Understanding My Book's Cover: An Introspective Journey to Embrace my Rising Sign

This post is written by another brilliant client of mine, Lisa Limbaugh.  I deeply appreciated Lisa's insights when she took my MoonManifest course.  Her reflections on the powerful role of the Ascendant in a natal chart are equally thought-provoking.

My belief as an astrologer is that we're here to learn the lessons encoded in our entire natal chart, including our Ascendant. But, I appreciate the Soul Astrology perspective that Lisa expresses in her post! 

Lisa is married with two daughters. She is a photographer, a woodworker and furniture restorer - and a writer! She is also combat disabled from her service in the U.S. Army (which is super interesting, in the context of her post!) 

She was born in the United States but has lived worldwide and enjoyed her travels immensely. She lives in Florida, where, in her own words, "being near the ocean puts the salt back in my body and soothes my soul like nothing else!"

Several years ago, I was introduced to Soul Astrology. Soul Astrology says your Ascendant, or rising sign, is your primary journey, one that is soul-centered. It is where you earn your wisdom. It is what you are here to master in this lifetime, so your next life will be easier. Mastering your Ascendant is a deeply personal undertaking of intentional study, thought, practice, and lessons, followed by more study, thought, practice, and lessons, and, if you are doing it right, mastery.

Mastering your rising sign does not consist of one single 'ah ha' moment. There will be many until your allotted lessons are complete. These lessons occur over time to stimulate your growth and, through that, deepen your understanding. In doing so, you become a truer version of yourself, making the journey richer. 

"Our Rising Sign is What We Allow Other People to See"

Our rising sign is what we allow other people to see. What we unconsciously show them. It is their first impression of us. What is difficult is that we do not know what it is like to meet ourselves for the first time. We have always been this rising sign, and we naturally project it. Having never met ourselves before, there is no way to know what it feels like to meet us. We rely on others to tell us what we are like on the outside. When we become conscious of this sincere version of ourselves, some people may become uncomfortable with it and try to hide behind a self-serving, ego-driven version to manipulate what someone else experiences. Hiding behind a façade so no one else knows the true you.

Aries Rising

Mastery for an Aries rising happens through energy—energy spent on activity, athletics, self-awareness, creativity, courage, inspiration, thought, study, or intuition, for example. It occurs through initiation and new beginnings—anything to do with firsts, being heroic or being bold.

By in large, Aries rising lessons will be those of the mind. Learning to quiet the mind means the clutter and chaos no longer dominate your thoughts or control your mind. It means you have space to initiate something new. You become more self-aware and realize your impact on those around you.

In my life, I encounter people who instinctively fear me, which surprises me because I am a go-with-the-flow type. It bothered me because I did not want anyone to feel uncomfortable around me or be known as a ruffian. I talked to my friends and family about how people perceived me and asked them for their opinions. One of my friends, who also studied astrology, suggested I look into Soul Astrology and then at my natal chart.

Lisa's Natal Chart: 

Why People See Me the Way They Do?

With my first house (Aries), my rising sign (Aries), and my entire chart ruled by Mars, as well as my Mars residing at the Aries Point of 0º Libra (First house of the daytime = Aries), and my Sun and Venus in Sagittarius, and my Jupiter in Leo, I wondered if some people may be noticing the cavernous depths of my fire. You would naturally run from a big fire.

With my Mars sitting at 0º, he is a newborn. He knows nothing. He must learn everything. My bold, brave, fiery Aries rising is ruled by a bold, brave, fiery newborn planet. Perhaps this sends a very confusing message to others?

The critical degree on which my Mars sits increases and intensifies Mars's energy and can make it doubly challenging energy. He is incredibly young and has everything to learn. Maybe people sense that?

Pluto plays heavily in my natal chart with a minor aspect to my Ascendant, squares my Sun, and conjunct my Moon.

My Journey to Mastering My Fiery Ascendant: Meditation, Focus, and a Slice of the Moon

I began to see a shift in other people's reactions to me after I had been practicing meditation for a few years. This is also when I found and enrolled in AstroLoggia's Moon Manifest Course to help me understand the Moon cycle better and learn to harness them through manifesting.

If I learned anything through the Moon Manifest Course (I learned so much, far more than I expected), it was to write down what I wanted to manifest somewhere where I would see it and recite it as often as possible. I wrote my manifestation request on a sticky note and put it on my bathroom mirror. Every time I washed my hands, I saw the sticky note and recited my request. I drink a lot of fluids daily, so this worked well for me.

Within a month, I began seeing what I asked for manifesting in my life. After three months, I was amazed at how well this system worked. I saw the fruits of my labor coming true and still see it a year later! I continue to keep what I want to manifest written on my mirror to recite multiple times daily.

I harnessed that knowledge and began tracking how people responded to me through each Moon phase and sign, curious if that had anything to do with my Ascendant energy. I tracked this for six months and was genuinely surprised at the results.

When the Moon was in Virgo, people responded most favorably to me. I was staggered to see that result. People avoided catching my eye the most when the Moon was in Aquarius. People spoke to me more often when the Moon was new. Most of this is simply an observation from my point of view and does not consider what other people had going on in their charts or what they were going through that day.

By attempting to figure out other people, I have learned how significant my rising sign is and what it does to brighten and expand my life. It allows me to meet each new day with a fiery zest for life, a yearning for something new or bold, and it enables me to do it all with a childlike curiosity for the next new thing to get in too. This is the road to mastery for an Aries rising.

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So that's Lisa's insightful journey into her fiery Aries Ascendant.

Our Ascendant is the lens through which our natal chart expresses itself to others. But, there is so much richness in each natal chart....

Do you see anything else in Lisa's that could make people feel that she is not to be trifled with?

If so, comment below! (Your e-mail address will not be published).

And if you're curious about the MoonManifest course, you can learn more here.

Photo by Xuan Nguyen on Unsplash