Kate Chopin, From The Awakening

Your Rising Sign and how others perceive you ⋆·˚ ༘ *

The Rising Sign is very important in a chart, it defines your identity (the 1st house) and your shell. It shows how you react in new situations. I like to call it the “social mask” of a person because, let’s be honest, we all have one. We don’t just reveal our true selves immediately—okay, maybe some of us do, but I believe there’s an explanation for that in the chart as well.

Anyway, the Rising Sign represents how we present ourselves, how we approach new situations, how we are perceived, and how we act. Let’s dive in.

✧ Aries Rising

Others see them as someone who takes charge and isn’t afraid of new things. They’re likely the ones who share their opinions right away. They come across as energetic and, at times, a bit forceful. This Rising Sign often has quick, dynamic body language or gives the impression of always being on the move.

They are perceived as confident and direct, often making a strong first impression. Their energ unfiltered, giving them a sense of urgency and drive that others immediately notice. Aries Rising individuals come across as leaders, pioneers, and initiators, ready to take on anything. I must say that this Rising Sign is very rare!

✧ Taurus Rising

These people appear collected and grounded, radiating stability and reliability, which makes them easy to trust! They might come across as reserved or shy, not because they are, but because they prefer to observe before engaging.

Taurus Rising individuals open up slowly, but once they do, they are loyal and consistent. They move through life at a deliberate, steady pace, exuding poise, patience, and quiet confidence. Others see them as graceful and unshaken.

✧ Gemini Rising

These are the one‘s who are really interested in others and likes to show them that. These people come across as quick-witted, curious, and expressive, always picking up on everything around them. Their energy is restless and unpredictable, making them engaging but sometimes hard to pin down.

Gemini Rising individuals are seen as charming, adaptable, and full of ideas, effortlessly making connections. They bring a sense of lightness and spontaneity, but their attention can shift just as fast.

✧ Cancer Rising

These people come across as gentle, intuitive, and emotionally attuned, often making others feel safe and understood. Their energy is soft yet protective, and they have a natural way of reading the room before fully engaging.

Cancer Rising individuals are perceived as nurturing, sensitive, and deeply in tune with their surroundings. They may initially appear reserved or cautious, but once they feel comfortable, their warmth and care shine through. Others often see them as empathetic, nostalgic, and deeply connected to their emotions, with an aura that feels familiar and comforting, like home.

✧ Leo Rising

These people come across as self-assured, engaging, and full of vitality, there’s something about them that naturally draws attention. Their energy is dynamic and expressive, making them seem effortlessly at ease in social settings.

Leo Rising individuals are perceived as bold, captivating, and impossible to overlook. They carry themselves with a natural sense of authority, often leaving a strong impression without even trying. Their presence feels bright, animated, and full of enthusiasm, making them seem larger than life. Others may see them as playful, charming, and sometimes a bit theatrical, but always memorable.

✧ Virgo Rising

These people come across as composed, observant, and precise, often giving off an air of quiet intelligence. They tend to be attentive to details and have a naturally polished or put-together appearance, even if they don’t try too hard. Their energy is subtle yet sharp, making them easy to underestimate, but they notice everything.

Virgo Rising individuals are perceived as reliable, thoughtful, and pragmatic, with a way of carrying themselves that feels grounded and deliberate. They often appear reserved or analytical, as if they’re constantly assessing their surroundings. Others may see them as modest, efficient, and highly self-aware, with an understated confidence that speaks through their actions rather than words.

✧ Libra Rising

These people come across as graceful, approachable, and socially attuned, often making a strong first impression without seeming like they’re trying. Their energy is charming and balanced, with a natural ability to blend in while still standing out.

Libra Rising individuals are perceived as polite, diplomatic, and aesthetically conscious, always aware of how they present themselves. They have a way of making others feel at ease, often adapting to the energy of a room effortlessly. Others may see them as pleasant, refined, and effortlessly likable, with a knack for creating harmony wherever they go.

✧ Scorpio Rising

These people come across as intense, private, and deeply self-contained, giving off a vibe that’s hard to ignore. There’s something about them that feels magnetic yet unreachable, as if they keep part of themselves hidden at all times. Their energy is strong, focused, and impossible to read, which naturally makes others curious.

