When most individuals think of astrology, their solar sign is often the first thing that comes to mind. After all, that’s the sign you’d check up when reading your horoscope or researching your cosmic compatibility with your crush. Understanding the differences between your sun, moon, and rising signs is a crucial place to start if you’re ready to delve deeper into your own astrology.
In astrology, your “big three signs” are your sun, moon, and rising sign.
Consider them your most important astrological data. These three signs are quite essential in your horoscope, and each is in charge of a different aspect of your personality and total self. While the sun represents your core self and the moon your inner self, you might consider your rising sign to be reflective of your outward self.
Even if you don’t believe in astrology, it’s just a matter of time before someone asks you for your big three, so now is the time to practice. Let’s go through the basic meanings and differences of the sun, moon, and rising signs so you may start looking into your birth chart and using astrology to your advantage. Continue reading to learn more about this crucial astrological trifecta.
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Is the Zodiac the same in the Southern Hemisphere as it is in the Northern Hemisphere?
Your birth chart is not totally accurate if you were born in the Southern Hemisphere. And no, it’s not because of the 13th sign or any other ancillary aspect. Every chart has an intrinsic bias that applies Northern hemisphere settings.
This problem has practical, political, and mystical aspects to it.
Because “that’s where it started,” astrology as we know it is viewed through Northern Hemisphere lenses. Any inquiries about North-South anomalies were considered as minor heresies while I was learning astrology: “It’s just way it is.”
The horoscope
Everyone is treated as if they were born in the Northern Hemisphere, with a flat map of the Sun, Moon, planets, constellations, and stars when they were born.
That is, the Sun rises in the East and moves clockwise across the Southern sky from left to right.
Sun-wise, to borrow an old folk phrase. Being left-handed, sinister, and evil, or at the very least inferior, is associated with going anti-clockwise. If you want to raise hell, walk anti-clockwise three times around a church, according to old traditions.
The Sun rises in the East in the Southern Hemisphere as well, however we observe it crossing the Northern sky from right to left. Widdershins! Any mention of this makes me uncomfortable because I’m left-handed, and even now, in the digital age, the occasional person will comment on it as ‘abnormal.’ As a result, the houses in the Southern Hemisphere birth chart go counter-clockwise. Take a look at the image below, which was created with Aquarius Rising.
In addition, the Tropical Zodiac signs correspond to the seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. Spring is Aries, Autumn is Libra, and Capricorn, which begins at the Northern Winter Solstice, is credited with an austere disposition, and so on. That’s why when you hear about a sign from a Southern Hemisphere perspective, it doesn’t always ring true.
Does this imply that you should have a different Sun sign? For instance, Libra becomes Aries, Taurus becomes Scorpio, and so on. No. That is where the Sun was when you were born, if it was in Taurus. Is there a case to be made that Southern Taurus has a different temperament than Northern Taurus? Possibly. Seasons, on the other hand, have blended into weather. We don’t live in such close proximity to nature that you may casually attribute Zodiac sign traits to a person’s harvest birth or Summer nature.
There are also other more dimensions to consider. Even if they were born in a daisy paddock on Beltane in the Northern Summer, a Taurus with Pluto in close aspect or a strong 8th house presence will appear Scorpionic.
The fundamental difference between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres is that the Southern Hemisphere is warmer. If you were born south of the equator, the Ascendingor NorthNode that appears in astrological charts* is the South Node. Nobody talks about it because it’s just assumed to be “the way things are.” What difference does it make?
Although it may appear to be semantic, representation is crucial. Every time you have to mentally change anything in order for it to be relevant, it confirms that something that is irrevocably not you is “the best” or “right.” I was depressed when I first looked into it and confirmed the Moon’s Node flip since I didn’t want my Gemini Node to be the “evil one.” Of course, it isn’t, and if it were, the opposing NodeSagittariuswould be debilitating or negative.
But that was my first instinct since, despite its illogic, North-South bias exists everywhere. It’s right up there with some of the darker interpretations of “Yin” as the bleak, passive antithesis of “Yang.” On rare occasions, they were blended, like in this cheery little rant.
“Gone South” is a metaphor for situations that are in disorder or deterioration. The observer’s perspective is supposed to be that of the Northern Hemisphere, which is “up.” Several cultural assumptions are made along the lines of the North representing logic or work ethic, and the South representing untamed enthusiasm and a lack of desire.
Yes, if you think it smells like colonialism. This Italian site includes an ultra-rigorous, in-depth look at the unreasonably implanted ‘hegemonic orthodoxy’ in astrology “despite all mathematical and reasonable evidence.”
Conquerors raze temples to the ground so they can erect a structure to their religion, which is far too broad a topic for a blog post. Following in their footsteps, missionaries ‘translate’ old writings and make alterations where they see fit. Ancient star-lines, mountains, and stories are forgotten or renamed after the so-called saviors as the people ‘gradually convert.’
