Sun, Moon, and Rising — The Big Three Explained
- Rune Solea
- Jul 24
- 14 min read
Sun, Moon, and Rising Signs: The Big Three Astrology Breakdown
Why the Big Three Matter More Than You Think
My journey into astrology probably started like many others. I remember, when I was a kid, I'd look in the newspaper (yes, I'm aging myself here) and go to the small section dedicated to your horoscope of the day. I knew I was a Taurus sun, so I loved looking to see the potential that the day held for me. As the years went by though, I started feeling like it just wasn't deep enough. It was off...almost all the time. "Today is a lucky day, and you'll come into fortune." Then my tire blew and I actually had to buy four new tires because I had an all wheel drive car.
So I started delving deeper into astrology. And through my studying, I learned that your Sun sign is only the beginning of your story....just one-third of what we, astrologers, call your Big Three. Your Big 3 is a triad, and it includes your sun sign, along with your moon and rising sign (which you might hear called Ascendant - they're synonymous). And together, these three come together to form a large portion of the energetic structure of your life path and personality.
The Big Three hold the most immediate clues about how you express yourself...how you process emotions...and how you interact with the world. That’s why they’re the best place to start if you’re just beginning to explore your astrology birth chart—or if you're returning to astrology after feeling misunderstood by oversimplified zodiac memes (me...why do they always show Taureans eating???).
And here's the thing...your Big Three astrology placements aren’t static. They move with you through seasons of growth...of grief...and in seasons of becoming. When you learn how to listen to them—and I mean really listen—something inside of you begins to soften. The shame of not “being enough” starts to loosen...and in its place, a more grounded and powerful self-understanding emerges.
In this article, I'll walk you through each of these three placements—your Sun sign, Moon sign, and Rising sign—in clear, spacious language. You’ll learn how they not only work separately, but also together. You'll also learn how to interpret them in your life, and why they might feel out of sync right now.
Along the way, we’ll explore:
Why your Rising sign (or Ascendant) often feels like the “real you”
What your Moon sign reveals about your inner world and emotional needs
How your Sun sign supports your purpose and vitality
What it means when these signs feel mismatched—or unfamiliar
Why people born under different lunar phases (like New Moon or Full Moon) express their Moon sign energy differently
If you don’t yet know your Big Three yet, that's completely okay. You can simply go here to my free natal chart calculator. Although it's technically a full natal birth chart calculator, you can use it to find your rising sign chart and as an Ascendant calculator. Just make sure that you have your precise birth time (yes, you'll need to find your birth certificate, sorry!), date of birth, and location. The ascendant sign is based on your time of birth, so even having your time a few minutes off can make your rising sign change.
Let’s begin with the most familiar of the three—the Sun.
What’s Your Zodiac Sun Sign Really About?
Your Sun = Your Core Essence and Purpose
Most people begin their astrology journey with their Sun sign—and for good reason. It’s the one placement that’s easiest to find (you only need your birth date), and it tends to show up in everything from coffee mugs to pop culture quizzes.
But as I learned in my own studies, the Sun sign isn’t about your personality quirks or your taste in snacks. It’s not about whether you’re “fiery” or “grounded” or “obsessed with spreadsheets” (I say this with love, Virgos).
Your Sun sign is your essence. It’s the part of you that’s learning to shine over the course of your life—not necessarily the part that came naturally. That’s why it might not always feel like “you” right away.
In many ways, your Sun represents the journey of becoming. It’s the place in your chart that shows you how you rebuild your vitality...how you boost your confidence...and what kind of path your spirit is trying to walk toward. Think of it as the central character in the movie of your life—still evolving...still stumbling, but always growing into something brighter (we hope!).
Why Your Sun Sign Might Not Have Always Resonated
I remember feeling pretty confused about my own Sun sign for a while. I’m a Taurus, and while I absolutely value beauty and stability, I didn’t feel like the “slow, steady, and patient” caricature I kept reading about. I was restless. I loved change. I had big, big dreams (which my father mocked, thank you trauma!) and very little patience. It just wasn't adding up.
At the time, however, what I didn’t realize, was that your Sun sign isn’t always necessarily how you appear to others—or even how you see yourself. It’s more like your internal compass. It describes your core potential, your long-game energy. And it can take years—decades even—to fully grow into it. And yes, my patience has definitely improved, although...I'm a work in progress.
If your sun and moon signs seem wildly different, that’s actually pretty common. Your Moon might pull you inward while your Sun stretches you outward. Your Rising might add a completely different flavor altogether. (We’ll get to that soon.)
