Follow the Ascendant's Brick Road

The Ascendant is one of the natal chart's most significant and talked about indicators. Right after their Sun sign, many people can name their own chart’s rising sign. Astronomically, the Ascendant is derived from the intersection of the eastern horizon with the ecliptic at a particular latitude, longitude and time of birth. The ecliptic is measured in longitude degrees and minutes of a Zodiacal sign, such as 29 degrees and 52 minutes of Leo. Thus, it’s the sign that’s rising in the eastern sky over the horizon at the moment that any entity is being born -- or as I like to think of it: becoming.

The Hylomorphic Imprint of Birth

Beginnings are essential in any chart construction. They indicate the start of the entity. But more to the point, they indicate the coming together of form and matter, which is what constitutes all genesis, in an Aristotelian sense. Form (εἶδος - eidos) is that which is seen. Yet in Platonic philosophy it has no shape. It’s basically a dynamic idea that defines the essence of what a thing is. Matter (ὕλη - húlē) is that which receives the form to give it shape. They are interdependent, meaning one cannot be known without the other.

In our philosophical approach to astrology, we interpret form through the planetary archetypes, which are only knowable when embodied through matter. It’s important, particularly for us as astrologers, to understand that matter does not have to be physical or concrete. Aristotle simply defines it as "that which receives the form". A human emotion is form that is only seen when expressed through the material existence of a person, who embodies it. The purchase of a home is the form of Venus expressing as substantial change. For Aristotle, all substances, and substantial change – which requires the birth or creation of a substance -- are instances of the co-existence of form plus matter. Linguistically, matter is symbolized by the objects and subjects located in the houses of the chart. Form is symbolized by the verbs embodied by the planets. Form and matter are crucial in understanding ALL chart dynamics.(You can learn more about how this works in astrology for free here.)

Getting back to the birth, the beginning moment of the chart depicts the substantial change that results in the birth of the native. In fact, Aristotle holds that the soul (psyche, ψυχή) is the form, or essence of any living thing. The native’s body is that which receives the form on, or before the birth. However, we only see it expressed after birth in its becoming state. “Being”, which is a changeless state, can only ever be said of a non-physical entity, such as an idea or form. But all of earthly existence is in a state of becoming.

So what is the native "becoming" and how do we see it? The Ascendant is constructed from two indicators: one is a designation of place and the other of time – that is, place-time. The birth is the entrance into a place-time, not only because of the date and location of the birth, but also by the creation of an Ascendant, which is the intersection of a sign (time) and a house (place). So, the Ascendant is the first instance of the entity as form and matter. When Hellenistic authors spoke of the Ascendant as the helm of the life’s ship, they were imagining the passage of the life as the changing physical landscape perceived from this initial vantage point. Or said another way, when we add motion (soul) to the physical environment occupied at birth, we get the traversed path that the native must navigate. So the Ascendant becomes the not only the vehicle moving through the life (form), it's also the landscape being traversed around it (matter). It’s from the Ascendant that this navigation (genesis) in the life takes place.

But the Ascendant is also where form and matter first became imprinted together as an initial seed for that life. In other words, like a plant, the life is first seeded here with the formal instructions or map for what it’s to become. This map can be read symbolically. And because it’s a map of becoming, it must contain a form + matter structure. This structure is present in the sign and house that is constructed from the Ascendant. In fact, all of the subsequent houses derived from that initial entrance point are a combination of place-time or form+matter embodied. They are the new realms that are being navigated through over time.

The Rising Sign-House Relationship

So let's look at this structure more closely. If houses are the matter and the planets are the form, what exactly are the signs? Aristotle actually spoke about three necessary components to substantial change: 1) the form, which is the positive component; 2) the matter, which is a neutral component; and 3) the lack of form, which he called privation, constituting the negative component, because it's what's perceived to be missing. Signs are needs. They actually indicate the lack of something that we feel is essential to us. This lack creates tension. It's the attempt to resolve this tension that drives change. When you’re hungry, you are lacking in sustenance. Thus, that privation drives you to act to attain nourishment. It’s because of the privation indicated by the sign, that form becomes activated through the sign’s domicile ruler, who will act in order to fulfill that need. Thus, form is in actuality indicated by the planets. But the formal process is initiated through the signs they govern through domicile.

