Masquerade Ball

I found out the morning of this Halloween Masquerade Ball that I had to be in a ball length gown… My Gemini is famous for springing things on me. "Did I not tell you that?"  Thank god for @fitzroyrentals for saving my ass! And yes, perhaps it sounds very fancy to go out and rent a dress for a night, but it actually is a huge cost saver. This gown was just over $100 to rent for three nights. 

But let's get to the astrological part of this blog post:)

This picture is a great illustration of the point that what you see- The Ascendant- is often times not what you get- The Sun. And the Shannon you see in this picture is my Rising Sign- glam Leo. Very different from my Sun, which is in Scorpio. Let's dive in...

Your Rising Sign is the "you" people see when they meet you for the first time. It's how people would describe you if they only knew the person they had met cursorily at a social function or as a neighbour in your local park. Your Rising Sign, also known as your Ascendant, is the mask you wear in job interviews and with clients. It also heavily describes the kind of kid you were, as you are your Rising sign in childhood, and you grow more and more into your Sun Sign as you age. You are always becoming your Sun Sign.

Often times, when I'm meeting new people and they find out I'm an astrologer, their eyes will light up in a particular way and they will say, excitedly and also with a glint of challenge "Guess my sign!" and I have learned to never take the bait. Instead, I explain that if we had a few hours to get to know one another, I might be able to guess their Sun sign. But in the brief exchange we are having, I would be more likely able to guess their Rising Sign as this is what they are showing me in that setting. Our Rising sign is the first impression we make on others and some times it is very good at concealing a very different Sun sign. Such is the case with me. Maybe with you too!

My Rising Sign is Leo so I present to others as confident, self-expressive, sunny, extroverted, and maybe a little haughty if stressed.  I mastered resting bitch face as an insecure teen. I can come across as regal and if needed, I can enter a room like a Leo Queen. That is the Leo Rising in me. But what is under the hood, my Sun sign, is very much in contrast with this picture (footnote for later- not everyone's Rising Sign and Sun Sign are in conflict). Because my Sun Sign is Scorpio, which is in a square to Leo and they are very different signs...

Scorpios are private to the point of hidden, introverted, vulnerable, suspicious, deep and intense. I could use a lot of different words to describe Scorpions but the ones I am using are to illustrate the point of how they differ from Leos. Scorpios are yin, and Leos are yang.

Scorpios like to stay at home where they don't have to worry about scaring someone with their intense deep talk or getting their feelings hurt by some sneaky diss that someone thought they could land because they didn't know they were dealing with a Scorpio. Scorpios have a kind of psychological x-ray vision and they can look right into you with their intense gaze. It's why a lot of people fear Scorpios. But in truth, Scorpios are quite vulnerable. They feel things intensely and can be easily hurt. This is why they often hide their feelings so as to not show their weak spots. They prefer to stay in their protected cave with loved ones who make them feel safe. Loved ones they would literally fight to the death for. 

So when Harrison has to get me to leave my liar, it is no small feat. He's a social Gemini Sun with a Capricorn Rising so getting dressed up like a boss to attend business dinners and gatherings is second nature to him. That's his Capricorn Rising. But he married a true Sun Sign Scorpio when he married me, so getting me out of the house to attend a social function is tough. Especially the heels. I walk like Bambi on ice in the things. In slow motion. I am a tomboy at heart so dressing up is no pleasure for me. 

But it was his Leo Rising wife who entered the Ball, smiling and shaking hands with people and making easy conversation. My skin shimmered with gold dust that I applied to match the gold threads in my dress, a total Leo facade. But underneath the masquerade mask lurked the Scorpio Sun...

The music was too loud so I couldn't hear people and I didn't know what kind of questions to shout at people. I knew no one in this crowd but they all seemed to know one another. People were hanging in little gangs that we had to penetrate to socialize with (gawd) and I just wanted to go sit in a dark corner with Harrison and wait out the amount of time we had to stay to say we made a showing.  I felt fat (thank you peri-menopause for the cloak of flesh that came upon me in a flash) and like I was walking weird in heels and very nervous I was going to trip on the polished stone floor or that one of my hoisted boobs was going to pop out of my rented dress.  I yearned to get home to the couch and the dog and my sweats. It didn't help that I was at the end of sober October drinking tonic sans gin... Lol. 

Getting back to the footnote I made earlier about how your Rising Sign and Sun sign can be at odds, as is the case with me, but just as often, they are in harmony with each other so what you see IS actually what you get or what you see does not belie what you get. This happens when people have the same Sun Sign as their Rising Sign. Or the Sun and Rising are in compliment to one another because they are in the same element or in elements with the same yin or yang energy. Such is the case with Oprah who is an Aquarius Sun with a Sagittarius Rising. Her airy Sun matches up beautifully with her fiery Rising Sign as both signs are yang and Universal. So though there are different things happening in these two signs, they act as a compliment to one another because both signs are gregarious, humanitarian, independent, extroverted and socially engaged. 

Or in the case with my husband, he presents as a Capricorn because that is his Rising sign. So he comes across as conservative, professional, reliable, buttoned up, reserved and serious. As you can imagine, this serves him very well in the business world. But what's under the hood is a Gemini Sun so people are always delighted when they get to know him and realize he is a literal party. In his case, his Rising sign is very different from his Sun Sign but it serves his Sun sign. 

What about you? Are your Rising Sign and Sun sign in conflict with one another so it takes people time to get to know the "real" you, or are they in compliment to one another? How do you feel about your Rising Sign?

As always, I welcome any and all astrological communications. This is the subject that fascinates me most in life so tell me your stories at info@shannonastrology.com!

I'm here for all of it. 

#scorpioseason #scorpio #masqueradeball #masquerade #masks #risingsign #sunsign #airsigns #watersigns #earthsigns #firesigns #whatyouseeisnotwhatyouget #playingdressup #shannonastrology #xo