How to Read Your Birth Chart (Beginner’s Guide)

Ready to finally understand your birth chart? In this beginner-friendly astrology tutorial, I'll walk you through your natal chart step by step—no experience needed! You'll learn what the planets, zodiac signs, houses, aspects, and rising sign mean so you can start reading your own chart with confidence.

Whether you're brand new to astrology or looking for a simple refresher, this guide breaks everything down into easy-to-understand lessons.

⭐ In this video you'll learn:

• How to find your Rising Sign (Ascendant)
• What the planets represent
• The meanings of the 12 zodiac signs
• The 12 houses explained
• The 5 major aspects
• How to put it all together to read your own birth chart

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro

0:44 Natal Chart

1:39 Big 4

2:01 Zodiac Signs

4:25 Planets

7:04 Elements

8:34 Modality

10:43 Houses

12:58 Big 4 Rising Signs

18:02 Aspects

23:09 All Together

26:32 Book Suggestions

Transcript

Intro

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Have you ever pulled your natal or birth chart and felt overwhelmed? Immediately overwhelmed. There's planets, there's signs, there's these things called houses and these strange little symbols. It really just looks so impossible to understand. Well, good news. I am here to help you. You don't have to memorize these things because that's what I thought I had to do when I first learned astrology. No. By the end of this video, you'll be able to go step by step on reading your chart. And I'm gonna make it easy for you. So let's get started.

SPEAKER_01 0:30

Oh, can't you see? Tarot and cosmos plates inside Danielle Carmelita shining bright.

SPEAKER_00 0:39

First of all, welcome. My name is Danielle Carmelita, your favorite tarot reader and astrologer.

Natal Chart

SPEAKER_00 0:44

And what is a birth chart? A birth

Intro

SPEAKER_00 0:46

chart is also called a natal chart. They're the same thing. It is a snapshot in the sky at the exact time you were born. It maps out where the sun and the moon and all the other planets and celestial beings in the sky were at the moment you were born. You need your birth date, your birth time, and your birth location to really get an accurate natal birth chart. Think of it as a cosmic blueprint. Just as every person has a unique fingerprint, every birth chart is unique. I am a twin and my birth chart is not the same as my twin brothers. Your birth chart isn't about predicting every event in your life, but it's also about knowing and understanding your personality, your strengths, your challenges, your relationships, your career potentials, and the life lessons you're here to learn. Now I want to go over the big three. What are the big three? You know that you

Big 4

SPEAKER_00 1:39

have your sun, moon, and rising. I'm gonna add something else, which is a chart ruler. But before we get into that, we have to discuss the planets, the zodiac signs, the houses, and the aspects. So first I want to go over the zodiac signs because I find that this is the easiest. A lot of people know their sun sign.

zodiac signs

SPEAKER_00 2:01

Aries is your identity, courage, leadership, independence, action. Taurus is stability, money, security, comfort, values. Gemini represents communication, learn learning, curiosity, networking, and adaptability. I'm just saying a few keywords, but there is more and more and more. A lot of these things are so endless. But cancer represents family, home, emotions, nurturing, protection in the past. Leo is creativity, confidence, recognition, self-expression, and leadership. Virgo is organization, health, service, improvement, and details. Libra is relationship, beauty, balance, harmony, and justice. Scorpio is transformation, intensity, power, secrets, and rebirth. Sagittarius is adventure, higher learning, travel, philosophy, and freedom. Capricorn is career, success, discipline, responsibility, and legacy. It could also represent the greatest of all time. Okay. Aquarius is innovation, community, humanitarianism, individuality, the future. Pisces is spirituality, intuition, compassion, imagination, healing. The easy way to remember all these things is Aries is I act. Taurus is I build. Gemini is I think. Cancer is I nurture. Leo is I shine. Virgo is I improve. Libra is I relate. Scorpio is I transform. Sagittarius is all about the exploration. So I explore. Capricorn is I achieve. Aquarius is I innovate. They bring something new to the table. Pisces is I dream. So let's get on to the planets. Oh, before I even get started on a planet, I want you to understand that I did a whole series on each zodiac sign. It is very detailed. It also is really good for people who already know astrology, but it is great for beginners. It breaks down each zodiac sign, its meaning. It gets really deep. So go ahead and look at that series, but let's continue on to the planets. I decided to start with the zodiac signs because it's so commercial and everyone knows them. Now let's talk about the planets. And you don't have to memorize all these things. You can screenshot what I put up and you can use that as a guide. I also have an ebook that explains everything. So you don't have to write this stuff down. It is linked down below. It's in my substack. It is completely free. And you better get it free while you can.

