You are probably wondering what a birth chart is. Is it the same as knowing your Zodiac sign? Your Zodiac or your Sun sign is only a part of your birth chart. And the exact moment of your birth influences your birth chart. Astrologers provide a professional birth chart reading. It interprets how astronomical objects impact your everyday life.
This article is your first step toward studying astrology. Whether you intend to pursue a career in astrology or simply wish to interpret your birth chart.
In this article …
- Professional birth chart meaning
- Components of a birth chart
- How to read a birth chart like a pro
- And more
What is a Professional Birth Chart Reading
You might have heard the phrase professional birth chart reading a lot, and you got curious about what it is.
A birth chart is a snippet of the sky at the exact moment of your birth. It reveals the precise location of the celestial bodies and which constellations they occupy. To get a professional birth chart reading, the exact time, date, and place of your birth are very important.
Astrologers will take a look at the zodiac placements at the exact moment of your birth. It helps them interpret your personality, habits, and relationships. Having a professional interpret your birth chart helps you navigate through life.
Your Natal Chart Reading Explained
Okay, you have your birth chart. Now what? This birth chart reading for beginners will help you understand more of it.
You probably find it too overwhelming to see signs and symbols you are not familiar with. Your natal chart or birth chart speaks of your strengths, weaknesses, personality, and desires. It is a projection of your soul, unique to only you. Instead of only reading your Zodiac sign, your natal chart is more individualized. Think of getting a personalized horoscope – reading your signs, planets, and houses.
Your natal chart looks like a pie sliced into different parts. These parts encompass the placement of your signs, planets, and houses. Your birth chart is a pie that is divided into 12 equal parts which represent the signs. All 12 signs are present in your birth chart.
The placement of your signs will vary depending on the exact time, date, and place of your birth. The origin point of your birth chart is your rising sign. And as you move counterclockwise, you will find the signs placed in the different houses. Each of the houses represents a part of your life – from the personal to interpersonal parts of your life.
If you still find it confusing, the following sections provide a more in-depth explanation of the aspects of a birth chart.
Your Zodiac and Your Ascendant
The major celestial bodies in the universe are the foundation of astrology. Each of them has a unique energy that affects the complexities of your life. They give information on your actions, personality, and characteristics.
The two major aspects of your birth chart are your sun sign and ascendant sign. Although they are not the only elements of a birth chart, they have a bigger influence on your life.
Sun Sign (Your inner self)
You may not realize it, but you already know what your Sun sign is. It is “your sign”. The Sun sign is the most significant aspect of your birth chart. Your Sun sign reveals your ego, sense of self, core personality, and strong desires.
You will know your Sun sign at the moment of your birth. Most commonly, it is also called your star sign or zodiac sign. There are 12 Zodiacs assigned to each date. The sun takes about one month to move across each Zodiac. And your Sun sign depends on which Zodiac the sun aligns at the month and day you were born. Hence, the placement of the sun influences your Sun sign.
Rising Sign (Your outer self)
The second most important thing to look for in a professional birth chart reading is the Rising sign. It is also known as the “Ascendant”. The rising sign symbolizes the part of you that the world sees. Your rising sign is how you project yourself. This includes your appearance, outlook on life, and your natural reaction to situations.
The Ascendant is the point rising above the Eastern horizon at the exact time of your birth. Knowing the rising sign is very important in reading your birth chart. It is because your Rising sign determines the labeling of your houses in the chart.
The Moon and Planets
Astrologers claim that the placement of the planets and the moon can influence our lives. They say that the moon and planets have certain vibrations that are affecting our emotions and actions. In a professional birth chart reading, the placement of these entities is important. Although each entity is important, they reflect different aspects of our lives.
Moon Sign (Your emotional side)
Your moon sign reveals how you process and handle emotions. It represents your emotional inner self. Contrary to the Sun sign, the Moon embodies your most private self. The emotional side that you keep hidden from others is a reflection of your Moon sign. How you operate when you are alone and when you close your doors to the rest of the world is because of your Moon sign.
Your instincts, emotional reactions, and habits reflect the traits that come with your Moon sign. Your Moon sign determines not only your hidden inner self but also reveals what makes you feel safe.
Mercury (Your intellectual side)
Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System. In astrology, the planet is an allusion to the Roman deity Mercury, the messenger of the gods. The planet represents your intellect and communication. It reflects how you use your logic and rationality in your day to day life.