Your Sun Sign in the Birth Chart
In your full horoscope...your Sun’s placement is not only shaped by its zodiac sign, but also by its astrological house, astrology aspects, and phase. A Leo Sun in the 12th house, as an example, will express so much differently than a Leo Sun in the 10th...and most definitely than a Leo Sun in the first house. One may shine in quiet spiritual leadership, the other in bold, visible work.
But regardless of placement...your astrological Sun sign always, and I mean always, carries the light of your will....of your purpose...and of your entire life force. If you feel disconnected from that energy, it doesn’t mean you’re doing something wrong. But...it might mean that your environment - maybe your work, or relationships- aren’t feeding your solar fire the way they’re meant to.
What Your Sun Sign Can Tell You
What your zodiac Sun sign can begin to illuminate:
Where your core energy wants to flow
The kind of challenges that stretch you in healthy ways
What makes you feel alive, confident, and in motion
What kind of leadership or self-expression is most nourishing for you
So, maybe you're feeling off-track or unsure of your direction. And if so...your Sun sign is a good place to come back to—but not as a rigid label...more of a reminder of what you’re here to embody.
When the Sun Feels Dim
Sometimes, your Sun might feel dimmed. You may be navigating grief, burnout, or a season of uncertainty that’s made your usual confidence harder to access. In these moments, I find it helpful to ask:
“What does my Sun need to feel more alive right now?”
It could be more rest. More visibility. More connection to your creativity. Sometimes, it’s about remembering that the Sun never actually disappears—it just moves through cycles. Like you.
What Your Zodiac Moon Sign Says About You
The Moon = Your Emotional Intelligence & Inner World
I’ll be honest—my Moon sign didn’t make sense to me at first.
It wasn’t that it felt inaccurate...it just felt tender. Like someone was describing a version of me that I didn’t always show. And maybe didn’t even want to admit was there.
So if your Sun sign is the part of you that learns how to shine...then your Moon sign is the part that knows how to emotionally survive. Your moon sign speaks to what your nervous system feels is safe...what's familiar, and emotionally tolerable—even if that “familiar” isn’t actually helpful. That’s why your zodiac Moon sign can sometimes describe patterns you’re trying to outgrow, not just tendencies you’re proud of. So let's say you have a Virgo moon sign. That might mean that, although you can be incredibly detail-oriented, you can also put that towards your emotions. You might come off as a little cold sometimes, maybe even calculated, or highly analytical and detached. That's great for tech jobs, but not so great for romantic or family relationships, depending on their placements.
Your Moon sign rules your instincts. Your body memory. The soft, slippery moments when you act without thinking, or crave something without knowing why. It’s the younger you...and the parts of you that haven’t always had words.
Your Moon Sign, Your Needs
One of the most eye-opening things for me was realizing that my Moon sign didn’t just explain how I processed emotion—it explained how I needed to be cared for. And how I struggled to ask for that care.
We’re often taught to suppress our needs—or at least to intellectualize them. But your Moon sign in astrology doesn’t care how logical your needs sound. It only knows whether you feel safe. So if your Moon needs softness and quiet, no amount of hustle is going to make you feel secure. If your Moon needs movement and stimulation, too much stillness might feel suffocating.
Your Moon doesn’t negotiate. It reacts. And those reactions? They hold important data about how you self-regulate, and where your emotional muscles are either overworked...or underfed.
What the Moon Says About Your Emotional Wiring
Your Moon is:
Your emotional memory
Your gut reaction
Your inner child, in many ways
The tempo of your nervous system
That’s why understanding your Moon can help you uncover why certain things drain you faster than they drain other people...why certain relationships feel like home (even when they shouldn’t)...and why it can feel so hard to let go of certain patterns, even when you know they’re outdated.
If you’ve ever wondered, “Why do I keep ending up here?”—your Moon sign might have something to say about it.
Moon Sign Meets Moon Phase
There’s another layer to this, too—and that’s the lunar phase you were born under.
Not just the Moon’s zodiac sign, but where the Moon was in its cycle: New, Crescent, First Quarter, Full, etc.
This matters quite a bit more than most people realize.
As an example, let's say you were born under a Full Moon...then you might feel like you're always processing opposing forces—like you're trying to reconcile contradictions, navigate tension, or hold multiple truths at once. But, now let's say that you were born under a New Moon...you might feel more introspective, driven by subtle knowing rather than big, external displays.
The lunar phase sets the mood of your Moon sign. It can show whether your emotional process is more internal or external...future-focused or past-informed...cautious or expressive. I’ll write a deeper article on this soon, and when I do, I’ll link it right here so you can explore your lunar phase more fully.