But now let’s talk about the 1st place itself. Places are actually place-holders of many different things. A placeholder is a category that groups those things. The category of the1st place as we've seen, is the physical environment that receives the form. But what are the most empirically observed instantiations or facets of the “physical environment” from which the native begins his life? The most obvious signification is the body, which is the first instance of the physical environment inhabited by the animating force of the soul. If we move outward from the body, the next level of the physical environment that the baby occupies would be his home, since at birth, the native cannot move much further afield into the life than the home provided by his caregivers. The home is also often signified by the 1^st place as the native moves through the ASC over time. (We'll get back to more on this below). The next outward instance after the physical home, would be the actual physical environment in which the home is situated. This might be the neighborhood and city that the home occupies. These three basic levels of the physical environment are the ones that are usually indicated when the Ascendant is activated in the chart as the soul creates who it will become.

Astrology is not a cause of life. It is a language that describes a lived process. So how does this first imprint occur psychologically? The relationship between imprinted sign and house is established when a baby is born and the rising sign intersects with the terrestrial realm at the eastern horizon. At that time, events in the early life will "conspire" to create a lack -- as designated by the rising sign – into the physical environment that the native is born. The matter encountered in the 1^st place becomes the terrain upon which the privation is expressed. This may be the in the physical body, the hospital environment during birth, or later in the home or city that the baby inhabits. This very early imprint can occur anytime from hours, days, or up to 7 years after the child’s birth. The privation may be the intended or unintended result of some form of conscious action that occurs. And because the baby hasn't yet formed an ego or awareness to be able to decide what to do with it psychologically, he'll spend his life trying to fulfill that ever-present deficiency through the actions of the planet that rules its domicile. How well that need is integrated or transcended by the ego, depends upon the overall condition of the ruler, as well as the level of awareness the native has about the process. Without awareness, the dynamics that created the imprinting will continue to be felt and expressed unconsciously. The ultimate goal is to gain conscious awareness of this process so that one can transcend the perceived or felt privation.

Two Examples

Let me give you an example of a sign-house relationship in the Ascendant from my own chart because celebrity biographies often lack a way to confirm very unconscious personal themes. I was born with Leo rising. Leo represents the perceived lack of personal identity. Natives with Leo rising often spend their lives trying to figure out some aspect of who they are. If they are very unconscious in their orientation, they may do this by seeking different forms of external validation of who they think they should be. When my mother was giving birth to me, my father was out of the country in a different continent. Neither of my parents had been told whether they were having a girl or a boy. At the time, there was another woman giving birth in the hospital, who had the same first and last name as my mother. When my father called the hospital to find out if I had been born, he was informed that my mother had had a boy. When he realized the mistake days later, my father, who desperately wanted a boy to carry his full name (it had been a tradition in the family going back to his own grandfather), ended up giving me his own name as my middle name. So my first and last name are actually a by-gendered combination that's common in Portugal, where I was born. The Sun, the domicile ruler of Leo, is in the sign of Gemini in the 11^th place of my chart, which is the place of other people’s children. Gemini is a sign that symbolizes two people with similar identities. In that hospital event, the imprint of the privation of identity was created because of a confusion between two similarly identified people (me and the child of another woman) in the same terrestrial space.

Having one’s identity confused in this manner at birth, in and of itself is not a very psychologically significant event. However, it was reflective of an astrologically and synchronistically, meaningful one. It indicates an imprint that was not only already present mere hours after my birth, but also one that continued to instantiate in more significant ways in my home environment in the following years: When I was born, I had a sister who had already been born two years prior. Because we were close in age, had similar blond hair, and my mother dressed us alike, we were often confused for twins (note the Sun in Gemini). In addition, in the early years, my parents had a fear of showing favoritism. So, they overcompensated by treating us the same in most situations, despite the fact that we were becoming very different individuals. This lack of differentiation on their part created an environment where an unhealthy enmeshment developed between me and my sister, thus perpetuating the confusion of identities. My sister had learning disabilities, so my earliest mission became to teach her how to communicate. In this way, the imprint of a mission to teach communication skills, came into being.

I was aware of a drive to fulfill some form of this Gemini prime directive. But as an adult, I continued to struggle with the Leo need to find my own separate identity. It was only at the end of my Leo Zodiacal age that I began to fully shape a distinct identity (my Sun bridges the 10th and 11th. So, this occurred through my occupation in groups). Interestingly, it’s been the study of others' identity itself – first through child psychology, and then through astrology – that has brought me (and my clients), a greater awareness of identity formation. Thus, the Leo need for identity has been the road that I’ve travelled, in some shape or form, while attempting to accomplish my mission for learning and communication.

