If you know the time and place of your birth, as well as the date, you will have what is called the Ascendant sign in your natal chart. The Ascendant is considered a person’s social personality. It is how you ‘appear’ to others; how others perceive you. It also represents the physical body and the way you express yourself.
Think of your Ascendant as your instinctive behavior: when you walk into a room full of strangers and perhaps feel some anxiety, your immediate reaction comes from your Ascendant. A Leo Ascendant, for example, will take on a more active role; we can see them shine, as the Sun demands from them, and become the life of the party before our eyes, while a Cancer Ascendant will likely retreat into their ‘shell’ and hide parts of themselves, just like the Moon that rules them.
So, where a person’s ego is in the Sun, the Ascendant is the filter through which this is expressed or recognized by the outside world. It is arguably the most important aspect of any chart, as it represents you in your most natural form.
Despite the two opposite examples mentioned above, whether they have traditionally introverted or extroverted Sun signs, the way they express their individual identities and move through the world is very much shaped by their Ascendant. It is who they are when they are alone just as much as who they are when faced with the unknown: instinct.
By knowing your Ascendant, you know your True Self. It is the literal snapshot of which Houses all the planets were in at the moment of your birth – the guide through which we understand life events, focal points, and aspects (communications) between the planets within the natal chart. Do not make the mistake of underestimating its importance.
And also, know that the next time you read your horoscope in the newspaper or online from an astrologer: read for your Ascendant first. I promise you that the accuracy will improve significantly when you do so.
This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
