This month we return to our exploration of our natal chart houses, one of the three basic ingredients that make up our birth chart – planets, signs & houses. The planets represent psychological drives & motivations, the signs represent the particular set of goals, values, interests & tastes that give unique individuality to the various planetary drives. The houses are the areas of actions, the places where we make choices, where life happens.
The signs on our house cusps show our attitudes & needs in each of the areas of life. They show how we would prefer to approach concerns & issues contained in the houses & thus demonstrate our orientation towards all the factors in our lives. Planets in houses give us further celestial instructions on best meeting our psychological needs.
The 1st house begins at the exact degree of the Sign rising over the eastern horizon at the time of our birth. This cusp or point is known as well as the Ascendant. The first house is connected to our appearance, our sense of self, our first impression on others & of new experiences, how we react to any new beginning, to our basic attitude. Signs & planets in 1st indicate the kinds of functions which will be most valuable in the process of realizing our own unique identity, what we must recognize, explore & develop in order to more wholly unravel who we are. Anytime we want to get something started, embrace a new experience, greet someone new, we evoke the qualities of the Ascendant/ 1st house sign. It is our receptionist as well as the lens through which we see the world, the focus we bring into life. We invariably act & behave in accordance with our view. This influences the way we relate & colours what we experience.
Who is your receptionist? How do you arrive on the scene? Do you enthusiastically see a world of possibility & potential, people & places to explore & discover (Sagittarius Ascendant)? Or do you approach new experiences with a bit of caution & reserve (Capricorn Ascendant)? Are you the first person to break the ice, curious about others & easily sharing thoughts (Gemini Ascendant)?
We each are far more than this one point in our charts, the Ascendant. Yet the clues of our Ascendant can increase our self-awareness, allowing us to express ourselves in more artful & effective ways.