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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Wisconsin chapter.

Because Your Sun Sign Isn’t Everything

Whether you think astrology is a complete joke or does actually hold some truth, there’s no denying that almost everyone has heard of zodiac signs. However, most people are only familiar with their sun sign, which dismisses everything else in astrology that plays a role in putting together your unique personality, such as your moon sign, rising sign and planet orientation. 

Sun Sign

Like I said, most people are familiar with their sun sign, which is the constellation section the Sun was in when you were born. This is the side of your personality that comes easiest to you, who you are on a day-to-day basis and how you instinctively navigate through life. 

Rising Sign

While your sun sign is the overall essence of your personality, your rising sign is how you present yourself to people. For example, you might be relatively insecure on the inside or in your daily activities, but when presenting yourself to the world, you come across as confident and extroverted. It’s possible that who you come across as pretty similar to your overall personality, but it’s more common that people don’t always act exactly in line with what their sun sign suggests.

Moon Sign

Your moon sign represents the deepest part of you. It consists of your emotions, struggles, fears and moods. This is the ‘true’ version of yourself that you may or may not show to everyone. Your moon sign reveals the depth to which you feel, along with how you react to particularly adverse or heavy situations.

It’s more than likely that all three of these signs will be different, but it’s possible that a couple of them might be the same. Now, you might be confused – how can they be the same if one is your inner personality and the other is your outer? Well, it means who you are on the outside is pretty consistent with who you are on the inside. This is not to say that there isn’t more to you than meets the eye, just that you are more likely to be able to articulate how you feel and probably don’t have much trouble being honest about your opinions (be careful, this might get you in trouble).

The Planets

Planet orientation refers to what constellation and ‘house’ each of the planets were in at the time of your birth. The planets themselves are not as important in determining your personality as the specific houses they’re in. The most significant houses are the first, fourth, seventh and tenth.

The first house is about you, your self-identity and self-awareness. It’s about how you act and your opinions. The fourth house is about your family – this includes your home life (current or childhood), sibling relationships, etc. The seventh house is about relationships, e.g., marriage, divorce, lawsuits, business partners. This is not to be confused with the fifth house, which is about less serious relationships like affairs, crushes or other short-term connections. The tenth house is about your career and status, which is pretty self-explanatory.

There are many sites that will give you your sun, rising and moon signs, along with what planets are in your houses, as long as you know your time and location of birth (and birthday, of course)! Stay tuned for my future articles, though, which will go into depth on the three signs individually, what each of the 12 zodiacs means in relation to them and what each planet in the houses means.

Sim Gandhi

Wisconsin '23

Sim is a senior majoring in Psychology with Certificates in Digital Studies and Design Strategy at UW-Madison. Professionally, she wants to employ her creativity and pursue a career in the world of advertising and social media. In her free time, Sim loves to sip on smoothies, pet her bunny and binge TV shows!