LITMIR.BIZ

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What do Muhammad Ali, Albert Einstein, and Kim Kardashian have in common? On the face of it, not much. But all three have Saturn accidentally dignified in the tenth house, a placement that correlates with success, public recognition, and fame.

TABLE 1-5 Table of Accidental Planetary Dignities

House	Accidental planetary dignity
1	Mars
2	Venus
3	Mercury
4	Moon
5	Sun
6	Mercury
7	Venus
8	Mars and Pluto
9	Jupiter
10	Saturn
11	Saturn and Uranus
12	Neptune and Jupiter

Assessing the Ascendant

      Another major component of your chart is the Ascendant or rising sign — the sign that was climbing over the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth. It describes your mask or persona, the surface personality that you show the world.

      Have you ever had a friend who was Miss Congeniality — until you got to know her? Did you ever encounter anyone who seemed standoffish and cold at first but warmed up later on? Do you know anyone whose devil-may-care, lighthearted attitude masks a calculating, manipulative mind? And have you ever wondered how you strike other people, especially when they don’t know you well? Your horoscope provides the answer. While your Sun sign may not be apparent to people, they definitely notice your Ascendant. It’s your image, your facade, your surface. Whether it clashes or harmonizes with your Sun sign, it describes the way people see you and the impression that you make. Indeed, some astrologers consider the ruler of the Ascendant — that is, the planet that rules your rising sign — to be the overall ruler of your chart.

No matter what your Sun sign is, any one of the 12 signs might have been rising over the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth. If you were born at dawn, when the Sun was just peeking over the horizon, you already know your rising sign: It’s the same as your Sun sign. If you were born at any other time of day, your rising sign and Sun sign differ.

      For those people whose Sun signs and rising signs are identical, the surface and the substance are the same. For everyone else, what you see isn’t necessarily what you get.

      

Consider the artist Vincent Van Gogh. With Cancer rising, his emotional sensitivity was obvious. We can see it even now in the wary expression (and bandaged ear) of his many self-portraits. But his extreme vulnerability was only part of his nature. Beneath the insecurity, he was an Aries, restless, competitive, and courageous. His pioneering, energetic nature is clearly visible in the confident, quick brushstrokes, churning colors, and wild vigor of his groundbreaking canvases.

      

If you have a copy of your chart, it’s easy to figure out your Ascendant: it’s the sign at the nine o’clock spot on the wheel. If you don’t have your chart, you can get one by going to one of the websites listed in Chapter 2 and entering your birth data as instructed. And if you don’t have a reliable birth time? Don’t worry about it. Even without a correct Ascendant, your birth chart is a map of your deepest self, and it offers whole continents of information to be explored.

Taking the House Tour

Whether you’re a workaholic Virgo or a spiritually inclined Pisces, you still have to deal with money, work, health, siblings, and everything else that’s part of life. Those areas are described by the houses. The houses slice the sky into 12 parts, beginning with the Ascendant and the first house. Their meanings are described in Table 1-6.

Just as every chart includes all the planets, every horoscope has all 12 houses. Not every house will be occupied by a planet. But every house will have a sign on the cusp, or beginning of the house, that describes your approach to the concerns of that house. For instance, if Taurus is on the cusp of your sixth house of health and work, you are likely to be dependable, productive, and patient on the job, even if that house is empty. You’re a hard worker. And one more thing: you’d probably enjoy having a dog.

      

The word cusp is used in two ways in astrology. When astrologers refer to the cusp of a house, they are talking about the gateway to that house, the place where it begins. When people say they were born “on the cusp,” they usually mean that their birthday falls at the end of one sign or the start of another, and they’re not sure what sign is theirs, an issue I discuss in the nearby sidebar “Questlove on the cusp.”

      Now you’ve got the basics. Together, the signs, planets, and houses make up the basic vocabulary of astrology. There’s more. (There’s always more.) But for now, you have everything you need to begin the excavation of your chart. If you don’t have a copy of it, the next chapter will tell you how to remedy that situation.

TABLE 1-6 Houses and Their Significance

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House	Areas of Concern
First house	Appearance, surface personality, and the impression you make on others
Second house	Money, possessions, wealth; the things you value; your urge to acquire
Third house	Communication, language, short journeys, brothers and sisters, neighbors, early education, attitude toward learning
Fourth house	Home, roots, real estate, security, one parent (usually the mother); also, circumstances at the end of life
Fifth house	Romance, children, recreation, creativity, self-expression
Sixth house	Work, health and healing, service, habits and routines; also, pets
Seventh house	Relationships, partnerships, open enemies, and the general public
Eighth house	Sex, death, transformation, joint resources, other people’s money, mystery, magic, and occult interests