Horoscope 101 — a fun start to new beginnings

Why do people born under the same horoscope sign act with different behaviors and attitudes? Shouldn’t they be more similar? How do they having different kinds of emotions and personalities? Are people more alike if they are born under the same astrological sign? To answer that question, we will need to know the differences that occur between the horoscope (the date of birth) and the rising sign (the time of birth) and how they effects peoples’ emotions, attitudes, effervescence and their life energy.



During every month in the year, the sun’s rays enter a new horoscope. People who born between 21st of March to 20th of April every year are Aries and people who born between 22nd of October and 21st of November are Scorpios. There are twelve asteroid ranges that make up the horoscopes signs during the year. The horoscope calendar begins with Aries and ends up with Pisces. That’s how the astrological year based. The astrological year begins on the 21st of March and is the first day in Aries. It coincides with the spring equinox. This last sign ends on the 20th of March and is the last day of Pisces. It coincides with the last day of winter. The calendar breaks down pretty easily with a new astrological sign taking place every 30 days. They are as follows;

21st of March to 20th of April — Aries
21st of April to 21st of May — Taurus
21nd of May to 22nd of June — Gemini
22st of June to 22ed of July — Cancer
23rd of July to 22nd of August — Leo
23ed of August to 22nd of September — Virgo
22nd of September to 21st of October — Libra
22st of October to 21st of November — Scorpio
22nd of November to 21st of December — Sagittarius
22nd of December to 20th of January — Capricorn
21st of January to 20th of February — Aquarius
21st of February to 20th of March — Pisces

Let’s take a look at what we call the Rising Sign. It affects the natal chart for everyone even if they were born under the same horoscope sign. We define the rising sign like this: The horoscope that is being in the skyline or the horizon when the sun rises. That sign’s reign takes 2 hours and changes with the progression of the day. The cycle starts at sunrise and which is usually between 6 AM to 8 AM. It does change per country. Time zone also has an affect.

Let’s look at an example: 

If a person is born on the 15th of October at 10:35 AM, their horoscope sign would be Libra. The personality would be 75% to 80% similar to that is associated with Libra. A way to think about it — the portion of a personality gives a person the way of how they feel, think and act.

Because they are born as a Libra at 10:35 AM, their rising sign would be Sagittarius. That sign was on the eastern horizon at the time you born. To calculate the rising sign, look at the time you were born in relation to 6:00AM. The sign will change every two hours. Two hours ahead is another sign but instead of moving forward on the astrological signs as shown above in the astrological calendar year, one moves back. A way to think of it: moving ahead in time is moving backward in astrology. Thus the astrological sign of our friend is a Libra but because he was born at 10:30 AM, he must move back in time four hours to get to 6AM. This is ahead two signs as the four hours is equivalent to two signs. The leap of two signs positions the astrological signs to be Sagittarius. 20% to 25% of that person’s personality would be under the influence of Sagittarius. They would get some of their emotions, attitudes, effervescences and personality from this sign.

Another way to look at it, lets look at another person born on the same day as our Libra friend on October 15th but at a time between 2 and 4PM. When we calculate his rising sun, we would go back in time 8 hours to get to 6AM, and we would go 4 horoscope signs after the Libra to be that of Aquarius. It could also be a little different because of the time zone of your place of birth. Also, depending on the country, sunrise is before 6AM and thus the signs must take this into account. Again, the rising sign influences a personality. It can be the outer projection of a person as society may see them. It does not reflect their inner core values but is how society may see them. For example: a Cancerian may be 70% domestic minded, clinging to family values, the home and nesting, but the rising sign may be that of a Leo. The Leo influence will make them more dynamic, more famous, more of a people person or someone with a leadership style. That is how society sees them, but may not always reflect how or who they really are.

A Rising Signs Break Down

Here are the rising signs and how they affect the personality of the people. Born under the same horoscope, people who have different rising horoscopes will have totally opposite personality traits.

Aries: This sign gives a high velocity, dynamic moving energy. Attracted to red and orange colors, it gives health issues related to the head and eyes. They tend to be more honest, generous but also aggressive as they walk through life than they otherwise would under another sign. More diplomacy is needed to deal with life’s issues.

Taurus: Attracted to the nature, arts and beauty, they tent to move slowly towards their goals with patience and a sense of balance. They have a tendency to have weight issues as they like food and may be a good cook also. They have a instant attraction to all degrees of the blue color.

Gemini: They have a degree of energy and are repulsed by stagnation or monotony. They require a lot of moving around and communication. They will be successful in study and analyzing. They have a tendency to move their hands a lot when they talk. They will encounter a lot of stress because their mind is constantly active and working 24/7. They are attracted to shades of brown, neutrals and sand colors.

Cancer: They are most equated with emotions, romance, imagination and the family. They are highly sentimental, have a tendency to be moody and love to help people. They tend to make mom their number 1 person in their lives and their kids also. They adore the colors of the sky particularly that of a blue summer day with white and silver.

Leo: Lights, action, STAR. They are famous, famous and more famous. They are full of honesty, bluntness with a leadership style. They are very creative people and a bit free spirited. They love to advise people and are good at it. They are attracted to yellow, gold and orange colors.

Virgo: if we will talk about someone with perfect organizational skills, that’s will be Virgo. They have a critical personality and they don’t like surprises. They are traditionalists and their favorite colors are light brown and green.

Libra: It is so easy to deal with a Libra. They have a kind, elegant and diplomatic way to deal with people. They are the peacemakers of the world.  They like to work in the arts and design fields. They too are attracted to all degrees of the blue.

Scorpio: full of very strong feelings and emotions but Scorpios have a tendency to hide them inside. They have the ability to discover and uncover what people are thinking just by looking to their eyes. They are highly sexually charged. Sex plays a great role in their lives. Black is their favorite color.

Sagittarius: They are into sports, horse riding and travel. These are important things to them. They are friendly in dealing with people and like to discover new cultures. They are attracted to philosophical ideas and things with religious significance. They feel alive with reds and oranges.

Capricorn: Always in need of entertainment, they tend to be very easy going with life. They work hard most of your time and look for getting high levels of achievement in life. But they do like to cut loose. Their lucky color, believe it or not, is the brown.

Aquarius: Social personality and total social butterfly. They look for equality, are socially egalitarians, they look for jobs that deals with independence and guarantees them a sense of freedom. They may act strangely or be viewed as eccentric. They are at home with the colors yellow and green.

Pisces: Full of romantic and spirituality, they like the theater, the movie world and drama. They have a tendency to be slightly moody person and like to escape from reality into their own worlds. Their colors are dark blue and purple.

We understand that everybody has a horoscope and if we understand the rising sun, a lot of differences among people can be explained for those who belong to the same sign. Some people can’t get along with others according to their personality differences and behaviors are influenced by their horoscopes. Conversely, others meld quite nicely with each other and get along together because they have a rising sign that makes their association more easily understandable.

We have talked about the sun how it affects the horoscopes and the rising signs but how about the moon or the other planets? That’s what we will talk about next time. So, stay tuned!

-Tariq Al saud - Astrology & Pop Culture Blogger