The first house is the most personal house. It represents the individual, the appearance, facial characteristics, mannerisms, disposition, attitudes, the body and the condition of the body, and is thus associated with general health. The first house also signifies personal affairs and beginnings, including the beginning of life. This is the house of self. The natural sign of the first house is Aries; the natural ruler is Mars. The sign on the Ascendant (the cusp of the first house), called the rising sign, essentially influences personal characteristics, temperament, personality and appearance. Along with the Sun and Moon, the Ascendant describes the individual. The Ascendant portrays the outward expression of personal identity, the projection of the personality. It shares with the Sun location the essentials of a person's basic nature. The planetary ruler of the Ascending sign is designated the chart ruler. With important planets in the first house, a person will be self-involved and, unless severely blocked psychologically, quite determined to get their own way. The Ascendant is also the "door" to the first house, which is where we keep all the things that make us who we are as unique individuals. The first house is the "this is who I am" room. The AscendantThe Ascendant is our Front Door: it's where we
go when we set out into the world to interact with other people. Planets
near the first house cusp are said to be "rising" because
they are coming up over the eastern horizon at the time for which the
chart was drawn. This is the most powerful location for a planet as
it is the lens through which the rest of the chart is expressed and
through which the rest of the world perceives us (at least initially).
A planet on the ascendant "colors" the ascendant according
to the sign that planet rules. |