How To Read A Birth Chart Quick Reference Guide
This guide will include short and simple ways to help you read a Natal Chart.
The above images are the birth wheel. Each planet will be placed in a house and in a sign. The exact West point of the Chart is your ascendant. The Ascendant separates the 12th house from the 1st house. Looking at the wheel you can start at the 1st house and move counterclockwise around the wheel to see the house numbers. Or you can start from the 12th house and move clockwise, it doesn’t matter. The key is to be able to look at the wheel and Identify which planet is where, and how is it respecting the other planets.
Each planet has a symbol. Using the symbol you can figure out which house the planet is in, and also which sign the placed in. Here I have added each Zodiac Signs symbol, and each Planets symbol. You will use these to first locate the planet, find the house it is, and then see which sign it is in. Now we will move on to what each Sign, House, Planet & Aspect represent.
---------------------------------------------------
Planets describe a certain process of what is happening - eg. Mars fights, Saturn limits, Jupiter expands..
Sign in which the planet is located determines how the planet is manifesting itself, for example, Mars may manifest itself in a way Aries would behave [vigorously and irritably] or in the manner of Taurus [more slowly, gradually and consistently]
Houses show special areas of everyday life, in which all this takes place. Location in a house shows whether, for example, Mars manifests in relationships [7th house], employment [6th house], family [4th house] or elsewhere.
Quick:
Planets show us what is happening;
Signs show us how it is happening;
Houses show us where it is happening.
---------------------------------------
Starting with the 12 zodiac signs, here is what you need to know. The order of how signs is - element, modality, duality, then few keywords.
Aries - [Ruled by Mars] Fire, Cardinal, Aggressive - Self-esteem, assertive, pioneering
Taurus - [Venus] Earth, Fixed, Passive - Determination, practical, stable
Gemini - [Mercury] Air, Mutable, Aggressive - Intellectuality, versatile, communicative
Cancer - [ the Moon] Water, Cardinal, Passive - Nurturing, love of security, gentle
Leo - [the Sun] Fire, Fixed, Aggressive - In spotlight, selfhood, leadership
Virgo - [Mercury] Earth, Mutable, Passive - Service, helping others, organized
Libra - [Venus] Air, Cardinal, Aggressive - Partnership, fairness/balance, relating
Scorpio - [Pluto & Mars] Water, Fixed, Passive - Intense, mysterious, occultism, transformative
Sagittarius - [Jupiter] Fire, Mutable, Aggressive - Optimistic, law, aspiration, philosophical
Capricorn - [Saturn] Earth, Cardinal, Passive - Ambition, status, position, authoritative "
Aquarius - [Uranus & Saturn] Air, Fixed, Aggressive - Humanitarian, new systems, progressive
Pisces - [Neptune & Jupiter] Water, Mutable, Passive - Mysticism, surrender, wisdom, spiritual
Moving on to key themes for each planet -
Sun - Leo energy - Your basic character, ego, identity, individuality. self-expression, dignities, what you really are
Moon -Cancer energy - Your emotions, subconscious/instinct, reactions, moods, roots, conditioning, mother, home, comfort, heart
Mercury - Gemini energy - Your mind, intelligence, communication, reason, speaking, dishonesty
Venus - Taurus energy - How you deal with romance. Beauty, love, passion, sex, pleasure
Mars - Aries energy - Masculine, drive, desire, lust, aggression, will power, force, primal, dominance, impulse, courage, want, ambition
Jupiter - Sagittarius energy - Expansion, success, education, optimism, honor, success, generosity, growth, confidence, understanding, wisdom, truth
Saturn - Capricorn energy - Maturity, learning lessons, patience, karma, stability, melancholy, secretiveness, suspicion,
Uranus - Aquarius energy - Originality, society, the unexpected, technology, revolution, anarchy, unique
Neptune - Pisces energy - Spirituality, dreams, idealism, imagination, intuition, dishonesty
Pluto - Scorpio energy -Transformation, death/rebirth, power, mystery, occult, learning lessons the harsh way, rough sex, darkness, chaotic, abruptness, deviousness, promiscuous, adventure, rebellion, lust
North Node - Things you're uncomfortable with. Learning to get used to it, getting the best potential from it.
South Node - Things in your comfort zone, learning how to let go some of those.(edited)
The twelve houses:
1st - Your own identify, how you appear to the world
2nd - Values, money, skills, possessions, security
3rd - Communications, short trips, siblings, learning
4th - Environment, roots, family, home life,
5th - Children, creativity, short-term romance (dating), recreation
6th - Work environment, service, health, pets, co-workers
7th - Partnership, marriage, close friends, open enemies, how world approach to you
8th - Psychological, death, sex, other people's resource, secrets/occultism, commitment
9th - Education, philosophy/religion, travels, law
10th - Reputation, careers, sense of purpose
11th - Hopes, dreams, friends, goals
12th - Subconscious, hospitals/prisons, self-undoing, spirituality, hidden enemies
Conjunction - when two (or more) planets or points are next to each other [within 0-4 degrees of each other]. They are blended or mixed in so they act together. The planets won't stand alone as they blend in thus it can be difficult recognizing each others separately.
--------------------
Trine - An aspect that is 120° . The planets/points involved for trine supports each others. The energy flows naturally, and doesn't need to be worked on.
Sextile - An aspect that is 60°. Often read similarly to trines but sextiles are read more like the potential of the 2 flowing energies. The native sees the potential and works on it and makes a sextile a stronger aspect than a trine.
---------------------
Square - An aspect that is 90°. This aspect creates tensions between the two planets/points. Tension is necessary in order to make you motivated to get things done but too much tension also can lead to stress. So pay attention to which houses they're in.
Opposition - An aspect that is 180°. This aspect causes tension between the two planets/points as well. There's the pull and push force with the oppositions often leading to the uncertainty. It's a lesson that you will have to learn in order to be able to balance both planets/points out.
Quincunx - An aspect that is 150°. Another stressful aspect. It's where you have to make the constant adjustment between the two planets/points It's just something you have to learn how to deal with, constant pushing and pulling, no balance you have to pick a side.
-------------------
Okay so to make aspects more simple here are the summaries:
Conjunction - Two (or more) as One - Blended
Trine - Support, In Flow, Almost-unconscious natural talent
Sextile - Support, more obvious than Trine, natural talent
Square - Tension, conflict
Opposition - Pull and Push force, how to balance both
Quincunx - This or that, constant adjustment
—————————————
Other important information -
House Rulers - whichever sign the house STARTS in, is the house ruler. So, if your 12th house starts in Scorpio, then Scorpio is your 12th house ruler. House rulers give you an idea of the overall energy in that area of your life. Having Scorpio [depth, occult, taboo etc] ruling your 12th house [subconscious mind] can indicate a rather deep person. Whereas if Capricorn were ruling your 12th house, you would be a rather diplomatic and straight to the point/surface type of person.
—————————————
In order to fully grasp interpreting a Natal Wheel, you must be able to identify energy & apply it to other energies. Reading your birth chart should essentially be like a roadmap.
Astrology information is almost infinite, and there are plenty of other areas that were not covered in this quick guide. However, I hope this laid enough groundwork to help you further your Astrological studies!
