The First House

The Ascendant is synonymous with the first house.

When a baby is born its first and only concern is for its own survival, the only thing they enter the world with is their bodies. By necessity they are selfish. Psychologists believe that a newborn thinks that other people do not exist when out of the babies sight. Newborns are egocentric and self absorbed and everything they see, touch, taste and smell is new to them.

The first house represents the person as a newborn. How the person contends with new things and people. It represent the outer 'image', how we present ourselves to the world, our appearance, how we prefer to dress and our mannerisms. The body comes under the jurisdiction of the first House as it affects the appearance and 'image'.

Its opposite House is the 7th. That house is about sharing and cooperating, it isn't just graphically opposite the the 1st House, but its principles are also opposite. Which is why both marriage and open enemies are both covered by the 7th house. In marriage you have your opposite number, your partner. Whilst an open enemy is opposed to you as a person. They resent you... your ego.