You will often find that the rising sign’s lack will be reflected in the events of the first days surrounding the birth. For example, John Lennon has Aries rising and Mars in the 7^th house of open enemies. It’s quite well-known that, mere hours after he was born in 1940, bombs were falling in Liverpool. The nurses would place the infants under the beds in the hospital to protect them. In Lennon’s case, an Aries perceived lack of autonomy, and a reluctance to compromise, were the result of having his nation's open enemies threatening an invasion. The first place was not only about protecting his physical body as a baby, but also about protecting the whole collective physical environment of the nation. A strongly imprinted privation can be balanced by a greater awareness of the whole axis. (See my article on the axes of the Zodiac.) Negotiating the shadow Libra need for compromise and collaboration, became the road that he travelled, and a theme that he encountered even in his death.

Those who have planets rising in the same sign will experience significant events impacting their body or early home environment in the first 7 years of their lives. These events will speak directly to the need that creates their path and will be tied to the expression of that archetype into their adult years. But planets rising are a topic for a wider discussion... 

The Path Navigated  

As stated, the first 7 years after birth are when the imprint of the life’s path is established through the rising sign’s privation process. Ideally, that pattern becomes increasingly more conscious as it shapes our path going forward. But the Ascendant is the helm that navigates the native through different landscapes. The stability of the original imprint persists because it remains in the imagination. It's not really there. This is perhaps the truest meaning of the Ascendant as "a mask that we wear", which has become ubiquitous in popular astrology. The thing that is described in astrology as "the mask that we present to the world", is really just an outwardly projected creation of this missing archetype. The purpose of a projection is to make us see what we're becoming, not who we are. But this aspect of what we're creating is very specific to the physical landscape (ASC) of the life, since that is where the beginnings are seeded.

The process of avatar creation in the life follows a developmental sequence, just as the baby turns into a teen, then an adult, and then a senior. That sequence is depicted in the 12 houses of the chart, as they rise over the horizon at a fixed rate of motion. We've previously identified this dynamic process in our work involving the Turning method. That timing method consists of identifying 3 significant vantage points (the Triquetra) from which to see the life's turning: the Zodiacal, the Solar Synodic and the Terrestrial. It's the terrestrial arm of that motion that tracks the changing Ascendant landscape that we're referring to here. We label the new Ascendant: the NTA or Natal Topical Ascendant, as it follows this sequence of rising houses in the chart.

The Turning is a directed timing method. That means it preserves all of the same natal planetary positions relative to each other as they appear in the natal chart. additionally, nothing changes by sign either. The only thing that changes are the house placements relative to the natal. In our software, that overlay is indicated in the outside wheel by two house numbers separated by a forward slash. For example: 12/8 is the natal 12th having come to the 8th place in the turned chart. These overlays indicate changes in matter.

Let's look at an example. It's difficult to confirm anything but public events and superficial traits in celebrity biographies. Since you're already familiar with the foundational imprint of missing identity that was seeded at my own birth, we'll continue with my chart above. In the Turning, each period consists of 7 years in the life. I'm going to focus primarily on one distinct period that most significantly impacted my own process of identity formation. It was the 7 year period between the ages of 28 to 35. In the Zodiacal arm (the red colored sign in the chart and table), that is, counting in the order of the Zodiac from Aries, these dates corresponded to my Leo Zodiacal age. Because this is the Zodiacal arm, it indicates a time in which everyone in my age cohort would have been dealing with identity issues, even if they don't have Leo rising. This is why the Zodiacal arm of the Turning indicates a group's developmental phase. The Sun in Gemini would have been the planet to fulfill this need for identity.

We'll return to this Leo arm shortly... We're now tracking the terrestrial arm, so we want to focus on the sign of the NTA instead. That's the one which is colored green in this chart. To repeat, this arm deals with the changing physical landscape of the life (hence, the green). Sagittarius is the sign that's placed over the 5th house cusp in my natal chart. That means that the physical environment of the 5th house is rising over the horizon (5/1) during these 7 years, which means it's being given a new form. That form is trying to become Sagittarian, because it's the form that is perceived to be lacking in the life. But more specifically, it will play out in the topics of the 5th place. What are some of these topics? Children; leisure time, vacation places, hobbies, etc. Keep those in mind...

