Guide · The method
How it
works.
A plain-language guide to every tool in this app — no prior knowledge needed.
A birth chart (also called a natal chart) is a snapshot of the sky at the exact moment you were born. It maps where every planet was — relative to the horizon and meridian at your birth location — and organises them into 12 houses that each govern a different area of life.
Think of it as your personal cosmic blueprint. Two people born on the same day but in different cities or at different times will have very different charts because the sky looks different from every location.
The Three Layers of a Birth Chart
Planets — the What
Zodiac Signs — the How
Houses — the Where
Every planet on the wheel now includes its exact position in degrees and arcminutes. For example, 12°34′ Taurus means the planet is 12 degrees and 34 arcminutes into Taurus. Each zodiac sign covers 30°, and every degree contains 60 arcminutes.
What the degree tells you
What retrograde means
Retrograde themes by planet
The Sun and Moon are never marked retrograde. Interpretation always depends on the planet's sign, house, and aspects—not the ℞ marker alone.
Points, not planets
Five sensitive points in your chart
Besides the planets, your chart shows five calculated points. They aren’t bodies in the sky; they’re places where paths cross or where a distance is measured. The chart marks them with a hollow circle so they don’t get mistaken for planets.
- North Node
- Where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's path heading north. Read it as the direction you grow toward: unfamiliar, but where life opens up. They always sit in opposite signs and opposite houses, so read them as one axis.
- South Node
- The opposite crossing, always exactly opposite the North Node. Read it as what already comes easily, and the comfort zone to loosen. They always sit in opposite signs and opposite houses, so read them as one axis.
- Part of Fortune
- The Moon's distance from the Sun, measured from your Ascendant. Read it as where things come naturally and the body feels at home.
- Lilith
- The Moon's farthest point from Earth (the mean apogee). Read it as what you were taught to hide.
- Vertex
- Where the Sun's path crosses the prime vertical, in the west. Read it as meetings that feel arranged.
Worked example · Jordan, 15 July 1990, 14:30, New York
Jordan’s North Node is in Aquarius in the 3rd house and the South Node in Leo in the 9th: growing toward ideas shared with people nearby, away from leaning only on big beliefs. Part of Fortune is in Leo in the 9th: things come easily through teaching, travel and study.
☊︎ 8°05′ Aquarius · ☋︎ 8°05′ Leo · ⊗︎ 11°00′ Leo (day chart)
Why does another site show a different sign?
Sites differ in two ways. Some use the mean node and some the true node; they can be up to 1.8° apart, which changes the sign for about 3 in 100 people. We use the mean node, so a site that uses the true node may put yours in the next sign. And some use one Part of Fortune formula for every chart, while we switch it for day and night births. Your chart says which it used beside each point.
Below your chart wheel, every house is listed in a dedicated panel — each one showing the sign on its cusp and a personalised interpretation of what that combination means for you. This is free for all users.
Every person's house cusps fall in different signs depending on their birth time and location — so your House 1 in Scorpio reads completely differently from someone whose House 1 is in Gemini. The chart calculates all 12 cusp signs and applies a specific meaning to each one.
How to read a house card
House number & theme
The number shows which life area the house governs — e.g. House 2 = Money & Values, House 7 = Partnerships. The four angular houses (1, 4, 7, 10) are highlighted in purple because they carry the most weight in a chart.
Cusp sign & degree
The zodiac sign shown is the sign on the house cusp — the starting point of that house. The degree tells you exactly where in the sign the cusp falls. This changes with your exact birth time.
Planets in the house
Any planets sitting inside that house appear as coloured glyphs on the right of the card. Hover a glyph to see the planet's full placement. A planet in a house intensifies that life area.
Your personal meaning
The interpretation paragraph is written specifically for your sign–house combination. For example, Scorpio on the 2nd House cusp describes a very different money story than Sagittarius on the 2nd House.
Quick House Reference
Angular houses (1, 4, 7, 10) are highlighted — they anchor the chart and carry the strongest influence.
Shadow Work Mode — Free for all users
Toggle on the Birth Chart page to flip every house into its shadow reading
The Birth Chart page has a Shadow Work toggle that transforms the entire chart into a Jungian shadow reading. When active, every house card switches from describing your natural gifts to revealing the unconscious wound, repressed pattern, or karmic challenge operating in that life area — based on the specific sign on your cusp.
Normal mode
Houses show your natural expression — what each life area offers you and how it flows through your specific sign placement.
Shadow mode
Houses show your unconscious material — the wound, fear, or projection hiding in each life area, shaped by your exact cusp sign.
This app uses the Placidus system — the most widely used house system in Western astrology (used by Astro.com, AstroSeek, and most professional software).
How it works: Placidus divides the sky by time, not space. Each house represents the arc a point on the ecliptic travels in one-third of its time above or below the horizon. The result is houses of unequal size — which is what makes it so sensitive to birth location.
The four anchor points: The Ascendant (ASC) is the eastern horizon — your public mask and first impressions. The Midheaven (MC) is the highest point — career and public image. Their opposites are the Descendant (DSC) and IC (lowest point, roots/home).
When two planets are a specific number of degrees apart, they form an aspect — a conversation between their energies.