Signs of Potential

On the Ascendant: See the World Your Way

Posted on 03. Aug, 2009 by Shannon in Aspects and Angles, Charts, Tutorials

This post is the second in an occasional series on the Ascendant in your horoscope.

Your ascendant is your eyesight- you see the world through it.

Many people speak of the ascendant as a mask, a cover story. But when you learn to work with your ascendant instead of hiding behind it, the world pulls into focus. Think of someone who has that glassy look in their eyes: you can see them, and you know they can see you, but they’re not really seeing you. In contrast, we’ve all had those moments with people when their gaze falls on you, and it’s like they can see right into your heart. Scary, but exhilarating.

Your ascendant, whatever sign it is, colors everything that comes in from outside, and it colors everything you send out- this is why astrology describes the ascendant as being your “first impression“.

Everything you put out there for people passes through your Aries-tinted filter, or your Scorpio-tinted filter, or through whatever your rising sign happens to be. But it’s important to remember that it’s not just a mask that other people see; it affects how you process incoming information as well. We all become more like our rising sign as we age, and learn to use it more effectively.

For those who have a planet on their ascendant, an extra layer of energy goes over that rising sign filter. The characteristics of a natal planet there become strong enough to affect the entire chart, and even override other aspects sometimes. When stimulated by related events, any planet conjoining the ascendant will become the focal point of a chart. For example, let’s look at Mercury conjunct ascendant:

This is my mother’s chart (I’ve gotten an accurate birth time since the last time wrote about her). Dear mom has a lot going on under the surface, but as a double Virgo with her sun in the 12th she can really fade into the background most of the time. That sun in the twelfth also leads to being underestimated by other people, and I’m guilty of doing this also. But a few weeks ago I had the privilege of seeing her Mercury rising come out in full force.

While we were in Mexico, in a town where only two people spoke any English at all, my mother managed to go from speaking zero Spanish to conversing better than any of the rest of us in less than two weeks. Normally a very reserved and sometimes downright shy person, that mercurial need to communicate came out so strongly that she was totally unafraid to talk, feel her way through creative grammar, and experiment with a lot of very delighted locals until she could really make sense to people and understand what they were telling her. And with that Mercury of hers in its domicile and exalted sign of Virgo, she got a lot of it down by only the second attempt. I sell my mother short too often, but it was downright amazing to watch.

In contrast, my sister and I, both Leo rising, were somewhat hamstrung by our pride and desire to avoid looking foolish through trial and error. We definitely didn’t make the kind of communication leaps our mother did, even though we both have the huge advantage of living in Spanish-speaking areas (Tabasco and Miami, respectively).

We all wear a rising sign-tinted contact lens, of sorts, over our perception. Those who have a natal planet conjoining their ascendant have that extra influence in their field of view as well. When the rest of us have a planet transiting our ascendant, we get a temporary dose of that influence as well (we’ll look at this more closely later). Take a look at your rising sign: does it harmonize or contrast with your sun and moon? How do you find yourself viewing the world- and the world viewing you- in relation to it?

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Related posts:

1. On the Ascendant: Moon Rising
2. Hey Baby, What’s Your Sign?
3. On the Ascendant: Transiting Mars and Mars Retrograde

Tags: ascendant, conjunction, domal dignity, Leo rising, Mercury conjunct ascendant, Sun in the 12th house, transits, Virgo rising