At the exact moment when we are born there are various energies activated that seem to influence our beings at the deepest levels. These are created by the planetary dispositions and the interactions between planets, signs and other astrology elements, such as the houses.

By using the date and time of your birth, an astrologer can map you the natal horoscope chart that contains a combination of astronomical and astrological information pertaining to your birth date that can offer a series of information about your personality, tendencies, likes and dislikes and an orientate path in life.

So the birth chart is a diagram, usually a circle, that consists of the placements of the zodiac signs and zodiac houses. This is completed with the astronomical coordinates of planets at a certain point to determine what planet was in what sign, house and which are the aspects between those elements.

Components of the birth chart

The natural astrology chart is a diagram so imagine a circle. Now think of a counter- clockwise movement around this circle starting at nine hours.

The first 30 degrees of this circle represent the placement of the ascendant. This is also known as the rising sing and seems to have the highest second influence after the usual sun sign and it relates to the way we present ourselves in the world.

Imagine this circle being cut in half horizontally. This represents the horizon line and gives information about the visibility of planets.

The planets that were visible at the time for which the birth chart is made are placed above the horizon line while those that weren’t visible are placed below this line.

The birth chart is also divided in twelve parts which are the houses. The ascendant resides in the first house while all the other houses follow counter- clockwise. The signs of the zodiac are placed on the lines that separate the twelve houses. These lines are known as cusps.

The first planets to be put on the natal chart are the Sun and the Moon, followed closely by other planets such as Mars, Venus or Mercury.

Some birth charts can even include other celestial bodies such as fixed stars. You have probably seen some sort of colored lines with strange symbols crossing over birth charts. These are the aspects and represent the relationships between planets. The aspects also influence the result of the reading.

Why we should know our birth chart?

This kind of astrological reading can profile one’s personality and also the patterns his or her life might take. It gives us clues on the life lessons and challenges one will face in life. It may not solve our problems or predict future accurately but it offers the best insight into our behaviour thus proving quite useful for us to explain why our life is the way it is.

This apparently simple placement of the Sun, the Moon and the planets on the birth chart offers an insight into our talents, strengths and weaknesses and can even give us some clues on the paths that would be best for us and over the things we should avoid in life.

The importance of one knowing himself cannot be stressed enough and this quest of discovering more about ourselves can prove quite difficult at times, especially for those natives whom are not very introspective.

Knowing how this astrological tool works and understanding how the placement of the stars at the time of our birth can influence so much our personalities and further on our lives, has probably left you with a dilemma.

How much of this is destiny and already determined and how much is self- control?

The answer is both simple and complex. The stars predispose and the man disposes. We are born around all kinds of energies and we develop in accordance to the environment we live in.

There are things we cannot fully control such as tendencies but it is sure that being aware of them can help us temper some of the ones we consider negative and enhance those we believe are positive. There are events we are destined to go through in life but the vast majority of them are simply consequences of our acts.