When taking the first steps into astrology, You’ll start from the analysis of Your Birth Chart. With Your exact birth date, time and place, get a snapshot of the alignment of the stars and planets at that time. Learning how to “read” or analyze Your Birth Chart might not be very easy, but You can start from the simple steps – get to know the most important parts of the Chart. There’re three of those – planets, signs, and houses. Start decoding them step by step and You’ll soon be able to understand Your magical diagram or astrology basics!
Planets
There are 10 main planets in astrology (You’ll find out that there’re more important astrological planets/points in the future, but for now, it’s useful to focus on the main ones). In Your chart, each planet symbolizes a different character of Your life and answers the question “WHAT”. For example, Venus represents our understanding of love, our values, the things that attract us. Some of the astrologers encourage to think about the planets as the actors on the stage – then You’re assigning qualities, areas of life, and it becomes more alive. It’s fascinating, that the associations with the planets are endless, as we can relate every thing/phenomenon on Earth with one of the planets.
Below is the list of the planets and what they’re associated with:
- The Sun – Father, ego, self-identity, vitality
- The Moon – Mother, emotional reactions, security, emotional needs
- Mercury – the mind, communication, intelligence, learning
- Venus – love, style, values, money, attraction
- Mars – physical energy, motivation, drive, action
- Jupiter – talents, abilities, success, growth
- Saturn – challenges, restrictions, discipline, maturity, fears
- Uranus – change, rebellion, unexpectedness, freedom
- Neptune – intuition, dreams, imagination, confusion
- Pluto – power, transformations, rebirth, change
Planets are the most fundamental part of astrology. The interesting thing about the planets is that they can form relationships with one another, through planetary aspects. The analysis of aspects will probably be the fourth step when learning about Your Birth Chart.
Signs
The second important part of the Birth Chart is the signs. When You identify the planetary symbols, take a look at the Zodiac symbol in line with it – You’ll have the information in which sign the planet was, at the exact time. What does it mean? The sign represents the quality of the energy or answers to the question HOW. Each of the 12 signs has its own specific qualities. Taking the same example of Venus, let’s say that Your Venus is in Leo – it means that Your love language is playful, might be dramatic, You want to be in the center of attention. Here are some main qualities of each Zodiac sign:
- Aries – action-oriented, bold
- Taurus – stable, patient, conservative
- Gemini – talkative, curious, intelligent
- Cancer – moody, sensitive
- Leo – playful, domineering, dramatic
- Virgo – analytical, critical
- Libra – balanced, peaceful
- Scorpio – transformative, intense
- Sagittarius – expansive, optimistic
- Capricorn – authoritative, disciplined
- Aquarius – original, futuristic
- Pisces – dreamy, intuitive
Houses
The third part of Your Chart is the areas of life or houses. Houses are the 12 parts of the chart or segments. Taken together, the houses answer the question WHERE – where will each planet play out for You mostly. Houses start from the self and expand outward into society and beyond. The first six houses are also known as “personal houses”, while the 7-12 houses are known as “interpersonal houses”. You can see the basic meanings of the 12 houses below.
- FIRST house – the house of “self”, personality, self-identity, the first impressions we make
- SECOND house – the house of values, body, finances, resources
- THIRD house – the house of mind, learning, communication, immediate environment, siblings
- FOURTH house – the house of home, family, security, roots
- FIFTH house – the house of love, creativity, self-expression, children, pleasure
- SIXTH house – the house of daily life, routines, health, daily work, service
- SEVENTH house – the house of partnerships, romance, negotiations, relating
- EIGHTH house – the house of power, shared resources, transformation, death
- NINTH house – the house of beliefs, long-distance travel, higher education, philosophy
- TENTH house – the house of career, status, authority
- ELEVENTH house – the house of friends, socializing, networking, hopes and ideals
- TWELFTH house – the house of spirituality, dreams, things that are hidden, intuition, isolation
So, if You want to start a journey of self-discovery, take a look at Your Birth Chart and start to interpret it! Take a planet, assign the quality of the sign to it, and have a look at the house or the area of life where it’s most prominent. It’s the starting point on navigating through Your personal Birth Chart. Then You’ll add the aspects, signs on the cusps, as well as exact degrees of the planets, and… eventually, You’ll find that intuition also starts to take a part in Your interpretation. The more charts You’ll see and try to interpret, the easier it will become.
Wishing You a lovely journey through Your Birth Chart!
