How to Interpret a Horoscope

If you are new to astrology, the brief "keys to chart interpretation" that follow will start you on the right path to understanding your own chart - or anyone else's. Although astrology is a lifetime study, the basics are quite simple. The elements are Signs, Planets, Houses and Aspects.

Keys to Chart Interpretation

Your horoscope is a big wheel divided into 12 pie-shaped sections called "houses." Each house represents a particular department of life, like home, career, money, love and marriage, and so on. The symbols scattered throughout this chart wheel represent the planets and the zodiac signs they were in when you were born. Beneath this wheel is a triangular table that show the "aspects" - the different angle that your planets make to each other.

Interpreting your chart is a step-by-step process. One by one, look at each planet in your chart and make note of which house the planet is in, which sign it is in, and the basic qualities of the planet itself. The basic meanings of each house, sign, and planet are listed below. By combining the meanings of the house, sign, and planet, you arrive at an understanding of what this particular planet means in your chart.

Of course, learning to interpret a chart "in depth" can take years of study and practice, but using these simple keywords is a good start. After you understand the meaning of each individual planet in your chart, you can turn to the aspects to understand the relationship between each planet. For example, if your Moon (emotions) is Trine {harmonious, beneficial) your Venus (love and beauty), then you could say that beauty, art and love are likely to be soothing to your emotions and feed your soul!

The Signs

Here are the symbols for each Sign of the Zodiac, followed by brief keyword meanings of each:

Aries - Activity, initiative, leadership, impulsiveness, courage, bravery, independence. Or, arrogance, intolerance, selfishness and dominating behavior.

Taurus - Stability, strength of purpose, patience, steadfastness, dependability and conviction. Or, stubbornness, possessiveness, prejudice and unreasonableness.

Gemini - Versatility, flexibility, mental alertness, quickness of perception and deductive reasoning. Or, restlessness, glibness, shallowness, unreliability and self-deception.

Cancer - Devotion, imagination, tenacity, tenderness, sensitivity, care and caution. Or, stinginess, irritability, melancholy, clinging and cowardice, possessiveness and moodiness.

Leo - Magnetism, warmth, generosity, nobility, strength, loyalty, leadership and protective tenderness.. Or, arrogance, false pride, vanity, tyranny, haughtiness and promiscuity.

Virgo - Practicality, clarity of thought, discrimination, courtesy, service to others, practicality and self-honesty. Or, criticism, crankiness, timidity, pessimism, inferiority and hair-splitting.

Libra - Harmony, justice, intelligence, charm, gentleness and emotional balance. Or, laziness, procrastination, argumentativeness, indecision, pleasure-seeking.

Scorpio - Loyalty, will-power, personal magnetism, gentleness, insight and amazing self-control. Or, ruthlessness, fanaticism, revenge, sadism, suspicion and self-hatred.

Sagittarius - Optimism, candor, cheerfulness, logic, honesty, daring and enthusiasm. Or, recklessness, emotional confusion, carelessness, lack of tact, rudeness and fickleness.

Capricorn - Determination, stability, wisdom, dependability, sureness and tranquility. Or, selfishness, narrowness, ruthless ambition, rigidity, snobbery, depression and loneliness.

Aquarius - Vision, individuality, tolerance, friendliness, inventiveness, originality and genius. Or, eccentricity, neurosis, detachment, absentmindedness and refusal to cooperate.

Pisces - Humility, compassion, sensitivity, spiritual awareness, psychic comprehension, philosophic insight and a healing potential. Or, timidity, apprehension, masochism, idleness, lying and weakness of will.

The Planets

Sun - The Sun is the center of the solar system. All life revolves around it within this sphere. In the same way, the ego is the center of personal identity and gives integration and continuity to individual experience. In this sense, it might be said that the Sun shows character. This is the fixed pillar at the center of the person around which all else circulates or revolves.

The sign placement of the Sun shows the center of the individual's basic character. The sign of the Sun is the most primary indicator of the forms of experience you are attracted to. Further, this most important placement shows how and why you are attracted to these experiences.

The house placement of the Sun sign shows the primary area of expression for the individual in life. There is a psychological, emotional, and physical significance to the house placement of the Sun. Aspects to the Sun show ways that the core of the personality are linked to other component elements in the individual's life. Aspects to the Sun have a deep and overriding significance in the life of the individual and are generally more important, more prominent than other aspects in the chart.

Moon - The Moon inscribes a circle around the earth. It moves more swiftly than other astronomical bodies and thus represents day to day and moment to moment movements, adjustments and preoccupations. The Moon is the symbol of the personal life which is molded and shaped by our environment, by events, and by social and familial expectations. Further, the Moon shows our responses to life which are based on our past habits, experiences, our heritage and our individual and collective cravings.

