The Basics

The birth chart / Natal chart = The blueprint of your life.
This chart is made with the following required information :
• Date of Birth
• Exact Time of birth
• Place of birth

Calculate your Birthchart

Horoscope wheel

This is a snapshot of the sky at the moment of birth. You always read it counterclockwise!
There are 12 signs in the zodiac and 12 houses. Each sign rules a house but this depends on the exact birth data.
To calculate where the signs are located in your chart, you can choose between several house systems,
The most commonly used systems are :
• Placidus house system = is a more psychologically focused system, Subjective
• Whole sign system = each sign occupies a full house, this is traditional Astrology, Objective

Other ways to understand what the birth chart represents :
• Your potentials and challenges
• Visual representation of the inner psyche
• Life path, task, lessons and evolution
• The playing cards to navigate this incarnation

The houses

The houses represent the 12 major areas of life, such as finances, family, health, relationship, career,… The houses can be divided through various house systems, the most common ones are Placidus (non equal) and Whole sign (equal). If you’re using placidus house system, it’s possible that you have big and small houses. Don’t worry about this, a small house won’t give bad results. Instead, look at which sign occupies that house, as this gives more information about the house itself.
Each house cusp (the beginning of a house) will fall into one of the 12 signs, and this sign will rule over that house ; the house ruler.

To know what sign is ruling which house, you have to look at the housecusp = where the house starts, counter clockwise.

Meaning of an empty house : there is less emphasis and focus on this particular area of life, the attention is brought to other themes. To get more information on the empty house, you have to look at the sign on the cusp of that house.
What planet is the Ruler of that sign, and look where the depositor is placed in the birth chart.

Example :
If the 7th house is ruled by Sagittarius a.k.a 7th house cusp in Sagittarius, than the ruling planet is Jupiter. Than you have to look at where Jupiter is placed in the natal chart ; what house, what sign ?

The signs

The signs represent our general character and approach to the houses.
The first sign that’s important to look at, is the rising or ascendant sign. Which was rising on the Eastern horizon at the exact time of birth. This marks the beginning of the 1st house in the horoscope wheel. It gives a lot of information about how you present yourself to the outside world and how people see you. The ASC or rising sign determines your appearance and physical health. It is the lens through which you channel the full horoscope, it’s the way you act to your surroundings, the traits to your (outward) expression and personality

The Planets

The Planets are the forces that enhance or weaken the house they are placed in. The planets show you the possibilities you have within the area of that house. Planets also move counter clockwise and they have periods of going retrograde (clockwise).

• Birthchart = Blueprint of you and your life
• ASC = Beginning of the 1st house, Lens and outward expression to life
• Signs = Your approach to the life areas, pieces of you, the theme of a house
• Houses = The areas of life
• Planets = The forces & influences within the life areas, where the energies play out

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The quadrants

When you look at the horoscope wheel, you’ll notice that there are 4 thick lines, these are called the angles and mark the beginning and ending parts of a quadrant. A quadrant consists of 3 houses. The ascendant is the beginning of the 1st house but also the beginning of the 1st quadrant. The IC is the beginning of the 4th house but also the 2nd quadrant. The descendant is the beginning of the 7th house and the 3rd quadrant. The descendant is on the same horizontal line as the ascendant, but on the right side. The MC is the beginning of the 10th house and the 4th quadrant.

1st quadrant : symbolizes the awareness of the self
2nd quadrant : deals with the integration of the self with the environment
3rd quadrant : Is about the awareness of others
4th quadrant : is integration of the self with society

The Angles

As mentioned above, angles are the beginning points of each quadrant, the thick lines you see are the angles.
They are very sensitive points in a chart. they are the basis of our makeup. Other names for the angles are :
Axis or cardinal points.

ASC = You, appearance, health, the body, attitude
IC = Roots, home, ending of life, deepest self
DSC = Others, relationships, our shadow side
MC = Status, career, reputation, outward expression

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The Bottomhalf of the chart is the NightHalf = Introverted, personal
If you have a lot of planets placed there, it can make you very introverted.

The Tophalf of the chart is the DayHalf = Extroverted, public
If you have a lot of planets placed there, it can make you extroverted.

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Stelliums

A stellium means more than 3 planets in one sign OR house. it can be both as well. They amplify the activities of the house or sign it’s placed in and usually aid to a specific theme in life which is linked to the representation of the sign and house.

When you have a Stellium in a certain house = the theme of that house is highlighted within your life.
When you have a Stellium in a certain sign = the characteristics of that sign are prominent in your personality and appearance.

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How to read your birthchart (basic) : 

The Sun, Moon and Ascendant are the main building blocks of our personality
and the first thing to consider when reading a chart.

Checking the signs
This is the first thing to check, they will give the basic flavor and characteristic to our 3 building blocks.

Sun = Basic ego expression, self, identity, will, drive
Moon = Emotional nature, most important planet in the horoscope, the body
Ascendant = Outward expression, physical body, attitude, appearance

check in which sign these 3 are placed.

1) In what sign is the Sun = Sunsign
2) In what house is the Sun = Area of life in which you express yourself most/best
3) In what sign is the ASC = Your appearance and approach to life, the lens that you view life through
4) In what house is the ASC ruler = Focused area and themes in life, Main theme
5) In what sign is the Moon = Your emotions and your needs, your emotional style
6) In what house is the Moon = Area of life that has influence on your emotions, where subjectivity brings fluctuations

=> These are the basic building blocks of your personality

7) In what sign/house is a Stellium = Highlighted area in your life, hyper focus
8) In what sign/house in Saturn = The restricted area in life, fear, insecurity, feeling held back
9) In what sign/house is Chiron = Your wound and possibility to heal, vulnerability
10) In what sign/house is Northnode = Your karmic challenges and lessons, growth
11) In what sign is MC = Your career possibilities, outward expression in public
12) In what sign is the IC = Your experience at home, your roots, how you ground yourself

Ofcourse reading your birthchart is way more complex than this. But these 12 steps are most important to begin with in understanding your life and personality.

Next step :

1) Aspects to your Sun, Asc, Asc ruler & Moon, influences to your individual development
2) Sextiles = Talents, choices, harmony
3) Squares = Challenges & friction, passion, frustration
4) Trines = Cooperative energies, cooperation, talent
5) Opposite = Combative energies, inner conflict, struggle

Meaning of the Aspects
Meaning of your Sunsign
Meaning of the Planets
Meaning of Chiron