HOW TO READ A BIRTH CHART: A Beginner’s Guide to Astrology

Welcome to the series of "LEARN ASTROLOGY"!  I try to explain as simple and clear way as I can. This is what I have learnt through years.

P.S. I am not a certified professional astrologer!

In this blog post we are going to get understanding about:

• what is a birth chart
• why it is important to know your chart
• planets, houses, signs and how they influence our lives
• free online tools to get your birth chart generated
• a sample birth chart being done
• how to read the birth chart

WHAT IS A BIRTH CHART

A birth chart (natal chart) is a snapshot of the sky at the exact moment and location when you were born. It maps the positions of the planets (Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury, Mars etc.) and twelve houses that represent different areas of your life. The planets in the signs and how they aspect the other planets, show how certain energies manifesting in your life.

WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW YOUR CHART

As it is being described previously, you get to to know who you are and what is your reason in this lifetime. It also shows your  career, love, relationships, blessings and challenges you need to deal with. Being more self-aware about ourselves helps us to live our life better. Astrology doesn't predict but shows possible outcomes of the energies you are dealing with (like tarot and numerology). It can be your GUIDE to move forward in life.

PLANETS, HOUSES AND HOW THEY INFLUENCE OUR LIVES

All planets and houses carry their own specific energies. We all have 12 zodiac sign energies, just in what %? We all have somewhere Capricorn that shows in what field we are more disciplined. We all have somewhere Pisces that shows us were we tend to daydream more and also being illusional. We all have somewhere Aries that shows where we are more aggressive, courageous and bold and so on! Now lets make a closer look on the planets:

• SUN - a planet most people know and identify with. It is your ego, outward living, part of your personality. It is a part of WHO YOU ARE, not fully YOU. It is also energy you are learning to deal with, especially if it is on the 0 or 1 degrees. Sun rules over Leo sign. Never in Retrograde.
• MOON - your mind, emotions and how you process them and also how you react emotionally. I would say Moon energy is something you have been in past lives, its a energy you know and feels at home. It comes out strongly when we are by ourselves, this will not be usually shown to the people you meet at first. Your Moon shines more around people who you feel comfy and at home. Moon rules over Cancer sign. Never in Retrograde.
• MERCURY - how you speak, intellect, your voice and how you express what is in your minds. I have noticed that people who have Mercury in water signs have more softer, quite pleasant, calm and flowy voices. When you were born on Mercury Retrograde, you have very strong inner thought process, you think 10 times more before you say anything, you are also prone to overthink and overanalyze everything especially if you have Mercury R in Pisces or Gemini. Mercury rules over Gemini and Virgo.
• VENUS - your love language, what you need and how you love, what you find beautiful and pleasant to see, hear or feel. Your aesthetics. Your relationships. Also money matters (Taurus energy). When you were born Venus Retrograde, you might struggle to show your big love to others, you might even have lots of love inside but don't know how to express it, because it is so intense, especially if it is in Leo or Scorpio signs. Venus rules over Taurus and Libra signs.
• MARS - your motivation, thrive, needs, temperament and energy. This shows how you assert in real life, how you deal with conflicts and what you need to keep going in life. Also anger is shown here, I have noticed that people who have Mars in Taurus are very calm, calmer even than Sun in Taurus people, it takes a lot for them to get mad. They like to be in peace and chill, but also slow to take an action. Being born on Mars Retrograde time, you might have very strong energy that might manifests as very impulsive in decisionmaking, also you might get boiled up emotionally very fast and a lot, this means you need to control yourself more how you release your negative energy. If its not done well, you might explode and that can have very bad outcome. Mars rules over Aries and Scorpio signs.
• JUPITER - your growth, beliefs, travelling, wisdom and blessings in this lifetime. When can see from here, where Jupiter has given you a luck or what comes quite naturally or easy for us. It works, this flow is always coming, abundance. Being born on Jupiter Retrograde, you might experience delays with blessings in later life or it could also manifest as looking for blessings inside rather than from outerworld. You reflect a lot about your own life. Jupiter rules over Sagittarius and Pisces signs. 
• SATURN - your discipline, challenges, lessons, limits, responsibility. Here we can see how seriously you take your responsibilities and how you deal with hardships. Often our life gets better and more rewarding on the fields the Saturn is sitting on, this means also we have learnt our lessons before and after Saturn Return (happens around every 27-30 years). Being born on Saturn Retrograde, you might get lots of lessons around discipline, authority issues and responsibility, which could come out inner levels, as feeling strong guilt and self-doubt, you might mature a lot later in life than others around you. Saturn rules over Aquarius and Capricorn signs.
• NEPTUNE - your dreams, creativity, illusions, intuition, spirituality. Being born on Neptune Retrograde you can have quite strong intuition which you might struggle at first to learn to trust it. You might struggle also to face with hard truths and reality, wanting to escape. This can also manifest as highly sensitive to people, food and other energies around you, you might not know how to protect yourself energetically. Neptune rules over Pisces sign.
• URANUS - where you rebel, change and create innovation. Being born on Uranus Retrograde, you can be quite rebel but don't know how to express it out. You might also experience lots of sudden breakthroughs and worldviews changes. Uranus rules over Aquarius sign.
• PLUTO - your power and transformation, how you heal and adapt through changes in life. Being born on Pluto Retrograde, you will experience deep and intense changes internally, always having strong inner conflicts between mind and heart. You don't want to believe your intuition. There are lot of emotions and feelings hidden that are wanting to come out. Pluto rules over Scorpio sign. 

