How to Read Your Natal Chart

The Basics
Created by Kimmi Elizabeth for @a group where we only do newbie astrology
Step One: Obtain your chart
You can’t read your chart without...well...your chart!

Go to astro.com and make a free profile.

To create your natal chart you will need:

● Your birth date

● Your birth time (as close to the exact minute as
possible; checking your birth certificate will help!)
● Your birth city

*If you can, printing your chart and pasting/taping into a

notebook is helpful for study!
For Further Study:
Join our quizlet group here! Accounts are free.

I will be posting links to flashcard sets throughout this

tutorial, so it helps to be in the quizlet group first.
Step Two: Identify (the signs of) your Big Three
“Big Three” refers to your sun sign, moon sign, and
ascendant/rising sign!

You can find these on the list to the left of your chart, OR
on your circle chart using the symbols.

SUN MOON Ascendant/Rising

NOTE:
AC/Rising are
ALWAYS in the
same place in
every chart!
The sign may
be different,
but it will
always be on
the left of
the circle.
 FIRE CANCER

AIR
ARIES TAURUS GEMINI

EARTH

WATER
LEO LIBRA
VIRGO
SCORPIO

SAGITTARIUS AQUARIUS PISCES

CAPRICORN
Fill in the Blanks:
For the “Fill in the blanks” sections of this tutorial, it
helps to have a physical notebook and pen/pencil to keep
notes in! Copy the prompts below and fill in the blanks.

My SUN sign is in (insert sign here) _______________.

My MOON sign is in _______________.

My RISING or ascendant sign is in _______________.

Example for Our Chart:
My SUN sign is in Taurus.

My MOON sign is in Leo.

My RISING or ascendant sign is in Cancer.

Step Three: Identify (the signs of) your other placements
Just like your big three, these can be found:

1. In the list to the left of the circle chart, OR

2. On the circle chart itself, identified by symbols

The symbols for the other placements are:
TRUE
SATURN NODE/
MERCURY NORTH
NODE

VENUS URANUS CHIRON

MARS NEPTUNE FOR FURTHER STUDY:

Practice with this quizlet

set to memorize chart
symbols!
JUPITER PLUTO
Fill in the Blanks:
My Mercury is in (insert sign here) ___________.
My Venus is in ___________.
My Mars is in ___________.
My Jupiter is in ___________. FOR FURTHER STUDY:
My Saturn is in ___________. Check out these flashcards on
My Uranus is in ___________. our Quizlet to learn what
each placement represents!
My Neptune is in ___________.
My Pluto is in ___________.
My True Node/North Node is in ___________.
My Chiron is in ___________.
Example for Our Chart:
My Mercury is in Taurus.
My Venus is in Gemini.
My Mars is in Aquarius. On our chart, the True
Node is hard to determine
My Jupiter is in Capricorn. based on just looking at
My Saturn is in Aquarius. the circle chart. It is
right on the line between
My Uranus is in Taurus. Gemini and Cancer. We can
My Neptune is in Pisces. determine it is in Cancer
by looking at the list on
My Pluto is in Capricorn. the left side!
My True Node/North Node is in Cancer.
My Chiron is in Aries.
Step Four: Identify Your Houses
Houses make up the “pie pieces” of your chart!

The four angles of your chart (Ascendant, IC or Nadir,

Descendant, and MC or Midheaven) mark the beginning of your
first, fourth, seventh, and tenth houses, respectively.

You can find the houses marked on the middle of the circle
chart!

NOTICE: The Signs and the Houses may not line up exactly!
That’s because they are two separate concepts and divided
differently. Signs are all the exact same size; houses
usually are not!
The
outlined
portion is
the FIRST
house!

Notice is
is half in
Cancer and
half in
Leo.

Here, the
first house
is empty!
The second
house is
outlined
here.

Our chart
has its MOON
in LEO in
the SECOND
house.
When determining which HOUSE is in which SIGN
...always note where the house STARTS, not which sign it is
in most. That tells you which SIGN each house is in.

