Your natal chart is a picture of the sky at the moment of your birth.
To create it, you need the most accurate information possible about the date, time and place of your birth.
Visually, the sky in a natal chart is represented as a 360-degree circle.
This circle is divided into 12 signs of the zodiac, each divided into 30 degrees.
Degrees are used as x, y, and z coordinates to determine the exact position of the planets in each constellation of the zodiac.
Together, These Elements Form the Core of a Natal Chart:
- 12 signs of the zodiac
- Ascending
- Astrological houses
- Precise planetary investments
- Aspects of the planets in relation to each other
Why is Reading Your Birth Chart Useful?
How can knowing and understanding your birth chart be useful in your daily life?
Reading your birth chart can help you to:
- change life
- better connect with one’s higher self and others
- finding or maintaining a romantic relationship
- to gain a better understanding of oneself
- discover hidden ways of thinking whose existence we are unaware of
- reveal the purpose of your soul: why are you here in this life?
How to Read a Natal Chart?
The basics are easy to explain: your primary triad consists of your sun sign, your rising sign, and your moon sign.
These three elements are also known as the “Big Three” and are the most important elements of your horoscope.
Sun Sign
In astrology, the sun represents vitality, ego, healing energy, and self-identity.
Knowing your sun sign will give you a little insight into this aspect of your personality.
Ascendant Sign
The ascendant sign shows how others treat us.
This is the point from which the first astrological house of a natal chart begins.
It refers to the position of the horizon at the time of your birth.
Moon Sign
The moon represents our inner world, our deepest feelings, our instincts, and our maternal care.
Your moon sign gives a picture of your introspection and the peace/restlessness of your inner world.
Venus Sign
Your position of Venus in your birth chart tells the story of your relationships.
To what extent are you fulfilled in your relationships?
How important are money and power to you?
And how do your values, in turn, affect your relationships?
Your Venus sign indicates the extent to which you interact and connect with others.
Saturn Sign
Saturn, the strict discipline of the zodiac, and its sign position show us our soul lessons.
What area of our lives needs discipline?
Other Investments
Pluto’s placements show us the area that needs the most profound transformation in our lives.
Understanding Pluto in our horoscope shows us how profound a transformation can affect other areas of life.
The position of Uranus shows us in which areas of life we think unconventionally and question the status quo of society.
The placement of Neptune in your horoscope shows where your creativity and imagination are stored.
Mercury in your horoscope shows your communication skills: can you express your opinion clearly?
Mars shows your aggressiveness and your will to pursue your goals.
Chiron shows your wounds and the areas of healing your soul needs to move forward in this life.
Read more: Natal Chart Basics: How to Read Your Birth Chart?
Planetary Aspects
This is what it looks like!
In a natal chart, the planets are not independent entities.
They communicate with each other, which makes our life stories interesting and unique.
Planetary aspects (sextiles, trines, conjunctions, oppositions, squares) are the way in which the planets communicate with each other.
If we understand them, we can decipher their language.
Conjunction
The conjunction is probably the best-known aspect.
It forms when two or more planets merge.
A conjunction is not necessarily a difficult or harmonious aspect.
It depends a lot on the planets involved.
The conjunction shows us a direct resonance between the planets.
Opposition
This 180º aspect is often perceived as exciting or dynamic and has an energizing effect.
In general, this tension creates opportunities for both energies to cooperate and compromise to find a balance between them.
Sometimes, a contrast can make us oscillate from one side to the other until we find that balance!
Opposites can act as a mirror in which we learn from our interaction with the outside world.
The key to the opposition is to compromise and allow the ego to tactically withdraw and avoid confrontation.
Opposition generally produces positive results.
Square
This type of investment generally has a bad reputation, so when you see it, you want to run away!
A square is a tense 90º aspect that does not allow the planets and points involved to ignore each other.
A square represents an internal energy conflict that compels us to act to resolve it, that forces us to step out of our comfort zone and continue to grow.
This is an aspect that compels action, and without squares, there would be no complacency and no success!
The danger is resisting the square, allowing internal stress to develop and energy to become destructive.
It is about giving in and working on the issues raised by the investment so that the growth potential can materialize.
Trigone
The trine is light and harmonious, there is no resistance and energy flows effortlessly.
The planets involved naturally support each other.
Trigons represent innate abilities that are second nature.
Sextile
The last of the main aspects is the sextile; it is also a harmonious aspect that flows easily between the energies involved.
The sextile is less dynamic than the trine, but has more “momentum”.
Sextiles are skills or talents that are used when needed, while trines are always present and express themselves naturally.
North Node
It represents your aspirations and the path you must follow to rise spiritually.
South Node
It represents your past, therefore all the lessons, all the challenges, and your entire legacy.
In fact, it is a reflection of what will happen in your life according to the positive or negative karma you have generated throughout your past lives.
Read also: Understand Kabbalah Zodiac Sign to Calculate Birth Chart
Your 10-step Guide to Reading a Birth Chart
The ultimate guide to birth charts:
1. Find your rising sign in your birth chart.
2. Note the personality traits associated with your rising sign.
3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for your sun and moon signs.
4. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for all the other planets in your chart.
5. Note the characteristics of each planet and overlay them with the zodiac sign and astrological house in which they are located.
6. Note what your Chiron position says about your central wounds.
7. Determine in which house your Rahu (north node) and Ketu (south node) are located.
8. What does your Rahu-Ketu axis say about the purpose of your soul?
9. Planetary aspects: identify the trines, sextiles, oppositions, squares and conjunctions between the planets.
10. Connect everything: what information have you decoded about your relationships?
- Family values
- Finance
- Career
- Lessons of the soul
- Mental goal
- Path of your soul