Planets

SPEAKER_00 4:25

So here are the planets. The planets are the sun, identity, ego, life purpose, confidence, and vitality. The moon, it represents emotions, feeling, mother, home, comfort. Mercury is communication, thinking, learning, speaking, decision making. Venus is all about love and relationships, beauty, money, and values. Mars is your action, it's your drive, it's how you achieve things, it's your motivation, your anger, and your passion. Jupiter is where you're lucky and things are very expensive, and there's wisdom, there's growth, there's abundance. Saturn is, some would say the doomsday, right? It's all about discipline, responsibility, karma, boundaries, and life lessons. Uranus brings things that are different. It's very innovative. There's freedom, rebellion, change, and a lot of surprises, good and bad. And Neptune. We have Neptune. It's the planet of dreams, spirituality, intuition, illusions, and creativity. Pluto, it's all about transformation, power, control, death, and rebirth, deep healing. Then we have the north and south node. I did videos on this. So go ahead and check out a whole video on what that is if you want more details of it. But if you just want the surface, the north node, it represents your soul's purpose, your destiny, your growth, your future, and your life path. The South Node is about your past life themes, comfort zones, natural talents, and what you're meant to outgrow. Something that uh astrologers kind of don't put in the beginning of astrology is Chiron. Chiron is your core wound healing, it is the wounded healer, and it is the wisdom through pain. So, a quick reminder: how can you remember what each planet means? The sun is who you are, the moon is how you feel, Mercury is how you think, Venus is what you love, Mars is how you act, Jupiter is where you grow, Saturn is what you must master, Uranus is what you change, Neptune is what you dream, Pluto is what you transform, North Node is where you're going, South node is what you are releasing, where you've been, and Chiron is where you need the healing. Let's just make it easy. Let's put a planet with a zodiac sign. It's Venus, and we'll put Venus with Gemini. That's easy because I have a Venus and Gemini. But remember, Venus is what you love. And what do I love? I love books. Gemini is all about learning and communication. I love to talk, I love to communicate. That's why I have a podcast because I love to communicate and I love women who love to communicate back. So Venus is what you love. My house, some of the decor is all around books. That's the aesthetic that I love. So that is a Venus and Gemini. Oh, quick, before I forget, I didn't talk about the

Elements

SPEAKER_00 7:04

elements. So each zodiac sign has an element. There are fire signs, and the fire signs are Aries, Leos, and Sagittarius. We'll just say the key words are passion, action, confidence, and inspiration. Now there are earth signs, and that is Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. They're all about stability, practicality, discipline, security, and results. Then we have the air signs, and that is Gemini, Libras, and Aquarius. It's all about communication, ideas, learning, logic, and relationships. And air signs love to think. Earth signs love to build. Fire signs love to inspire. And then lastly, which is my favorite, I have videos just on the water element alone. But water signs are Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. They're all about your emotions, your intuition, healing, compassion, and it's all about transformation. The water signs and the earth signs are feminine signs. They're more inside energy. And the fire signs and the air signs are masculine signs. They are more external energy. People will see them more while the earth and water people won't see that energy as much. So fire is, and water is all about I feel. Now, something I want to also add, and I'm hoping and know that our little brains can compute all of this. You may not remember it, but you can compute it. You can understand it. And it's not about memorizing it all because that takes time and practice. But sometimes you just want to learn, one wanna know about your chart. And here

Modality

SPEAKER_00 8:34

we go. The cardinal signs, there's modalities when it comes to zodiac signs. And the cardinal signs are the beginning, right? And that is Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorns. All the cardinal signs represent leadership, being the initiator, new beginnings, there's motivation and action. And they like to start things. They are the beginning of each season. Now there are fixed signs, and the fixed signs are Taurus, Leo, Scorpios, and Aquarius. There's stability here, there's determination, persistence, loyalty, endurance. Could be stubborn. And they are all about sustaining. Now, lastly, we have the mutable signs. And the fixed signs are in the middle of the season. The mootable signs are at the end of the season. In the end of each season, there is Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces. It's all about adaptability, flexibility, change, learning, and transition. And it's all about adapting with them. So the cardinals start, the fixed signs stabilize, and the mutable signs adapt. So when you talk about the zodiac signs alone, you talk about, let's just say, the sign Taurus. Taurus is an earth sign. First of all, we know that Taurus is all about stability and long-term energy. They love the quality of things and it's all about the senses. And they are an earth sign. So a lot of stability, and then it's a fixed sign. It is the most stubborn sign of all signs because it's an earth sign and it is a fixed sign. So just the most stubborn energy ever. So you can put all that together. Like I said, I have a Venus in Gemini. And a Venus, Venus, we went over the planet, it's about aesthetics and beauty and like what I love. And I love books and communication. That is what Gemini represents. But I also love change. I love flexibility. I love change because Gemini is also a mootable sign. Gemini is also an air sign. So communication and socializing is very important to me, especially when it comes to my female relationships and changing my aesthetics constantly.

