Picture if you will a big belt circling the earth that is fixed in width. I like to think of it as looking like the tracks of a giant roller coaster. In the center of the track or belt are the constellations that make up the Zodiac and it rotates, like the Sun, around the earth at a rate of one constellation every 2 hours. So every 2 hours on every horizon is a constellation ranging from Aries all the way through the Zodiac to Pisces.

Your astrological chart is cast with the first house being the sign that was on the horizon at that moment of birth called your Rising Sign or Ascendant. The Rising Sign tells us how we approach the world; it's our mask, the Makeup we put on to prepare us to meet new people. I often use the following example because it's a perfect visual to aid in the understanding of the Rising Sign. Picture yourself home alone; listening to your favorite music, being so moved that you start to sing out loud. You know you sound great and in your mind's eye you are on a stage being admired by the world for your incredible vocal range. It doesn’t matter if you really sound like a frog…you are cutting loose and having a great, uninhibited time. Images of Tom Cruise dancing in Risky Business come to mind! Suddenly there is a knock at your door and you are snapped back like the pull of a rubber glove. You immediately try to re-assemble yourself, taking deep breaths, straightening your hair, patting down your clothes (or putting some on) in order to make your standard presentation at the door. Some of you may put on your mean, irritated face, others may put on their happy friendly face but you will likely put on a face that looks quite different than the one you just had on while you were belting out your song. That face is your Rising Sign.

You show your rising sign to every stranger you meet. It's only those people who are close to you that get to see your Sun Sign (that's the sign that you say when someone asks you "What's your sign?"). You can see that when you meet someone you are first meeting their Rising Sign yet as you get to know them something else emerges. I don't have to remind you how many people have said, "After we got married a different person emerged." Welcome to the Rising Sign Reality. Don't let anyone tell you the Rising Sign is not important, it can mean the difference between a big let down later on or an incredible pot of gold in your relationships. Knowledge is power. Know your rising sign.