How to read your natal chart step by step

Reading a natal chart is overwhelming when you start anywhere. With a fixed order, even a complex chart becomes readable in 20 minutes.

1. The Big Three

Sun, Moon, Ascendant — see our guide. They give you the headline.

2. Dominants

Count the elements (fire/earth/air/water) and modalities (cardinal/fixed/mutable). The dominant pair is your background tone.

3. The personal planets

Mercury, Venus, Mars by sign and house — these explain how you think, love and act.

4. The angles

Ascendant, IC, Descendant, Midheaven — public, private, partnership, career.

5. Aspects and patterns

Look for major aspects and chart shapes (see Jones's chart shapes).

6. Synthesis

Write three sentences in your own words: who am I, how do I act, where am I going. That is the chart in plain language.

Build yours free in the natal chart.