Make sure you are reading houses

counter-clockwise/anti-clockwise, beginning with first
house!
We know the
AC begins
our first
house.

The AC is in
Cancer, so
our first
house is in
Cancer.
Our second
house begins
in LEO!

Our third
house begins
in LEO as
well. (Even
though MOST
of the third
house is
physically
in Virgo!)
Where do our
fourth and
fifth houses
begin?

Answers on
next slide!
Fourth house begins in VIRGO!

Fifth house begins in SCORPIO!

You may have noticed that Libra is entirely engulfed within

the fourth house. This is called an INTERCEPTED sign/house.

In this instance, the 4th house is intercepted and Libra is

intercepted.

This means our chart has no houses (beginning) in Libra.

What OTHER house/sign are intercepted in our chart? (They

always come in pairs.) Answer on next slide!
TENTH house and ARIES are intercepted!

This means there is no house (beginning) in Aries in our

chart.

FOR FURTHER STUDY:

Check out our Quizlet flashcard set about the astrological houses and
what each of them mean!
Fill in the Blanks:
My 1st house is in (insert sign here) _________. It includes the placements (list
any/all placements, if applicable) _________.
My 2nd house is in _________. It includes the placements _________.
My 3rd house is in _________. It includes the placements _________.
My 4th house is in _________. It includes the placements _________.
My 5th house is in _________. It includes the placements _________.
My 6th house is in _________. It includes the placements _________.
My 7th house is in _________. It includes the placements _________.
My 8th house is in _________. It includes the placements _________.
My 9th house is in _________. It includes the placements _________.
My 10th house is in _________. It includes the placements _________.
My 11th house is in _________. It includes the placements _________.
My 12th house is in _________. It includes the placements _________.

My intercepted houses (if applicable): _________.

My intercepted signs (if applicable): _________.
Example for OUr Chart:
My 1st house is in Cancer. It includes the placements N/A.
My 2nd house is in Leo. It includes the placements MOON.
My 3rd house is in Leo. It includes the placements N/A.
My 4th house is in Virgo. It includes the placements N/A.
My 5th house is in Scorpio. It includes the placements N/A.
My 6th house is in Sagittarius. It includes the placements N/A.
My 7th house is in Capricorn. It includes the placements SATURN, JUPITER, PLUTO.
My 8th house is in Aquarius. It includes the placements MARS.
My 9th house is in Aquarius. It includes the placements NEPTUNE.
My 10th house is in Pisces. It includes the placements CHIRON.
My 11th house is in Taurus. It includes the placements URANUS, MERCURY, SUN.
My 12th house is in Gemini. It includes the placements VENUS, TRUE NODE.

My intercepted houses (if applicable): 4th and 10th.

My intercepted signs (if applicable): Libra and Aries.
Step Five: Organize what you know so far!
Before we get into the last major chart feature, Aspects, it
is helpful to organize what we know so far! Ignore the last
column (Major Aspects) for now.

Use your previous fill in the blanks, or practice reading

straight off your chart! You can use your previous fill in
the blanks to double check your work. :)
FIll in the Blanks:
SIGN HOUSE MAJOR SIGN HOUSE MAJOR
ASPECTS ASPECTS

SUN NEPTUNE

MOON PLUTO

MERCURY TRUE NODE

VENUS CHIRON

MARS ASCENDANT

JUPITER IC/NADIR

SATURN DESCENDANT

URANUS MC/MIDHEAVEN
Example for Our Chart:
SIGN HOUSE MAJOR SIGN HOUSE MAJOR
ASPECTS ASPECTS

SUN Taurus 11 NEPTUNE Pisces 9

MOON Leo 2 PLUTO Capricorn 7

MERCURY Taurus 11 TRUE NODE Cancer 12

VENUS Gemini 12 CHIRON Aries 10

MARS Aquarius 8 ASCENDANT Cancer *

JUPITER Capricorn 7 IC/NADIR Virgo *

SATURN Aquarius 7 DESCENDANT Capricorn *

URANUS Taurus 11 MC/MIDHEAVEN Pisces *

*Note that the four angles are not IN a house because they mark the beginnings of 4 of the houses.
Step Six: Identify Major Aspects
You know what SIGNS your placements are in.