Scorpio Rising individuals are perceived as guarded, perceptive, and hard to fool. They don’t reveal much right away, but they pick up on everything. Their presence feels charged, like they see straight through the surface, making some people intrigued and others uneasy. Others may see them as serious, intense, or even intimidating, but those who get past their walls recognize their deep loyalty and emotional depth.

✧ Sagittarius Rising

These people come across as open, lively, and always up for something new. There’s a sense of freedom and excitement in the way they move, talk, and interact with the world. They often seem like they’re going somewhere, physically or mentally, always chasing the next idea, adventure, or experience.

Sagittarius Rising individuals are perceived as easygoing, optimistic, and naturally funny, with a way of making people feel like anything is possible. They don’t take themselves too seriously and bring a light, spontaneous energy into any room. Others may see them as restless, outspoken, or a little unpredictable, but there’s something refreshing about their ability to live in the moment and see the bigger picture.

✧ Capricorn Rising

These people come across as composed, self-assured, and somewhat serious, often giving the impression that they have everything under Kontrolle. There’s a natural authority in the way they carry themselves, making them seem mature and capable, no matter their actual age.

Capricorn Rising individuals are perceived as responsible, determined, and reserved, with a focus on efficiency and long-term goals. They don’t waste energy on unnecessary things and often seem like they’re always working toward something bigger. Others may see them as disciplined, grounded, or even a bit distant at first, but over time, their dry humor, loyalty, and quiet ambition become impossible to miss.

✧ Aquarius Rising

These people come across as independent, unconventional, and a little unpredictable—there’s something about them that feels different but intriguing. They often have a unique style, way of thinking, or presence that makes them stand out, even when they’re not trying.

Aquarius Rising individuals are perceived as open minded, intelligent, and effortlessly cool, with a natural ability to see things from a broader perspective. They can be friendly yet detached, making them easy to talk to but hard to truly know. Others may see them as quirky, forward-thinking, or a bit rebellious, but one thing’s for sure, they’re never boring.

✧ Pisces Rising

These people come across as dreamy, gentle, and hard to pin down, as if they exist in their own world. Their energy is soft, fluid, and intuitive, making them naturally easy to be around, but also a little elusive. They have a way of blending into different environments, often reflecting the energy around them rather than asserting themselves too strongly.

Pisces Rising individuals are perceived as empathetic, artistic, and deeply in tune with emotions, sometimes giving off an almost otherworldly or mystical vibe. They can seem a bit lost in thought, unpredictable, or difficult to read, but there’s something about them that feels familiar and comforting. Others may see them as imaginative, kind-hearted, and slightly detached from reality, yet full of depth if you take the time to truly see them.

