Your Birth Chart

Before you begin poking around the beautiful world of astrology (and this book), you're going to need a few things. The most important: your birth chart, also known as your natal chart.

The birth chart is a map of the cosmos at the time you were born. This chart can be determined by calculating your exact date, time, and location. Thanks to modern technology, you no longer have to do this by hand. Software does the math for you, so you can spend your time analyzing the details. Whew! Believe me, back in the day, those calculations were a pain. Thank you, astrology software!

You can get a copy of your chart by visiting websites that offer free on-demand birth charts such as www.astro.com or www.alabe.com/freechart. Here's how:

For www.astro.com:

  1. Scroll down to the Extended Charts section.
  2. Click on For Guest Users or create a profile. I recommend creating a profile because you'll have your info stored and can access other cool features on the site.
  3. Check the box for Data Privacy Information.
  4. In the Birth Date Entry box, put in your information. For example:

    first name: Jane

    last name: Smith

    gender: female

    birthday: 5, December, 1992

    hour: 2 (2 AM) min 45

    country: USA

    birth town: Boston, MA

  5. Click Continue.
  6. Leave the Chart Type and Chart Drawing Options as is. These are the default settings for a Tropical Chart, Placidus House system, which I use. If you want to use a different house system (explained later in this book), you can fiddle with that under the Options for Zodiac and Houses section.
  7. Click on the link named “Click here” to show the chart. Voila! You've got a natal chart! Yay!

    For www.alabe.com/freechart/:

  8. Fill in all the information on the box below Free Birth Chart & Astrology Report Data Input. Click Submit and BOOM . . . your chart is right in front of your eyes. The internet is magic!

Or if you're totally gung-ho on all this astro-biz, you may want to invest in software. The best at the time of this writing is Solar Fire for PC and TimePassages for Mac. These programs have the basics for chart construction, plus everything you need for transits—and more.

Please make sure the information is exact. If you're not sure about the time of your birth, get a copy of your birth certificate (do not rely on Mom—my mother told my sister that her doctor was “busy eating lunch” during her birth, which wasn't helpful . . . or entirely accurate). Unfortunately, not all birth certificates have the time. In those cases, you're going to have to guess as best as you can. Or you can work with an astrologer who specializes in “rectified charts,” a practice that involves looking at different milestones in your life to determine a time of birth. This specialized service takes a lot of time and skill. I won't even attempt to touch it in this book!

So what if you're off by a few minutes? In some cases, a few minutes may not make a difference. But sometimes it might radically change a chart. It's always best to get as close to the time as you possibly can. If all else fails and you cannot determine a time of birth, you may want to choose to do a Solar Sign chart, which means using sunrise as your birth time. Although this won't give you an accurate ascendant and the houses will not be correct, you can still gather a lot of useful information. In this case, you would want to focus on the planets, signs, and aspects. Again, this chart may not give you the complete picture, but you'll have plenty to work with for a long time!

Next, you'll want a journal. Journaling is a great way to work through the exercises in this book and to record your own thoughts. When you write things down, the brain has a better chance of absorbing the information. Writing down the information is so important for astrology, which can feel overwhelming at the start. A journal dedicated to your astrology studies will help you greatly. Your journal doesn't need to be fancy. Just pick one that you like writing in. You may want to consider pasting a copy of your chart on the inside cover so that it's handy.

Of course, the purpose of this book is to use it as a guide. Look for the journaling sections, scribble in your journal, go through the exercises (called “Astrocises”), add notes from other resources—it's all good! Hands-on is the best way to learn.

Finally, you'll want an ephemeris, which is a reference book that shows you exactly what is happening in the cosmos. This book is a necessary tool for astrologers and is essential for mapping out transits. The times are usually listed as GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). When you first open your ephemeris, you might freak out at all those symbols and numbers. Don't stress; I'll show you how to understand all those arcane-looking tables in an upcoming chapter! You can purchase an ephemeris at your local metaphysical book-store or at one of the online booksellers. If you prefer, you can find digital ephemerides on various websites. (Psst . . . Astrology for Real Life is chock full of recommended books to help you go deeper with your studies if you feel called to. If you find a topic that draws you in, you may want to purchase one of my recommendations! My astrology library is packed, yo.)

Once you have all of these things, grab a few pens and let's dive in!