© Photosani / Shutterstock.comThe sun
The sun reflects your basic identity — your motivations, needs, will, and individuality. Its sign describes the way you express these aspects of yourself. Its house determines the arena in which you can most effectively be yourself.The moon
The Moon describes your feelings, subconscious, instincts, habits, and memory. Its sign determines the way you experience emotions. Its house placement points to the area of life that is most essential to your well being.The astrology rising sign or Ascendant
The Ascendant describes the surface level of your personality — the face you show the world.The ruling planet
The planet that governs your Ascendant is the ruler of your chart, regardless of its location or of anything else in your horoscope. As the ruler, it contributes both to your sense of self and to the impression you give others. The following table shows you the rising signs and their ruling planets.| If Your Rising Sign Is . . . | You Strike People as . . . | And Your Ruling Planet Is . . . |
| Aries | Impetuous, strong-willed | Mars |
| Taurus | Stable, sensuous | Venus |
| Gemini | Verbal, high-strung | Mercury |
| Cancer | Emotional, responsive | Moon |
| Leo | Confident, exuberant | Sun |
| Virgo | Methodical, discerning | Mercury |
| Libra | Charming, appealing | Venus |
| Scorpio | Controlled, reserved | Pluto and/or Mars |
| Sagittarius | Cosmopolitan, irrepressible | Jupiter |
| Capricorn | Respectable, proud | Saturn |
| Aquarius | Friendly, individualistic | Uranus and/or Saturn |
| Pisces | Idealistic, receptive | Neptune and/or Jupiter |
Or glance at Rachel Maddow’s chart. An Aries, she has Cancer rising with the Moon, her ruler, conjunct Mercury in Pisces in the ninth house of publication (she is the author of a number-one New York Times bestseller), education (she has a doctorate from Oxford), and broadcast journalism. Whatever you may think of her political views, I think it’s fair to say that she has answered the calling of her chart.
| If Your Ruling Planet Is in the . . . | You Are . . . |
| First house | Self-conscious, motivated, a personality, and a self-starter |
| Second house | Security-mined; stubborn; someone for whom material values are primary |
| Third house | Busy, restless, a communicator and a master of small talk |
| Fourth house | A family member who appreciates the arts of domesticity |
| Fifth house | What’s wrong with having fun? You are a romantic, an entertainer, a devoted parent, a creative soul |
| Sixth house | Health-conscious, hardworking, someone who finds identity in vocation. |
| Seventh house | A confidante and a companion. Partnership is central to your being. |
| Eighth house | A sharp-eyed observer, a questioner, a magician. |
| Ninth house | An explorer and a thinker, adventurous and opinionated. |
| Tenth house | An achiever, a leader, a person of prominence |
| Eleventh house | A friend, a joiner, a person with hopes and aspirations |
| Twelfth house | A spiritual seeker and a hermit |
Stelliums
A cluster of three or more planets in the same sign and preferably in the same house is known as a stellium. Such a grouping is automatically noteworthy. When it appears in the same sign as the Sun, as commonly happens, it reinforces the message of that sign. When it shows up elsewhere, it can rival the Sun in importance.Either way, a stellium offers an intense concentration of passions and interests. It is always a focal point in a chart. If it includes four planets, and if one of those is Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto, it can take over the entire chart.
To see a stellium in action, consider the chart of the Nobel-Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. His chart shows six planets in Cancer, including the Sun, the Moon, and Neptune, the ruler of his Ascendant. Most of those planets are in his fifth house of romance, which was one of his frequent subjects – but far from his only subject. In addition to love sonnets, he wrote odes to, among other household objects, a spoon, a plate, a bar of soap, an artichoke, and a box of tea. He was the poet of domesticity.
Or ponder Mick Jagger’s chart. The world’s oldest, most indefatigable rock star has a stellium in Leo: the Sun, Jupiter, Pluto, Mercury (his ruling planet), North Node of the Moon, and — not conjunct any of the above but still in Leo — Chiron. So of course he’s still performing. He will always want to be on stage. That’s the nature of Leo.