Ascendant-The Rising Sign!

In Vedic Astrology, 'Ascendant' is without question the most individual and defining element in the chart. All predictions start from the Ascendant and everything in a chart is derived from the Ascendant. Being the most important of all, still not many people understand the science behind it. Since we astrologers have to deal mostly with the predictive part, the understanding of the scientific/astronomical basis of the rising sign gets sidelined. 


So this is just a small effort from my side to make the concept of Ascendant more clear to everyone.

Ok, so we know that Earth revolves around the Sun and completes a revolution in around an year. Since we reside on earth, we study the apparent motion of Sun around the earth. This path along which the sun appears to move as viewed from the earth is called 'ecliptic'. Since earth's one revolution takes 12 months to complete, we have 12 zodiac signs through which the Sun's apparent motion is observed. They are called as the Sun Signs. So depending upon where your Sun is, at the time of your birth, you get your sun sign.. But as we learnt in our geography class in school that Earth not only revolves around the Sun but also rotates on its own axis, completing one rotation in around 24 hours. So though the sun sign is fixed for a month, due to rotation of earth, the group of stars rising in the Eastern horizon would keep changing from time to time. So if you wake up in the morning at 7 am and you see an Aries rising then at 9 am, it would be Taurus, 11 am Gemini and so on. Thus it is observed that these group of stars change roughly after every two hours. This is precisely what the ascendant means. The Sign rising over the eastern horizon at the time of your birth is called the Ascendant. This is why it is also called 'Rising Sign'. 

It is believed that the rising sign at the moment of your birth is the one you embody not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually. It is a type of behavior that you adopt as a child because, at that time, you found it to be most appropriate. 

Ascendant determines the mental capacity, temperament, character, behavior, good luck and bad luck of the native. It is represented by the first house of the chart. It also tells how much fame, honor, property, status and comfort a person will gain during his lifespan. The ascendant represents the face you present to the world- your physical appearance, your manner of dealing with people, and what they perceive at first glance. 

Your Ascendant is often considered to be that by which other people understand you; so when meeting others, they will see you through the lens of your Ascendant, rather than your sun sign. We can say that our Ascendant shows our natural, knee-jerk reaction to new people and situations. In astrology, Ascendant is the basis of everything . No matter what the concerned area is, be it career, family, foreign travel, finance or marriage, the evaluation of Ascendant and its lord is of prime importance as it reflects the 'you' in question. 

What's next:  The 12 Ascendants and their traits!