Once, in a dry season, I wrote in large letters across two pages of a notebook that innocence ends when one is stripped of the delusion that one likes oneself. Although now, some years later, I marvel that a mind on the outs with itself should have nonetheless made painstaking record of its every tremor, I recall with embarrassing clarity the flavor of those particular ashes. It was a matter of misplaced self-respect. I had not been elected to Phi Beta Kappa. This failure could scarcely have been more predictable or less ambiguous (I simply did not have the grades), but I was unnerved by it; I had somehow thought myself a kind of academic Raskolnikov, curiously exempt from the cause-effect relationships that hampered others. Although the situation must have had even then the approximate tragic stature of Scott Fitzgerald’s failure to become president of the Princeton Triangle Club, the day that I did not make Phi Beta Kappa nevertheless marked the end of something, and innocence may well be the word for it. I lost the conviction that lights would always turn green for me. Although to be driven back upon oneself is an uneasy affair at best, rather like trying to cross a border with borrowed credentials, it seems to me now the one condition necessary to the beginnings of real self-respect. Most of our platitudes notwithstanding, self-deception remains the most difficult deception. The charms that work on others count for nothing in that devastatingly well-lit back alley where one keeps assignations with oneself: no winning smiles will do here, no prettily drawn lists of good intentions.The dismal fact is that self-respect has nothing to do with the approval of others—who are, after all, deceived easily enough. To do without self-respect, on the other hand, is to be an unwilling audience of one to an interminable home movie that documents one’s failings, both real and imagined, with fresh footage spliced in for each screening. To live without self-respect is to lie awake some night, beyond the reach of warm milk, phenobarbital, and the sleeping hand on the coverlet, counting up the sins of commission and omission, the trusts betrayed, the promises subtly broken, the gifts irrevocably wasted through sloth or cowardice or carelessness. However long we postpone it, we eventually lie down alone in that notoriously un- comfortable bed, the one we make ourselves. Whether or not we sleep in it depends, of course, on whether or not we respect ourselves. There is a common superstition that “self-respect” is a kind of charm against snakes, something that keeps those who have it locked in some unblighted Eden, out of strange beds, ambivalent conversations, and trouble in general. It does not at all. It has nothing to do with the face of things, but concerns instead a separate peace, a private reconciliation. People with self-respect have the courage of their mistakes. They know the price of things. In brief, people with self-respect exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral nerve; they display what was once called character, a quality which, although approved in the abstract, sometimes loses ground to other, more instantly negotiable virtues. Nonetheless, character — the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life — is the source from which self-respect springs. To have that sense of one’s intrinsic worth which, for better or for worse, constitutes self-respect, is potentially to have everything: the ability to discriminate, to love and to remain indifferent. To lack it is to be locked within oneself, paradoxically incapable of either love or indifference. If we do not respect ourselves, we are on the one hand forced to despise those who have so few resources as to consort with us, so little perception as to remain blind to our fatal weaknesses. On the other, we are peculiarly in thrall to everyone we see, curiously determined to live out—since our self-image is untenable—their false notions of us. We flatter ourselves by thinking this compulsion to please others an attractive trait: a gift for imaginative empathy, evidence of our willingness to give. At the mercy of those we can not but hold in contempt, we play roles doomed to failure before they are begun, each defeat generating fresh despair at the necessity of divining and meeting the next demand made upon us. It is the phenomenon sometimes called alienation from self. In its advanced stages, we no longer answer the telephone, because someone might want something; that we could say no without drowning in self-reproach is an idea alien to this game. Every encounter demands too much, tears the nerves, drains the will, and the spectre of something as small as an unanswered letter arouses such disproportionate guilt that one’s sanity becomes an object of speculation among one’s acquaintances. To assign unanswered letters their proper weight, to free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves—there lies the great, the singular power of self-respect. Without it, one eventually discovers the final turn of the screw: one runs away to find oneself, and finds no one at home. In memory of the great Joan Didion: On Self-Respect.

FAMOUS AUTHORS

Classic Bookshelf: This site has put classic novels online, from Charles Dickens to Charlotte Bronte.

The Online Books Page: The University of Pennsylvania hosts this book search and database.

Project Gutenberg: This famous site has over 27,000 free books online.

Page by Page Books: Find books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells, as well as speeches from George W. Bush on this site.

Classic Book Library: Genres here include historical fiction, history, science fiction, mystery, romance and children’s literature, but they’re all classics.

Classic Reader: Here you can read Shakespeare, young adult fiction and more.

Read Print: From George Orwell to Alexandre Dumas to George Eliot to Charles Darwin, this online library is stocked with the best classics.

Planet eBook: Download free classic literature titles here, from Dostoevsky to D.H. Lawrence to Joseph Conrad.

The Spectator Project: Montclair State University’s project features full-text, online versions of The Spectator and The Tatler.

Bibliomania: This site has more than 2,000 classic texts, plus study guides and reference books.

Online Library of Literature: Find full and unabridged texts of classic literature, including the Bronte sisters, Mark Twain and more.

Bartleby: Bartleby has much more than just the classics, but its collection of anthologies and other important novels made it famous.

Fiction.us: Fiction.us has a huge selection of novels, including works by Lewis Carroll, Willa Cather, Sherwood Anderson, Flaubert, George Eliot, F. Scott Fitzgerald and others.

Free Classic Literature: Find British authors like Shakespeare and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, plus other authors like Jules Verne, Mark Twain, and more.

TEXTBOOKS

Textbook Revolution: Find biology, business, engineering, mathematics and world history textbooks here.