Houses

SPEAKER_00 10:43

And the houses, again, you don't have to memorize everything. You can just individually look each thing up. The houses, there are 12 houses in a NATO chart. And we can start at the first house, which represents the self. The second house, which represents money and values. The third house is all about communication. The fourth house is about home and family. The fifth house is about creativity and romance and children. The sixth house is about work and health, your daily routines. The seventh house is about partnerships across the board. Your marriages, your business partners, one-on-one relationships. Think of a therapist or a mechanic. The eighth house is transformation. The ninth house, and also deals with your debt and taxes and shared income, shared finances. The ninth house is higher learning, philosophy, also astrology and publishing, and the world. The 10th house represents career and legacy. The 11th house represents networks and dreams, the future, um, networking and friend groups. The 12th house represents things that are unseen, the sum caches. It also represents endings. So here's a quick reminder of everything. How can you remember this? First house is who I am. The second house represents who I own. The third house represents how I think. The fourth house represents where I come from. The fifth house is all about how I create, what I create, sixth house is how I serve, seventh house is who I attract, eighth house, how I transform, ninth house is what I believe, tenth house is what I'm known for, eleventh house is who I connect with. The twelfth house is what I release. You can also associate these with the zodiac signs. There's a strong correlation between the houses and the zodiac signs. So really, once you know the zodiac signs, you can know the houses. Also, there is a strong correlation with the zodiac signs and the planets. Once you know the zodiac signs, then you can have a strong correlation with the planets. Except for some celestial beings like the South Node and the North Node and Chiron. I just wanted to throw those out there because Reno, I put them a lot in my readings, and I'm like, why not?

Big 4 Rising Signs

SPEAKER_00 12:58

Now let's go over the big four. Your rising sign is one of the most important placements in the chart because it sets up the entire chart well. It's the sign that was rising on the eastern horizon as the exact moment you were born. It represents your first impression, how you approach new experiences, and the lens through which you experience life. Your rising sign also determines where every house begins, making it one of the most things that a lot of astrologers look at. The rising sign represents your first house. Whatever your rising sign is, is usually your first house. Someone with a Leo rising, and we'll use Trump as an example. It also represents your looks and how you come across people. So Leo is very, it's a leader, but also looks like the sun because it is rude by the sun. So there you have someone who literally looks orange with blonde hair. But other Leo risings, they naturally come across as being very warm, expressive, and confident. And let's talk about a Virgo rising. A Virgo rising is someone who they may appear very observant, very practical, very neat and clean, or maybe very reserved. So you know your rising sign, you know how you come across from the beginning. It also sets up the chart for the rest. And the rising sign, we're gonna connect that to the chart ruler, but let's go to the sun sign. So now you know how you come across to everyone immediately without talking. Now, your sun sign is your life, it represents your core identity, it represents your identity, your confidence, your vitality, your purpose, your ego. I'm not gonna go over the sun signs because that's literally going over the zodiac signs, but you get the gist of what the sun sign is. Now, let's go to your moon sign. And your moon sign represents your emotions, it represents your inner world, it represents how you are behind closed doors. It's your feelings, it's where you feel safe and secure. The moon represents your mom. The sun represents your father. It's instinctively how you respond when life gets stressful. So let's use a moon in Pisces for an example. A moon in Pisces is someone who is very emotional because you have the moon that already rules emotions, and Pisces that is the most emotional sign of all, right? And then not only are you very emotional, you can be very private with your emotions because Pisces represents things that are very private, and there's a lot of insecurity with your emotions as well. Because it is a water sign, it's very emotional, it's very intuitive. Because it's modality, it's dealing with mootable energy, it's very adaptable, very flexible when it comes to your emotions. You're very compassionate, go with the flow kind of energy, and always evolving. Now let's talk about the chart ruler. Why I think that this is really important. As someone who's reading their chart, each zodiac sign has a ruling planet. And think of the chart ruler as the CEO of your chart because it influences the overall direction and expression of your life. For example, if you are an Aries rising, your chart ruler is Mars. If you are a Libra rising, your chart ruler is Venus. We're gonna use me as an example. And Kim Kardashian, because she's also a Sagittarius rising. Our chart ruler is Jupiter. Jupiter is in my ninth house. Now, if we look over at the chart of ninth house, it represents astrology. And what am I doing? An astrologer. It also represents publication in a I call the World Wide Web being global. And I also do things on YouTube, which also represents publication. Now let's look at Kim Kardashian. She has Jupiter and Virgo, and then hers is in the 10th house, which represents career, which represents her public standing, her reputation. So you get what I'm saying there, all right? A lot of things about her status and being the greatest of all time when it comes to work and the details of things. So that's why I think the chart ruler is just as important as your big three. But you don't have to ask someone what's their chart ruler. All you need to know is their rising sign, and you shall know their chart ruler if you know the birth time. But if you're looking at your own chart, then you just know your chart ruler is your rising sign. Look up your rising signs chart ruler, and you know the major themes in your life. Me personally, because I have that chart ruler in the ninth house, I also find that higher education was easier. The higher level I went for at school, the easier school was for me. I actually went to not graduate, I went to stay at school. I remember saying I could do this for a living, and people thought I was insane. That's because my chart ruler was in the ninth house. Now, let's talk about aspects. Now, I find that this is where people get a little bit confused, but I find that this is very easy. And again, you don't have to remember it. Just