Sagittarius signals a need for orientation and direction. It comes up when we're looking for a direction in which to move in life. Often there are choices to be made that might also involve giving direction to others through one's own knowledge: e.g. educational, legal, spiritual, medical, etc. Jupiter is the planet entrusted to secure that direction. It (and any planet) can be embodied by us, or it can be embodied by others who have an impact upon our lives. In this chart, Jupiter is in houses 12/8 and has just gone out-of-sect, since the Sun had just set in the Turning a couple of years prior. Contrary-to-sect Jupiter tends to believe too broadly and is prone to over-confidence or naivete. In addition, Jupiter is setting heliacally (i.e. relative to the Sun). This means that when it expresses, it tends to lack definition. You know those times in life when you set out to do something, but it doesn't quite take shape the way you want it to? Those are endeavors being acted upon by heliacally setting planets. The Sun is light. It's proximity to a planet gives it definition in the same way that objects are more defined when you see them in bright light. Between 1994 and 2001, the internet was already a large part of my academic and personal life. As I've indicated in this article on the12th house, planets in it can indicate actions occurring on the internet. The 8th overlay indicates that there are resources from others being sought from the internet. So to summarize this indicator: my attempts to secure a direction through the confirmation of knowledge online might lack definition and be ineffective, due to overconfidence or naivete.

This is just one indicator, but it already tells a large part of the story that was taking shape during these years: In 1994, I was in my last year of an undergraduate program in child psychology. That's indicated by the Sagittarian 5/1 starting place. My plan to go to graduate school was problematic because the child psychology program that I wanted to pursue required me to move to another state. But I was married and it would have uprooted my husband from a good job that he enjoyed. During the next 5 years, I worked temporary banking jobs while I was trying to figure out my professional direction. In the meantime, my existing interests in Jungian psychology, dreamwork, and astrology deepened and I began to do workshops and do consultation work as a hobby. In 1998, I decided that these spiritual hobbies (also belonging in the 5th house) could become a career path. But I decided I needed more formal training through a recognized education program. So I searched online and ultimately found Kepler College, which at the time was advertising the only state recognized MA in astrology in the nation.

I did ultimately attain this degree, but that direction was fraught with a lack of definition due to naivete on my part, and overconfidence on the part of the educators. The school had prematurely advertised and accepted students into a new academic program that was still in the process of being accredited. That process resulted in the forced revocation of its state authorization, which would be disputed over the next 10 years. During this time, while educators secretly waited for further approvals (let's not forget that the 12th is also the place of secrets), the enrolled MA students, who were not originally made aware of this situation, killed time working with BA students on a large number of pre-requisite courses. Those of us who had already been accepted into the program, did ultimately receive our state authorized delayed degrees. But the program was shut down to future students.

The ill-defined light of Jupiter was embodied in my life by others, as well as by me. Advertising, teaching and legalizing are all Jupiter functions. These were embodied by the educators in the school, whose conviction that the program would receive approval was misplaced. As for me, I had a naïve view of the field, believing in the program's ability to clarify all my technical questions. Neither of these things panned out the way either of us intended. Nevertheless, I treasure my days at Kepler for starting my long path to where I am now. Had it not been this ill-defined, it would not have resulted in the work and achievements that took place the following Capricorn NTA period.

So what about the Zodiacal arm? Recall that Leo says: "at my age of 28 to 35, it's time to think about my identity". Many at this age think about having children, because our children are a common biological way of establishing identity. We literally see ourselves in our children. Some parents may even have trouble placing limits on that tendency. Another way to establish identity is through what we love to do (i.e. hobbies). In fact, love is a catalyst to creation, which results in new identity. Now in my case, if you look at the Zodiacal arm (the one in red), Leo is placed in the 1/9. The 9th, as you may know, is the place of education, dreams and astrology. I started out the period in 1994, finishing up my education in the study of children at 5/1. But I finished it, shaping my identity by turning a hobby I loved into an education in astrology. That occurred in the 7 month subperiod starting in 1999, exactly when I began my formal study of astrology. [You can calculate your own Turning periods with the LINCOS software here.]

Conclusions

We are not born with an identity tucked inside the pockets of our soul. Identity is the result of our interaction with our lived environment, as we move through it in time. That interaction takes place through a conscious process whereby we look around us and perceive the lack of a thing we love and want to make a part of ourselves. We then proceed to make decisions about how to attain it. The very first period's imprint of what's missing becomes a bias for what we perceive in the rest of the landscapes that we encounter. But it's the collection of all of those attained pieces that make up the whole of who we become. Identity was always going to be my bias, because that's what was confused in my early years. For others, it will be something else. But this generative process is what turns the wheel of life.