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 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. It’s the window through which you view the world, and through which others receive their first impressions of 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 (your Rising sign) 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.

You are a child of the Moon: ruled by your emotions, going through phases and living in the moment rather than seeing the longer perspective. You need to learn to not only react to life through your feelings, but also to discriminate between what is truly personal and what is not meant for you. Try to develop some objectivity and a wider perspective on yourself. The closer your Moon is to your ascendant, the stronger the foregoing as well as your tie to your mother. You need to be seen and appreciated by others, and you feel hurt if you're not. In this regard, don't be overeager to please for the sake of approval: you'll end up throwing yourself away on those who don't really care.

If the Moon is within 12° of the ascendant it is conjunct the ascendant, and much of the foregoing is even more strongly emphasized. If the Moon is in the twelfth house AND within 4° or 5° of the ascendant, then it is said to be on the "dark side" of the first house, and it influence will be felt in the first as well as in the twelfth house. The closer a twelfth house Moon is to the ascendant, the more it will be interpreted as though it were in the first house; when less than 3° from the ascendant, a twelfth house Moon expresses itself primarily -- and eventually entirely -- in the first house.

Famous people with their Moon in the first house are/were Patch Adams, Alexander Alekhine, Arthur Ashe, Lucille Ball, Antonio Banderas, Theodore Bikel, Bjorn Borg, Lloyd Bridges, Lord Byron, Jimmy Carter, Dick Cavett, Richard Chamberlain, Charles Chaplin, Agatha Chrisite, Dick Clark, Joe Cocker, Phil Collins, Billy Crystal, Marie Curie, Leonardo DiCaprio, Walt Disney, Marcel Duchamp, Patty Duke, Amelia Earhart, Brit Ekland, Morgan Fairchild, Jose Feliciano, Roberta Flack, Bob Fosse, Michael J. Fox, Peter Frampton, Eva Gabor, Paul Gaughin, George Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, Whitney Houstin, James Earl Jones, Quincy Jones, Andy Kaufman, Jack Kerouac, Persis Khambatta, Val Kilmer, Peggy Lee, Charles Lindburgh, Sophia Loren, Willie Mays, Eugene McCarthy, Margaret Mead, Yehudi Menuhin, Dudley Moore, Paul Newman, Friedrich Nieitzsche, Les Paul, Suzanne Pleshette, Sidney Poitier, Marcel Proust, Auguste Renoir, Julia Roberts, Maximillen Robespierre, Tedy Roosevelt, Kurt Russell, George C. Scott, Loretta Swit, Harry S. Truman, Tanya Tucker, Peter Ustinov, Rudolph Valentino, Mike Wallace, Richard Widmark, Tennessee Williams, Flip Wilson, Shelley Winters and William Butler Yeats.