In this series, I’m going to break down each and every rising sign and every house of your chart, based on the rising sign. I’m going to be using whole sign houses, which is a house system where every sign is a separate house.
This isn’t so much of a breakdown, actually, and more of a synthesis. When you look at everything in a chart isolated and dissected, ultimately you’re not going to get much of a narrative about your entire chart. By relating every house back to your rising sign, you can understand your entire chart in a more holistic way.
If you’re not using whole sign houses already, I highly encourage you to apply it to your understanding of your chart. While Placidus is still the most popular house system being used, it’s actually more relevant to electional astrology than using your natal chart to understand your personal drives. Whole sign houses are more relevant when you use astrology to build self understanding.
Taurus Rising, Scorpio Descending: Beautiful
I’ve never met a Taurus rising who didn’t have something to say about beauty. Beauty isn’t just a quick makeup routine or a pair of favorite shoes for Taurus rising. Beauty is a lifestyle—a mode of existence, a head space, a psychological routine that is as natural as breathing. Taurus risings are obsessed with beauty—not just having beauty but being beauty.
Scorpio in the seventh house opposes the Taurus rising. Taurus risings know what it feels like to be desired. They understand what it feels like to have power over someone and for someone to have power over them. Because of this, Taurus risings are incredibly scrupulous about who they let talk to them. They don’t have time for everyone (and part of that is because they also move so slow).
Before they let you in, Taurus risings test you. When you pass one test, they give you another. After some years, they might trust you enough to ask you what you think of them but never before. Taurus risings don’t let other people know that they care about social validation.
Gemini Second House, Sagittarius Eighth House: Money is mind control
Because their Gemini second house is ruled by Mercury, Taurus risings are tight with their personal belongings. They know exactly what they have. They sit there and count all of their earrings. They know how much money they have in their bank account down to the cent. They know if you touch their stuff. Gemini in the second house means that Taurus rising keeps track of everything that they have.
But Taurus risings are not stingy. They know the value of everything and scrimp and save everyday but, when it comes to paying for something that they value or giving money to a friend, they are the most generous sign (Leo risings are also generous but not with the dramatics of a Taurus rising). You might see Taurus rising choose cheap options for things that they use everyday but then suddenly drop $500 on a sister’s birthday party just to show how much they love her.
Taurus risings understand money. It’s not that they have to constantly save or spend but that, when it comes to money, they are in control. They control what matters to them through material distribution. If you ever work on a project with a Taurus rising, that project might not take off for a while but, if it does, then everyone who worked on it will be getting paid.
Cancer Third House, Capricorn Ninth House: Silent and Strong
Taurus risings keep things pretty close to the chest. Cancer third house is a private placement. Cancer is a sign that prefers to hide somewhere and observe everything that’s going on and, with Cancer in the third house, Taurus risings are listeners over talkers. They have a couple of people who they allow to hear their ideas but they prefer to influence the room without having to make their own voice be heard. In fact, often the louder voices in the room are attempting to seek the approval of the silent but listening Taurus rising.
Who Taurus rising goes along with, however, will not depend on persuasiveness nor volume. A Taurus rising will not simply agree with you because you want them to. It is impossible to convince a Taurus rising of something. They have Capricorn in the ninth house. They make up their own mind. In fact, the more you try to talk a Taurus rising into something, the more likely they will end up not agreeing with you even though they might not outwardly say so in the moment.
Taurus risings don’t talk to a lot of people. That’s okay. They don’t need to. They don’t need to ask a bunch of people what their opinions are. They make up their own minds about their own ideas. When Taurus rising leads, they will be a sure and quiet leader who doesn’t need to impress anyone to feel powerful.
Leo Fourth House, Aquarius Tenth House: Contrarian
The tenth house is what we want approval of by our environment. Taurus risings have Aquarius in the tenth house. They don’t give a shit what anyone thinks of them. In fact, if you think that you have them pinned down then they will possibly intentionally do something to prove you wrong. Taurus risings are weird. They might not be weirder than anyone else but they’re confident enough to show it.
Again, Taurus risings are one of the rising signs who will have a small group of close friends whether or not they enjoy having a lot of acquaintances. The reason why Taurus risings don’t really care what people think of them is because they come from a foundation of love. They have Leo in the fourth house. They keep the ones who love and celebrate them at home. In the world, they don’t need a whole lot of validation because of this.
Not every Taurus rising is blessed with a beautiful family, chosen or otherwise, all of the time. With Leo fourth house, what Taurus really needs is love. When they feel like they’re unloved, Taurus risings’ Aquarius tenth house gets even weirder. Taurus risings can start to alienate themselves more when they feel unappreciated and act contrarian intentionally.
Virgo Fifth House, Pisces Eleventh House: Pleasure is work
What, you might wonder, is Taurus risings spending all of their time on? They don’t seem to do that many activities outside of work and they might not have jobs that are too laborious. Taurus risings have Virgo in the fifth house. Most of the time, they are figuring out their pleasure and, with Virgo here, pleasure is something that they have to figure out. Pleasure is a lot of work. It’s expensive and intensive recipes, it’s doing laundry so that the sheets are clean, it’s stroking their partner’s ego so they get thrown down later. Taurus risings put real work into their pleasure and what they want.
Wherever Pisces is in someone’s chart is an area of life that might not be carefully considered but tends to work out in the end regardless. For Taurus rising, this is about the people whom their love goes towards. Taurus risings can sometimes love anyone. They can love people who act very badly to the people around them as long as they are not cruel to Taurus rising, They can love people who are very kind to everyone and are also kind to Taurus rising.
Taurus risings are skilled at pleasure. However, they might not really care too much about who they share their rigorously earned pleasure with. For all of their suspicion around strangers and tightness with their words, Taurus risings can sometimes be taken advantage of by other people because they simply want to share their pleasure with the world.
Libra Sixth House, Aries Twelfth House: I work through people
Taurus risings never look angry but they sometimes are. They never look scared but they sometimes are. They never seem to want you desperately but they sometimes do. Taurus risings have Aries in the twelfth house. Their passions make them vulnerable. Taurus risings are much more comfortable and used to being the desired object than the pursuer but they do desire. They feel a lot of desire that they don’t necessarily show even when it motivates their every action.
The sixth house shares a Taurus risings’ ruling planet. Planets in the sixth house are planets that take up a lot of time. With Libra in the sixth house, Taurus risings spend a lot of time learning relationships until they know how people work almost as well as they know the objects that they own. This is because, since Taurus risings are sometimes so silent and blank and sure—they often work through other people. They don’t want to have to do everything by themselves. They want to do things with others.
A younger Taurus rising might be attracted to people who can provide the material security that they need in order to do what they want. They might be attracted to people who seem very successful because Taurus rising knows exactly how to use that success to make something beautiful. However, Taurus risings learn that they cannot tuck their own desires away to play arm candy to someone stronger. Taurus risings need, too much, to be their own boss to do something like that. And, to be frank, not many people are as generous as Taurus risings are to their own loved ones.
