Finding Your Ascendant Sign

Not all forms of metaphysical and astrology are made up of superstition. Astrology and occult only tells us about our personality, major happenings, probable actions and the different tendencies which we possess.

Nicky, a pure geminean, always wears a dull and solemn look. The reason is that he is not happy with his career, although he enjoys a handsome pay package, as his work varies very little day to day. He complains of his monotonous work schedule continuously.

Nicky’s unhappiness in a routine job, however highly skilled would be even greater if it did not allow him to meet people, to indulge in a certain amount of friendly contact with others during the course of work.

Astrology, to be more specific, Western Astrology, is gaining a rapid appreciation in these days all over the world. If you want to check it out, just go up to your nearby book store, or visit the cyber café adjacent to your house, you will find everybody, people of all ages looking at astrology related stuff. In ancient China wise men closely observed the movement of the sun, moon and the planets and prophesied the future of kings and emperors.

Most people, even the 10 year old school-goers, know which sign of the zodiac they were ‘born under’ and they will be occasionally seen to glance at the astrology sections and columns of newspapers and magazines. While the position of the sun in the zodiac at a particular birth date is an important factor to be noted by the astrologers, it is not considered to be single most crucial factor to be considered in individuals’ horoscopes.

The factor is the ‘rising sign’, i.e. the sign of the zodiac that is on the horizon at the time of birth. At whatever date a person is born it is possible for him or her to have any one of the 12 zodiacal signs as the ascendant or the ‘rising sun’. Now as we all know that there are all together 12 zodiac signs as per the Western Astrology. The 12 zodiac signs are classified as follows according to the date of birth:

1. Aries (The Ram) - March 21 – April 20
2. Taurus (The Bull) – April 21 – May 21
3. Gemini (The Twins) – May 22 – June 22
4. Cancer (The Crab) – June 23 – July 23
5. Leo (The Lion) – July 24 – August 23
6. Virgo (The Virgin) – August 24 – September 23
7. Libra (The Balance) – September 24 – October 23
8. Scorpio (The Scorpion) – October 24 – November 22
9. Sagittarius (The Archer) – November 23 – December 22
10. Capricorn (The Goat) – December 23 – January 19
11. Aquarius (The Water Carrier) – January 20 – February 19
12. Pisces (The Fishes) – February 19 – March 20.

Finding Your Ascendant

What is needed to get an overall impression of your personality is not only knowledge of what sign the sun was in at the time of birth, but it also depends upon the sign on the horizon at the actual time of birth. In order to attain a reasonable accuracy in calculating the ascendant, the following steps need to be followed:

Step1. Note down the local time and the place of birth.

Step2. Adjust this clock time for any reasonable variations, such as Daylight Saving Time or British Summer Time, which were in force at the time of birth.

Step3. Look up and note down the star time.

Step4. Take the clock time of birth as adjusted for seasonal composite pictures.

This gives us an overview of the various zodiac signs and the calculation of the ascendant sign in astrology.