When the Moon Feels Misunderstood
Sometimes, we don’t like our Moon sign. Or we’ve been told it’s “too much” or “not enough.” Maybe it’s been ignored altogether. I see this a lot, especially in people who’ve had to put others’ needs first—caretakers, parents, healers.
But your Moon is not optional. It’s not a side note. It’s a core part of your emotional body...and it holds key information about what you need in order to feel okay.
If your Moon sign doesn’t feel like “you,” try asking:
What did I learn to suppress in order to feel safe?
That question alone can open doors.
What Your Zodiac Moon Sign Can Reveal
Here’s what your zodiac Moon sign and lunar phase can help you understand:
- How you unconsciously react to stress (digestion, skin, outward aggression, rage cry, retreat, etc)
- What you crave when life feels overwhelming (solitude for those Virgo moons)
- How your emotions move through your body (or don't)
- What kinds of environments either soothe or stir you
- How you nurture—and how you want to be nurtured (obviously Cancer moons are all about this one)
And maybe most importantly...how to come back to yourself when you feel untethered.
What Does Your Zodiac Rising Sign Represent?
The Rising = Your Life’s First Impression & Soul’s Approach
I used to think my Rising sign (also called the Ascendant) was just about how other people saw me. And to be fair, a lot of astrology books made it sound that way—like it was your “mask” or your social persona. But the deeper I got into chart work, the more I realized that your rising sign isn’t a mask at all.
It’s a map.
Your Ascendant sign is the filter through which you engage with life. It’s the energetic lens you lead with—the first part of you that greets the world, yes, but also the part that determines how you begin everything. Not just first impressions, but new chapters, new relationships, even new thoughts.
If the Sun is your core and the Moon is your inner terrain, then your rising sign is your orientation system. It's the way you open the door to your entire chart.
The Ascendant as the Chart’s “Gatekeeper”
The rising sign sits right at the 9 o’clock position in your birth chart. What it actually represents in astrology is the sun rising over the horizon. But...when you're looking at your astrology chart, it's backwards - west is east and east is west. What I mean by that is that the left side of your chart represents the eastern horizon and the right side is the western horizon. Another thing is that the ascendant sign also marks the cusp of your first house. This first house rules your identity...your body... and generally speaking, your approach to life. So, whatever sign is rising there, that sets the entire tone for how all twelve houses are arranged.
In other words...your rising sign chart is what determines the framework for everything else. It influences how your Sun and Moon signs get expressed, and what roles they tend to play. And, if your rising sign is, let's say, in Aquarius (first house in Aquarius), then your second house will be ruled by Pisces, your third will be Aries, fourth house Taurus, and so on.
A little example here...let's say you have a Cancer Sun (traditionally a very nurturing water sign), but you have an Aries rising, which is more direct and independent. And then let's say your friend is also a Cancer sun, but they have a Libra rising, which tends to be much more relational and refined. You guys are both Cancer suns, which make you both nurturing, but your rising signs are very different...and therefore give you both a very unique way of interacting with the world. The zodiac rising sign gives us context. It’s the story your soul chose as the opening chapter...not because it’s performative, but because it’s purposeful.
How the Rising Sign Affects the Way You Move Through Life
Your rising star sign is kind of like your default operating system. It shows:
How you take initiative
How you navigate change
How others tend to experience you—even if you don’t feel that way internally
What kind of energy you naturally project when you walk into a room
And it’s often what people assume is your Sun sign, especially if they don’t know you well. That’s why someone might say, “Wait—you’re a Pisces? I would’ve guessed Sagittarius.” Chances are...you’ve got Sagittarius rising.
Over time, the Ascendant becomes a more integrated part of your identity. But it still tends to operate on instinct—meaning we don’t always recognize it as “us” until we take the time to study how we initiate things.
When Your Rising Sign Feels Off
If your Ascendant sign doesn’t resonate—or if it feels like it contradicts your inner world—you’re not alone. I’ve had many clients say things like, “I don’t feel like my rising sign,” or “I hate that it says I come off that way.”
This is where I usually pause and ask:
Is it that you don’t relate to your rising sign...or that it’s describing a part of you that had to be developed under pressure?
Sometimes, your rising sign reflects a survival strategy that formed early in life (thanks, parents! Or also just things that happened that were beyond their control). Other times, however, it shows a kind of wisdom your soul was hungry to embody. This especially true if your Sun and Moon signs lean in a different direction. Like, your Sun is a Cancer (nurturing and homey), but your Moon sign is an Aquarius (innovative and rebellious). It’s not always comfortable, but it’s usually revealing.
