Getting a Foothold: Interpreting a Natal Chart

Readers, please enjoy this guest blog post by Amy Herring, author of Astrology of the Moon.

You know the feeling: you’ve been studying astrology for months or even years, and you can’t stop talking about it to anyone who will listen, collecting everyone’s birth data and poring over charts. Then someone asks you what it all means and you freeze. You’ve been studying this stuff, why then do you suddenly feel like you don’t know what you’re talking about?

Most of the time it’s not that the chart isn’t speaking to you, it’s that it’s speaking too loudly. Every planet has a message, and that message gets more complex when you put it through the sign, then the house, then the aspects. With so many voices talking at once, it’s hard to think!

So how do you begin to make sense of it all? Where do you start? Forget the sesquiquadrates, the intercepted houses, and the mutual receptions for now. Keep it simple and start with these three powerful, core placements, building from there only when you’ve got your foundation more solid underneath you.

A, B, Cs: Sun, Moon, Ascendant
A: The Sun
The Sun is the core identity, the ego, the conscious way that people tend to see themselves and what’s at the center of their sanity. When they are living according to their Sun’s sign and house placement, they are more likely to feel that they know who they are and reinforcing that feeling of a strong identity. The sign reveals what they identify with and the house reveals where they go to get it, and how. Sun in Taurus? They identify themselves as someone who is grounded, sincere, and sensible. In the 6th house? They go to work to reinforce their sense of who they are. As long as they are productive, they feel grounded.

B: The Moon
The Moon represents a person’s emotional needs, what keeps them feeling safe, happy, and comfortable. When they are living according to their Moon’s sign and house placement, they are more likely to feel content, or at least, in a comfort zone. The sign reveals what their heart wants to receive most in order to feel trust and loved, and the method in which they love and nurture others. The house will reveal where they like to demonstrate those feelings most often and what activities reinforce feelings of happiness and contentment. Moon in Aquarius? They gain trust for another and feel nurtured when they feel truly seen and accepted for their individuality and independence. In the 7th house? They need a partner who is an equal in the sense that they accept who they are but also have their own independence. (See my book, Astrology of the Moon, available from Llewellyn, for more about the Moon).

C: The Ascendant
The Ascendant, or Rising Sign, represents how someone interfaces with the world on an everyday basis in various situations. It is like the front door to a house, the connecting point between one’s inner world and private reality and the outside world. It is how we feel comfortable initially showing ourselves to the world and how it tends to see us at first assessment. Capricorn Rising? There is a need to present as a person who is respectable, never foolish or naïve, and has their act together. They may tend to appear more formal or serious than some people.

Once you get these core ideas, think about how they blend together. What use would a Gemini Sun in the 4th house have for a Pisces Rising? How might a Capricorn Rising protect a Pisces Moon? Start with these three and then start branching out from there. Bon chance!