Mercury affects your thought process. Most likely, how you think in situations and how you communicate your thoughts. Your Mercury sign defines your intellectual and mental connection with the people. It is one determiner of your compatibility with other people.
Venus (Your approach to love)
Venus, the planet after the goddess of love and beauty, is the second planet in the Solar System. Because of its attribution to the goddess of love, your Venus placement is an embodiment of your desires involving love. This includes your preference and perception of intimacy, sex, and romance. Your Venus sign tells you how you express and want to receive love.
Venus does not only relates to love. It also governs the things relating to beauty. The traits of your Venus placement will determine your attraction to art and design.
Mars (Your approach to life)
Mars is also known as the Red Planet. Named after the Roman god of war, Mars symbolizes your willpower and aggression. The placement of your Mars sign affects how you take action to reach your goals and desires. Your Mars sign is the one to blame for how you react when you are in a tight situation. It determines your fight or flight reaction in a stressful moment. Your Mars sign affects your anger management.
Another thing that Mars governs is lust. Your Mars sign reflects your physical passion and desires. Mars can also have an influence on your sexuality.
Jupiter (Your strengths)
Jupiter is the first planet in the outer planets. The Greek counterpart of Jupiter is Zeus. It is the planet of luck, growth, and expansion. This planet determines how you widen your scope and expand your horizons.
Your Jupiter sign tells you how you attract and pursue your ambitions. The zodiac placement of your Jupiter sign indicates your strengths. It shows in facing everyday challenges as well as huge undertakings.
Saturn (Your challenges)
Named after the titan Kronos in Greek mythology, Saturn rates to authority. Saturn is also famous for its nickname, the ringed planet.
Your Saturn sign tells about your motivation, discipline, and responsibility. There’s a phenomenon called Saturn return, which happens every 29 and a half years. This occurrence is the moment of maturity, and discipline, and is highly related to your karma. You will be able to experience the Saturn return very rarely. But when it happens, expect challenges in your sense of responsibility.
Uranus (Your generation)
Your Uranus sign influences your innovation and unpredictability. While some people make fun of Uranus, it brings sudden changes and surprises. For this reason, Uranus’ other name in astrology is “Awakener”.
The influence of Uranus reveals your attitude towards innovations and breakthroughs. It rules the side of you that is eager for dynamic change. The Uranus sign also influences your rebel side. Your unpredictability leads you to discover and innovate things that catalyze change.
Neptune (Your generation)
Like Uranus, Neptune reveals how you go against societal restrictions and conventions. But unlike Uranus, your Neptune sign dwells more on your subconscious personality. It deals with your intuitive and psychic abilities. Neptune relates to your connection to the unseen and unknown – the mystic.
Neptune is a planet where you cannot tell the separation between the sky and the sea. Hence, the Neptunian energy explains how you respond to boundaries. Your Neptune sign will reveal your attitude when the boundaries dissolve.
Pluto (Your generation)
Pluto is the last planet and the farthest from the Sun. Because of its distance from the Sun, spiky ice covers the whole planet. Although it is the farthest, in astrology, Pluto holds a huge significance. It symbolizes transformation, destruction, and power.
Like your Moon sign, your Pluto sign deals with your most private self. It reveals the part of you that hides all your top-secret feelings, thoughts, and desires. This placement’s energy is potent and powerful because it represents Hades. If not taken seriously, your Pluto sign will cause obsession and destruction.
The Signs
The signs are also referred to as the Zodiac. They are important aspects of a birth chart as they show how the planets and the moon fulfills its purpose. Each sign own unique traits from the rest of the signs. It tells about one’s strengths, weaknesses, and personality.
In astrology, the Zodiac consists of 12 signs. The signs are grouped into four triplicities and three quadruplicities. Triplicities refer to the elements while quadruplicities refer to the modalities.
Elements
The four fundamental elements of the signs are air, earth, air, and water. Each element composes of four signs that highlight the traits of each element. The elements exhibit your general characteristics, traits, and emotions
- Fire signs consist of Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. They tend to be passionate but temperamental. People who are born under a fire sign love fully but get angry quickly. Their strong personality and drive make them stand out and come out on top. Once fire signs establish their goals, they make every effort to achieve them.
- Earth signs are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. They are practical and grounded people who know how to get things done. Because of their grounding in the earth, they indulge in material things – they collect things. Their strong grounding in the earth influences their solid, dependable, and persistent characteristics.
