Astrology Basics

Your rising sign is the zodiac sign that was climbing over the eastern horizon the exact minute you were born, and it controls how every single person perceives you before you even open your mouth. It’s your social autopilot, your default setting, the version of you that shows up to job interviews and first dates while your Sun sign stays home eating cereal. Most people stop at their Sun sign and call it a day. That’s like reading the title of a book and writing the review. Your Sun sign is who you are at your core. Your Moon sign (which we broke down in our Moon sign guide) is how you process emotions when nobody’s watching. But your rising sign? That’s the trailer. And trailers sell tickets. ...

Your birth chart (also called a natal chart) is a map of where every planet was in the sky at the exact moment and location of your birth. It’s the foundation of all personalized astrology, far more accurate and detailed than your sun sign alone. To read your birth chart, you need to understand three components: the planets (what), the signs (how), and the houses (where). Here’s how they all fit together. ...