There are some fantastic Northern astral sagas, but people in the Southern Hemisphere wind up reading about constellations they never or rarely see rather than their own stars. Southern star systems were frequently renamed, and the original associations were lost. For example, the constellations Ursa Major and Ursa Minor orbit around the North Pole, and the word “arctic” means “bear.” “Antarctic” simply means “across from the Arctic.” There is no grandeur without a narrative.
It isn’t just a Western astrology phenomenon. Feng Shui is based on ancient China’s central and most visible constellations. The ancient pyramids and temples of numerous societies were oriented to known stars and planetary cycles, rather than those they’d just heard about.
Is it still a good idea to follow your “true North” or “North Star” when Polaristhe present North Pole star -is visible from your latitude? Polaris Australis is a fictional name for the South Star. Nobody really rates it because it isn’t as brilliant or as close to the South Pole as Polaris is to the North. However, it is conjunct the Galactic Center, which is directly overhead in the Southern Hemisphere.
This point was thought to mark the beginning of ‘the worlds’ long before astronomy and super-telescopes could confirm it.
Circumpolar stars and constellations were once revered as gods because they never set. They were regarded as magical manifestations of deathless power.
Canopusa star, also known as Kahi-Nub (or Golden Earth) by the Egyptians, was once known as the Raven Star, a name given to South pole stars.
** It is now used for celestial navigation by spacecraft. Some of the oldest Babylonian legends have parallels with the oldest indigenous Australian stories. There are parallels between Maori and Ancient Egyptian stars and deities.
Eridanus, a stream of stars flowing south from Rigel and named after Eridu, the world’s first city, was the most important Southern constellation, at least magically. It comes to a conclusion in Pisces with Achernar, which means ‘the end of the river,’ and faces the mysterious Magellanic Clouds. Even the most boring scientific study reads like Philip K Dick on hyperdrive thanks to its phantom galaxies and oddities.
The story of the Southern skies and star lines is less well-known than the myths of the Northern constellations, but it’s resurfacing thanks to archeoastronomy and indigenous starlore. However, it is primarily a collective subconscious pull, similar to an astral tide. More on the Nodes and possibly Southern and Northern Zodiac features will be forthcoming, but in the meanwhile, why not get to know your circumpolar stars?
What is August’s horoscope?
- Aries is the first sign of the zodiac (March 21April 19)
- Taurus is the sign of the bull (April 20May 20)
- Gemini is a sign of the zodiac (May 21June 20)
- Cancer is a disease that affects people (June 21July 22)
- Leo is a sign of the zodiac (July 23August 22)
- Virgo is the sign of the Virgin (August 23September 22)
- Libra is a sign of the zodia (September 23October 22)
- Scorpio is a zodiac sign that (October 23November 21)
- Sagittarius is the sign of the eagle (November 22December 21)
- Capricorn is a sign in the zodiac that (December 22January 19)
- Aquarius is the sign of the water bearer (January 20February 18)
- Pisces is a water sign (February 19March 20)
What are the 12 signs of the zodiac?
Astrological signs are the twelve 30-degree sectors that make up Earth’s 360-degree orbit around the Sun in Western astrology. The signs begin on the vernal equinox, which is the first day of spring and is known as the First Point of Aries. Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces are the zodiac signs. The Western zodiac has its origins in Babylonian astrology and was influenced by Hellenistic culture later on. Each sign was named after a constellation that the sun passed through every year as it crossed the sky. This point is underlined in the popular and simple sun sign astrology. By axial precession of the Earth, Western astrology’s zodiacal divisions have shifted out of alignment with the stars they were named after over the millennia, whereas Hindu astrology measurements have corrected for this moving. Chinese and Tibetan cultures developed astrology (a system of omina based on celestial appearances), but these astrologies are not based on the zodiac and instead deal with the entire sky.
Astrology is a debunked scientific theory. It has no scientific validity or explanatory capacity, according to scientific analyses of the theoretical underpinning and experimental verification of assertions.
Celestial occurrences, according to astrology, are related to human action on the concept of “as above, so below,” with the signs representing distinct modalities of expression. Until the 19th century, scientific astronomy and Western astrology both employed the same sectors of the ecliptic.
Different systems of astrology now utilize various techniques of measuring and dividing the sky, yet the names and symbols of the Zodiac have mostly remained consistent. The Equinox and Solstice points (points pertaining to equal, longest, and shortest days of the tropical year) are used in Western astrology, while the equatorial plane is used in Hindu astrology (sidereal year).
Who is a rising Scorpio?
The Scorpio rising person has powerful, seething emotions that are typically hidden. Others find you intriguing and secretive if this describes you; you appear to purposefully turn on the charm for them. On the birth chart, someone born under this zodiac sign is at the ascendant.
What is your ascension?
Your rising or ascendant is the sign that was ascending on the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth. It refers to the picture you put out into the world, or the mask you wear, and it provides insight into your abilities, talents, and tactics for navigating life. If you’ve ever felt like people don’t recognize you as your sun sign right away, it’s because they’re probably seeing your rising.