You know what HOUSES your placements are in.

Now we need to note how your placements RELATE to each

other.

“Aspects” are simply the angles and relationships that

placements make to each other. They can be soft, or
beneficial, or they can be hard, or detrimental/challenging.
For now, we will focus on 5 major aspects! These are the
most influential in your chart. They are also the ones most
discussed in astrology circles, though a professional reader
may dive into the other, minor aspects.
CONJUNCTION OPPOSITION
Indicates two Indicates two placements
placements are are “opposite” or
“conjunct” each “opposing” each other. Can
other. The most be beneficial (balancing)
influential aspect or challenging
in a chart. (contradictory).

SQUARE
TRINE SEXTILE Most
Most A beneficial/ difficult/
beneficial/soft soft aspect in a hard aspect in
aspect in a chart. Indicates a chart.
chart. Indicates harmony. Not as Indicates
harmony. strong as a disharmony and
trine. challenge.
Aspects are
indicated on
the chart as
colored
lines!

Fortunately,
they are
also
included in
a handy
chart at the
bottom left.
You read this chart by
reading down and across. 1.
2.
Start with 1. This tells
us that we are starting
with our SUN.

Read across to 2. This

tells us we are looking
at the relationship
between the sun and MOON.

Notice there is a SQUARE

there at the
intersection!
 At the intersection of Sun
and Mercury, we see a
1
CONJUNCTION symbol!

This means our Sun and

2
3 Mercury are conjunct (1).

Note that the sun makes no

major aspects with Venus,
4 Mars, Jupiter, Neptune,
Pluto, True Node, or Chiron.

The Sun does SQUARE our Saturn (2), CONJUNCT our Uranus (3), and SEXTILE our AC
(4).

(We will ignore the aspect it makes with the MC for now, as it is a minor aspect!)
Practice!
There is only one Opposition in our chart...do you see it?
Look at the chart on the previous slide.

Which TWO placements make up the opposition? Answer on the

next slide!
Our MOON is opposite our MARS!
Step Seven: Update your Table
You can now fill in the last column of our table! I will
include an example for our chart on the next slide.

For now, ONLY include the five major aspects. Ignore any
aspect symbols you don’t recognize!

The IC and DC are not listed in the aspect table on the

astro.com chart, so disregard those for now.
 SIGN HOUSE MAJOR ASPECTS SIGN HOUSE MAJOR ASPECTS

SUN Taurus 11 □ Moon, Saturn NEPTUNE Pisces 9 □ Venus

☌ Mercury, Uranus ⚹ Pluto
⚹ AC ⃤ AC

MOON Leo 2 □ Sun PLUTO Capricorn 7 ☌ Jupiter, Saturn

⚹ Venus ⚹ Neptune, MC
☍ Mars

MERCURY Taurus 11 ☌ Sun, Uranus TRUE NODE Cancer 12 □ MC

□ Saturn

VENUS Gemini 12 ⚹ Moon CHIRON Aries 10 ⚹ Saturn

⃤ Mars □ AC
□ Neptune

MARS Aquarius 8 ☍ Moon ASCENDANT Cancer * ⚹ Sun

⃤ Venus ⃤ Neptune
□ Chiron

JUPITER Capricorn 7 ☌ Saturn, Pluto IC/NADIR Virgo * N/A

□ Uranus
⚹ MC

SATURN Aquarius 7 □ Sun, Mercury, Uranus DESCENDANT Capricorn * N/A

☌ Jupiter, Pluto
⚹ Chiron, MC

URANUS Taurus 11 ☌ Sun, Mercury MC/MIDHEAVEN Pisces * □ Venus, True Node

□ Jupiter, Saturn ⚹ Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto
☌ Neptune
Step Eight: RESEARCH!
By now you have a pretty good handle on your placements.
Using the table you’ve compiled, you know:

● What signs your placements are in

● What houses your placements are in
● What signs your houses are in
● What aspects your placements make with each other

But...what does it all MEAN?!

