Author: Alison Price – Published: April 2024
Ascendant, Sun and Moon
Triad of Astrology
These three pieces of astrological information, your Ascendant, Sun and Moon sign, are known as the holy trinity, the triad or the triumvirate of your chart.
They are always listed in this order of importance; Ascendant, Sun and Moon (and yes, your Ascendant is more important than your Sun).
The Sun
Perhaps you already know your Sun sign. It could be Aries, Cancer or Virgo etc. Your Sun sign depends on the date of your birthday. It is the zodiac sign which the Sun was in at the time you were born.
Everyone’s Sun sign is the easiest thing to know in astrology. You will know your own, and your family’s birthdates and probably your close friend’s birthdays as well.
It is a simple step to find everybody’s Sun sign. The Sun sign is the first nugget of information that all people know about astrology.
Ascendant
The second thing you need to learn is your Ascendant sign. This is likely to be different to your Sun sign although it could be the identical. You will only know your Ascendant sign if you cast your chart.
Moon
The third fact you need to discover is your Moon sign. Again, you will have to cast your chart to find this out. Your Moon sign is likely to be in a different sign both to your Sun sign and even to your Ascendant sign, but it could be the same.
Ascendant, Sun and Moon: Going Deeper
By this stage you probably have a grip on the meanings of the Ascendant, the Sun and the Moon. Now the idea is to bring these three chart components together and blend them into a cohesive whole that makes sense to your chart reading.
Let’s have a deeper look into what makes each of these three high profile chart factors different to each other.
Ascendant: Your Personality
Your approach to life, interactions, a role or a part you play
The Ascendant is a symbol of your one-to-one, face-to-face, meet-and-greet personality that you employ to socialize. It is a vehicle you use to interact with others. It is your personal interface and is like a cloak you wear to ‘appear’ to others when you walk out of your front door.
Your Ascendant is your opening position and obvious agenda. Your Ascendant is a collection of expectations you have of the world and your immediate place in it.
Your Ascendant reveals the first impressions you make and receive which start out as early messages about your behavior (are you good or bad, or right or wrong).
How you strive to meet the expectations of others through your actions when you were a child is indicated by your Ascendant.
Ascendant Complex
Your personality is seen in your Ascendant complex, and most importantly its sign and major planetary aspects to its degree.
It is the variable means by which you negotiate your needs with others (as seen by your Moon) and formulate or build something we can identify as character (as seen by your Sun).
Your Ascendant acts as an interface between the Sun or Moon (or other parts of the chart) and the immediate world around you. Your personality has energy.
You have a particular attitude, humor, engagement and interaction.
The Ascendant energy is quite different from the accumulation of early behaviors (Moon) or the formation of your character (Sun).
Personality is easy to pick up on, quick to read and decipher. You can usually see personailty when you first meet someone (Ascendant).
Personality traits have little to do with your true character as they are what you show to others.
Appearance
The Ascendant indicates your appearance, and how you come across and the means you use to get through life.
Astrologically, the Ascendant is often seen as the vehicle by which we reach the Sun’s destination which is your life goal.
The Ascendant is the route to getting your needs (Moon) met in relationships and how you negotiate these personal needs in a one- to-one environment.
The Sun: Your Character
Your essence, and type of ‘heart’
The Sun reveals your main life-purpose. It indicates the core reasons behind why you have been born and what you are in the process of becoming.
When you express your Sun complex by its sign, house and aspects, you acknowledge your birthright. The Sun suggests opportunities when you can manifest your individual life-path and singular potential.
Each Sun sign suggests a pattern or a set of symbolic images that you can strive towards and embody. The Sun is often reduced to a stereotype, which comes from the simplistic Sun Sign world.
Your Sun’s meaning requires individual interpretation. It shows how you envision your discrete life-path and what are the most important things in life to you. Your character can be seen as a collection of fundamental, integral philosophies that you have gathered over time.
Character is an accumulation of identities, traits and patterns that become the main thread of your life.
If you embrace the character of your Sun, it will draw you towards heartfelt and healthy self-esteem and show you a path of integrity and wholeness.
Character can be challenging to see in yourself. Character takes time for you to uncover, and time for it to reveal itself.
The Moon: Your Behavior
Your needs, habits, sensory input and impressions
The Moon complex reveals your fundamental relationship needs, drives and expectations.
It shows your innate responses to everyday life.
All habitual behavior that you are a slave to, or a ‘default’ position where you simply absorb experience passively or become little more than “a bundle of reactions”.
Your lunar instinctive behavior is sourced from your past, your mother and what she taught you unconsciously about the world. How to behave and how to react to situations were very often preprogrammed in your early life.
The Moon can reflect your most tender, vulnerable and immature side, and it is like a storehouse of emotions.
The Moon shows what you are attached to, and what you need to feel safe and rooted. Your behavior is a collection of instincts formed to create a complex pattern.
It is an interconnected web of habitual responses where the drive to remain safe and sound.
Behavior is how you are when you are together with yourself. It shows up in your range of responses in yourself and from those around you.
Your Moon complex indicates your temperament which is often linked to the four elements (the four ‘humours’ that were said to make up our disposition).
The Moon is a suggestion of your emotional responses.
Your Moon complex reveals your emotional nature.
Summary: Ascendant, Sun and Moon
Ascendant
- Your Ascendant is your one-to-one personality.
- It reveals your approach to life.
- It suggests the tools you use to interact with others. I
- t shows the first impression you make on others.
Sun
- Your Sun shows your core character.
- It is linked to your central purpose, goal, focus and life-path.
- It indicates your life-journey of self-discovery and the process of becoming whole.
Moon
- Your Moon suggests your natural behavior and temperament.
- It indicates your natural needs and habitual responses to everyday life.
- It reveals your emotional nature and suggests your default reactions and feelings to people and situations.
Main Takeaway: Ascendant, Sun and Moon
The Sun
The Sun is more concerned with how the world affects you and how you can impact the world. The Sun suggests your journey, or path of self-discovery and your major life statements. It is the ultimate path, the archetype that you are here to embrace and embody.
The Sun is the very heart of your horoscope, but the Ascendant and Moon say more about your personality and behavioral traits. These two chart factors are of far greater importance when considering how people come across, behave, react and interact in life.
Moon and Ascendant
Your Moon and your Ascendant are critical to unveiling relationship patterns and dynamics that develop in early childhood with close family members and schoolmates.
They form the basis of your expectations and the roles you can naturally play out in your love life, work and friendships.
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Author Bio
Alison Price: Professional Astrologer
Alison helps you uncover your individual creativity and lead a fulfilling life using your own astrology. She shares her wisdom from the heart with a touch of humor. She offers Consultations for everyone and Coaching for Aspiring Astrologers.
If you’d like to get in touch with Alison, you can reach out to her via email at starzology@gmail.com.
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