Positions
Ascendant in Aries
Modern
Aries rising is the part of you that goes first. You come across as direct, energetic, and a little impatient, the one who acts while others are still talking it over. The first impression is of someone alive and ready, often with a physical, get-on-with-it presence. Your chart ruler is Mars, so wherever Mars sits in your chart shows what you are really charging toward. The gift is courage and a clean, unhesitating way of meeting life. The work is learning to aim before you fire and to let other people take the lead now and then without feeling you have lost.
Traditional (Hellenistic)
With Aries rising the eastern sign is the domicile of Mars, who becomes the lord of the whole chart and stamps the life with heat, drive, and forward motion. The traditional authors read the form of the body and the temperament from the rising sign and its lord; here the build tends to be lean and wiry and the manner brisk, ready, and quick to act. The native takes the initiative and meets obstacles directly rather than by patience. Because Mars carries the direction of the life as chart ruler, weigh its sign, house, and condition closely: well placed it gives courage and competence, afflicted it gives haste, heat, and quarrel.
Lean in — Aim the first burst of energy at one clear target.
Watch for — Pick a fight just to feel the friction.
- aries
- rising
- initiative
Sources
- Ptolemy, Tetrabiblos, III.11Derives the form of the body and the temperament from the rising sign and its ruler, here the hot, dry nature of Mars.
- Lilly, Christian Astrology (1647)Describes Aries ascending as a lean, strong body and a bold, forward manner.
- Forrest, The Inner Sky (1988)Reads the rising sign as the strategy one uses to meet the world; for Aries that strategy is direct action.