Aspects

SPEAKER_00 18:02

look at the chart. There are five major aspects, and aspects are the relationships that each planet has with each other. It's the separation. So we have a conjunction, and it happens when two planets are sitting close together. They're at zero degrees. This is when the energy is almost basically one. You're so hugged up together that you guys are like, we come as one. So think as Mars and Venus sitting together as one. So your action and your drive, it works together with aesthetics and beauty. So you're very charismatic and you're very passionate about relationships. You could be very artistic and creative, and this is how you achieve things. Now, the second aspect is a trine, and it's 120 degrees apart. A trine is considered one of the easiest aspects. It's basically God has put a blessing on your lap and you haven't done any work. So think of these as two best friends who understand each other effortlessly. They don't even have to say each other. They could just give each other a look and are like, Yes, I got you. Mars is trying your Venus. It means that anytime you try to pursue something, there's harmony there. Anytime you try to pursue anything, you could be really creative. Or you have confidence when it comes to relationships. You're naturally charming. There is a healthy balance between masculine and feminine energy because men are from Mars, women are from Venus. Venus is what you want, and Mars is achieving that. So there is a confidence in achieving what you want. Now we have a sextile, and that's 60 degrees apart. A sextile brings opportunities and cooperation. It represents talent. However, it's an opportunity there, but you have to put in a work. So it's almost as if God opened the door for you. Are you gonna walk through the door or are you just gonna look at the door? So let's use the same two planets: Mars, Sextile, Venus, right? So you could be very attractive. There's a lot of cooperation, there's creativity, there's harmony and balance, and you have to work well with others. You have the ability to be creative, but are you gonna use the creativity? You have good relationship skills, but are you gonna use those skills? You can work well with others, but are you gonna go out and work well with others? A very attractive personality, but you need to attract people. Now we have square, and square is 90 degrees. Square creates friction and challenges, it's where things feel uncomfortable. Squares often become the greatest source of motivation and growth for people because there is a challenge there and you have to work through those challenges. Just think of a mountain and you have to climb that mountain. After you climb that mountain, there's endurance, there's life lessons. It's a tough coach pushing you to become stronger. So let's say you have Venus and it's squaring Mars. Now you have conflicts when it comes to your harmony and your balance, or you have conflicts when it comes to you trying to pursue something that's really creative. You can have arguments with a little part partners, a lot of fighting with partners, or partners are fighting with your therapist. Mars also is very fast in energy, it's very impulsive. So Mars could be very moving fast with relationships, and that doesn't go well. Maybe there's a difficulty with balancing because Venus represents balancing, giving and receiving. But there's lessons here. There's a lesson when you move too fast in a relationship, you start to realize I'm moving too fast. That doesn't work with me. So that's why the square aspect can really work as a life lesson. Now we have an opposition. An opposition is 180 degrees apart. An opposition occurs when two planets face each other across the chart. So this creates a need for balancing. So now let's say Mars and Venus are in opposition of each other. There is a A pull and push when it comes to relationships, or when it comes to aesthetics, or when it comes to fashion, when you're trying to pursue being uh fashionable, then all of a sudden your people are not seeing eye to eye with you. You can attract partners who are very difficult because you guys don't agree on things. Learning a compromise could be a big issue. There's a conflict between love and desire. Now I want to say, now the challenging aspects could seem a little scary, but again, it's all about learning yourself. And once you learn somewhat say the bad side of you, then you learn to improve those sides. And you can actually see what other people say. Why are they saying these things about me? Oh, it's because I have an opposition. It is clear in the chart. I can't argue it, I can't be in denial about it. So I need to work on it. I do want to say that conjunctions are also could be good or bad, but they are very strong. So you can be overly enmeshed in something, or actually it works in harmony with each other. So now you have all of it. You have the houses, the signs, the planets, and the aspects.

