How to read a birth chart
Astra product guide · Updated
A birth chart maps planetary positions for a date, time and place. To read it, separate four layers: the planet, its zodiac sign, its house and its aspects to other planets. Astra calculates these positions, then uses symbolic descriptions for reflection; the chart does not establish your personality or predict events.
Start with the inputs
Check the date, local clock time, birthplace and time zone before interpreting anything. A time entered in the wrong zone changes the calculated instant. If you do not know the time, choose the unknown-time option instead of inventing one. What remains useful without a birth time?
A calculated example
Reproduce this example: 1990-11-02, 04:30 (Europe/Madrid), Barcelona, 41.38879°, 2.15899°. The public Sofia sample is demonstration data, not a customer record. Its calculated instant is . The tables round positions to two decimal places; calculations use unrounded values.
| Placement | Position | How to read the label |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | Scorpio 9.45° | Sun in house 2: distinguish its sign from its house. |
| Moon | Aries 28.74° | Moon in house 7: another placement, not a second Sun sign. |
| Ascendant | Libra 4.58° | A calculated angle that depends on birth time and place. |
Read one layer at a time
- Identify the planet. In Astra's symbolic vocabulary, the Sun concerns identity and vitality, while the Moon concerns emotional needs. These are interpretive themes, not astronomical measurements.
- Read the sign as a symbolic quality. A planet's sign comes from its longitude in the tropical zodiac. The degree locates it within that sign.
- Read the house as an area of life within the chosen house system. Changing systems can change a planet's house without changing its sign. Compare the three house systems.
- Read an aspect as an angular relationship between two positions. Its orb tells you how far it is from the exact angle. It is not a probability that an event will happen. Start with conjunctions.
Turn a description into a question
If a passage raises a theme such as boundaries, ask where that theme is useful in your own experience. You can disagree with the description. Avoid using a placement to diagnose yourself, judge another person or make an irreversible decision.
Continue with your chart
Explore the calculated sample without an account, or sign up and confirm your email to save your own chart. Treat interpretations as reflection, with the limits of your inputs in mind.