Asc Planets
Ascendant
Rising point: how a person is seen at first meeting and how they enter the new
What it means
The Ascendant is not a planet but a point: the degree of the ecliptic rising above the horizon at birth. It sets the first impression, the way of entering the new and the start of the first house, and thus the whole house system of the chart.
In balance
Natural manner, recognisability, alignment of appearance with content
Out of balance
A mask instead of a face, stiffness in a new environment
What this object is
completes the whole circle in a day: shifts a degree every four minutes
The Ascendant depends on the place and minute of birth more than anything in the chart: it completes a full circle in a day and shifts by a degree every four minutes. Therefore people born on the same day in different cities have different house systems.
How to read in your chart
Look at the Ascendant sign — how you are perceived before meeting, and its ruler: the planet ruling this sign shows how you present yourself. Without an exact birth time the Ascendant is not counted at all.