All that is determined by the ascendant.Ĭharts are designed based on the daily movement of the sun. How the planets and asteroids land on your houses gives your chart its specific occasion. Each house is a different arena: the first deals with the dawning identity the fourth with family the seventh with others the 10th with career, and so on. The chart is broken into 12 houses, which function as rungs of consciousness.

But, under the proviso that approximately 385,000 babies are born daily, many of whom share the same planets, what makes you so special? Enter the astrology chart, which functions like a compass, smashed at the moment you were born, capturing the position of the planets and asteroids exactly. Sure, you were born with your sun in Pisces and your moon in Leo. What is an ascendant, how do you calculate it, and what does it mean for the rest of your chart? For insight into your life’s path, consult our guide below. But for eons, the rising sign, or ascendant reigned supreme, marking your arrival, point of view, and karmic direction. Over the last century, newspaper, radio, and TV astrologers popularized the sun, giving broad audiences cosmic awareness without having to get into their birth details. When people ask for your “big three,” they often don’t know what to do with your rising sign. Welcome to NYLON’s planetary explainer series, in which astrologer David Odyssey helps you get to know your chart and its key players, one planet at a time.

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