Beginners Guide: Your Birth Chart
If you’re brand new to astrology and trying to go a bit deeper than “I was born in early October and am a Libra” but don’t know what to do next, you’re in the right place.
First, you’re going to need your birth chart, also sometimes called your natal chart.
(I prefer birth chart—less creepy, somehow.)
Your birth chat going to show you were all of the planets (or at least the ones that matter in astrology) were the moment you were born.
So, for example, if you were born in on October 8th, that means the sun was in the zodiac sign of Libra when you were born—that’s the one you know. But the moon, Mars, Venus, Mercury, etc…those were all in a zodiac sign as well.
To over simplify: you’re not just a Libra, a Taurus, etc. We’re all made up of multiple Zodiac energies, that show up in different ways, depending on where they are in our chart.
So, if you're supposed to be a badass Scorpio, but you apologize when someone bumps into you, it might be because you're also working with Libra Mercury, a Pisces Moon, and a Cancer Rising.
Or if you’re supposed to be a mystical Pisces, but you interrupt tarot readings to roll up the sleeves of your blazer, correct someone’s grammar—and then take over the reading—it might be because your Mercury’s in Virgo, your Rising is Capricorn, and your Mars is in Leo.
That’s the point of the birth chart: to show you where the rest of the planets were lurking, so you can understand yourself beyond “Virgo = organized.”
In other words, your chart will show you your other “signs” so you can start exploring what that says about your personality.
(I would be remiss not to at least mention that there are other important factors in your birth chart, particularly houses and aspects. But this is a beginner’s guide, and I’m an advocate for learning one layer at a time. My suggestion? Start with the Zodiac layer. For example, learn which Zodiac sign Mars is in your chart, explore what that means, and then look to see what house Mars was in, and whether there are any major aspects in play.)
Scroll down the page (it’ll be awhile) until you see this:
Where it says “Planet positions” that’s a nice and clean breakdown of your various Zodiac signs. Above is mine, and you can see how easy it is to tell that my moon sign is Taurus, my venus sign is Gemini, and so on. (ignore the houses and numbers for now, keep it simple!)
From there, you can hit up Google (or the resources here on this site!) to uncover and embrace brand new facets of your personality!
Pro tip: If you’re looking for your Rising sign, it’s the one labeled ASC at the bottom of your list. ASC = Ascendant, which is another name for your Rising.