Components of a Birth Chart
A birth chart—also called a natal chart—is a map of you. It reveals who you are. Your chart is a circular diagram that shows the location of all the planets in the sky at the exact moment you were born. It’s like a freeze frame snapshot. It displays where the ten planets, twelve zodiac signs, twelve houses, and aspects were at your birth.
The Birth Chart Setup: Signs, Planets, Houses, and Aspects
Your birth chart contains symbols that depict the signs, planets, houses and aspects. It can look pretty overwhelming. There’s a lot going on. The symbols and marks could be mistaken for some kind of alien code or a map to hidden treasure. But if you look closely, you’ll see there’s some order.
The outer rim of the chart contains the twelve zodiac signs (or rather, their symbols). The middle wheel displays the ten planets (their symbols). The houses are listed from one to twelve in counterclockwise order. The numbers next to planets and houses signify their locations in the sky just like a map or GPS coordinates. They’re listed in degrees and minutes. All charts are set up in the same way and have these four components—planets, signs, houses, and aspects.
Although everything in your chart may look random, it’s not. Your chart tells a story. Your story.
Birth Chart Components in Detail
SIGNS: There are twelve signs. Each sign represents a personality and character type. Signs explain how and why you are who you are. The signs are depicted on the outer rim. Your birth time will determine their order on the chart wheel. Each sign takes up thirty degrees in the wheel. Everyone’s chart contains all twelve signs.
PLANETS: There are ten planets, including the Sun and the Moon. The Earth is not included. They can appear anywhere on your chart, depending on your birth info. Planets are parts of your personality, like your head and heart. A planet is always in one house and connected to one sign. Planets are displayed in longitude and latitude. In other words, their exact GPS location in the sky is listed in your chart in degrees and minutes. Everyone’s chart contains all ten planets.
HOUSES: The chart is divided into twelve houses, like a pie. Each house represents a different area of your life. Houses explain where things are happening in your life. Houses resemble a clockface and are shown in counterclockwise order. The house placements are fixed. The first house will always start at the 9:00 a.m. mark, the second house at 8:00 a.m., and so on. Your exact birth time will determine the signs connected to each house. Everyone’s chart has twelve houses.
ASPECTS: Aspects are the distances, or geometric angles, between planets in your chart. They’re shown as colored lines. The number of degrees apart two planets are determines their aspect. Aspects explain how planets get along. If planets have personalities, then aspects are the conversations they’re having.
Aspects are formed when planets are within eight degrees of each other. The distances are called orbs. Orbs refer to the exactness of the angle connecting two planets. Orbs are the range of influence when an aspect between two planets comes into effect. When a planet is “within orb” to another planet, it means that it is within eight degrees of an exact degree match. That’s eight degrees plus or minus.