Your rising sign: how to calculate and understand it

Sun sign and rising sign: two different things

When someone asks for your sign, you give your sun sign: the sign the Sun was crossing on the day you were born. It changes about once a month, and millions of people share it with you.

Your rising sign, or ascendant, is the sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the exact moment of your birth. As the Earth turns, all twelve signs pass over the horizon in a single day, so the ascendant changes on average every two hours. Two people born on the same day can have very different rising signs.

What the rising sign describes

Your sun sign speaks of your deepest drive, of what moves you. The ascendant describes how you meet the world:

• the first impression you make;
• your reflex when facing something new;
• the way you move, present yourself and protect yourself.

This is often why people don't recognise themselves in descriptions of their sun sign: it is their rising sign that others notice first.

Why your birth time matters

Without a birth time, there is no way to know your ascendant for certain. Being half an hour out can be enough to tip it into the next sign, especially when the birth happened close to a change of sign.

To find it, a full birth certificate (rather than a short extract) often records the time. A baby health record or a parent's precise memory can also help. Your place of birth matters too: the speed at which the signs rise depends on latitude.

The 12 rising signs at a glance

• Aries: direct, spontaneous, quick to act before thinking.
• Taurus: calm, steady, reassuring, fond of comfort.
• Gemini: curious, talkative, quick, always on the move.
• Cancer: sensitive, protective, reserved at first.
• Leo: warm, visible, generous in presence.
• Virgo: attentive, discreet, precise, observant.
• Libra: courteous, diplomatic, keen on harmony.
• Scorpio: intense, magnetic, hard to read.
• Sagittarius: open, enthusiastic, looking for new horizons.
• Capricorn: serious, composed, reliable from the first meeting.
• Aquarius: original, independent, friendly without being familiar.
• Pisces: gentle, dreamy, very sensitive to atmosphere.

Reading the sun and rising pair

The ascendant becomes most interesting when combined with the sun sign. A Capricorn Sun with Sagittarius rising will seem lighter and more adventurous than its reputation. A Leo Sun with Virgo rising will shine more quietly, through work well done rather than through brilliance.

When both signs share the same element, the personality feels very consistent. When they clash, there is often a gap between the image shown and what is felt inside — neither a flaw nor a fate, simply a richness worth understanding.

Going further

The ascendant is also the starting point of the twelve houses of the chart: it sets how the planets are spread across the areas of your life. To know it precisely, you can create your birth chart with your date, time and place of birth, or talk it through with one of our psychics who specialise in astrology.