* Although astrologers have confidently named Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto as rulers or co-rulers of Aquarius, Pisces, and Scorpio, those planets have not been given signs of exaltation or fall. These things take time.
Accidental dignities
Another way to dignify a planet is by house placement. Imagine that the first house is equivalent to Aries, the first sign. If Mars, the ruler of Aries, happens to be in the first house, it is accidentally dignified, regardless of the sign it occupies. Similarly, Saturn is the ruler of Capricorn, the tenth sign, so it is accidentally dignified in the tenth house, no matter what sign it’s in. Table 1-5 shows you where each planet is accidentally dignified.
TABLE 1-5 Table of Accidental Planetary Dignities
| House | Accidental planetary dignity |
| 1 | Mars |
| 2 | Venus |
| 3 | Mercury |
| 4 | Moon |
| 5 | Sun |
| 6 | Mercury |
| 7 | Venus |
| 8 | Mars and Pluto |
| 9 | Jupiter |
| 10 | Saturn |
| 11 | Saturn and Uranus |
| 12 | Neptune and Jupiter |
Assessing the Ascendant
Another major component of your chart is the Ascendant or rising sign — the sign that was climbing over the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth. It describes your mask or persona, the surface personality that you show the world.
Have you ever had a friend who was Miss Congeniality — until you got to know her? Did you ever encounter anyone who seemed standoffish and cold at first but warmed up later on? Do you know anyone whose devil-may-care, lighthearted attitude masks a calculating, manipulative mind? And have you ever wondered how you strike other people, especially when they don’t know you well? Your horoscope provides the answer. While your Sun sign may not be apparent to people, they definitely notice your Ascendant. It’s your image, your facade, your surface. Whether it clashes or harmonizes with your Sun sign, it describes the way people see you and the impression that you make. Indeed, some astrologers consider the ruler of the Ascendant — that is, the planet that rules your rising sign — to be the overall ruler of your chart.
No matter what your Sun sign is, any one of the 12 signs might have been rising over the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth. If you were born at dawn, when the Sun was just peeking over the horizon, you already know your rising sign: It’s the same as your Sun sign. If you were born at any other time of day, your rising sign and Sun sign differ.
For those people whose Sun signs and rising signs are identical, the surface and the substance are the same. For everyone else, what you see isn’t necessarily what you get.
