Astrology Basics

Reading an astrological chart is a little like inventing a new recipe: You have to know how all the ingredients you are going to use taste, as well as how they all taste together, in order to come up with something that works well.

For a recipe, it works well when it tastes good; for an astrological reading, it works well when it reflects the reality of the person the reading is for.

This series of articles is going to offer a taste of most of the “ingredients” to be found in a typical chart, and some of the more commonly found flavor combinations.

Astrology—like inventing one’s own recipes--is not for everyone; hopefully, these articles will give you a feel for whether or not astrology is something you want to pursue further. And if not, you can Have a Nice Day!

at least listen intelligently if someone starts talking astrology.

A good place to start is probably to answer the question, “what is an astrological chart?” An astrological chart is a picture of the heavens at the time—and place—of a person’s birth.

A chart is sometimes referred to as a “natal chart” or “horoscope” (not to be confused with the predictions some newspapers publish), and to be done properly one has to know the location (city or latitude/longitude) and time—down to a few minutes—of birth. This is an example of what a chart can look like:

Charts are always circular, and divided into two interlocking sets of twelve divisions (the Signs and the Houses). In the chart above, the outer ring represents the Signs, and the middle ring represents the Houses.

The symbols with numbers attached within the Houses represent Planets, and the colored lines drawn in the innermost circle represent Aspects (the relationships between different Planets).

For someone well-versed in astrology, a chart like this can tell them almost anything they want to know about the “native” (the person the chart is for). For someone not versed in astrology, of course, it looks like something that belongs in an art museum in the Modern Art section.

These articles break down the essentials of reading a chart into four primary classes of chart ingredients: Signs, Planets, Houses (and their Cusps), and Aspects. There will be one article briefly explaining each class of primary chart ingredients.

This article is going to talk about Signs. These “Signs” are twelve constellations visible in the sky that appear to form a ring (the Zodiac) around the earth, and appear to revolve with the seasons.

For about thirty days out of each year, the sun appears to be “in” each of these constellations; someone born while the sun is “in” Virgo is said to be “a Virgo.” When someone is born “in” or “under” a particular sign (the terms “in” and “under” are used interchangeably in this context), that person will often exhibit primary personality traits of that sign.

Other planets will be “in” different Signs at different times (exerting greater or lesser influence on the person in various areas and times of their life), and this is part of what the astrological chart maps.

Looking at the astrological chart above, the signs are represented by the glyphs that appear in the outermost ring.

Astrology Basics - Signs