How to Read a Birth Chart: A Step-by-Step Beginner’s Guide

The first time you open your birth chart, you see dozens of symbols, lines and numbers. Many people either look only at their Sun sign or read an interpretation of every placement one by one and get lost among contradictory sentences. This guide suggests something different: the order in which to read the chart.

We will use the same sample chart throughout: 1 January 2000, 12:00 UTC, Greenwich (London). It does not belong to a real person, and you can open the same chart yourself on the Hermes Preview page. Every degree in this article was calculated with the Hermes calculation engine (tropical zodiac, Placidus houses, true lunar node).

What is a birth chart?

A birth chart (natal chart) is a circle showing where the Sun, the Moon and the planets were in the sky at the moment of your birth, as seen from your birthplace. Two people born on the same day usually share most planetary signs; but if their birth times and places differ, the Ascendant and the houses change. The birth time and place are often what set two charts apart.

Picture the same moment from two cities: at 12:00 UTC on 1 January 2000, seen from Greenwich the Ascendant is 24°15′ Aries and the Sun is in the 10th house; at the same moment seen from Istanbul the Ascendant is 0°17′ Gemini and the Sun is in the 8th house. The Sun’s sign and degree (10°22′ Capricorn) are the same in both; the houses change.

What do you need to cast a chart?

You need three things: date, time and place of birth. The more precise the time, the more reliable the Ascendant and houses; on average the Ascendant moves about one degree every four minutes.

The most common mistake is confusing time zones and daylight saving time. Enter the local time from the birth record and check which time zone the program applies for that date. If two programs give different results, check these settings first; our guide to choosing astrology software walks through this step by step.

Get to know the wheel first

A birth chart has three layers:

• Outer ring – signs: the 12 signs from Aries to Pisces, 30° each.
• Inner sections – houses: 12 houses representing areas of life. The starting line of each house is called a house cusp.
• Symbols – planets and points: the Sun, the Moon, the planets from Mercury to Pluto and calculated points such as the lunar nodes.

Two lines matter most: the ASC (Ascendant) starts horizontally on the left, and the MC (Midheaven) points upwards.

Step 1 · The big three: Sun, Moon and Ascendant

Always start with these three points:

• Sun: core orientation and the way a person expresses themselves.
• Moon: emotional needs and how a person finds a sense of safety.
• Ascendant (ASC): how a person approaches the world and first impressions; also the starting point of the houses.

In the sample chart the big three are:

Read together, they give a first picture: a Capricorn Sun close to the MC, a Scorpio Moon in the house of relationships and an Aries Ascendant. But this is only the beginning. Thousands of people share a Sun sign; their charts become distinct in the next steps.

The Ascendant is very sensitive to birth time. If your time is approximate, do not treat the rising sign as certain; we will cover what can be done when the time is uncertain in our article on birth-time rectification.

Step 2 · Which signs are the planets in?

Next, move on to the other planets. The sign describes how a planet works:

• Personal planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars): the way a person thinks, loves and takes action. They move quickly, so they vary most from person to person.
• Jupiter and Saturn: themes of growth and responsibility; similar for people born in the same years.
• Uranus, Neptune, Pluto: they stay in one sign for years and describe a generation; in personal readings they matter more through their houses and aspects than their signs.

In the sample chart, Mercury is at 1°53′ Capricorn, Venus at 1°33′ Sagittarius and Mars at 27°57′ Aquarius. Saturn is at 10°23′ Taurus and appears retrograde on that date.

Step 3 · Houses: which area of life?

If the sign answers “how”, the house answers “where”: it shows the area of life in which a planet’s theme comes forward.

In the sample chart the Sun is in the 10th house (just past the MC at 9°36′ Capricorn), the Moon in the 7th, and Jupiter and Saturn in the 1st.

A note: how the houses are divided depends on the house system you choose. Placidus and Whole Sign can place the same planet in different houses. See our house systems guide for details; at the start it is enough to choose one system and use it consistently.

Step 4 · Aspects: relationships between planets

Aspects are the angular distances between planets on the circle and describe how two themes affect each other. Five major aspects are enough to begin with:

Aspects do not need to be exact; the small difference is called the orb. The smaller the orb, the more prominent the aspect is considered.

Three aspects from the sample chart:

• Sun trine Saturn, orb 0°02′ — almost exact.
• Moon square Uranus, orb 1°29′.
• Moon opposite Saturn, orb 2°56′.

The Hermes aspect grid shows every aspect and its orb in one table; starting with the tightest orbs is a good method.

Step 5 · Overall balance: elements and modalities

Finally, look at the chart from a distance. Counting the ten planets’ signs by element and modality shows its overall tone:

• Elements: Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius), Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces).
• Modalities: Cardinal (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn), Fixed (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius), Mutable (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces).

Counting the ten planets in the sample chart gives three each in fire, earth and air and only one in water (the Scorpio Moon); among modalities, five fixed, three cardinal and two mutable. A count like this is not a verdict but a clue that guides the reading.

Step 6 · Lunar nodes and other points

Once the basic reading is done, you can move on to calculated points such as the lunar nodes. In the sample chart the North Node is at 3°57′ Leo and the South Node directly opposite at 3°57′ Aquarius. There are two ways to calculate the node; we explain the difference in True Node vs Mean Node.

Common mistakes

• Looking only at the Sun sign: without the Moon, Ascendant and houses, the picture is incomplete.
• Drawing firm conclusions from one placement: each placement gains meaning alongside the others.
• Treating an approximate time as exact: if the time is approximate, the Ascendant and houses can change.
• Comparing two programs without checking their settings: if one uses the tropical and the other the sidereal zodiac, the signs will differ; see Tropical vs Sidereal Zodiac.

A reading order for your own chart in Hermes

1. Enter your date, time and place of birth and create the chart.
2. Find the big three on the dial: Sun, Moon and ASC.
3. Open the planet cards and read sign, house and degree together.
4. Start with the tightest orbs in the aspect grid.
5. Check the element, modality and house distribution in the Details area.

To try this order on the sample chart right away, open the Preview page.

Calculation note: 1 January 2000, 12:00 UTC, Greenwich (51°28′40″N, 0°00′); tropical zodiac, Placidus, true lunar node; Hermes calculation engine (Swiss Ephemeris). Minutes are truncated, as on the Hermes screen. Istanbul comparison: same moment, 41°N, 29°E.