Having your rising sign fall in X sign isn’t quite the same thing as having a planet there. The Ascendant casts a map, which you might better understand as an astrological chart, where every other area of life (described by the houses) behaves according to certain tendencies.

Assuming you’re using a whole sign house system, there are certain things all rising signs will have in common with each other based on where the rest of the houses fall — and by extension, which planetary archetypes they’re being patterned by.

Each traditional planet (minus the Sun and Moon) rules a pair of houses in any given chart. Thinking about that planet's function as a synthesis of those two house topics can tell you so much about why a particular rising sign is...like that!

Aries Rising

Mars rules the 1st and 8th. There's a sense of thanatos ("death instinct") in driving toward the leading edge of desire. Aka they're on their dare devil/stunt double bullshit.

With Mercury ruling the 3rd and 6th, habits and routines are always in a state of flux/machine learning, which is maybe why Aries has trouble finishing what it starts.

Jupiter rules the 9th and 12th, turning self-discovery into an epic personal quest or odyssey.

Taurus Rising

Venus rules the 1st and 6th — sometimes beauty standards can become unhealthy, or maybe no one sees the labor that goes into moving through the world with beauty and grace

With Jupiter ruling the 8th and 11th, Taurus Rising rolls deep with lots of heavily resourced connections or large friend groups.

Saturn rules the 9th and 10th, meaning steadfast Taurus is schooled in tradition and becomes its keeper by means of reforming it.

Gemini Rising

Mercury rules the 1st and 4th, which is a mark of extreme mobility — a chameleon who can be and exist anywhere and everywhere at once. Or, there's more than one way to tell your personal history. Gemini Rising is constantly creating a narrative. This is slightly different than Virgo Rising, who has Mercury ruling the 1st and 10th. The shapeshifting has more to do with the skills you can offer the public.

Gemini Rising also has Venus ruling the 5th and 12th, making them prone to having vices and perhaps using bad experiences with lovers as creative fuel for a song.

Saturn ruling the 8th and 9th = student debt (lolsob). Not just in a literal sense, because who doesn't have that, but Gemini Rising is eternally curious and perhaps invests more in their education as a result.

Cancer Rising

Cancer Rising has Venus ruling the 4th and 11th, so naturally they're the ones hosting lots of dinner parties at their immaculately decorated place.

With Mars ruling the 5th and 10th, they might find themselves cast into an aggressive/"take charge" sort of role because of their protectiveness toward children and their creations. Aka this is where the mama bear aspect comes from.

Saturn rules the 7th and 8th for Cancer Rising: "til death do us part." Even if they don't dream of marrying for life, there's a sense of deep loyalty here that might explain why Cancer is stereotyped as clingy.

Leo Rising

Leo Rising has Mercury ruling the 2nd and 11th: Connections are currency, and they need to be in constant circulation.

Venus ruling the 3rd and 10th is basically "popular kid at school" energy. You were likely well-received in one of your most formative environments, which gave you some amount of confidence or maybe even a celebrity complex.

With Jupiter ruling the 5th and 8th, your art gets funded by sugar daddies. But Saturn ruling the 6th and 7th means you either have a "work spouse," or you bond with others on the basis of shared misfortune.

Virgo Rising

Mercury rules the 1st and 10th. Unlike Gemini Rising, which weaves a narrative about who they are and where they've been, Virgo Rising reinvents themselves to offer an increasingly varied set of skills to the public.

Mars rules the 3rd and 8th. A sibling rivalry or early conflict around sharing shapes the clarity with which they separate what's theirs and what isn't. This could be about not mincing any words and being decisive when it's time to draw a boundary or cut someone off.

With Saturn ruling the 5th and 6th, Virgo Rising can't have fun when there's work to do, and they can't work when there's fun to have. It's a marriage of creative process and labor under the steady hand of diligence that makes Virgo the ultimate artisan.

Libra Rising

Libra Rising has Venus ruling the 1st and 8th: The desire to be liked can be a source of agony, but it tends to get you sponsored. Or: your charm/social intelligence has a way of sweetening the pot and helping you get more of what you want from others.

Mars ruling the 2nd and 7th: Impulsive spending, impulsive attachments. Date nights get extra spendy with this combination. You might also tend to attract competition that wants what you have.

With Mercury ruling the 9th and 12th, Libra Rising is flexible with beliefs and can weigh many truths, but this might also lend itself to anxiety, paranoia, or overthinking. There's a sort of option paralysis due to too many different viewpoints you're constantly considering.

Scorpio Rising

Scorpio Rising has Mars ruling the 1st and 6th. Unlike the brinksmanship of Aries, Scorpio exerts themselves to work toward a desired outcome. They can fall into a workhorse/burnout cycle, but this is also about working in ways that are at once obvious and covert.

Jupiter ruling the 2nd and 5th makes Scorpio Rising either a bit of a high roller or a gambler, and definitely a fun party accomplice. A lot of this circles back to hunger and being insatiable — the consumption of pleasure always begs for more, for higher stakes.

Venus rules the 7th and 12th: It's hard to trust people, especially when they're nice.

Sagittarius Rising

Sagittarius Rising has Jupiter ruling the 1st and 4th. You're a rodeo on wheels, riding on a wing and a prayer. Big citizen of the world energy. Faith is what you were born into, and faith is what you are.

Saturn ruling the 2nd and 3rd: Budgets and calendars are really, really hard.

With Mars ruling the 5th and 12th, reckless hedonism can do you in. BUT! Ultimate enemies to lovers trope here

Sag Rising also has Venus ruling the 6th and 11th. Their visionary enthusiasm gets collaborators, teammates, and the collective at large on board with their ideas. Teamwork is the dreamwork.

Capricorn Rising

Capricorn Rising has Saturn ruling the 1st and 2nd. This gives Cap Risings a deep sense of accountability (literally, accounting for their accounts). There's a sense of ownership over what's "theirs." They assume the mantle of responsibility completely.

Mars ruling the 4th and 11th: "Daddd, stop! You're embarrassing me in front of my friends!" (In all seriousness though, there can be a pattern of needing to cut ties with family, friends, or organizations in order to preserve one's own dignity)

With Venus ruling the 5th and 10th, Cap Risings are often in love with their legacies, and leave a legacy of love (which is often a labor of love). This is subtly different than the "married to their work" trope people often assign to Capricorn.

Aquarius Rising

For Aquarius Rising, Saturn rules the 1st and 12th. They're more self-aware of their self-defeating tendencies and, consequently, have fewer people to blame. Perhaps putting up a wall is your way of making sure that the only person who can get in your way is you.

With Mars ruling the 3rd and 10th, you can see how they might make a name for themselves for being a contrarian, or having provocative ideas.

Venus rules the 4th and 9th: Aquarius Rising might be the kind of person who would move to another country for love or for the ~aesthetic~. They're citizens of the world who derive their values and style from all over, which could be why they feel like perpetual outsiders.

Pisces Rising

Pisces Rising has Jupiter ruling the 1st and 10th. They are here to transcend the limitations of their selfhood and their purpose by aligning themselves with something larger than their own individual impact. This kind of tracks with the modern "Pisces is ego death" notion.

They also have Mars ruling the 2nd and 9th. Their beliefs and teachings can feel like the most valuable currency they have, which is why they might find themselves in situations where they have to defend and protect them, or maybe even proselytize.

Saturn ruling the 11th and 12th: Feeling responsible for the collective can be its own sort of trap. If others suffer, you suffer in solidarity. Pisces Rising takes on the weight of the world, but paradoxically, that gravity might be the very thing that tethers them.

This post was originally published as a Twitter thread in June and July of 2021.