What is your rising sign and why does it matter more than your sun sign

Folks, we’re all wrong about the rising sign.

The birth chart is a map of the sky at the moment we emerge from the sweet, salinious swamp of the womb and into the broken, beautiful world of being and breathing. And the rising sign, interchangeably called the Ascendant, is essential in the birth chart because it dictates where the chart begins.

However, according to astrologer-influencer Aliza Kelly, we’ve long mixed meaning and metaphor to effectively muddy what a rising sign is and how it operates in and through us.

To suss out the rising sign, you need to know the exact time and place of your birth, as it indicates what zodiac sign was rising up and out of the eastern horizon the moment you took your first breath of air.

Can dig.

To find your birth chart and your rising sign, use a calculator like this one.

If you’re looking for the rising sign in your chart, you can find it on the line that lies at the 9 a.m. position of the circle.

The rising sign is synonymous with the First House or the house of the self, where image, initiation, interaction, and perception are given style and substance by the sign that rules it.

The rising designates the descendant, MC or Midheaven, and IC or Imum Coeli (IC), Latin for “bottom of the sky,” a holy trinity of placements that many astrologers consider the four most important points in the birth chart.

Many an astrologer has and will continue to describe the rising sign as the “mask” we present to the world, but as Kelly explains, this description more than misses the mark.

“Your rising sign is not the mask you wear in public. Real astrologers, the OGs are really trying to debunk that actively,” she said.

Kelly shared that in the 1930s, before sun sign horoscopes were introduced into daily newspapers, the rising sign was considered the primary, guiding celestial force in a person’s life.

She explains that the practice of describing the rising sign as a “mask” likely began in the 1970s when astromancers were trying to distinguish the rising sign from the sun sign in a way that people could easily understand.

“The original astrologer who said it probably knew what they were talking about, because yes, your rising sign is your perception of reality. Of course, what you perceive, you believe, and what you believe, you become. But over the years, that concept has been so misconstrued.”

Describing the rising sign as a mask erroneously suggests that it is a choice, can be removed, is somehow a facade that belies who we really are, and/or is only experienced through social dynamics.

In reality, the ascendant or rising is not an energy we can take on or off, but one we have to master to know, understand, and take care of ourselves. It’s our consciousness, more of an unlock than a disguise, indicating natural abilities and challenges.

“All the planets in your chart are ‘simps’ to your rising sign. It creates the landscape for your entire reality. Your rising sign is the boss. Your rising sign is your default, not a mask.”

The more you know.

As one commentator brilliantly surmised, “The rising is our perception. Our perception shapes the mask, but isn’t the mask itself.”

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Astrologer Reda Wigle researches and irreverently reports on planetary configurations and their effect on each zodiac sign. Her horoscopes integrate history, poetry, pop culture and personal experience. To book a reading, visit her website.