What is the Rising Sign?
In each of our natal charts, the Rising Sign holds paramount importance. The Ascendant represents a crucial aspect of personal destiny, indicating the optimal way for us to live and express ourselves in order to feel free and whole.
The Ascendant signifies how we connect with the external world or environment when our energy flows spontaneously. Hence, it reveals a general approach to life. The Ascendant is how I present myself, the first impression I give to others.
A disciple of the Rudhyar school of humanistic astrology, Alexander Ruperti, defines the Ascendant as follows: "The Sign and degree found on the Ascendant at birth indicates the fundamental character as well as the purpose of essential being, the reason for incarnation, from the perspective of the needs of the Universe of which one is a particular expression. This is what has been called destiny: what one is going to be and also what one is."
The Ascendant is the lens through which we perceive existence, the vision we bring to life, our way of categorizing the world. And since we see the world in that way, we invariably act and behave according to our vision.
That's why, when learning astrology and, of course, when getting my natal chart done, I must keep in mind the value and significance of the Ascendant.
