The ascendant is the intersection of the ecliptic with the local eastern horizon: where planets rise or ascend in the east. The astrological sign that happens to be spanning the eastern horizon at birth is known as one's "rising sign," which has become loosely synonymous with the ascendant. Another way of saying it is that the sign on the cusp of the first house is one's rising sign. Astronomically speaking, your first house is that one-twelfth sector of the local sky just below the eastern horizon occupied by planets two hours before they rise.

Astrologically, the rising sign symbolizes our persona: that part of our self with which we most identify in our ego, and from whence we project our personality. It is the point through which all internal energies must emerge into the world and through which all external energies must enter the psyche. It symbolizes early childhood conditioning, and describes self-awareness and the experiences most necessary for its development. The first house is the mask you wear in relating to and projecting yourself into the world. It rules physical appearance, body type, conscious self-image, and how others see and experience you.

Whereas your first house is the window through which you view the world and through which others receive their first impressions of you, the sign on the cusp of your first house is the particular tint on the glass of that window, coloring and modifying all energy that passes into and out of your being. In fact, all of your personality functions (planetary energies) must eventually emerge through and be colored by your first house cusp if they are to emerge at all. Planets in the first house are parts of your self-expression. The more planets here (except Saturn and Neptune), the more you are involved with putting out your own energy rather than experiencing that of others, hence the greater your subjectivity. Thus the sign on your first house cusp conditions the way you look and how you express yourself. In horary astrology, the rising sign is the sign rising in the east at the time of the question asked.

This 12 Rising signs of astrology page and much of this 550-page website are excerpted from You and the Universe, a handmade, individualized fine art book on astrology, mythology and astronomy through which is woven the recipient's complete astrological reading.