Wikibooks: From cookbooks to the computing department, find instructional and educational materials here.

KnowThis Free Online Textbooks: Get directed to stats textbooks and more.

Online Medical Textbooks: Find books about plastic surgery, anatomy and more here.

Online Science and Math Textbooks: Access biochemistry, chemistry, aeronautics, medical manuals and other textbooks here.

MIT Open Courseware Supplemental Resources: Find free videos, textbooks and more on the subjects of mechanical engineering, mathematics, chemistry and more.

Flat World Knowledge: This innovative site has created an open college textbooks platform that will launch in January 2009.

Free Business Textbooks: Find free books to go along with accounting, economics and other business classes.

Light and Matter: Here you can access open source physics textbooks.

eMedicine: This project from WebMD is continuously updated and has articles and references on surgery, pediatrics and more.

MATH AND SCIENCE

FullBooks.com: This site has “thousands of full-text free books,” including a large amount of scientific essays and books.

Free online textbooks, lecture notes, tutorials and videos on mathematics: NYU links to several free resources for math students.

Online Mathematics Texts: Here you can find online textbooks likeElementary Linear Algebra and Complex Variables.

Science and Engineering Books for free download: These books range in topics from nanotechnology to compressible flow.

FreeScience.info: Find over 1800 math, engineering and science books here.

Free Tech Books: Computer programmers and computer science enthusiasts can find helpful books here.

CHILDREN’S BOOKS

byGosh: Find free illustrated children’s books and stories here.

Munseys: Munseys has nearly 2,000 children’s titles, plus books about religion, biographies and more.

International Children’s Digital Library: Find award-winning books and search by categories like age group, make believe books, true books or picture books.

Lookybook: Access children’s picture books here.

PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION

Bored.com: Bored.com has music ebooks, cooking ebooks, and over 150 philosophy titles and over 1,000 religion titles.

Ideology.us: Here you’ll find works by Rene Descartes, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, David Hume and others.

Free Books on Yoga, Religion and Philosophy: Recent uploads to this site include Practical Lessons in Yoga and Philosophy of Dreams.

The Sociology of Religion: Read this book by Max Weber, here.

Religion eBooks: Read books about the Bible, Christian books, and more.

PLAYS

ReadBookOnline.net: Here you can read plays by Chekhov, Thomas Hardy, Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe and others.

Plays: Read Pygmalion, Uncle Vanya or The Playboy of the Western World here.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: MIT has made available all of Shakespeare’s comedies, tragedies, and histories.

Plays Online: This site catalogs “all the plays [they] know about that are available in full text versions online for free.”

ProPlay: This site has children’s plays, comedies, dramas and musicals.

MODERN FICTION, FANTASY AND ROMANCE

Public Bookshelf: Find romance novels, mysteries and more.

The Internet Book Database of Fiction: This forum features fantasy and graphic novels, anime, J.K. Rowling and more.

Free Online Novels: Here you can find Christian novels, fantasy and graphic novels, adventure books, horror books and more.

Foxglove: This British site has free novels, satire and short stories.

Baen Free Library: Find books by Scott Gier, Keith Laumer and others.

The Road to Romance: This website has books by Patricia Cornwell and other romance novelists.

Get Free Ebooks: This site’s largest collection includes fiction books.

John T. Cullen: Read short stories from John T. Cullen here.

SF and Fantasy Books Online: Books here include Arabian Nights,Aesop’s Fables and more.

Free Novels Online and Free Online Cyber-Books: This list contains mostly fantasy books.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE

Project Laurens Jz Coster: Find Dutch literature here.

ATHENA Textes Francais: Search by author’s name, French books, or books written by other authors but translated into French.

Liber Liber: Download Italian books here. Browse by author, title, or subject.

Biblioteca romaneasca: Find Romanian books on this site.

Bibliolteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes: Look up authors to find a catalog of their available works on this Spanish site.

KEIMENA: This page is entirely in Greek, but if you’re looking for modern Greek literature, this is the place to access books online.

Proyecto Cervantes: Texas A&M’s Proyecto Cervantes has cataloged Cervantes’ work online.

Corpus Scriptorum Latinorum: Access many Latin texts here.

