ascendant or Rising Sign is really important for understanding the impression you make on the world around you.
Your Rising Sign describes how you project yourself out into the world, how other people see you, how you enter into new experiences, and the kinds of experiences you need in order for your life to feel meaningful. Just as important as your Sun and Moon signs, together these make up the main component of your astrological personality. You have probably worked out already that not every born with the same Zodiac, Sun or Star sign has the same approach to life.
Your Rising Sign describes how you approach new experiences as you interact with your environment
To make it really easy for you to understand your unique personality
We’ve created this great interactive menu so you can learn all about your Rising Sign, as well as your Sun Sign and Moon Sign.
Why Is My Rising Sign So Important?
A simple way to understand it is this:
Think of your Ascendant as the character you appear to be when arriving at a party.
Do you turn up feeling bold, confident and happy to be the centre of attention, or do you tend to head “straight to the kitchen” – so to speak – to find out how you can help?
Fire signs on the Ascendant tend to appear extroverted and brash.
Water signs appear emotional and need to connect.
Air signs appear inquisitive and want to know what’s happening.
Earth signs take it step by step, wanting to make sure they feel comfortable first.
Think of Your Sun Sign as like the true centre of your personality. Just like the Sun is the centre of our solar system, it’s also like the central or lead actor in the drama that is you!
The Ascendant is so important, because it gives the plot structure or context through which the story of your life will unfold.
Together with your Moon sign, your Ascendant or Rising Sign is the other main character in the drama that is you, and may, at times, take over the role of lead.
Just like in a movie, sometimes the demands of the script require that the lead actor takes a back seat so that other characters can be introduced, or the story can be developed more.
The lead (Sun) and support actors (Moon, other planets) take their cue from the sign on the Ascendant. Therefore it’s really useful to know your Ascendant because the rest of your chart gains much greater detail when this vital piece of the puzzle is put in place.
As you can well imagine, knowing what the intention of the director is can be very handy!
To get a good feel for your astrology chart and unique nature, you need to consider how the Sun, Moon and Rising Signs all interact. The combination of these three key dynamics gives a good summation of your personality and how you are likely to react.
Sun, Moon & Rising Signs
You probably already know a bit about your Sun or Star sign but did you know that your Moon and Rising Sign are just as important in terms of understanding your unique personality? Did you know your Sun Sign doesn’t really describe your personality, it’s more correct to say it describes your motives and drives
In fact, by linking together the combination of all three signs you will gain incredible insights into who you are, what you need and what is more – how others respond to you.
What Are The “Big Three” Signs?
Some people like to call the Sun, Moon and Rising signs “The Big Three” of astrology. This does make sense because they are the most important and obvious parts of your birth chart.
We prefer to call the combination of your Sun, Moon and Rising Sign “The Three-Fold Pillar” of your personality. Think of it like a house or temple. This is the main pillar which holds up the rest of the structure. Without it, there is only a flat pack. To get a really well-rounded view of your personality as an individual you have to combine all three together.
The best way to get real insight into your personality through astrology is to blend them. If you want to do this properly you can schedule a consultation with a professional astrologer.
Are the Ascendant and Rising Sign the same?
Basically, Ascendant or Rising sign are two names for exactly the same thing.
Put simply, Your Ascendant or Rising Sign is the part of the Zodiac that was coming up over the eastern horizon at the moment that you were born. All day everyday as we travel around the Sun, our position relative to the backdrop of The Zodiac changes. Your exact time and location when you were born will show how this pattern influences you.
Your Ascendant (or Rising Sign) reveals the ways in which you present yourself to others, and how you immediately respond to the world.
You can think of your Ascendant as symbolizing the qualities you project when you meet a new person or situation. You might also think of your Rising Sign as the face you show to the world.
To find out what your rising sign is you will need to know the time of your birth. Then you can easily create your own birth chart for free online. Here’s a great 5 step video that will show you how.
How To Use Your Sun, Moon, Or Rising Sign Combinations
You can get an amazing amount of insight into yourself and the other people in your life with our Sun, Moon, Rising Sign Combinations interactive menu.
Here’s a simple way to think about it. Your Sun sign shows what you want, your Moon sign what you need and your Rising sign shows how you will go about getting it.
It’s really interesting to compare the drives, emotions and motivations of your Sun and Moon signs. Do they blend or seem to contradict each other? Think about the way your Rising Sign describes your approach to life. Does this sit well with your Moon Sign and what you need?
By finding the similarities and differences in your birth chart you can identify where you might have conflicts or challenges as well as where your greatest talents lie.
So get started! Unlock the characteristics and traits of every Zodiac sign with our Sun, Moon, Rising Sign / Ascendant menu at the top of the page then keep scrolling down to the bottom of this page for even more amazing information.
Ancient Wisdom For Modern Lives
How Does Astrology Work?
People often ask me about astrology and how it works. They sometimes look at me with slight bemusement and wonder “Does he really think the planets can make you do anything”? The answer – of course – is NO!
“The stars incline, they do not compel”
What do astrologers believe?
Hardly any astrologers today would argue that the planets make you do, or be, anything.
Rather, there appears to be some kind of connected pattern between the structure of the human psyche and the structure of the cosmos.
No one knows how or why it works. But we astrologers have been observing for at least 6000 years that when the planets are in a certain relationship to each other or us here on Earth, it tends to correspond with certain states or situations in people’s lives.
So, just like predicting the weather, we can say with some certainty that when particular alignments occur, certain events or personality traits are likely to occur.
Astrology is an observational science, practised over thousands of years. Because astrologers have taken the time to study and learn its principles – to test them out on themselves and the people they know – they can say – “YES! This works for me and most of the people I come in contact with. Have you noticed the same thing too?
Your Ascendant in Each Sign
Click on the headings below to find out more about your Rising Sign. Think about how this influences your approach to new situations and how you can draw on these gifts to live your life with more purpose
Aries Rising
Taurus Rising
Gemini Rising
Cancer Rising
Leo Rising
Virgo Rising
Libra Rising
Scorpio Rising
Sagittarius Rising
Capricorn Rising
Aquarius Rising
Pisces Rising
The New Moon Review – Your Monthly Forecast
Find the Latest Updates on Astrology, Travel, Health & Wellbeing
Support Your Immune System: What is Triphala?
Triphala is one of the safest and best researched herbal remedies known to Ayurvedic medicine. It has been used for centuries to balance digestion, remove toxins from the digestive tract and provide your immune system with extra support
The Best Baths of Budapest – Wellness Travel with a Historical Twist
The Rudas Thermal Baths – Centuries of Soaking. Rudas is unlike anything else you will ever experience. The centre operates as a full blown wellness centre, with a vast array of therapies on offer, plus cafe, swimming pool, and night time bathing on weekends, which allows you to stay submerged in warm mineral waters until 4 in the morning!
Your Sun's House?
The Houses in Astrology
Astrology Courses
Choose an online course
The Inner Circle
Get Exclusive Access
Discover Your Strengths
Every Zodiac Sign Explored
