Reframing the Rising Sign
How is the sign shining a light on what I’m awakening to?
The Rising Sign, also known as the Ascendant, is one of the most misunderstood and undervalued aspects in the Birth chart.
Like is often the case when it comes to mainstream information concerning astrology, there is a lot of misinformation and shallow interpretation around this valuable feature in our chart.
The most common definition you will hear about the Rising Sign will be; “The Rising Sign symbolises the way others see you” or “The general impression you give off when people first meet you”. Although there is some validity to these statements, the Rising Sign has been sadly minimised to a superficial and, in my opinion, almost useless definition.
Let’s start to reframe the way we look at it. The Rising Sign is not about your first impression or the persona you create to protect yourself, it’s actually about self-discovery.
Stay with me as I break this down: each zodiac sign is made up of a constellation of stars, as the earth spins we are gifted a constantly shifting view of the Zodiacs as they swim across our sky. The Rising Sign points to the Zodiac sign that is rising on the eastern horizon at the time of your birth. The constellation will shift approximately every 2 hours; this is why such importance is placed on the time of your birth as well as the geographic location of your birth. Without bringing in too much astrological jargon, the Rising Sign correlates to the first house in your birth chart. The first house sets up the stage for the following eleven houses and the karmic dynamics they represent in your astrological blueprint. (That’s a whole other topic)
"The rising sign reflects our instinctive nature and how we are becoming aware of ourselves through acting instinctually."
So, as the zodiac constellation emerged to be newly seen on the horizon at the moment you took your first breath, it takes the position of your Rising Sign in your birth chart. As the external experience represents, the placement symbolises an internal immerging. It doesn’t point to who you are but rather it’s helping you develop the understanding of who you are. You are ‘in the school’ of your rising sign; you are a student in this area of your chart, learning about yourself through the instinctual desires and impulses that your specific placement represents.
The Rising Sign acknowledges that we are in a constant state of becoming. When looking through an astrological framework we are becoming aware of who we are through this archetype. The quality of your Rising Sign is influential to what it is you are here to discover about yourself. We are actively using this sign as an immediate means of self-exploration.
The rising sign reflects our instinctive nature and how we are becoming aware of ourselves through acting instinctually. As we feel an instinctual impulse, we act and engage with the outer world, from there we receive feedback from our environment and through that reflection, we are gifted more information to build upon our understanding of self.
The instinct that this placement points to acts without any forethought and is linked to our unconscious desires. The intention is to bring into awareness that which we are unaware of. Because of this sometimes others have a clearer vision of these aspects of ourselves than we do. It’s all about coming into awareness, so to begin with we aren’t very aware of these desire natures, most of the time we don’t know we are “doing” our Rising sign. We don’t have full consciousness of this part of our charts until we have digested the experiences that play out from acting instinctively.
The Rising Sign is awakening into our conscious mind; the sign is being awoken within you. What emerges from the unconscious hold the potential to awaken us. The Rising Sign reminds us of how each moment holds the potential for us to come into a deeper awareness of ourselves and our psychological nature.
As you contemplate your rising sign it can be supportive to ask yourself;
What is being revealed to me as I meet each moment instinctively?
What is my unique way of meeting each moment with a sense of discovery?
How is the sign shining a light on what I’m awakening to?
Our rising sign is the consistent developing self but not the self.
We must look at the entire chart as a single entity to gain a clear and holistic interpretation of how our Rising Sign interacts with the rest of our soul’s evolutionary intention. An overview of each Rising Sign can provide a broad understanding of the general premise of each placement.
Aries Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to break free from the constraints of past patterns and to begin the evolution of new patterns. Will have an instinctual resistance to anything or anyone that restricts as well as driven by a strong sense of having something special to do or accomplish. There will be a necessity for aloneness to establish required independence.
Through acting instinctually they are awakening to a strong solid and stable sense of self and the necessity for a self-assertive and self-centred orientation to life in order to break new ground.
Taurus Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to become self-sustaining and self-reliant. Desire to discover, actualise and establish their own value system and the meaning of life reflected by those values.
Through acting instinctually they are learning about self-reliance, how to meet their own personal needs and how a sustained effort reaps great rewards.
Gemini Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to think independently. A strong instinct to question opinions and break down and then rebuild ideas, concepts and mental constructs.
Through acting instinctually they are learning how to create their own mental constructs about the nature of things, increasing their level of awareness and consciousness through the expansion of mental horizons.
Cancer Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to create a safe and secure personal reality. They are instinctively oriented towards creating a home, a supportive family and trusted fr iends.
Through acting instinctually they are learning to become inwardly secure. To move from seeking their security outside of themselves, in external forms or structures, to realising that the security they require lies within themselves.
Leo Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to take charge and be in control of their life and destiny. Instinctively holds creative independence and a desire to allow their authentic creative actualisations to be seen and loved.
Through acting instinctually they are learning about personal power and discovering that they are the predominant creators of their own reality.
Virgo Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to create crises as a vehicle through which to understand themselves. They have a natural instinct to purify themselves of illusion and ground it into actual reality.
Through acting instinctually they are learning to stop hyper rationalising their desires and allow mistakes to be made in order to learn and grow. They are becoming aware of the various reasons that crisis is necessary in order for evolution to occur.
Libra Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to come into self-awareness through relationships with a diversity of people who represent different values, beliefs, and ideas. Therefore are instinctively attracted to many different kinds of people.
Through acting instinctually they are learning new ways of being in relationships with other people, challenging the culturally established relationship norms. They are also learning to understand the nature of projections and how to create a new understanding of self through the information and perspectives of others.
Scorpio Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to penetrate and understand the mystery of themselves. An intense energy that is instinctively pulled towards understanding the nature of their own as well as other peoples emotional dynamics and the fears that perpetuate such dynamics. There is a desire to be transformed through metamorphosis and to understand the nature of their personal limitations.
Through acting instinctually they are becoming aware of their internal vulnerability around the fear of loss, betrayal and abandonment. Through this awareness, they are discovering the nature of personal power.
Sagittarius Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to expand their mental and philosophical horizons. They desire to understand the link between the physical and non-physical worlds and what their position amongst it all means.
Through acting instinctually they are becoming aware of how the outward experience allows them to understand their inner world. They are becoming familiar with their intuitive nature and how allowing themselves to be guided from this place will inform their personal belief system.
Capricorn Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to become free from all of its personal inhibitions, constraints and restraints; to unlock the cell door of their inner prison. They instinctively desire to penetrate through their protective mechanisms in order to access their repressed emotions and break free from the source that is attempting to control or repress their individuality.
Through acting instinctually they are becoming aware of their personal freedom and are learning to be who they are without needing to control their expression.
Aquarius Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to transform and grow through a rebellion against any external pressure to conform to the expectations of others. They desire progressive transformation leading to an ever-evolving definition of their individuality.
Through acting instinctually they are becoming aware of who they are as a unique individual. Developing the courage to break free from the status quo so as to transform the present life conditions of themselves, others and society to reflect the future which they instinctively understand and sense.
Pisces Rising
Is driven by the instinctual desire to engage with life from an energetic and metaphysical standpoint. They instinctively move through life with a deep sensitivity to the emotional, spiritual and energetics of their environment.
Through acting instinctually they are becoming aware of their deep connection to the unseen forces of our universe. They are awakening to the reality that there is nothing separating them from anyone or anything else.
