What is a birth chart?

A birth chart is a map of the sky at the exact moment you were born. It shows where the Sun, the Moon and the planets were, as seen from the place of your birth. Astrologers read that map as a portrait of a person: how they think, what they feel, and what they are drawn to.

What a birth chart shows

A chart looks like a wheel. Three things are drawn on it:

• The planets. In astrology this includes the Sun and the Moon. Each one stands for a part of you. The Sun is your core character, the Moon your feelings, Mercury how you think and speak, Venus how you love.
• The twelve signs. Each planet sits in one of the zodiac signs, and the sign colors how that part of you behaves. A Moon in Aries feels quickly and loudly. A Moon in Taurus needs calm and comfort.
• The twelve houses. The wheel is divided into twelve areas of life, such as home, work and relationships. The house a planet falls in shows where in your life it plays out.

Astrologers also look at the angles between the planets, called aspects. They show which parts of a person work together easily and which pull against each other.

What you need to make one

Three details:

• The date of birth. It sets the position of the Sun and the slower planets.
• The time of birth. It sets the rising sign and the houses. The rising sign changes about every two hours, so two people born on the same day can have quite different charts.
• The place of birth. The sky looks different from different points on Earth, so the city matters too.

If you do not know the exact time, an approximate one still works. The closer it is, the more precise the chart. Hospital birth records usually list the time.

How it differs from a horoscope

A newspaper horoscope looks at one thing: your Sun sign. Everyone born within the same month shares it, so it can only speak in general terms.

A birth chart combines every planet, sign and house at one minute, in one place. That is why no two charts are alike, and why two people with the same Sun sign can be so different from each other.

What a birth chart cannot do

It does not predict the future. A chart points to tendencies and potential. It is a gentle way to get to know someone, or yourself, a little better. It is not a set of instructions, and it is not a substitute for professional advice.

Keep reading

• Sun, Moon and rising sign: what each one means
• Unique baby shower gift ideas
• Gifts for someone who has everything