Astrology: Understanding the Birth Chart

Product Information

This astrology book has everything you need to get started with astrology, including how to read your birth chart and use astrological insights to plan and predict your life. You’ll go on a journey through the different aspects of your birth chart, from your rising sign to your Moon sign and beyond. The overall quality ( cardinal, fixed, and mutable) composition of the chart: Is there a balance or imbalance? If an imbalance, how can that be fixed? This book was previously published under the title Astrology (Hay House Basics series) and will teach

The authors are experienced experts of the field and they analyze in detail the signs and give a lot of relevant information about common practices like teas, tonics, crystals, affirmations, fitness styles, etc. After reading this book, you will have an advanced perception about your personality and will be able to use your talents to improve your personal and professional life. Visually a chart is a 360 degree wheel divided into 12 sections. Each section is named after the famous constellations or zodiac signs that we are all familiar with (i.e Aries, Leo, Gemini, …). Your planets are plotted onto the wheel to see which sign they fall into to. For example, to calculate your Sun sign we look at which zodiac constellation the Sun was sitting in at the time of your birth. Throughout centuries, astrology has been used to help us understand ourselves better. Astrologers look towards the planets and cosmos to gain key insights about a person, including their personality traits, interests, and even hardships based on their birth chart (a map of what was happening in the sky when we were born)Think of it like a map that provides a snapshot of all the planetary coordinates at the exact time of your birth. Every individual’s birth chart (also know as a natal chart) is completely unique. The location, date, and time of your birth is all that is needed to calculate your birth chart. Astrologers interpret this map by looking at the interplay of all your astrological elements and based on the archetypes that each of the signs represent. Each planet can offer insight into your individual character and clarity about your soul's avenues for growth and personal evolution. The main reason knowing your natal chart is kind of a big deal: It’s unique to Y-O-U. A common misconception about birth charts is that they are like horoscopes, just individualized. Reading your daily, weekly, monthly, and even yearly horoscope can provide general guidance because it’s based solely on your Sun sign. But reading your chart—which is a customized assessment of all the different celestial bodies, astrological houses, natural elements, and more—means receiving targeted and hyper-personalized direction for your life (sounds useful, doesn’t it?). When getting to know yourself through an astrological lens, the first step is to figure out your “big three”— your Sun, Moon, and Rising signs—which are considered the pillars of your cosmic makeup. Your Rising sign, also called the Ascendant, is calculated with your time of birth, as it is the zodiac sign that was rising on the Eastern Horizon the moment you were born. As you already know, the beginning of the year is an energetic reset. This is when most astrology enthusiasts delineate the big-picture Transits Chart for the year ahead ( calculate yours here!). A Transits Chart overlays the current celestial alignments onto the natal chart to figure out how these changes affect it. (Things get more complicated when reading how the current astrological weather is affecting your chart, and for this, astrologers use other kinds of charts.)

If you have any planets forming an aspect (conjunct, square, opposition, sextile, or trine) with your Ascendant, they will add another layer of interpretation to your birth chart. The overall elemental (fire, water, earth, and air) composition of the chart: Is there a balance or imbalance? If an imbalance, how can that be fixed? Your Rising sign’s celestial ruler also functions as the “ruler of your chart.” Its corresponding zodiac sign and astrological house will be very telling of your areas of focus in life. Astrology is less a method for concrete fortune-telling and more a language of energy. Its practice is better used when reading the *many possible* effects some celestial influences can have on you in a holistic way. An astrology chart—also called a birth chart or natal chart—is technically a snapshot of the position of the planets on the exact day, time, and location you were born. It contains powerful information about the types of energies you were exposed to at your precise moment of birth. On a personal level, it also speaks of your strengths and weaknesses, opportunities for growth, and the absolute best (and worst) times to make big life changes. Some astrology branches—Evolutionary Astrology, for example—even claim that your astrology birth chart is a window into your past lives and your soul’s entire journey.Birth chart compatibility—also known as synastry—is the art of comparing two birth charts to understand the dynamics at play between two people, regardless of the nature of their relationship. Unlike Sun sign astrology, which compares only the position of the Sun, it takes into consideration the 10 celestial bodies and many other factors. With romantic synastry, for example, comparing two people’s Sun and Moon signs is always a must. Often, romantic couples will have a positive Sun-Moon connection, which is the ultimate “good compatibility aspect.” If one partner’s Moon and the other partner’s Sun are in the same sign, for example, that is their most positive compatibility connection. The book also offers a fresh perspective on astrology, divorced from its outdated preconceived notion. The book has different exercises laid for you; reflection questions, journal prompts and affirmation, all designed to steer you towards your dreams. The book also introduces the concept of the three keys: your Sun, your Moon and your ascendant and its ruler. The keys are linked to your life from your purpose to your success.