The sign placement of the Moon shows how you project yourself to the general public, how the instinctive and imaginative component of your mind operates, how you express your feelings and your most general experiences of your family and mother. The house placement of the Moon shows how and where you make day to day adjustments. Further, it shows the things you are most interested in dealing with in order to gain emotional equilibrium.

The aspects of the Moon show the general characteristics of the personality that are emphasized. Planets in aspect to the Moon are symbolic of qualities in the personality that are used instinctively, habitually and with a high degree of versatility.

Mecury - Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. From the viewpoint of the earth it seems to dart back and forth across the face of the Sun, having three retrograde cycles a year. Mercury is the planet of your mental life. It shows how you receive, process and disseminate information. The sign placement of Mercury shows your basic attitude and mental habits. The aspects of Mercury show your scope of vision and your methods for accomplishing tasks.

Venus - The planet Venus shows the way you express your love nature and what you aspire for in life as good or beautiful. Venus has much to do with how you form your values. The sign placement of Venus shows the type of love energy you have. The house placement of Venus shows the natural area of expression of the love energy. The aspects of Venus indicate how and under what circumstances you express the gentle and loving side of your nature.

Mars - Mars is the planet of desires. It shows how you aim at your goals and how you power yourself toward your goals. Mars represents your most fundamental wants. The sign placement of Mars shows the fundamental nature of your assertions. The house placement of Mars shows the area of your life you are most likely to focus on. The aspects to Mars show how and to what extent your desires and assertions are involved with other aspects of living.

Jupiter - Jupiter is the king of the planets. He is in charge of the order of creation. Jupiter shows your values, where you feel confident and in control, and where you feel you have something to teach others. The sign placement of Jupiter shows your values in life. The house placement of Jupiter shows the area of life you feel luckiest in and the area you receive the most help from other people and from the cosmos. The aspect patterns to Jupiter show the direct network of good and administrative power in your life.

Saturn - The planet Saturn shows where you feel restricted. You feel obligations and fears through Saturn. Because of your feeling connected with Saturn you are either responsible or neglectful. The sign placement of Saturn shows the basic type of energy connected with your obligations. The house placement of Saturn shows an area of life that you feel restricted in and work hard to obtain the things that come to you. The aspects of Saturn show the most direct involvement of other areas of your life with your feelings of responsibility.

Uranus - The planet Uranus is beyond the orbit of Saturn and can't be seen without the aid of a telescope. It represents the sky in us, that which transcends the limits of finite life. Uranus raises the vibration of everything it contacts. The sign placement of Uranus shows your broadest striving for freedom. The house placement of Uranus indicates your area of direct unique expression. The aspects to Uranus indicate the way you express your need for higher consciousness.

Neptune - The planet Neptune has an almost perfectly circular orbit. It represents the part of our nature that strives for perfection, that looks to some higher ideal. The planet Neptune rules the ocean and the part of us that is beyond the limits of the shores of personal existence. The culture moves with the cycles of Neptune and it is the primary indicator of your connection to the culture that you live in. The sign of Neptune shows an ideal that you desire to manifest. The house placement of Neptune shows the area of your life that you want to express this ideal in. The aspect patterns of Neptune indicate the most direct connections yet most subtle networking of your personality into the world at large.

Pluto - The planet Pluto represents the dark underground part of you. It shows your ability to transform the most fundamental properties in your own inner nature. The sign of Pluto is the way the obsessive, compulsive and committed part of your nature expresses itself. The house placement of Pluto shows the area of life where you make your most fundamental and most potent changes. The aspects to Pluto show the deepest most unconscious links in your personality structure.

Astrologers believe that the positions of the planets in the sky affect nearly every aspect of a person's life. When astrologers use the word "planets", generally they are referring to the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, although obviously the Sun and Moon are not planets!

The Houses

Here are the symbols for each Sign of the Zodiac, followed by brief keyword meanings of each:

1st House - According to some astrologers the first house shows how you appear to others, the persona, or mask you wear. Other astrologers feel that the first house is not this superficial and describes an essential part of who you are and how you project yourself in the world. Some astrologers believe that the first house describes issues that are very important to the person, issues that the person wants to resolve and master in this lifetime and they tend to become increasingly important as the person grows older.

2nd House - Many astrologers believe that the second house describes your possessions and is a key to understanding whether you will be wealthy and have many possessions. Other astrologers believe that the second house describes your values, whether you are a person with strong and rigid values, for example, or whether you tend to be liberal, accepting, and tolerant of different ethical standards, and also what kinds of things are important and of more value to you.

