Your rising sign — also called the Ascendant — is the zodiac sign that was climbing over the eastern horizon at the exact minute you were born. It changes roughly every two hours, which is why your birth time matters so much.
The doorway of the chart
If the Sun is who you are at your core and the Moon is how you feel in private, the rising sign is the door everyone walks through to reach either of them. It shapes first impressions, your instinctive style, and the way you enter a room.
People meet your rising sign long before they meet your Sun.
Finding yours
You need an accurate birth time, ideally to the minute. With that, your chart will show the sign sitting on the 1st-house cusp. If you have only read your Sun-sign horoscope, try reading for your rising sign too — many people find it lands much closer to home.