Your rising sign
Why your birth time matters
3 min read
What it is
Your rising sign is the zodiac sign that was coming up over the eastern horizon at the exact moment you were born. It is also called your ascendant.
Why it sets everything
The rising sign is where your 1st house begins, so it sets the starting point for all twelve houses. It also colours your first impression: how you come across before people know you.
Why your birth time matters
The rising sign changes about every two hours. A birth time that is out by even an hour or two can move your rising sign, and with it every house in your chart.
A worked example
Say Capricorn was rising at your birth. Your 1st house begins in Capricorn, and your 7th, directly opposite, begins in the sign across the wheel from it, which is Cancer. Aries rising puts Libra on the 7th, Taurus puts Scorpio, and so on round the zodiac.
Don't know your time?
Ask family, or check baby books or hospital records. A birth certificate sometimes has it. Without a time, Houses can still show your planets in their signs, just not your houses.
Now try it on your own chart.
Find your rising sign and your Sun's house in ten seconds.