Understanding your birth chart may feel like learning a whole new language – it’s confusing as heck! The easiest way to grasp is by thinking of your birth chart as a screen shot of the sky when you were born. What constellations (zodiac signs) the planets were in at that moment become your personal planetary placements. Based on the exact time you are born is how to know what zodiac sign starts your chart – which then dictates what houses of your chart these planets fall into. Find out a break down of this in one of my previous blog posts here -- Understanding The Houses:
themodernastrologer.com/news/2018/11/20/natal-chart-explained-houses.
I try my best on my Instagram to explain where each transit is happening so that everyone can find it in their charts to see where it is impacting them the most. “Transits” are what the planets are doing CURRENTLY in the sky. Transits are always moving while your birth chart is always the same and doesn’t change. Once you get to know your own chart, you can then layer it with what’s happening currently. For example – If Mercury is about to be retrograding in the sign of Libra and you know that Libra is your personal third house in your chart, you then can prepare for the effects of that transit (In this case, Mercury retrograding) in the third house by looking up “Mercury retrograde in the third house”. This will give you a much more precise explanation of how this will impact you and advice on how to utilize this energy to your advantage – rather then the typical “Oh, Mercury is retrograding, everything is gonna go cray!”. Certain transits can be totally helpful in one house and then frustrating in another – so it isn’t a one size fits all impact. If you are a visual learner you can check out this (super scrappy) youtube I made to help explain finding things in your chart -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPWMziCMRow&t=346s
The houses, planets and signs are tough to comprehend as a whole and transits are as well. My advice is to just start with one thing, grasp it and then keep going. So, instead of learning what all of these things mean I will break down some fun things to know that are simple to find and will help you move through life. Head over to https://www.astrotheme.com/ to input your birth info to get your chart. You can hover your mouse and click on each placement for info.
Here are a few great starting points to learn about your self as well as those close to you:
· Rising sign – (this one you will have to know your exact time of birth to find. If you do not know/have access to this, skip this.) Our rising sign, also called the “ascendant”, is the zodiac sign that is at the beginning of our birth chart. It is the first impression that we give off to people and how we take on life. It is a very big part of our personality as well as our physical appearance and mannerisms. For example, I can usually spot a Gemini rising because they are immediately very chatty, social, distracted, etc. It becomes the sign we expose at all times.
· Sun Sign - everyone knows his or her “sign” but in astrology this is called the sun sign. The constellation/zodiac sign that the sun was in when you were born. Yes, your sun sign is a big part or your personality; it is our conscious self, our purpose. Think of it as our basic identity.
· Moon sign – the moon represents our subconscious self, our emotional personality. It rules our needs, instincts, and reactions, how we handle and express stress/sadness/vulnerability/love. It is the part of us that perhaps only the people who we trust and can be vulnerable with can see in us. Find what sign your moon is in – this is the personality that is innately who we are deep down. It also tells a lot about our love language.
· Venus sign – Venus represents love, money, creativity and things we enjoy. Look to what sign your Venus falls in to get a big glimpse into your love language and how you show love. For example – a Venus in Taurus may want to cook/snuggle/be cozy in high quality blankets with a nice glass of wine while a Venus in Virgo may prefer their partners to do something practical like walk the dog, pick up coffee on their way home for them type of thing. It’s important to know your Venus sign so that you are able to express what you need in love and explain how you show love. A Taurus Venus person may be frustrated and want to share time over a lovely meal at home or out but may not realize that their Virgo Venus partner is totally showing their love by running errands for them. Once you both see each other’s way of showing love, you can start to compromise and express your needs better.
· Mercury sign - Mercury represents our communication style and our logical mind. It’s how we learn, and express ideas. A Mercury in Aires person may be blunt and direct with their communication, while a Mercury in Cancer may feel out the situation first and communicate accordingly. No way of communicating is wrong. What gets tricky though is when we communicate in an opposite way then another person and then place blame on them for not doing it our way. This happens a lot in relationships of all kinds. It is a very useful tool if you can find out what sign your boss/colleague’s/partner’s/family member’s Mercury falls. Let’s flip it around and try to communicate to others how they best take in facts. Empathy, people, empathy.
· Lastly, (if you do happen to have your exact time of birth), finding out what house these above planets fall in your birth chart is taking it one step further. For example what house the sun falls in your chart is important for finding out where our personalities shine the most – what lights us up. It’s where we seek to express ourselves the most.
Astrology can be such a fabulous tool for us to gain self-awareness. For example, if your moon sign is very different then your sun sign, it will be a great “a-ha” moment and explain things like how you could be so chill/easy going with friends and colleagues (sun) yet touchy and nitpicky with family and partners (moon – how we are with people we trust and are vulnerable with). Astrology is also just as fabulous to use as a way to help understand others and how they operate so that we can meet each other half way. Basically, Astrology can change the world…ha, jk …but seriously?