- Air signs which consist of Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are intellectual and curious. They are notorious for being simple but straightforward in approaching things. Like the air, they breeze their way through life and like to wander around to learn new things. Air signs are both logical and emotional beings.
- Water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. They are very intuitive and emotional people. Their deep and emotional traits make them the perfect loving partners. Water signs pick up on other people’s emotions but they are good at hiding their own. They are cautious with who to open up, hence their mysterious characteristic prevails.
Modalities
Modalities of the signs pertain to when the zodiac signs occur in each season. The three subgroups of modalities are cardinal, fixed, and mutable. These modalities speak to your behavioral style and expression of energy.
- Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) occur at the beginning of the season. They are excellent at taking action and starting initiatives. People with cardinal signs make great leaders with their go-getter attitude. They are also fantastic trendsetters and can kickstart a revolutionary project.
- Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) occur in the middle of the seasons. They are steady, consistent forces that maintain movement. Fixed signs are the doers of the zodiac. Once there is a plan, expect that these people have their eyes fixed on the prize. Fixed signs are reliable people but they can be very stubborn.
- Mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) occur at the end of the season. They possess effortless fluidity that is well-suited to change and transformation. Mutable signs are adaptable like chameleons. They are the most flexible among the three modalities. Their adaptability and flexibility can be mistaken as being inconsistent and unreliable.
The Houses
In a professional birth chart reading, the house is an illustration of the Earth’s rotation. Think of a pie sliced into 12 sections. Each section represents a house that represents an aspect of your life. The houses move from being personal and concrete to being more interpersonal and abstract. It follows a counterclockwise motion The inner house (1st to 6th) focuses on yourself. And the outer house (7th to 12th) is about your interpersonal relationships.
While the planets represent what you do, what you love, and what motivates you, the Houses represent how you carry out these activities. The sign that rules the houses has an influence on your birth chart.
Below are the key points of each House.
- 1st House – Your identity, personality, physical traits
- 2nd House – Your financial and material possessions, what you own, self-worth
- 3rd House – Your voice and communication, siblings, neighbors
- 4th House – Your longing for family and home
- 5th House – Your inner child, creativity, fun, passion, romance
- 6th House – Your responsibilities, daily work, routine, physical and mental health
- 7th House – Your close relationships, partnership, marriage
- 8th House – Regeneration and rebirth, intimacy, taboo
- 9th House – Long distance trips, emotional journey
- 10th House – Career and status, ambitions, reputation
- 11th House – Community, humanitarianism, legacy
- 12th House – Secrets, intuition, hidden emotions
How Astrologers Look at Professional Birth Chart Reading?
Astrologers take note of all the placement of your signs and planets in the different houses. The first thing they look at is the three big signs, your Sun, Moon, and Rising, as these two say a lot about you. There are many techniques astrologers use in reading a birth chart. The astrologers will interpret the energies in your birth chart by understanding the combination of its parts.
Reading a birth chart is a complex task. Although you may DIY a birth chart reading, it is always better to ask for the help of experts. Experts provide more accurate interpretations. Astrologers provide an in depth and personalized explanation of your birth chart.
Your Birth Chart and Your Future
Astrology does not predict everything that could happen in the future. But it can provide a more concrete foretelling of the many possible happenings in the future. It is like a weather forecast, predicted based on a comprehensive meteorological observation. Your birth chart reading is a weather forecast, but for the facets of your life.
Many people doubt the accuracy of a birth chart reading. So, are birth chart reading accurate? According to astrologists, with the proper interpretation, birth charts are very accurate. Your birth chart is the most accurate tool because it can never change. It remains the same throughout your life. Discrepancies might happen because you migh have provided incorrect data about the time, date, and location of your birth. Incorrect data, even an hour, has a drastic effect on your birth chart. Such disparity can greatly affect the accuracy of your birth chart.
Your birth chart tells a lot about your life but is not the blueprint of your life. It reveals your personality, preferences, and desires. But you should not shape your life to fit your birth chart. You have the capacity to choose and make decisions, you are entitled to your own life.
Takeaway
So, if astrology interests you, get a professional birth chart reading. If you do not want to hire someone to read your birth chart, you can always learn birth chart reading yourself. This article explained the key points to understanding yourself astrologically. You never know what the universe has in store for your present and future.
