The Ascendant: God Parent

The Ascendant lies east of the place of birth and one of the twelve zodiacal signs will be rising on the eastern horizon at the exact moment an individual is born. The Ascendant is the doorway and entry point of the personality and represents the basic mode of expression, and the Sun and Moon can only express their energy through the rising sign. The Ascendant describes how we approach life and the colour of the lens through which we meet new experiences. The sign and planets in the first house can describe our actual birth experience, and those early experiences and those of childhood, tend to colour the way we perceive the world.

Liz Greene describes the Ascendant as a gateway to life that is symbolic of the link between one reality and another, representing a new phase, new beginning, and “fresh start“. Some astrologers associate karmic meanings to the rising sign for that very reason. The rising sign is often referred to as the persona and mask we wear in social situations, although this often gives the wrong impression that the Ascendant is a superficial point in the chart. The Ascendant is usually much more obvious on first meeting than our Sun and Moon sign. The descendant in the natal chart lies opposite our place of birth and represents the unconscious side of the rising sign and is usually projected. These are the qualities that we are seeking to develop, but we are not consciously aware that this energy actually belongs to us.

Sometimes we are so close to the Ascendant (face) that we cannot always observe its characteristics directly. The Ascendant has an integrating influence over the personality and the rising sign presides over the whole birth chart, influencing the planetary house positions that set the horoscope wheel in motion. Usually the Ascendant sign is the first point an astrologer uses to begin chart interpretation.

We see people approach new situations in different ways. One individual may walk into a new situation with optimism, openness and positivity. Others approach situations with caution, fear and defensiveness and this can assessed by looking at the rising sign and planets in the first house. The Ascendant filters all our life experiences and the ruling planet of the sign rising at birth, acts like a kind of “God” parent. The modern day version of a god parent is to support the parents (Sun and Moon) and to act as a kind of mentor and guide to the developing child. It’s important to analyze the sign and house position of our ruling deity to see where our energies will be immediately expressed.