Have you ever felt like your zodiac sign perfectly describes who you are? Or maybe just the opposite, you find your sign has a bad rep and doesn’t describe you at all! Well, there may be some insights that your birth chart can provide to explain why either reaction could be relevant. In today’s day and age of self discovery and self development, astrology is no longer just about reading your daily horoscope. It’s about providing you a framework to help you examine and explore who you are!
The birth chart is comprised of three key planets: your Sun, your Moon, and your Ascendant (also called Rising sign).
The Sun in our solar system, gives us life. It is the source of life that fuels the Earth. Just the same, your sun sign in astrology is your life source and it represents who you are. It reflects your core identity, and ego and what resonates with you. However, it is only one planet among three that paint the full picture of who you are.
Your Sun sign is the main character on the stage of your life, but it is not the only character in the play.
If the Sun is the main character, the Moon is the supporting character. It represents your inner world and the underlying needs, wants and cravings. The moon is known for governing the tides of the seas and oceans, in the same way it gives insights into our moods and emotional states of being. Your moon sign also indicates how you find safety in the material world and helps provide direction as to your physical needs.
As the second brightest star in the sky, the moon reflects our back the light of the sun and unveils our life’s purpose.
For example, someone with a fiery Aries Sun might seem bold and confident, but if their Moon is in Cancer, they might be incredibly sensitive and crave emotional security behind closed doors.
The Ascendant sign is the zodiac sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the moment you were born. As a sign, it always sits in the 1st House of the Zodiac, which is the house of self and identity. This makes it very personal to you. It is the sign that indicates how you are seen by others, some call it a mask, but it is more like the presentation of the self to the external world. It tells you your motivation in life.
The ascendant often counterbalances with your sun sign and can explain why two people with the same Sun sign can come off completely differently at first glance.
Knowing your Sun, Moon, and Ascendant is a lens to better understanding yourself and potential personality traits and characteristics. These 3 keys give you a overall perspective of your person and allow you to explore certain other topics in your life, such as:
More than that, they are a first step to delving deeper into who you are and what makes you, you.
You’ll need your exact time, date, and place of birth to generate your full natal chart and most specifically to get your ascendant correct. There are plenty of free online resources some of the better ones are listed below:
If you do not know your birth time, try asking your mother or look into getting an official copy of your birth certificate. If you still cannot find it, you have some options. One is if you have a rough idea, within 30 minutes, you could use an approach called “rectification” by exploring the possible rising signs in that timeframe and identifying the major life events that happened to you and seeing how they resonate with the rising signs relevant to the timeframe. You could also work with an astrologer to pinpoint the time more specifically.
Alternatively, if you really have no idea, you can still learn about yourself based on the information you do have and focusing on two of the three keys.
Astrology is a framework for expanding your self-awareness. Your Sun, Moon, and Ascendant are a gateway to understanding yourself that allow you to make connections about who you are based on characteristics and attributes you possess as well as life events that have occurred. When you examine all three, you gain powerful insight into your unique energy and how to navigate life more intentionally.
