How to read a birth chart
A birth chart looks complicated, but it is built from just four ingredients: planets, signs, houses and aspects. Here is a simple, step-by-step way to start reading your own.
The full deep dive
The chart is a map of the sky
A birth chart (or natal chart) is a map of the sky at the moment and place you were born, drawn as a wheel. The outer ring shows the twelve signs; the inner sections are the twelve houses; the symbols are the planets; and the lines across the middle are the aspects.
A five-step way in
- Start with your big three. Find your Sun, Moon and Rising sign. These give the outline of your personality. See Your big three.
- Look at the balance of elements. Count how many planets are in Fire, Earth, Air and Water signs. A lot of one element is a strong theme; a missing element is something you may seek in others. See Fire, Earth, Air and Water.
- Notice busy houses. Several planets in one house show an area of life that matters a great deal to you. See The twelve houses.
- Find the closest aspects. The tightest angles between planets are the loudest conversations in your chart. See The major aspects.
- Put it into a sentence. Planet (what) + sign (how) + house (where). “My Mars (drive) is in Capricorn (patient and ambitious) in the tenth house (career).”
Don’t try to read it all at once
Even professional astrologers take a chart one piece at a time. Start with what interests you, and let the rest unfold. Starlight’s First Timers reading explains each part as it goes.
Sources and perspectives
- Robert Hand, Planets in Transit
- Howard Sasportas, The Twelve Houses