There are three Zodiac signs everyone should know.
These are your:
– Sun sign (commonly known as your star sign)
– Moon sign
– Ascendant or rising sign
When you start to learn astrology you’ll realise that you are MUCH more than just your star or Sun sign. In fact we all have every sign somewhere in our chart. Yes, some signs are more influential and dominant, while others lurk in the background.
Learning these three keys to your chart will help you see how you are a mix of different elements and modalities. It can show how you might be one personality in public (think your SUN) and another in private (most likely your Moon).
Want more beginner astrology?
Your ascendant or rising sign is like the outer layer of your personality. Think of the layers of an onion. There’s the outside skin – sometimes brown, white or red – and the many layers inside. The outer layer is the rising or ascendant sign. It’s not the whole story but like the cover of a book provides clues as to what’s happening inside.
Your Sun and Moon signs are more like the inner layers. They can be modified by more technical factors like aspects and phase, along with the influence of other planets, but for everyone, the Sun and Moon are core influences.
So, in your astrological onion, what are the layers?
Outer layer = Ascendant
Middle layer = Sun
Innermost layer = Moon
The Moon represents your instinctive and unconscious self. I personally believe it’s a HIGHLY underutilised part of the chart. The Moon reveals so much, through it’s phase, sign, speed and immediate applying aspect. The Moon symbolises health, wealth, feelings, family and generally focus.
Using this example chart, for Maya Angelou (click the chart to make it bigger) you can see she has a Leo Ascendant. (TIP – the ascendant or rising sign is always the one on the left hand side of the chart, right around the middle of the circle.)
The symbol for the Sun is a round circle with a dot in the centre and it’s placed in the 9th House, in the sign of Aries. (For this example, we just need to know signs, but if you look on the inside circle for the numbers you can find the 9th house to guide you.)
The symbol for the Moon is the crescent Moon shape and you’ll find that in the 3rd House, in the sign of Libra.
So, for Maya Angelou, her 3 Keys to Personality are Leo Ascendant, Sun in Aries and Libra Moon.
Once you’ve determined what the three keys to your personality are, using the signs of your Sun, Moon and Ascendant, then consider the qualities, like elements and modes, of each.
For instance, are all three of your signs water signs? Are they all fixed signs? Perhaps they are a mix of fire and air (yang signs)? Maybe they are all different. Then consider what that might tell you about yourself.
For Maya, she has two fire signs and one air sign (all yang, which is generally more expressive or outgoing). Maya has one fixed sign, one mutable sign and one cardinal sign so a mix of modes.
If you need a basic intro to elements + modes, try these free beginner handouts.
Of course, there’s so much more to learning your birth chart but this is an essential first step.
Do you know the 3 keys to your astro-personality? If so, what are they?