All Together

SPEAKER_00 23:09

Now you need to put them together. So let's go back to Kim Kardashian's chart, right? And remember, we know her big three. She is a Sagittarius rising. Her son is in the 11th house in Libra. So that means she's really about aesthetics and relationships. We know this about her, right? Her moon sign is in Pisces. We can go on and on about her chart, which I will read in a different video. But let's just do her son, right? Her son is in the 11th house. It's in a sign Libra. It's actually conjunct Pluto. It's sitting very close to Pluto. So friendships, networking, collaboration. I associate the 11th house also with social media. All that is really big with her. Conjunctions. That means that Pluto and the sun is really close together. I remember her saying she was a great investigator, and Pluto is all about the investigation. So that makes sense. But it's all about power too. Naturally, she's naturally diplomatic and fair, excellent in bringing people together, well liked in groups and organizations, building strong professional and personal networks, values, equality, teamwork. This is also that lawyer energy and transforming someone's life into something that's more positive. Now, Libra energy, it tends to people please. There is difficulty in choosing friends here because you have it in the 11th house. And the sun, wherever it is in your chart, it likes to highlight a lot of things. She could be avoiding some conflicts when it comes to relationships or when it comes to things that's dealing with her future, or a network. This is a house of politics too. So there's power with politics as well. But that sun conjunct Pluto is a lot of power when it comes to aesthetics and obsessed with aesthetics as well. And the future of aesthetics, too. And I remember her doing a video of saying she wants to look forever young.

unknown 25:07

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 25:07

Anyway, so that is what we have. Just her sun placement in the 11th house. And we talked about the sun in 11th house. The sun in the sign Libra is dealing with relationships and being a lawyer. The sun in 11th house is dealing what with her networks and her future and dealing with any type of social media. Sitting next to Pluto makes it very powerful and intense and a lot of transform transformation. And you can see that even with the transformation of the people she worked with when she's trying to take them from the prison system and let them be free. Also, too, with that sun conjunct Pluto, the sun again represents your father, and Pluto represents uh a rebirth or a death of some sort. And you had that with her biological father as well. And her father was a lawyer, an attorney who is pretty powerful. So that is what we have. You can do that with all of the planets. So just like how I did the sun, move on to your moon, then move on to Mars, Mercury, Venus. Now, when it comes to the outer planets, which are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, those are more a generational and more people have that. It's not just personal to you, but the placement of those planets in your chart are personal to you. I have some homework for you. Put your big four down below and we'll break them down. We'll have a little combo down

Book Suggestions

SPEAKER_00 26:32

below. Also, if you want to really go deeper in this and you need more, I have a free ebook just for you. It's in my substack, which is completely free. The link is down below. Also, I want to give you some book recommendations because, like I said, I have a Mars in Gemini and a Venus in Gemini. I think that this is a great beginner's book on astrology. It's called the only astrology book you'll ever need. So you can purchase this. It's on Amazon. That was the older version. I think this is the newer version here. Me personally, because now I really know astrology, I would say that's a great one because everyone has that one, but this one everyone doesn't have. And this one is even more detailed. I actually like this one a lot better. And this is called The Essential Guide to Practical Astrology by April Kent. Now, if you're like all of it is too much, I want something much easier. This is an easy one. This is by Chan Channy Nicholas. You were born for this. I find that this book was easy to read, a great beginner's book. Now, again, you can have that and you can have it in additional to my ebook. And if you're serious about learning astrology, not just memorizing keywords, make sure you subscribe because this is just a beginning. Over the next several videos, I'm going to help you build your astrology skills step by step. But in the meantime, you can look at all my zodiac sign videos. And I also have videos on Venus in their zodiac signs. I'm building that collection up. By the end of this series, I will say that you will be a full on astrologer. You'll be reading not only your birth chart but other people's charts. So go ahead and grab your free ebook, and I will see you guys next time. Bye. Bye bye.