That is for YOU to find out!

What does it mean to have your sun in Taurus?

Your moon in the 2nd house?

Your Jupiter conjunct your Saturn?

This is the stuff astrological study is made of!

My Recommendations:
Do you have that notebook I mentioned? Where you wrote the
Fill in the Blanks and the table we made?

Label a page “MY SUN”

Beneath that, write “Sign: [insert sign here]”

Beneath that, write “House: [insert house here]”
Beneath that, write “Major aspects: [insert aspects here]”

Take notes about that the Sun sign means in general. You can
use the Quizlet flashcards, or a chart like the one on the
next slide! I also included an example of what a note page
might look like.
My Sun

Sign: Taurus
House: 11th
Major aspects:
□ Moon, Saturn
☌ Mercury, Uranus
⚹ AC

The Sun influences the self, vitality,

and ego.
Continue to add notes SPECIFIC to your placements. Google
“Sun in Taurus” and take notes on things that stick out to
you!

Google “Sun in 11th house”; take notes there as well.

Finally, Google each of your aspects, such as “Sun square

moon” and take notes on those as well.

This part is TIME CONSUMING but it is so worth it!

I included a list of sources on slide 56

My Sun Sun square Moon: wants and needs
always in conflict, impulsive,
Sign: Taurus
conflict between desire for
House: 11th
Major aspects: autonomy and desire for
□ Moon, Saturn commitment
☌ Mercury, Uranus
⚹ AC Sun square Saturn: insecurity,
fear of fully diving into life,
The Sun influences the self, may feel the world is always
vitality, and ego. getting in the way of your
Sun in Taurus: earth sign, grounded, success
stubborn, determined
Sun conjunct Mercury:
Sun in 11H: idealism, innovative temperament and personality are
approach, belief in other people, integrated
hopeful 1 2
Continue taking notes until you feel you have a basic
understanding of your sun’s characteristics.

When you are done, start a brand new page titled “My Moon.”

You guessed it - same process, different placement!

YES - this is tedious. There is a reason people pay hundreds

of dollars for professional chart readers to interpret their
charts for them! But if you stick with it, do a little at a
day, and practice, you will get the hang of it. :)
Soon you won’t need to write everything down - you’ll know
that 2nd house primarily deals with finances, personal
belongings, and daily routines.

You will know that Gemini is an air sign, and Gemini sun
natives are intellectual people who change their mind often!

You will know that Venus square Mars can be a challenging

aspect for one’s love life!

Practice reading charts for friends and family - WITH

permission.
EXTRAS: The other little table
You may have noticed one more small table on your astro.com
chart. It looks like this:
This table simply tells you the distribution of your
placements in terms of ELEMENT and MODALITY.

You can learn more about the Four Elements (Fire, Air,
Earth, and Water) and the Three Modalities (Cardinal, Fixed,
and Mutable) here.

Our example chart has NO Mutable (M)

Fire (F - side) placements, but has
THREE Fixed (F - top) Earth (E)
placements!

The three fixed earth placements are

Sun, Mercury, Uranus.
Extras: Common Terms
There are some astrological terms not covered here that you
may hear/see in the digital astrological community! You can
learn about some of those here!
Extras: Sources for Beginning
When researching, always use charts from astro.com - they are the industry
standard, most accurate charts available!

For information on placements/aspects:

https://www.astro.com/astrowiki/en/Main_Page

https://cafeastrology.com/articles/planetsinastrology.html

https://cafeastrology.com/natal/planetsaspectsastrology.html

http://astromatrix.org/

Books: The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need by Joanna Martine Woolfolk
Essential Astrology by Amy Herring

Facebook: “a group where we only do newbie astrology”, “STAR Academy: Tarot

and Astrology”, “Transits are Real”