The 1st House, a question of personality !
- Attached to Aries, symbolizing “I am”
- Personality and Individuality axis
- Mode : Cardinal (Angular)
- Element : Fire (the life’s philosophy)
The 1st House of theAscendant denotes your Personality, it corresponds to your displayed character, what people perceive of you, the social varnish you let appear, your appearance (a part of your heredity with the 4th House), your temperament turned towards the outside, your active vitality on the daily life (see Ascendant Complex for more details and the difference with the Sun).
It’s your ego, your individuality, the deep individualism, in the Individuation process, it is the “Me” that is built as opposed to “Others” (represented by the 7th House attached to Libra), the self-consciousness as a separate entity…
The Sign of the 1st House is therefore considered as your Ascendant (or Rising sign), it colors your personality with the corresponding archetype of consciousness.
On the other hand, your solar Sign indicates your will power, your “Inner Self Being”, your “deep vitality”, your free will, in short your personal ideal to be realized during your whole life, for believers, it is the archetype of conscience of thesoul, which you radiate once the surface layers are removed…
To better understand the difference, the part of your personality that bends to social conventions and evolves in the whole “social theatre” is managed by your Ascendant; the part of your personality that is independent of all social or other considerations and that imprints your deep values is managed by your solar sign.
The Ascendant and the Solar Sign will thus nuance each other in accordance with the evolution of the native’s personality.
The harmony or dissonance between Ascendant and Solar Sign is interesting to study in a birth chart because it gives clues to interpret certain situations.
The 1st House and the 10th House are crucial to define character and get an idea of destiny.
The Ascendant can indicate the atmosphere surrounding the birth (as well as the grandmother), the archetype colouring the beginning of life, it informs about the mother state and the mother-child relationship during this period of the first days.
The Planets in the 1st House and their Aspects will come to tint with their energies the native’s personality, this angular location in a natal chart is very important.
The 1st House is to be symbolically related to the astrological aspect of the Conjunction as well as to the planet Mars.
The transits in the 1st House directly activate your individuality, your self-esteem, your egocentricity, your dynamism, and consequently your moods.
Analyzing the 1st House :
- First look at its opposite house, the 7th House, the Descendant symbolizing the Others.
- Then look at the Squares: the 4th House, the 10th House (Angular Houses, representing action)
- Take into account the Trines : the 5th House, the 9th House (Houses of Fire, representing the life’s philosophy)
Planets Rulerships Analogy :
With the 1st House we enter the hemisphere of introversion, of our secret world, of the matter, of the inner life.
For further :
Wikipedia article : Ascendant (astrology)
See the Astrological Houses.