Читать книгу Astrology For Dummies - Rae Orion - Страница 27

Another major component of your chart is the Ascendant or rising sign — the sign that was climbing over the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth. It describes your mask or persona, the surface personality that you show the world.

Have you ever had a friend who was Miss Congeniality — until you got to know her? Did you ever encounter anyone who seemed standoffish and cold at first but warmed up later on? Do you know anyone whose devil-may-care, lighthearted attitude masks a calculating, manipulative mind? And have you ever wondered how you strike other people, especially when they don’t know you well? Your horoscope provides the answer. While your Sun sign may not be apparent to people, they definitely notice your Ascendant. It’s your image, your facade, your surface. Whether it clashes or harmonizes with your Sun sign, it describes the way people see you and the impression that you make. Indeed, some astrologers consider the ruler of the Ascendant — that is, the planet that rules your rising sign — to be the overall ruler of your chart.

No matter what your Sun sign is, any one of the 12 signs might have been rising over the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth. If you were born at dawn, when the Sun was just peeking over the horizon, you already know your rising sign: It’s the same as your Sun sign. If you were born at any other time of day, your rising sign and Sun sign differ.

For those people whose Sun signs and rising signs are identical, the surface and the substance are the same. For everyone else, what you see isn’t necessarily what you get.

Consider the artist Vincent Van Gogh. With Cancer rising, his emotional sensitivity was obvious. We can see it even now in the wary expression (and bandaged ear) of his many self-portraits. But his extreme vulnerability was only part of his nature. Beneath the insecurity, he was an Aries, restless, competitive, and courageous. His pioneering, energetic nature is clearly visible in the confident, quick brushstrokes, churning colors, and wild vigor of his groundbreaking canvases.

If you have a copy of your chart, it’s easy to figure out your Ascendant: it’s the sign at the nine o’clock spot on the wheel. If you don’t have your chart, you can get one by going to one of the websites listed in Chapter 2 and entering your birth data as instructed. And if you don’t have a reliable birth time? Don’t worry about it. Even without a correct Ascendant, your birth chart is a map of your deepest self, and it offers whole continents of information to be explored.