How to Create an Astrological Chart

An astrological chart is a symbolic representation of the position of the planets, the sun, and the moon at the moment of a person’s birth. To create a chart, you’ll first need your birth date, time, and place. Then the easiest way to generate a chart is by using a website that takes your information and does the math for you. Once you’ve got your chart, you can read it for lots of different ideas about all aspects of your life. Keep in mind that astrology is an art, not a science. Take the parts that hit home for you, and leave the rest.

EditSteps

EditSample Astrological Chart

Sample Astrological Chart

EditCollecting the Necessary Information

1. Know your birth date. This is the simplest information you need for an astrological chart. You just need your full birthdate: the day, month, and year.^[1]
   
   • You need to know your birthdate because a birth chart is a sort of snapshot of the planets at the time you were born.
   • Although the planets have actually moved since Western Astrology was developed, most astrologers still use the old positions. After all, astrology is symbolic, not scientific.
2. Get the exact time of your birth. The more exact this can be, the better. Find out the hour, minutes, and time of day (AM or PM). If possible, get this information from your birth certificate. That way you know it’s exactly right (as opposed to relying on your parents' memory).^[2]
   
   • If you were born during daylight savings time, take an hour off of your birth time. So, for example, if you were born at 7:03 am during DST, write down 6:03 am as your time of birth.
   • Your time of birth will affect your Moon Sign, one of the more significant parts of your chart, so don't skip this!
3. Locate your place of birth. This doesn’t need to be as exact as the address where you were born. The city where you were born will work fine. So will the nearest town, if you were born in a rural area.^[3]
   

EditEntering Your Information into a Website

1. Create an account on an astrology website. Astro.com and cafeastrology.com are great websites for building your chart. They're free and generate high-quality, detailed astrological charts. Go to astro.com and click on “free horoscopes” near the top right of the web page. In the menu that pops up, choose “Extended Chart Selection.” At this point, you can choose to continue as a guest or create an account. Creating an account allows you to access your chart at any time. Enter your email address and create a password.^[4]
   
   • If you're using cafeastrology.com, don't create an account. You can still make a chart as a guest.
2. Enter your data. Type in your name, your gender, and the date, time, and place of your birth. Astro.com only requires the city of your birth, and will automatically calculate the latitude and longitude for you. When you start entering the city, the website will give you suggestions to choose from. The time of birth setting uses military time, so make sure you’re entering that correctly.^[5]
   
   • If you were born after noon, add 12 to the hour you were born to get the correct military time. So, for example, if you were born at 6:57 pm, in military time you were born at 18:57.
   • If you're using cafeastrology.com, go to http://astro.cafeastrology.com/natal.php to fill in your birth data.
   • For many websites, putting your name and gender does not actually affect your chart.
   • Cafeastrology.com only has "man" and "woman" options for gender. It doesn't affect your chart, however, so don't worry too much if you don't identify with a binary gender.
   • Astro.com also has an option under "gender" called “event.” You can use that if you don't identify with binary gender labels.
3. Choose “circular charts” under “methods" on the next screen. Once you’ve finished entering your birth information, click next. The next screen that comes up shows all of the charts that Astro.com offers. Choose “Circular chart” under the "Methods" menu. A circular chart is the easiest type to read, especially if you're new to astrology. Then, in the drop-down menu for “please select a chart type,” choose “natal chart wheel.”^[6]
   
   • If you're using cafeastrology.com, click "ok" under the area where you entered your birth data. This will take you directly to the description of your natal chart. On cafeastrology.com, you won't see a circular chart. Instead, you'll get a few tables that list the positions of the signs at the moment of your birth, and then a long written description of your chart.
4. Scroll down to “options” to choose your house system. There are a lot of different options for choosing a House system. The House system in your chart is how your chart is divided up. The most common are Placidus, Koch, and whole signs. Choose “whole signs” under the “House system” drop-down menu to get a good basic chart.^[7]
   
5. Click the blue button at the bottom of the page. Once you’ve entered all of your information and settings, you’re ready to see your chart. There’s a blue button at the bottom of the screen that says “Click here to show the chart.” Go ahead and click that button. The website will then generate a chart for you.^[8]
   

EditReading Your Chart on Astro.com

1. Check your sun sign. The sun is usually denoted as a little circle with a dot in the middle. Look for the sun symbol on your chart, and then check to see which house and sign it appears in. You can use that information to learn more about what the sun represents - your ego and personality.^[9]
   
   • On cafeastrology.com, you can see your sun sign in the tables under the section titled "Planet Positions, Ascendant, & Houses."
2. Look for your ascendant or rising sign. The ascendant on your chart is marked by an “AC.” It represents which sign was rising over the eastern horizon at the exact time and place of your birth. In general, the sign in which your ascendant appears will dictate how you view the world and how the world views you. The slice of your chart where the ascendant appears is also called the first house. Look for a little number 1 down near the middle of the chart in the ascendant wedge.^[10]
   
   • On cafeastrology.com, your ascendant sign is listed in the tables under the section titled "Planet Positions, Ascendant, & Houses." It will be marked as "Ascendant" in the first row of the table on the right under that section.
3. Examine where your moon sign lies. On your chart, the moon symbol looks like a little crescent moon. As with the sun and ascendant symbols, look for the house and sign the moon appears in. Where your moon appears can tell you about your feelings, intuition, and unconscious.^[11]
   
