How to find your sunring and moon

Here we will guide you through a few simple steps to find out what your sunring looks like as well as in which sign your moon was at the time of your birth.

Please note!

If you were born north of the Arctic Circle read extra carefully, as things may be slightly more complicated for you to get everything right.

How to find your sunring with the ascendant - the start of your sunring

If you are of Indian descent, please read the last paragraph carefully as Vedic astrology uses a different zodiac.

The four points of the sunring

The ascendant is the first point in your sunring and thus determines what your sunring looks like.

The sunring consists of four signs of the zodiac that are symmetrically placed. More precisely, the sunring consists of the following points in the birth chart (also called birth

horoscope or natal chart):

Ascendant
Medium coeli
Decendant
Imum coeli

See our FAQ section if you want to know more about these points.

A perfectly symmetrical energy system

There is a very important difference between sunring astrology and conventional astrology, namely that medium coeli and imum coeli are often placed differently. Sunring astrology regards astrology as an energy system in which there is perfect symmetry. When all four points are placed correctly, they form the spokes of a wheel with exactly 90 degrees between each spoke.

The sunring helps you understand yourself on an energy level

The interpretation of these points also differs to some extent and above all the overall meaning of the sunring for each person. Sunring astrology aims to help you understand yourself on an energy level, by finding out the unique energies you were born with. Based on this, you get the keys to deep self-understanding and self-analysis.

Unlike conventional astrology, you will not get advice on this website about the zodiac sign of the person you should marry, or whether you need to beware of enemies in August, or whether money is important to you or not. However, you can gain an understanding of all these things once you have gotten to know yourself on a deeper level.

Start with finding your ascendant

The only thing you need to do to find out what your sunring looks like is to find out your ascendant. The descendant is always opposite the ascendant (both in sunring astrology and conventional astrology), i.e. 180 degrees from the ascendant. Medium coeli and imum coeli are 90 degrees and 270 degrees respectively from the ascendant.

You can use free astrology software online to calculate your ascendant. The information you need is:

Place of birth
The date you were born
The time you were born

Different astrology software uses different so-called house systems. It does not matter which house system the program uses, except if you were born near or north of the Arctic Circle. If so, the house system can lead to an incorrectly calculated ascendant.

If you were born near or north of the Arctic Circle you should use the house system called "Whole Houses" or "Whole Signs".

If you were not born that far north you can still use this house system. You can find it at Astroseek here.

In the Astroseek software, you can compare house systems. Fill in your information and select the house system called "Whole Sign".

You will then get a kind of wheel, a birth chart, as well as tables below the birth chart. Make sure that the tab “Whole Sign” is marked above the birth chart.

The ascendant

In the birth chart, you can see the ascendant to the left, abbreviated ASC (see lilac circle). In the birth chart here of a fictive person the ascendant is in Gemini (see the symbol of Gemini in the turqoise circle to the left).

The moon

The moon is also important in sunring astrology. In the birth chart here the moon is positioned in Sagittarius (see the symbol of Sagittarius in the turqoise circle to the right).

You can also find the ascendant, ASC, in the table below the wheel called "House cusps". The symbol shows which sign is your ascendant. For example, if the symbol is the sign of Gemini, it means that your ascendant is Gemini.

The house systems almost always calculate medium coeli (MC) and imum coeli (IC) incorrectly. The data you will get from the astrology software for these points will therefore usually differ from sunring astrology.

Important note if you are of Indian descent

India has a strong astrological tradition. If you are born in India or have Indian relatives, a birth chart may have been created for you at your birth. If you are married, a chart may also have been made, a so-called Kundli Matching, to get insights on the compatibility between you and your partner.

However, Vedic astrology uses a different zodiac compared with Western astrology. Vedic astrology has made amendments according to the slight shifting of the stars throughout millennia, which is called the precession of the equinoxes. Vedic astrology therefore uses the sidereal zodiac, whereas Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac.

The consequence of adjusting the zodiac to the shifting position of the stars means that the zodiac signs does not match if you compare the sidereal zodiac with the tropical zodiac. You will be born in a different sign and have a different ascendant and sunring depending on which system you choose.

In order to use our guides correctly and fully understand the information on this website, you need to re-calculate your birth chart using the tropical zodiac. Most online astrology software uses the tropical zodiac as primary settings, such as Astroseek, which is mentioned above, Astrodienst and Café astrology.

The sidereal versus tropical zodiac

For example, if you are born at the winter solstice you are a Capricorn according to Western astrology, whereas you are a Sagittarius according to Vedic astrology.

Sunring astrology uses the tropical zodiac. The reason for this is explained in the article What is sunring astrology. You will also get a deeper insight when reading the article The origins of astrology.

In short however the explanation is quite simple. When born at the winter solstice, there is a special energy on earth. The sun is at its furthest distance from us in the Northern hemisphere, and its closest distance in the Southern hemisphere.

There is a special feel at this time, just as there is a special feel at the height of summer or at any time during the year. Although the position of the stars has shifted, the energy on earth is still the same at different points of time during the seasons.

As explained thoroughly in the articles mentioned, it is not the stars that give you your unique energy imprint, but primarily the earth’s magnetic field in combination with the energy radiation from the sun and moon.

Once far back in time, the different periods were named after the constellation that could be seen rising at dawn in the east. Since then, the constellations have shifted, but the energy is the same. If you were born at winter solstice, you will still be imprinted with the “Capricorn energy”, although the stars' positions have shifted since the time when astrology originated and when all these periods got their names, inspired by the constellations in the sky.

Sunring Astrology