Astrology Sun, Moon and Ascendant
Solar, Lunar, Planetary and Rising Sign Influences on Personality
The natal zodiac is like a snapshot of the sky the moment of birth. When a person is born, the positions of each planet in the sky are believed to influence various aspects of personality and fortune.
The Sun, Moon and Rising Sign
Most people know their sun signs based on the time of year they were born. The sun rules over basic character and provides a framework for the rest of the chart. However, other elements, particularly the rising sign (also known as the ascendant) and moon sign, affect the way the sun sign is expressed.
The Rising Sign
The ascendant rules over the outward expression of personality, or the way in which a person interacts with other people and the world overall. It can be described as the mask worn in public or the public persona. The ascendant shapes the perceptions others have of an individual, how he or she comes across socially.
When the sun and ascendant are in the same or similar signs, a person behaves in a way that is consistent with his or her inner character. When the ascendant is in a very different sign from the sun sign, the person is likely to be pulled in competing directions or to send out signals that do not match inner feelings, and thus be misunderstood by others. While such conflicts can make life difficult for the individual, they are also a source of creative ability.
The Moon
The moon sign is a private persona, only likely to be seen in adulthood by those very close to the person. The moon rules over childhood, and people are more likely to express their moon sign personality when they are young. In adulthood it is usually hidden, relegated to the secret emotional life, though an individual may openly express the moon sign persona in times of extreme emotion or stress.
The moon also represents the mother and other female forces in a person’s life. The placement of the moon in a natal chart can indicate the sort of relationships and interactions a person is likely to have with women.
Other Planets
In addition to the sun, ascendant and moon, there are other planets that play a role in shaping the various qualities that make up an individual. The following is a list of the rest of the planets and the areas of life and personality over which they rule.
- Mercury: all forms of mental activity and communications including speaking and writing, the intellect, intelligence, reason, perception, memory, understanding, assimilation of information and critical thinking
- Venus: love, affection, pleasure, beauty, sex appeal, art, romantic affairs, adornment, social graces, harmony and friendship
- Mars: physical energy, will power, temper, assertiveness, boldness, competitiveness, impulsiveness, forcefulness, aggression, action, accidents, destructiveness, courage and sex drive
- Jupiter: luck and fortune, optimism, generosity, expansiveness, success, higher education, law, medicine, philosophy, abundance and spirituality
- Saturn: hard work, responsibility, character strength, hard karma or difficulties, obstacles, the ability to see a task through to completion, hardship, endurance, authority, diligence, limitation, self-control, will power, stability, patience, maturity, restriction and realism
- Uranus: progressiveness, change, originality, invention, technology, science, rebellion, revolution, sudden events and opportunities, awakenings, shocks, flashes of genius, eccentricity, unconventionality, unusual circumstances or events, independence, visionary ideas and occult interests
- Neptune: imagination, intuition, mysticism, dream life, fantasies, compassion, psychic abilities, artistic visions, spirituality, strange events, the subconscious, repressed memories, glamour, mystery, insanity, drama, addiction, ideals, personal magnetism, inspiration and creative genius
- Pluto: power, transformation, release of dormant forces, change, bringing things forth from the depths of the subconscious, suppressed energies, death, rebirth, regeneration, sex, jealousy, passion, obsession, intensity, creation and destruction, beginnings and endings that occur simultaneously (one thing ending so that another can begin), secrets, mystery, undercurrents, precognition and extremes of personality
How to Find Your Moon, Ascendant and Planetary Placements
Astrodienst offers free chart calculation and some free interpretation. The chart tells you which sign each of your natal planets falls in, as well as your rising sign.
Further Reading
For more information on astrology, see Astrology Elements and Qualities, which provides information on fire, earth, air and water signs, as well as the qualities of cardinal, fixed and mutable in the zodiac.
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