How you present yourself and who you are inside don’t always match up, creating intrigue.
A square means one person’s Sun and the other person’s Ascendant are about 90 degrees apart. The app counts it as challenging. What the labels mean.
An early misread
The Ascendant is a person’s front door, and the Sun is what they’re doing with their life. When one person’s Sun squares the other’s Rising, the Sun person’s sense of purpose can rub against the way the other comes across. A warm, jokey manner may read to them as not taking things seriously. A reserved manner may read as judgment.
The Ascendant person may feel the Sun person sees through the front or, on a bad day, doesn’t bother to look at it. They might find themselves acting more polished or more awkward than usual around this person, without knowing why.
Why you keep looking
Squares are counted as challenging because they take effort, and they also hold attention. People often describe this contact as a puzzle they wanted to keep working on. You thought they were arrogant and they turned out to be shy. You found them too cheerful and later met the serious person behind it. Getting that wrong and then right can be a real pleasure of the early months.
What gets in the way
The trouble comes when the first read hardens. A year in, the Sun person might still say “you always act like nothing bothers you”, when the manner is simply how the other person gets through a room. Or the Ascendant person might keep expecting the Sun person to play to the crowd at a party, and feel let down when they don’t.
It helps to ask rather than assume: “When you went quiet at dinner, what was going on?” You’ll also want to allow for social settings. Each of you may be at your least recognizable in front of the other’s friends, and a little kindness on the way home goes a long way.