Finding your natal chart report is easy; you can use a basic zodiac wheel to identify which planets were in each ‘house’ on the day you were born, or there are a number of websites that offer free and in depth reports providing a comprehensive astrological reading.  We take a look at these options below, and set out the basics on how to read your chart once you’ve obtained it.

Using A Zodiac Wheel

A zodiac wheel can be easily found online, or you can make one yourself.  The wheel details the twelve signs of the zodiac in order – starting with Aries and ending with Pisces.  To mark out the houses, you need to know your ascendant sign; again, this can easily be found online by entering your date and time of birth.  The 9 o’clock point on the wheel is the cusp of your first house.  If this house is Leo, then, as Virgo follows Leo in the order of the zodiac, so Virgo would be the sign in your second house, and so on.

The first house concerns inherent personality and physical traits; it’s an overview of you as a whole.  The second house relates to finance and your emotional state:  for example, if Pisces is in your second house, you may be prone to go with the flow where money is concerned, rather than carefully planning out your budget.  The third house is all about communication and how you express yourself, while the fourth house describes your relationship to home, family and property.  The fifth house concerns romance, your love-life and children, and the sixth house covers general health and wellbeing. 

Moving on to the second half of the wheel: house number seven is about marriage and long term relationships, while house 8 is the domain of birth, death, healing and sex.  The ninth house relates to journeys, both physical and emotional, while the tenth house is the province of work and career.  Hopes and aspirations are the mainstay of the eleventh house, and the twelfth house determines things we keep hidden.

So now you know each of the houses, and which star sign was in each of the houses when you were born, you can read the wheel. 

Having Capricorn in the fifth house would indicate Capricorn traits predominating your love-life:  perhaps you are likely to be steadfast and loyal when it comes to romance; reliable, if not entirely given to packing on the PDAs.

Reading a Full Natal Report

There are a number of sites online where, for free, you can obtain a natal chart report, even if you don’t know your time of birth.  The reports will typically contain a number of tables relating to the planets and their position on the date of your birth; these tables will include lots of information and value fields, which we’ll look at below, that can be used to provide a detailed, personal astrological report.  The charts can look complicated at first, but don’t be put off, as once you’ve gotten to grips with some of the basic terminology, they can be easily deciphered.

Planets And Positions

The main table in your natal chart will detail the planets and their positions, giving you a sign and degree in each column.  For example, you might have Pluto in Sagittarius at 23 degrees and 23 minutes, and this will determine the bearing and strength of Sagittarius traits in conjunction with Pluto, which relates to how you deal with change.  This table will also show your ascendant sign, and which sign you have in each of the other houses.  The houses are numbered in Roman numerals on this chart, and the tenth house is known as ‘midheaven.’

Major Aspects In The Chart

This table deals with planet position, orbs and related values.  The orb value, in degree and time, determines the strength of the aspect: orbs of less than one degree are strong:  for an aspect to be strong and assigned a higher value, the orb needs to be small.  The higher the orb, the more distant the planet, and therefore its aspect, its value, is weaker.  This table, fundamentally, shows planets that are in conjunction with each other (close to each other) in the natal chart.  The overall values given in each column are a basic signifier of the strength of influence – the higher the number, the more pronounced the influence: so if the Sun has a small orb (so is close) to Mercury, this will give a high overall weighing as to the effect of this pairing on the chart.

The Sun, Moon and inner planets are known as ‘personal planets’ and their values and influence on a chart will always be higher. 

The overall value assigned to each pair of planets will be shown as either a positive or negative number.  Broadly, a positive number indicates that the influence will be a positive/benign one, while a negative value indicates the strength of a more difficult influence, and the extent to which this will be manifest.  It is worth noting that the ‘asc node’ in a natal chart refers to the ascending node of the moon.

The Sun, Moon and inner planets are known as ‘personal planets’ and their values and influence on a chart will always be higher. 

In assessing this influence, consideration needs to be given to the masculine or feminine aspect of each planet, as well as their relevant element: earth, air, fire or water.  Also think about their mode; are they cardinal, fixed or mutable?  What does this tell you?  There is a wealth of information in a basic natal chart if you know how to read it.

Journey To The Stars

Learning to read your natal astrological chart is a fascinating endeavour, and can be a great gateway to further learning about this ancient practice.  Once you have a basic familiarity with degrees of the planets in the sky at a certain point in time, and what this brings to bear on your personality and the way in which you interact with the world, you have a fundamental toolkit with which to embark on a journey of self discovery using astrology.

Author Bio
Regina Wheeler is an elearning consultant at Academicbrits.com and Assignment Help and also writes for Nextcoursework.com.  She writes extensively on managing, marketing and finance.

This article was submitted exclusively to CrystalWind.ca by Regina Wheeler. 

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