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The ascendant of a given geographic location at a particular point in time is the point on the zodiac which is ascending over the eastern horizon as viewed from that place and time.
The astrological ascendant, or rising sign, is the zodiacal sign that was ascending on the Eastern horizon at a particular moment. For example, if a horoscope was drawn for an individual's birth that occurred exactly at the moment of sunrise and the sun was in Leo at that moment, the ascendant would be in the same sign as the sun-sign, so the person would be said to have Leo rising (or ascendant in Leo) in addition to having the sun in Leo.
There are exactly 30 degrees per astrological sign, and because 12 multiplied by 30 equals 360 which is the span of the ecliptic, all twelve signs rise and fall during the course of one 24-hour day. This exact rising degree forms the first house cusp of a horoscope and is said to be of great significance in the interpretation. The planet that rules the astrological sign of the ascendant is said to be the chart ruler.
Since the ascendant usually forms the cusp of the first house in a modern horoscope many astrologers believe that it naturally correspond to Aries, the first astrological sign of the zodiac, but these assumptions were not always made. Ancient astrologers used whole-sign house systems almost exclusively, which meant that each house of the chart began at 0 degrees of each sign. The first house was the one in which the point of the ascendant fell, but the ascendant itself did not form the boundary of the house. Secondly, the concept of each house having a corresponence to a zodiacal sign, which is sometimes called natural houses or the natural zodiac, is a modern one. In the original formulations of astrology, Mars, which rules Aries, the first sign, actually was most at home and most powerful in the sixth house, not the first.
The Ascendant is of great significance in all schools of astrology due to the fact that it serves as the filter through which everything in a horoscope- including the Sun and Moon- is expressed. Thus, most astrologers believe that the Rising Sign exerts an influence equal to or more powerful than the Sun and Moon. sun and moon. In Jyotish, the ascendant is without question the most individual and defining element in the chart.
See also
"Ascendant"