   • On cafeastrology.com, you can find the same moon symbol in the second row of the table on the left under the section titled "Planet Positions, Ascendant, & Houses."
4. Study the houses on your chart. Each house represents and/or controls something about your life, from relationships to careers. Once you know what each house represents, you can begin to look at them for help in understanding different aspects of your life.^[12]
   
   • On cafeastrology.com, the houses are marked by roman numerals in the column under "Ascendant" in the table on the right.
   • The second house deals with security, money, and comfort.
   • The third house deals with communication, thought, and neighbors and siblings.
   • The fourth house deals with your early life and how it shaped you.
   • The fifth house deals with fun, spontaneity, romance, and hobbies.
   • The sixth house generally deals with your health, but can also tell you about your work environment.
   • The eighth house is one of mystery. It deals with things like loss, intimacy, and transformation.
   • The ninth house deals with higher powers. That might be higher education, philosophy, or religion.
   • The tenth house deals with the future. What your goals are and what you want for the future.
   • The eleventh house deals with collective consciousness, including your relationships with your friends and society in general.
   • The twelfth and final house deals with the unconscious, subconscious, and spirituality.
5. Check to see which sign is in each house. Around the outer ring of your chart, you’ll see little glyphs representing each of the major zodiac signs. Each sign will correspond to a single house. To find out which zodiac rules which house, find the glyph on the outer ring, then follow that wedge down to the center of the circle. There should be a number there, telling you which house you’re in.^[13]
   
   • On cafeastrology.com, the column next to the roman numerals that represent the houses will show the signs in each house. The column to the right of the roman numeral will have the zodiac symbol. The column to the right of that will have the name of the zodiac.
   • You can find keys for the zodiac glyphs pretty easily online. Just enter the phrase “zodiac astrology glyphs” into your favorite search engine.
   • Aries tends to represent the fast-paced, exciting, childlike, and adventurous.
   • Taurus deals with pleasure, beauty, and sensuality, but can also represent stubbornness and the self-indulgent and lazy.
   • Gemini deals with wit and versatility.
   • Cancer represents the clingy, moody, and empathetic.
   • Leo represents enthusiasm, bravery, and loyalty.
   • Virgo represents the critical, careful, and analytical.
   • Libra is about diplomacy (as in being diplomatic) and fair but can also represent unreliability and impatience.
   • Scorpio represents strength, jealousy, and control.
   • Capricorn represents the hardworking, practical, and disciplined.
   • Aquarius represents the socially conscious, friendly, and affectionate.
   • Pisces represents the emotional, sensitive, and intuitive.
6. Know what the planets represent. The planets are represented in the houses of your chart with symbols. Like the zodiac glyphs, you’ll need to look up the symbols online, so that you know which planets are where on your chart. Enter “astrological chart planet glyphs” into your favorite search engine.^[14]
   
   • On cafeastrology.com, the planets are listed in the first and second columns of the table on the left under the section titled "Planet Positions, Ascendant, & Houses." The first column shows the symbol for the planets. The second column tells you the name of the planets.
   • The Sun represents you and your ego.
   • The Moon represents your feelings and intuition.
   • Mercury is about logical and communication.
   • Venus is about love and romance, but also the feminine aspects of your personality.
   • Mars is about your aggression, passion, and masculine side.
   • Jupiter represents luck, confidence, and the big picture.
   • Saturn represents responsibility, order, and restriction.
   • Uranus represents higher thought, individuality, and higher powers.
   • Neptune is about idealism, spirituality, and religion.
   • Pluto is about money and sexuality.
7. Consider your whole chart when you read it. Once you have the basics of what the houses and symbols on your chart represent, you can begin to read your chart. Keep in mind as you do that there is a LOT going on in every person’s chart, and no single house or symbol represents all of you.^[15]
   
   • For example, if your ascendant sign is Aries, your chart suggests you see the world as one big, open adventure. It also suggests that people see you as exciting and fun to be around. But you might also find that Uranus appears in your ninth house. The ninth house is all about intuition and higher powers, and having Uranus there only adds to this idea of you as an intuitive person, which can be a little at odds with being adventurous.
   • On cafeastrology.com, you can find a long, detailed explanation of your chart under the section titled "Natal Chart Report" near the bottom of the page.
8. Hire a professional to help you read your chart. If you’re feeling overwhelmed by your chart, you can hire an expert astrologer to help you. They have plenty of experience reading and interpreting charts for their clients. You can also look for books from reputable astrologers like Liz Greene and Robert Hand to help with your interpretations.
   

EditTips

• You can construct a natal chart without the exact time or location of birth, but it will be incomplete and less accurate.
• If the subject's date of birth is on the cusp, two to four days on either side of the beginning of a Zodiac Sign, his or her personality traits may draw from both Signs.
• The time of birth is generally regarded as the moment at which the baby first breathes. Birth times are often rounded to the nearest half-hour or quarter-hour on birth certificates and thus may not accurately show the actual time of birth.

EditRelated wikiHows

• Read an Astrology Chart
• Draw a Graph
• Guess Someone's Astrological Sign
• Calculate Your Name Number in Numerology
• Read Tarot Cards
• Create an iPod Tarot Deck
• Get Started in Amateur Astronomy
• Exercise an Open Mind

EditSources and Citations

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