Possibly the best known of the astrological houses / places, the first one is commonly named the "Ascendant" (anatellon; anatonle). It was also referred to as the Hour Marker, the Hour, Divisor or Regulator of the Hour (horonomos). The concept derives from the astronomical phenomenon of the sun rising over the horizon and thus the association with what emerges, begins or is born at a particular time.
While each house represents areas of life and becomes a bit more "alien" to the native, the first place connects itself with the nature of the individual. Astrologers also referred to it as the house of Life, in its biological sense, as the Hour Marker also indicated the moment when the soul (psyché) entered the body. It is in this place, where heaven and earth meet, that the dubious Mercury, god of motion and bicorporeality, rejoices, connecting two worlds: spirit (pneuma) and matter.
One of its most important names, yet dropped over time, is the Helm (oiax), a nautical metaphor that places the Ascendant as a fundamental key. If our chart is a boat that allows us to sail through life, the Ascendant (its ruler) is the captain that guides us through life by means of the rudder or helm.
The first house is one of the four pivots (kentron) of the chart, which also has etymological significance related to "crook" (especially the staff used by shepherds of sheep). "Pivot" also suggests that which rotates around itself. Behind these roots lie the rationales for the angular houses: the intensity of the planets in them (poked to act) and the four points around which the chart moves.
Because of its symbolism, the Ascendant was possibly considered more important than the sun sign, which has become significantly more valued in the last two centuries with the spread of astrology as a lucrative business, especially in newspapers and almanacs. After all, relating a sign to the day of birth would become much easier and more secure than looking up the time of birth at a time when this record was in not frequent, except for certain privileged groups.
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