The three keys to your chart
If anyone’s asked you about your “big three,” chances are they were referring to the three big players in your birth chart: your Sun sign, Moon sign, and rising sign (otherwise known as your ascendant). Although your complete birth chart is an intricate web of planets, houses, and aspects, these three components reveal some central threads of your personality and potential.
- Your Sun sign reveals your life’s purpose
- Your Moon sign describes your body and emotional world
- Your rising sign highlights your motivation for living and sense of self
Taken together, these three keys offer a powerful snapshot of your core astrological identity.
To track how your Sun, Moon, and rising signs unlock meaning in your life as we unpack each one, pull up your birth chart on the CHANI app or via our online chart tool.
What is your Sun sign?
The sign that most people identify with is their Sun sign. If someone says, “I’m a Libra,” for example, they’re probably referencing their Sun sign — and for good reason. The Sun represents our identity, life force, and purpose. In the solar system, it is our blazing central star. All beings on Earth depend on the Sun, and its role in your chart is vital too. When you honor the style of your Sun sign, you will most likely feel more generative, generous, courageous, and confident. In other words, unlocking your “main character” energy makes others want to bask in your glow.
If your Sun is in the expansive fire sign of Sagittarius, travel, philosophy, and spiritual life may invigorate you. But if your Sun is in the intuitive waters of Cancer, feeling cozy becomes a top priority — no matter where you are. Creating the right ambiance and making sure everyone’s needs are met will be the party tricks that bring out your shine. Your Sun’s placement by sign, house, and aspect (aka relationship) to other planets describes where and how you’re meant to emanate your natural gifts.
Just as your heart circulates revitalizing blood flow to the rest of your body, your Sun distributes energy to every other part of your chart. When you become disconnected from the pulse of Sol’s mission, you might feel sluggish, directionless, or uninspired as a result. Think of your Sun as your personal power source. When you plug into it, everything else in your chart (and your life) surges with strength, clarity, and possibility.
What is your Moon sign?
Just as our Moon reflects the Sun’s light, your Moon sign absorbs Sol’s information about your life’s purpose and offers a replenishing roadmap. Luna’s placement in your chart represents your daily wants, needs, and cravings. The Moon is constantly changing faces throughout its 29.5-day cycle. Similarly, the placement of your natal Moon highlights your own shifting moods and feelings. It also relays important information about your body and physical needs, your relationships with caregivers and caregiving, and the stories of your past.
If we imagine the Sun as the guiding North Star of our chart, we can think of the Moon as the daily flow of tasks that carries out Sol’s mission. Luna reveals how we need to tend to ourselves to actualize our life’s purpose. What feels restorative will differ from one person to the next. The Moon’s sign highlights the specific flavor of care you crave. If your Moon is in chatty Gemini, for example, you’ll likely lean in to “the talking cure” by spilling all to your friends, listening to three podcasts in a row (all on 2x speed), or venting to your dear diary. But with a Moon in grounded Taurus, consistent routines and sensual pleasures could be the best way to self-soothe.
Remember that Luna reflects our physical vessels and instincts, as well as our shifting emotional natures. If you grew up in an environment that taught you to tune out your cellular wisdom or ignore your instincts, it might take a moment to connect with the meaning of your Moon. Historically, the Moon has received less astrological love than the Sun. Likewise, it’s common to neglect our body’s input. But unless we take restful space to tune in and offer ourselves an appropriate amount of self-care, it will be difficult to achieve what we’re here to achieve.
When your Moon is honored, you feel emotionally secure, nurtured, and connected with your deepest self. But when this luminary is given the short end of the stick, you could experience feelings of rootlessness, instability, craving, and/or susceptibility to soap-operatic outbursts. Your Moon’s placement by house, sign, and aspect (aka relationship) to other planets illuminates your unique recipe for soul-fulfilling nourishment.
What is your rising sign?
Your rising sign (or ascendant) is the sign that was climbing over the eastern horizon at the moment you were born. Because the eastern horizon is where the Sun reappears every day, it represents birth and vitality. Thanks to Earth’s 24-hour rotation, the signs rise over this point really fast — every two hours or so, to be exact. This speed is important because it’s part of what makes your ascendant so specific to you. Your rising sign reveals the exact segment of the sky that was emerging when and where you entered the world. Not five minutes later. Not 50 miles away. But from the precise instant and geographical coordinates of your birth. That’s why your ascendant represents you — even more than the Sun or the Moon.
Your ascendant reveals your motivation for being here — “here” being planet Earth. Every great quest begins with an inspiration, a guiding instinct, a flash of curiosity. This point highlights what launched you onto your life path and what gets your engines roaring still today. If your ascendant is in analytical Virgo, for example, you might be compelled to troubleshoot problems in the systems that surround you. But if your rising sign is in mystical Pisces, untangling last night’s dreams or indulging your vast imagination could be more motivating for you. Your rising sign naturally compels you onto the yellow brick road that leads to your life’s purpose, as indicated by your Sun.
Your ascendant also tints your style and personal presence. Whether you sweep through a room in a flurry of activity or shyly hang out on the perimeter is often indicated by your rising sign. This means that if someone with an intensely private Scorpio Sun also has a Leo rising, they might still strike others as vivacious upon their first meeting. So the next time someone coyly asks you to guess their sign, tell them you’ll guess their rising sign, not their Sun sign, instead.
The ancients called the ascendant degree horoskopos, or “the hour marker.” Because this is one of the most personal points in the zodiac, it determines which signs fall in which houses in your birth chart. Your rising sign always correlates with your 1st House of self and vitality — so if you were born with Aquarius rising, Aquarius represents your 1st House. The next sign in the zodiac, Pisces, would then form your 2nd House of money and livelihood, and so on. Simply by knowing your rising sign, we can understand which areas of life the planets in your chart will impact. That’s why knowing your birth time can add so much accuracy to chart interpretation. But for many reasons, not everyone has access to their exact birth time. If this is the case for you, don’t worry. You can still work meaningfully with your birth chart. In fact, we have an article on how to do so.
Your steersperson
Since every sign is ruled by a planet, so is your ascendant. The planet that rules your rising sign is called your chart ruler, as it serves as the “steersperson” of your life, directing you to where you will live out your full potential. The placement of the planet that rules your chart illuminates wisdom about the direction your life must take. If you’re a Capricorn rising, for example, your chart ruler is the planet that rules Capricorn: Saturn. That means that moving in the direction of Saturn themes — which include personal responsibility, discipline, and ambition — will activate your greater purpose. We have an article about planets and their domiciles if you would like to learn more about your chart ruler.
Putting it all together…
To recap, your Sun’s sign, house placement, and aspect (aka relationship) to other planets reveal your life’s purpose. Your Moon’s sign, house placement, and aspect to other planets indicate your emotional nature, your body and physical needs, and your relationship to care and nurturing. Your ascendant or rising sign represents you: your motivation for living and the unique imprint you leave on the world. And the planet that rules your ascendant — i.e., your chart ruler — helps steer you in the right direction.
Once you know these keys, you can begin to unlock the blueprint of your life’s potential. You’ll also know what to say next time someone asks you about your “big three.”
If you haven’t already done so, pull up your birth chart on the CHANI app or via our online chart tool to unlock the secrets buried within these placements.
Looking for more intel? Read your daily horoscope:
Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo | Libra
Scorpio | Sagittarius | Capricorn | Aquarius | Pisces
Then download the CHANI app on iOS or Android for additional horoscopes, meditations, affirmations, readings for the current Moon phase and sign, and more.