What Your Rising Sign Can Teach You
Your rising sign shows you:
The way you orient to new beginnings
How you protect or project yourself in unfamiliar situations
The kind of energy you naturally lead with
What other people tend to notice first about you
The tone you’re meant to set in this lifetime
It’s not just about appearances...It’s about approach. And when you begin to understand that approach—not judge it, but really understand it—you unlock something vital in your full horoscope.
How Do Your Sun, Moon, and Rising Signs Work Together?
Your Big Three Signs Are a Living Conversation
Here’s the thing I wish someone had told me early on—Your Big Three aren’t competing for attention. They’re communicating.
Your Sun, Moon, and Rising signs aren’t three separate identities you have to choose between. You're not just your sun sign...nor are you just your moon sign. It's the combination of them that makes you, you. They’re more like parts of the same soul...and each one expresses a different layer of your energy...your way of being...your inner map. And when one feels out of sync, it’s often because the others are either overcompensating...or trying to get your attention.
I think of it like this...
Your Sun sign is the core self you’re learning to grow into
Your Moon sign is the internal compass that helps you stay emotionally regulated
Your Rising sign is the energetic tone you bring to the room and the way you initiate life
They each serve a purpose. But they don’t always agree.
Which, honestly...makes sense. We don’t always agree with ourselves, either.
When Your Big 3 Feel Misaligned
Have you ever felt like the way you show up (your Rising) doesn’t match how you feel inside (your Moon)...and that both are pulling you in a different direction than who you’re trying to become (your Sun)?
Yep. That’s the tension. And it’s normal....sigh.
So, let’s say you have a Scorpio Moon, Leo Sun, and Pisces Rising...ooh, what a watery, fiery mix!
The Moon wants privacy and depth
The Sun wants visibility and recognition
The Rising wants softness and spiritual connection
You’re not confused. You’re complex.
And learning how to live with that complexity—without constantly trying to “fix” it—is part of the magic of astrology.
Sometimes the friction between your signs is part of the design. Sometimes, it's asking for integration. But either way, it’s not a mistake.
The Importance of Listening to All Three
When I’m working with clients, I often notice that one part of the Big 3 is being totally ignored. Maybe their zodiac moon sign has been buried under years of caregiving.
Maybe their rising sign feels like a role they’ve learned to play but never fully owned.
Or, maybe their Sun sign feels out of reach—like something they want to embody but keep putting off until life feels more “stable.”
But here’s what I’ve found—your energy feels most alive when all three are acknowledged...even if they don’t align perfectly. Even if they contradict each other sometimes. It’s not about resolving everything. It’s about listening; letting these parts of you be in conversation. And trusting that the tension they create can also be a source of insight, movement, and clarity.
What the Big Three Can Teach You (Together)
Your Big Three astrology placements can show you...
Where your natural gifts and contradictions live
Why you might be misunderstood by others—or yourself
What you need emotionally versus what you project outwardly
How you’ve been adapting to life...and how you might return to alignment
Where your deepest sense of vitality, safety, and direction comes from
And when you start exploring them together—not as a hierarchy, but as a triad—you stop trying to force yourself into one category. You begin seeing your full horoscope as a living pattern...not a label.
Because you’re not here to be one thing. You’re here to be you—in your full expression, with all its nuance and rhythm and unexpected edges.
Ready to Go Deeper with Your Big Three?
I really, truly hope that this blog post sparked something for you—maybe a memory, a question, or a quiet sense of recognition...that you’re not alone. Astrology doesn’t hand us all the answers (man, do I wish it would!), but it does offer language for the things that we’ve felt all along.
And, if you’re craving more than quick, cookie-cutter insights...if you’re ready to explore what your Sun, Moon, and Rising signs are really trying to show you...then I’d love to walk that path with you.
You can book a personalized natal chart reading with me here. Or, if you’re just beginning and want to explore at your own pace, I created a free guide that might be just right for you.
In it, I’ll help you begin decoding what your body has been trying to tell you...where you feel most at home...and what your chart may be revealing about your purpose.
You don’t have to figure it all out today. But you do get to begin. Remember, it's a journey, full of twists, and turns, and back alleyways, wrong turns, and sometimes confusing sign posts...not a drive down the highway going 200mph. My hope is that, in time, you'll learn to trust the process, and let your own intuition guide you (which, in my humble opinion, is also part of the lesson of astrology...teaching you to remember that your soul knows the way).
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