Whenever an astrologer looks at a natal chart for the first time, there are three main points we go to first: the Sun sign, the Moon sign, and the Ascendant, or Rising sign. These three crucial placements can tell us a tremendous amount of information about our vitality, emotional world, and approach to life. I like to compare these three placements to a house. The ascendant is like the front door. The sun is like the living room, and the moon is like the bedroom. Each one of these is like a layer of familiarity people from the outside have of you as an individual. Let's take a quick look at each of these points to understand them a little more in depth, starting from the outside and moving deeper within.
The ascendant, also called the rising sign, is the sign that was just above the eastern horizon at the time you were born. Literally, it was rising into the sky from the east towards the sky above you. The ascendant represents the mask we wear and the outer expression of our individuality. It is the way we represent ourselves to the outside world and is also the way in which we go about fulfilling our life purpose and spiritual work. The reason I liken it to the front door is because it is the fist aspects of your personality that people see when they first meet you. In some ways, you could say it is the surface level "you."
The sun sign is what most of us would call "our sign." Since the sun is the dominant body in our solar system, it represents a very large part of our persona: individuality and life force. When we look at someone's sun sign, we are getting a deeper look into who they are as an individual, and what work they came here to complete as well as what lessons they came here to learn. The sun is the part of ourselves that we must fulfill in order to feel alive and that we are living our purpose. It also connects us to our leadership nature. I liken the sun to the living room since it is the part of ourselves that people get to know once they have known us for a little bit. The sun sign also represents your relationship with your father.
Finally, we have the moon sign. The moon represents your inner, emotional world. It represents how you understand and interact with your emotions as well as how you react to unfamiliar situations. Since it is so connected to emotions, it represents the things you must do to feel secure and safe. When we do not feel secure, the moon can show us how we react negatively as well as what sets us off in the first place. Spiritually, it can show what negative character traits you need to overcome in order to advance to a new level of consciousness. The moon represents your relationship with your mother and how you connect to your family in general. I liken the moon to the bedroom since it the intimate parts of you people get to know once they have known you for a long time.
When astrologers combine these three parts of the chart together, we can delineate the three key aspects of your personality: who you are and why you came into this life, what makes you reactive and how to overcome it, as well as what path you are meant to take in order to fulfill your destiny. Each of these three placements can be in any one of the twelve sings, so there is a tremendous amount of combinations. And that doesn't even take into account all of the other planets! If you are interested in understanding more about your Sun, Moon, and Ascendant as well as how they influence your life path, register for my natal chart consultation here!
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Until next time!
Josh