This rising sign also defines our external experience: If your sun sign writes the speech, your rising sign is how the speech is delivered.
The unique placement of the planets in the houses is determined by your rising sign, also known as your ascendant. This is the zodiac sign that was on the eastern horizon at the exact moment of your birth. Your rising sign creates the entire architecture of your birth chart and defines your planetary chart ruler, the planet associated with your chart (to calculate yours, identify your rising sign and then which planet governs that zodiac sign). This rising sign also defines our external experience: If your sun sign writes the speech, your rising sign is how the speech is delivered. As astrologers describe it, it's the "mask worn in public." It reveals how you're perceived by others and how you interface with the world.