3rd House - Communication and how one expresses oneself are key issues of the third house. Some astrologers believe that the third house describes how a person relates to the immediate environment, how observant and alert the person is, how the individual learns new material, and how the person processes information.

4th House - Many astrologers believe that the 4th house describes your home, some believe it describes your mother, and some believe it describes your father. A more psychological interpretation of the 4th house is that it describes where you feel comfortable and what kinds of things and what kind of environment makes you feel relaxed, unstressed, peaceful, and comfortable.

5th House - The fifth house is associated with creativity, children, and play. Some astrologers also associate the 5th house with romance. A more psychological interpretation of the 5th house is that it describes how you express yourself in a personal and creative way.

6th House - The 6th house is associated with work and health. A psychological interpretation of the 6th house is that it describes your attitude towards improving things and taking care of things. It describes the extent to which you focus on fixing, repairing, improving, and maintaining things.

7th House - The 7th house is the house of partnerships and relationships. It describes how you relate to others, what you value in a relationship, and what you expect from others.

8th House - The 8th house is associated with many different things, from inheritances to business transactions, death, and sex. A psychological interpretation of the 8th house is that it describes how you share and bond with others, whether you can make commitments to others and whether you will abide by the commitments you make. The 8th house encompasses all forms of bonding and sharing, especially strong or meaningful ones, and therefore has a big impact on marriage, sexuality, business contracts and attitude towards money.

9th House - The 9th house is associated with travel, philosophy, religion, education, and publishing. A psychological interpretation of the 9th house is that it describes how a person grasps larger concepts and the degree to which the person focuses on distant or loftier issues and to what extent these are important to the person.

10th House - The 10th house is associated with career, reputation, and public image. The 10th house describes how we project ourselves into the world, and the roles that we enjoy playing in our careers and jobs.

11th House - The 11th house is associated with friendship and goals. Some astrologers feel that the essential meaning of the 11th house is how we relate to larger groups and the community in which we live. It describes the manner in which we participate in community activities, and how important the larger community, national, and global issues are to us.

12th House - The 12th house is associated with various things such as isolation, institutions, hospitals, prisons, etc. A psychological interpretation of the 12th house is that it describes the often subconscious and emotionally based feelings of responsibility that we have as people and citizens of the world. It describes the extent to which we feel responsible to serve the larger community, and the extent to which we take the problems of others seriously as concerns of ourselves, and the extent to which we feel guilty when we feel that we do not do what we know deep within ourselves we should do.

The Aspects

WHAT ARE ASPECTS?

The Sun, Moon, and planets are located on a circle that is known in astronomy as the ecliptic plane. Because the planets are located on this circle, we can refer to the distance between the 2 planets by the number of degrees that separate them. For example, two planets that are in opposite directions are 180 degrees apart. A distance of 180 degrees, according to astrologers, causes the astrological influence of the two planets to "mix together" and affect the person. There are many other distances that also cause the two planetary influences to mix together, such as 0, 90, 120, and 60 degrees. Each of these angles is called an aspect. Some astrologers use many other aspects as well.

Here are the symbols for each aspect, followed by brief keyword meanings of each:

Conjunct - Conjunction: 0 degrees. If two planets are very close to each other, they are conjunct. Most astrologers believe that conjunctions are dynamic, but not as difficult and challenging as squares and oppositions.

Opposition - Opposition: 180 degrees. If two planets are close to being opposite to each other in the sky, the are forming an opposition aspect. Most astrologers agree that oppositions are challenging, and often emphasize challenges with other people.

Square - Squares: 90 degrees. If two planets are close to being 90 degrees apart, they are squared to each other. Almost all astrologers agree that squares are motivating and challenging, and can be difficult. Some astrologers emphasize the negative potential of a square more than others.

Trine - Trine: 120 degrees. If 2 planets are close being 120 degrees apart, they are trined to each other. Most astrologers agree that trines are soft and easy, pleasant and harmonious, but sometimes lazy.

Sextile - Sextile: 60 degrees. If 2 planets are close to being 60 degrees apart, they are sextiled to each other. Sextiles are similar to trine aspects.

Semisquare - Semisquare aspect: 45 degrees. If 2 planets are close to being 45 degrees apart, they are in semisquare aspect. Similar to a square aspect. Some astrologers feel that the semisquare creates very internal challenges or conflicts.

Sesquiquadrate - Sesquiquadrate: 135 degrees. If 2 planets are close to being 135 degrees apart, they are in sesquiquadrate aspect. Generally regarded as being similar to a square, but some astrologers feel that it is easier to release and express than a square aspect.

Semisextile - Semisextile aspect: 30 degrees. If 2 planets are close to being 30 degrees apart they form a sextile aspect. Generally regarded as being a slightly harmonious or favorable aspect.