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Thursday (Jupiter's Day), June 25, 2009

There's Two of Him, There's Two of Him
Astrology and the Persona

"There's two of him, there's two of him."

Yep! Without knowing it... this gifted medium had immediately picked up on and intuited my Gemini (the Twins) Ascendant. She picked up on what the ancient Greeks and Romans referred to as our guiding "daemon" or "genius."

In a nutshell, the Zodiac sign located on the Ascendant represents the "outer package," "image," or "persona" that you regularly display to the people around you. Historically, the Zodiac sign located on the Ascendant has been thought of as a much more personal point than the Zodiac sign the Sun is located in.

The Ascendant aids us in answering the question: "who am I in this world?" The Ascendant acts as an "I am filter" through which we process all of our life experiences...

The Most Usual Suspects
So what do most people (that aren't lucky enough to be psychic) first see when they initially meet you? In attempting to determine what the ancient Greeks and Romans may have been referring to as our guiding "daemon" or "genius," there are actually several likely suspects.

• As already mentioned, traditionally, most astrologers will inform you that it, indeed, is a rule of thumb that other folks (psychic or not) will tend to first "see" your Ascendant (persona) sign. The Ascendant - determined by the exact moment of one's birth - is that part of us that people first tend to see when they're getting to know us. It's the external wrapper that reflects the natural ways we tend to act and behave.
  
• However, a good number of astrologers will then qualify this by saying that the Ascendant sign is modified by any planets that are located directly on the Ascendant and/or then also to a lessor degree by any other planets aspecting your Ascendant.
  
• Then some astrologers might tell you that it's actually the ruling planet of your Ascendant sign that most often shows up.
  
• Then, yet, other astrologers will tell you that it's initally the good old Midheaven (social persona) that folks first see. Generally, the Midheaven is a point on your birth chart that reflects your public "reputation" and/or how you'd like to be known or seen by others. The Midheaven tells other folks something about who you are while they're still approaching from a great distance.
  
• Finally... pop astrology enthusiasts, not bound by all the pesky infernal traditional rules that we astrologers feel so necessary to consider, will often swear up and down that they can see and identify the person's Sun Sign. (Granted... many Sun Sign Leos tend to have luxurious manes of hair and many Sun Sign Scorpios tend to have penetrating, intense eyes...)

Yep! As there are no cast in iron answers to this question, each of these different rules of thumb are indeed important to look at and consider as potent possibilities.

Oh Yeah... The Midheaven
Oh yeah... and before you write off the suggestion of the Midheaven... I can tell you that my Midheaven is located in the "smoke and mirrors" sign of Pisces ruled by Neptune (imagination, fantasy, mysticism, illusion, and deception).

I can't begin to tell you just how many total strangers walk up to me absolutely 100% convinced that I'm their long lost cousin Fred. Most recently a woman claimed that I was a dead ringer for her grandfather. For those that I'm not their cousin Fred, these strangers are absolutely certain that they've met me before (when I'm absolutely certain that they haven't).

This illusory "smoke and mirrors" Pisces sort of thing occurs on an almost daily basis.

I'm not exactly sure just how many 6'3" male Latinos, sporting a pony tail and silver beard, are walking around the rolling hills of Tennessee... but it couldn't be that many...

So Dr Z... What's The Point?
The real value in knowing how other folks first see us is that it can potentially provide us with deeper insight into who we are and how we relate to others in our environment.

Truth is... most of us walk through life while remaining really rather clueless about how other people see and experience us.

Postscript:

The Dog and Pony Show of Determining Physical Characteristics
For the most part I tend to shy away from the popular concept of determining one's physical characteristics based on the birth chart.

• In the first place, in our incredibly culturally/ethnically diverse world, one generally has to engage in a significant amount of adaptation to the traditional descriptions (still commonly used today) that were originally written by white European astrologers.
  
• Secondly... although there's obviously a certain amount of truth to it all... I just don't see any real and lasting value in doing it. Most often when it's done, it's for purposes of attempting to engage in a little razzle dazzle.

Related Dr Z article:

Castle of the Psyche - Better understand the Ascendant and Midheaven as illustrated through the story of the Castle.

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