The
Ascendant and Other Things
Question:
"Hey Dr Z... my Zodiac Sign is located in the sign of Cancer.
So why don't the typical descriptions of my Zodiac Sun Sign totally
fit me?"
Answer:
To take a stab at attempting to answer this million dollar question,
let's take a trip back in time and space...
Imagine
that you're a top secret government agent. And as a top secret government
agent, you've just received an assignment to travel back in time
and space via a top secret time machine... and upon entering this
top secret time machine, you're whisked back to ancient Athens,
Greece...
Toga
Party
Upon your arrival in ancient Athens, imagine that you then find
yourself dressed in a toga and sandals – and you realize you
must have landed at one of those wild Dionysian toga parties.
As
a top secret undercover agent, you then manage to engage yourself
in conversation with a group of the locals discussing politics,
while trying your very best not to blow your cover.
After
getting more than an earful of the latest Parthenon gossip, you
notice a handsome guy (or gorgeous gal) who appears to be nonchalantly
strolling over to the darkened corner of the room where you're standing.
The handsome Greek guy (or gorgeous gal) walks up to you and asks
the age old "Greek Toga Party Pick Up" line: "Hey
baby! What's your sign?"
Careful
now! Watch out! Chances are - you're about blow your secret agent
cover by giving him/her the wrong answer!
What's
Your Sign?
These days, when someone asks the question: "What's your sign?..."
that person is asking you (whether they know it or not) for the
Tropical Zodiac sign the Sun was passing through on the day you
were born. But you see… it's only been during the last 200
years (or so) that folks started primarily identifying their Zodiac
sign with the birth position of the Sun.
Sign
on the Ascendant
More than likely, that handsome Greek guy (or gorgeous gal) at the
wild Dionysian toga party was asking you for the Zodiac sign that
is located on your "Ascendant." He/she was asking for
the Zodiac sign that was rising on the horizon at the exact moment
(and dawn) of your birth.
The
Zodiac Sun Sign and Sun Sign Astrology gained popularity during
the last 200 years, due (much in part) to the Zodiac Sun Sign being
much easier to determine than the Zodiac Sign located on the Ascendant.
To
accurately calculate the position of the birth Sun, one usually
only needs to know the day and month of birth. Whereas... when accurately
calculating the Ascendant, one must know the exact hour and minute
of birth... And not everyone knows their hour and minuite of birth.
Top
Three Points
The top three most important points on the birth chart are:
-
The Sun (Fast): travels through all 12 Zodiac signs during the
course of a year (approximately).
-
The
Moon (Faster): travels through all 12 Zodiac signs during the
course of a month (approximately).
-
and
The Ascendant (Fastest): travels through all 12 Zodiac signs during
the course of a 24 hour day.
So
what does the Ascendant Zodiac Sign represent?
In
A Nutshell
In a nutshell, the Zodiac sign on the Ascendant represents the "outer
package" or "image" that you regularly display to
the people around you. The Zodiac sign located on the Ascendant
has historically been thought of as a much more personal point than
the Zodiac sign the Sun is located in.
The
Ascendant (the speediest major point on the birth chart) changes
its Zodiac positioning every two hours (or so) - whereas, the Sun
changes Zodiacal signs only once a month. Your birth Sun may be
located in the Zodiac sign of Cancer, but your birth Ascendant might
well be in Gemini. And to further complicate things, your birth
Moon might be in yet another sign such as Leo. So far, we've barely
skimmed the surface of a typical birth chart – and we've already
got major energy emphases going on in three different Zodiac signs.
Birth
Charts
Our birth charts are special "sky maps" which reflect
(mirror back) the quality of the exact moment we drew our first
breath. And with that first breath, we each began our own incredible
hero's journey through life on planet Earth...
The
birth positions of the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto all play their own unique symbolic
roles as messengers and ambassadors of the universe.... In fact
- there are two luminaries (the Sun and the Moon), eight planets,
twelve signs, twelve houses (and much more) which go into making
up our unique birth charts...
Energy
Ownership
And the deal is that a great many folks do seemingly end up choosing
to primarily identify with and take ownership of their Sun's energies.
However, other folks end up primarily identifying with and taking
ownership of their Moon's energies... and then other folks end up
identifying more with their Ascendant's energies.
So
now, knowing just this much... how could anyone expect a simple
Sun Sign description of Cancer to totally fit them?
And
by the way, when giving birth chart readings, I encourage folks
to "give voice" and expression to all the many differing
(often conflicting) Zodiacal energies contained within their birth
chart.
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