Project Runeberg: Find Scandinavian literature online here.

Italian Women Writers: This site provides information about Italian women authors and features full-text titles too.

Biblioteca Valenciana: Register to use this database of Catalan and Valencian books.

Ketab Farsi: Access literature and publications in Farsi from this site.

Afghanistan Digital Library: Powered by NYU, the Afghanistan Digital Library has works published between 1870 and 1930.

CELT: CELT stands for “the Corpus of Electronic Texts” features important historical literature and documents.

Projekt Gutenberg-DE: This easy-to-use database of German language texts lets you search by genres and author.

HISTORY AND CULTURE

LibriVox: LibriVox has a good selection of historical fiction.

The Perseus Project: Tufts’ Perseus Digital Library features titles from Ancient Rome and Greece, published in English and original languages.

Access Genealogy: Find literature about Native American history, the Scotch-Irish immigration in the 19th and 20th centuries, and more.

Free History Books: This collection features U.S. history books, including works by Paul Jennings, Sarah Morgan Dawson, Josiah Quincy and others.

Most Popular History Books: Free titles include Seven Days and Seven Nights by Alexander Szegedy and Autobiography of a Female Slave by Martha G. Browne.

RARE BOOKS

Questia: Questia has 5,000 books available for free, including rare books and classics.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Books-On-Line: This large collection includes movie scripts, newer works, cookbooks and more.

Chest of Books: This site has a wide range of free books, including gardening and cooking books, home improvement books, craft and hobby books, art books and more.

Free e-Books: Find titles related to beauty and fashion, games, health, drama and more.

2020ok: Categories here include art, graphic design, performing arts, ethnic and national, careers, business and a lot more.

Free Art Books: Find artist books and art books in PDF format here.

Free Web design books: OnlineComputerBooks.com directs you to free web design books.

Free Music Books: Find sheet music, lyrics and books about music here.

Free Fashion Books: Costume and fashion books are linked to the Google Books page.

MYSTERY

MysteryNet: Read free short mystery stories on this site.

TopMystery.com: Read books by Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, GK Chesterton and other mystery writers here.

Mystery Books: Read books by Sue Grafton and others.

POETRY

The Literature Network: This site features forums, a copy of The King James Bible, and over 3,000 short stories and poems.

Poetry: This list includes “The Raven,” “O Captain! My Captain!” and “The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde.”

Poem Hunter: Find free poems, lyrics and quotations on this site.

Famous Poetry Online: Read limericks, love poetry, and poems by Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, John Donne, Lord Byron and others.

Google Poetry: Google Books has a large selection of poetry, fromThe Canterbury Tales to Beowulf to Walt Whitman.

QuotesandPoem.com: Read poems by Maya Angelou, William Blake, Sylvia Plath and more.

CompleteClassics.com: Rudyard Kipling, Allen Ginsberg and Alfred Lord Tennyson are all featured here.

PinkPoem.com: On this site, you can download free poetry ebooks.

MISC

Banned Books: Here you can follow links of banned books to their full text online.

World eBook Library: This monstrous collection includes classics, encyclopedias, children’s books and a lot more.

DailyLit: DailyLit has everything from Moby Dick to the recent phenomenon, Skinny Bitch.

A Celebration of Women Writers: The University of Pennsylvania’s page for women writers includes Newbery winners.

Free Online Novels: These novels are fully online and range from romance to religious fiction to historical fiction.

ManyBooks.net: Download mysteries and other books for your iPhone or eBook reader here.

Authorama: Books here are pulled from Google Books and more. You’ll find history books, novels and more.

Prize-winning books online: Use this directory to connect to full-text copies of Newbery winners, Nobel Prize winners and Pulitzer winners.

The comedian went off on billionaires in a recent podcast episode, comparing them to rabid dogs who need to be put down.

Bill made the comments on his "Monday Morning Podcast" ... blaming billionaires for dividing the country, hoarding all the wealth and creating a situation where working people can't afford rent and need two jobs just to stay afloat.

BB says way too many people are stressing out about bills, and he says anyone who works a regular job should be able to afford their basic necessities.

JENNIFER COOLIDGE Wins Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for The White Lotus | 75th Primetime Emmy Awards