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Astrology · the rising sign

Rising sign (ascendant): meaning and the 12 rising signs

Your rising sign describes how you approach the world: it is the sign that was rising in the east at your birth.

  • eastern horizon
  • birth time
  • first impression
Calculate my rising sign

By Thomas Guilhot · updated

♏︎East · AscendantWest · DescendantMidheaven
The essentials

The rising sign at a glance

For you

The Sun says what drives you; the rising sign is the door through which you enter a situation.

A strength

A personal marker: two people with the same Sun sign often differ because of it.

Something to watch

Without a reliable time, no rising sign can be given: it would be invented.

You need
Birth date, time, and place
Without the time
No rising sign: never made up
Read more
The 12 rising signs

Your rising sign, sign by sign

Your Sun sign and your rising sign: the 144 combinations

Tinted cell: Sun and rising sign of the same element (same sign or trine).

Sun in rows, rising sign in columns: each cell leads to its page
AriesTaurusGeminiCancerLeoVirgoLibraScorpioSagittariusCapricornAquariusPisces
Aries♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎
Taurus♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎
Gemini♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎
Cancer♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎
Leo♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎
Virgo♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎
Libra♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎
Scorpio♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎
Sagittarius♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎
Capricorn♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎
Aquarius♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎
Pisces♈︎♉︎♊︎♋︎♌︎♍︎♎︎♏︎♐︎♑︎♒︎♓︎

Why the time matters so much

Seen from Earth, the sky makes a complete turn in a little less than twenty-four hours: the twelve signs therefore parade across the eastern horizon over the course of a day, one every two hours on average. Only an average: because of the tilt of the ecliptic, some signs cross the horizon in under an hour at our latitudes, others in nearly three.

In practice, a twenty-minute difference in birth time shifts the rising sign by about five degrees. In the middle of a sign’s passage, the error has no effect; near a boundary, it tips the result into the neighboring sign. That is why the calculation tool shows, for each birth, the range of hours during which your rising sign stays the same.

In Paris, Pisces takes about 58 min to cross the horizon, and Virgo takes 2 hr 45 min: an approximate birth time is sometimes enough, sometimes not.

Calculate my rising sign, step by step

  • Aries58 min
  • Taurus1 hr 14 min
  • Gemini1 hr 49 min
  • Cancer2 hr 28 min
  • Leo2 hr 45 min
  • Virgo2 hr 45 min
  • Libra2 hr 45 min
  • Scorpio2 hr 45 min
  • Sagittarius2 hr 28 min
  • Capricorn1 hr 49 min
  • Aquarius1 hr 14 min
  • Pisces58 min

These durations hold for the latitude of Paris. The further north you go, the wider the gap between fast signs and slow signs; near the equator, each sign takes roughly two hours. In the Southern Hemisphere, the order is reversed. A practical consequence: in France, Virgo and Libra rising signs are noticeably more common than Pisces and Aries rising signs.

Frequently asked questions about the rising sign

What is the rising sign in astrology?

It is the point of the zodiac that was crossing the eastern horizon at the moment of birth, seen from the place where it happened. In Greek astrology, it was called the horoskopos, “the one who observes the hour”: the word horoscope comes from it. It opens the first house of the chart and serves as the starting point for all the others. Tradition reads in it the bearing, the visible temperament, and the way of making contact, rather than the deep identity.

What is the difference between the Sun sign and the rising sign?

The Sun sign depends only on the date: everyone born on the same day shares it. The rising sign varies with the time and the place, and changes about every two hours. For tradition, the Sun would describe what drives you and what you strive toward, the rising sign how that shows on the outside. It is often the rising sign that you recognize in someone before learning their birth date.

What is the descendant?

The descendant is the point exactly opposite the rising sign, at the western horizon: a Taurus rising sign always has a Scorpio descendant, a Leo rising sign an Aquarius descendant. It opens the seventh house, the house of relationships and alliances. Astrologers see in it what we look for in others, or what we tend to entrust to them: what does not come spontaneously from ourselves and that we meet through connection.

Can your Sun sign and rising sign be the same?

Yes: this happens when the birth takes place around sunrise, because the Sun is then near the eastern horizon. A Leo born around 6 a.m. in summer has a good chance of also having a Leo rising sign. Tradition then speaks of a “doubled” sign: its traits would be more legible, with less nuance between what the person lives and what they show. Only a calculation with the exact time can confirm it.

Can your rising sign change over the years?

No. The rising sign of the birth chart is fixed by the moment of birth and never moves. Other techniques advance the points of the chart over the years, such as progressions, but they describe a different object. You often read that the rising sign “asserts itself” with age or after forty: this is a widespread idea among astrologers, with no common rule, which we report without presenting it as a fact.