Ascendant: Virgo
What exactly is an Ascendant? In its simplest definition, your Ascendant is the astrological sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth. It is the sign that reflects your outward demeanor, and to a great extent determines how the outside world looks at you. Many astrologers believe the Rising sign is more immediately revealing than your Sun sign in terms of your personality. Because your Ascendant is the sign that was rising at the time of your birth (thus the term "rising" sign) it expresses the moment when you began independent existence in this world. As such, it tends to characterize the way you deal with others and your distinctive style of interacting with people.*
Virgo Ascendant
Virgo ascending indicates an analytical outlook. Though the degree of emotionalism depends on other influences in your horoscope, it is generally through the mind that you perceive the world. This is not to say you are cold and insensitive. Indeed, the opposite is true, for Virgo Ascendants have deep and tender emotions and care a great deal about others.
However, it is the process of thinking logically that gives you the deepest satisfaction. You appreciate the finely tuned mechanics of sifting through facts and information, finding the truth of the matter, introducing order and reason into almost any situation. Rising-Virgos are rather fixed in opinion, but not so inflexible that they will not change their minds upon careful review of opposing facts. To you, the cardinal sin is to be ignorant of one's ignorance.
A fault sometimes is your inability to put things in perspective, a proclivity for getting bogged down in minutiae and losing sight of the big picture. You magnify the importance of a petty detail and then become resentful if others fail to see its significance.
Work is important to you, and you usally accomplish a great deal during your lifetime. Often you are at war within yourself between wanting things to come easily and your great need to achieve solely through your own efforts. Control--both of self and of events--is what makes you feel secure. As it turns out, most Rising-Virgos do gain through their own hard work rather than through the influence of others.
You have a charm and elegance that is difficult to pin down. You are not always easy to know intimately. Your shyness and aloofness (sometimes well disguised by a social veneer) must be penetrated by anyone who wishes to become truly close. Emotionally, it's hard for you to show your feelings, though a great deal is always going on under the surface.
As children, Rising-Virgos sometimes suffer from poor health. Happily, health improves the older you get. For many of you, a marriage partner brings property or wealth. Later in life Rising-Virgos frequently become property owners, often in a foreign country. Success for you is often linked to dealings in and travel to places far from home.
As a Rising-Virgo person, you tend to have a gentle, oval face, eyes that sweep around a room and take in everything, and a body that gives the impression of frailty but is actually very strong.
The planet Mercury, which rules Virgo, is very prominent in your horoscope. The influence of Mercury bestows a logical mind, acute powers of observation, an intellectual outlook, perception, and a flair for science and writing. It also encourages fussiness, a nervous temperament, sarcasm, fault-finding and worry.
Back to Astrology Page On to Mercury
All information is taken from The Only Astrology Book You'll Ever Need by Joanna Martine Woolfolk.