The 1st House and Ascendant

The following is an excerpt from my Patreon post.

The 1st house is where it all begins. It’s associated with the sign Aries which is first of all the signs and first of the fire signs. First tends to have connotations of WINNER. It’s about the I, the ME. The 1st house is all about the self. It is the spark of life, the animation, the flame, the warmth of the body, the beginning.

The 1st house is cast from the Ascendant. The Ascendant is marked by the sign that was coming up over the horizon in the east when we took our first breath. This is the sunrise moment of our lives and as we take in that energy of the sign on the Ascendant, it cloaks us in its traits and characteristics. Another way we could describe this is that we are given a costume so we can play our part in life. The costume reflects the characteristics of the sign on the Ascendant. They say that on first meeting, people are most likely to see our rising sign first. It’s only when we get to know someone that we see their Sun sign traits coming out. The planet ruling the sign on the Ascendant becomes the ruler of the chart. It demonstrates just how important this part of the chart is.

If the Ascendant, the cusp of the 1st house, represents our first breath, then we can also say that this part of the chart represents our first impressions. How does planet Earth feel when we first arrive? Our first impressions govern how we interact with the world and therefore others see us through this filter too. Some say that the 1st house also shows the part we played in our family at a young age, the very early environment. I would normally go to the 4th house for a long description of childhood but the 1st house can also give us some important information too.

In his seminal work, The Twelve Houses, by Howard Sasportas, he describes the Sun as being about why we are here, and the Ascendant is how we get there. By demonstrating the best of the traits on our Ascendant and in the 1st House, this can help us to step into ourselves and be the person we came here to be.

The 1st house also talks about our physical body – our stature, the way we look and hold ourselves, our deportment. The sign on the cusp and planets in the 1st house can illustrate the way we relate to our bodies, how we feel about them and the illnesses and problems that we tend to be susceptible to.

When we have health issues, we commonly look to the 6th house for answers but it is always important to take the condition of the 1st house into account too as this will give us extra information to work with.

The First House Keywords and Phrases

Sunrise
Beginnings
Embodiment
Body language
Self/I/Me
Early life environment
Appearances
Physical Characteristics
Physical gifts and challenges
Image
Personal Style
Presentation
The lens through which you see the world
How you interact with the world
What others see of you on first meeting
How you need to be in the world to fulfil your (Sun’s) mission

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Painting – ‘Jacques fray as a baby’ by Pierre-Auguste Renoir