Understanding now more about important planets that influence us, we need to look the 12 houses, what they all mean:

• 1st house - is a Aries house (Aries starts the circle). It is your self, your appearance and how you present yourself in the world. This is an image people get of you when they first meet you.
• 2nd house - is a Taurus house (Taurus is a second sign after Aries). It is your self worth, money, values and what you possess. It also shows how you earn money and how you spend and save it.
• 3rd house - is a Gemini house (Gemini is after Taurus, third sign from Aries). It is your communication, siblings, learning, short trips. You can see your immediate environment here.
• 4th house - is a Cancer house (Cancer is after Gemini, fourth sign from Aries). Here lies your roots, family, homeland, mother, motherhood. You can see your upbringing here and where you feel at home.
• 5th house - is a Leo house (Leo is after Cancer, fifth sign from Aries). Here you can see what you like to do, your hobbies, where you shine, creativity, romance and also children. 
• 6th house - is a Virgo house (Virgo is after Leo, sixth sign from Aries). This house shows our everyday life, our health, food diets, work environment, service to others, daily routines to maintain a balance.
• 7th house - is a Libra house (Libra is after Virgo, seventh sign from Aries). This is the house of relationships, marriage, law and how you seek and want your connections to be.
• 8th house - is a Scorpio house (Scorpio is after Libra, eigth sign from Aries). This is the house of lifechanges, intimacy, shared resources, psychology. 
• 9th house - is a Sagittarius house (Sagittarius is after Scorpio, ninth sign from Aries). This is the house of philosophy, long distance travels, discoveries, higher studies and can mean also religion. 
• 10th house - is a Capricorn house (Capricorn is after Sagittarius, tenth sign from Aries). Here you can see your career, reputation, social status and ambitions. Your success and public recognition is also seen here.
• 11th house - is a Aquarius house (Aquarius is after Capricorn, eleventh house from Aries). This house shows are goals, dreams, friends and groups. You can see from here also how involved you are in social activities and communities you want or belong to.
• 12th house - is a Pisces house (Pisces is after Aquarius, twelvth house from Aries, also the last one). Here lies your subconscious, spirituality and isolation needs, you can also your connection here through the mystical world.  

And last but not least, it is the SIGNS:

• ARIES - a fire sign. Ruled by Mars. Bold, courageous, action-orientated, energetic, leaders, love challenges, quite impulssive.
• TAURUS - an earth sign. Ruled by Venus. Calm, steady, practical, slow, loves money, comfort, food, luxury, nice scents.
• GEMINI - an air sign. Ruled by Mercury. All over the place, curious mind, flexible, loves information, talking, learning, quite smart and also restless.
• CANCER - a water sign. Ruled by Moon. Lots of emotions, feelings, home is the best place to be, family and security is everything. Strong intuition.
• LEO - a fire sign. Ruled by Sun. Pride, bold and confident. Larger than life. Life is a show. Loves attention. Quite generous, kind and are good leaders.
• VIRGO - an earth sign. Ruled by Mercury. Practical, analytical and focused on service for others. They like to help others, health matters. Perfectionism. Ready to be on duty.
• LIBRA - an air sign. Ruled by Venus. Love, relationships, beauty, law, harmony. 
• SCORPIO - a water sign. Ruled by Mars and Pluto. Intensity, transformations, intimacy, mysterious.
• SAGITTARIUS - a fire sign. Ruled by Jupiter. Beliefsystem, travelling, wisdom, discovery, freedom.
• CAPRICORN - an earth sign. Ruled by Saturn. Discipline, practicality, hard work, planning, material possession, business, long-term goals.
• AQUARIUS - an air sign. Ruled by Saturn and Uranus. Rebel, original, independant, freedom loving, value as a individual, serving the humanity, interest in technology, friendship is very important, emotionally more like distant, unconventional thinking. 
• PISCES - a water sign. Ruled by Jupiter and Neptune. Highly spiritual, emphatic, flexible, artistic, intuitive, connected with nature, going with a flow. 

Also having now a brief overview of signs, planets and houses, it is time to check yours (if you already don't know). For this you need to your date of birth, time of birth and location of birth. The free online tools you can use to get your birth chart generated:

https://www.astro.com/horoscope 

https://astro.cafeastrology.com/natal.php 

https://astro-charts.com/tools/new/birth-chart/ 

I have a made for you also a sample birth chart (pictures included) to show a step-by-step if you are very new to this!

Step 1. Choose a suitable online site to generate your birth chart I mentioned few sentences ago. I chose https://astro-charts.com/tools/new/birth-chart/ 

After you have filled in your details, then click "CREATE CHART".

P.S! THIS WILL BE A PERSONAL PREFERENCE WHEN IT COMES TO HOUSE SYSTEM FOR YOUR BIRTH CHART READING. SOME RESONATE MORE WITH PLACIDUS HOUSE SYSTEM AND SOME PREFER WHOLE HOUSE SYSTEM. YOU CAN CHECK BOTH.

DO KNOW: 

• IT IS EASIER TO READ CHART IN WHOLE HOUSE THAN PLACIDUS.
• ALSO IF YOU UNSURE OF YOUR EXACT BIRTH TIME, I SUGGEST USING WHOLE HOUSE SYSTEM!
• Usually the chart generator shows house system either as Placidus ("default").
• If you want to use WHOLE HOUSE system: click "SETTINGS", click "Houses", and choose "WHOLE SIGNS (OLDEST) house system:

Your chart should now look like this:

Under your birth chart wheel you will see the written form of where the planets were (what signs and houses) when you were born. First house is your Rising sign - for that is important to know your time of birth.

So you have now a question "how do I read it?" Well, lets start with this sample I made.