How To Estimate Your Ascendant Without A Computer
Source: Unsplash/Gabriel Affonso
Welcome back! I could say this about myself as much as you, reader, because I needed to take a brief break from posting. In the last 2 months I’ve taken a mini-MBA class, been consumed in a charity event I’m co-chairing in February, and was working in what I consider the world’s worst job. I lasted 6 whole weeks (the dark ages). More on that another time…
I’ve also been catching up on emails, so for those of you who have reached out over the last few months to request a reading or with a question, I sincerely apologize that I just responded.
As I dive back in, I’m putting some of my class learnings to use and will be introducing a few new things in the coming weeks, including new content and social channels. One important thing I realized is that many of you spend more time reading the how-to type information than the monthly forecasts, so my goal is to expand that content, hence this post on a quick way to estimate the Ascendant.
For background, the Ascendant is the key to understanding the motivation and drive of a person because it accounts for 80% of the influence in a chart. For the most accurate calculation, you’ll need your birth date, birth time, and birth location, all as exact as possible. You can have it done by an astrologer (ahem) as part of a reading, or you can get your basic chart positions for free via several websites. I personally love Astro-Seek.com for the easy-to-use interface and the depth of info they have on the site when you really want to fall down a rabbit hole.
However, sometimes you’re technology-free, so here is a cool party trick to impress your friends. You’ll need the time of birth, or at least rough estimate to work with, and the ability to draw a circle and divide it into 12 sections.
Once you’ve drawn your circle, label the 12 sections with 2-hour time frames. The Ascendant is 6am, the 10th house is 12pm (noon), the 7th house is 6pm, and the 4th house is 12am (midnight). To visualize, think of the Sun rising and setting in a clockwise direction as it goes through the chart starting from the Ascendant (a reason it’s also called the Rising Sign).
Next, put your Sun in the section that corresponds with the 2-hour window of your birth time, and then put your Sun Sign on the cusp of that house and label the rest of the signs in order going counterclockwise. The sign you put on the Ascendant/9 o’clock position is your estimated Ascendant at birth.
In the example below, this person is a Pisces Sun Sign born at 1:37 pm. The Sun is put in the house labeled 12pm - 2pm, the 9th house, and we put Pisces on the cusp. Next, label the signs in order counterclockwise and you end up with Cancer on the Ascendant. Now, this doesn’t account for things like house distortion, stelliums, or unusually powerful placements, which is why I said it was an estimate, but you can think about the traits of the sign and get a sense of if they apply to the person. Is the person family-oriented, nurturing, intuitive, touchy? Cancer is likely right. Are they more sociable, chatty, and a bit scattered? Maybe they’re actually a Gemini Ascendant. Need another example or have a question? Hit me up in the comments.
