What Does A Birth Chart Tell You?

Astrology is a second language in my family. My dad and I have always used the current moon sign and retrograde status as our guide in business, attitude and as an excuse for other peoples' behavior.

Example: "Watch out: the moon's in Sagittarius – that means your mom is gonna start acting really weird."

Or: "Don't sign that document! Mercury's retrograde... In PISCES."

When my very logical, left-brained boyfriend realized he either had to learn to speak the lingo or be confused the entire time he hung out with my family, he quickly got one of the best points about astrology: "it's just really efficient."

What he means is, astrology can sum people, situations and things up like nobody's business. Instead of going on and on about how your co-worker can be the biggest piece of sh*t and also the wittiest and most hilarious person you've ever met, you can simply say: "she's a gemini."

And everybody who gets it, gets it.

So here's when everyone tells me horoscopes are complete B.S. and their sign is too generic to be true.

And my answer is: I never read horoscopes because they are complete B.S. and your sign probably is generic because the "sign" we all talk about is only your SUN sign - aka where the sun was the moment you were born. There are ELEVEN other planets that were all in a specific place (sign) in the solar system at the moment you took your first breath (or scream). So let's look into those... otherwise known as the content that makes up your unique birth chart.

My other answer is: Even with all twelve planets and signs and houses and jazz all adding up to your birth chart (aka nature), you still were raised by specific people in a specific place under specific circumstances (aka nurture) - and I believe in both. I also believe in past-life trauma and all kinds of wild stuff. So hey, maybe astrology only applies to 25% of who you are - but it's fun as f*ck.

Why Astrology

Aside from it being fun as f*ck, efficient, and a great excuse for stuff, it's also an amazing tool to deepen your self-understanding. You get to know yourself in ways you didn't even know you could. You learn things you didn't even know you'd know. And sometimes you do find something that's complete B.S. Take what sticks, do what works. Know yourself.

Astrology Basics 101

Signs

This is probably what you know best. There are twelve signs, but we seem to only pay attention to our SUN sign (meaning the sign the sun was in when we were born). So if the sun was in Virgo when you popped out, you'd say, "I'm a Virgo."

If you feel like your sun sign is inaccurate, this may be because at the moment you were born, the other eleven planets (aside from the sun) were in lots of other signs. You could be a Virgo sun with the other eleven planets in Scorpio, making you much more mysterious and deep than elegant and organized. You catch my drift?

Here's some basic info on the signs:

1. Aries (March 21 -April 19) Energetic, candid and willful

2. Taurus (April 20 - May 20) Reliable, diligent and conservative

3. Gemini (May 21 - June 21) Quick-witted, capricious and cheerful

4. Cancer (June 22 - July 22) Considerate, imaginative and sensitive

5. Leo (July 23 - August 22) Enthusiastic, proud and arrogant

6. Virgo (August 23 - September 22) Elegant, perfectionist and picky

7. Libra (September 23 - October 23) Equitable, charming and hesitant

8. Scorpio (October 24 - November 22) Insightful, mysterious and suspicious

9. Sagittarius (November 23 - December 21) Unconstrained, lively and rash

10. Capricorn (December 22 - January 19) Perseverant, practical and lonely

11. Aquarius (January 20 - February 18) Smart, liberalistic and changeful

12. Pisces (February 19 - March 20) Romantic, kind and sentimental

Source: Travel China Guide 

Planets

Each planet rules a special piece of our personalities. Each planet also moves throughout the sky at different speeds, shifting from sign to sign. Ever heard, "it's Pisces season?" It means the sun is in the sign of Pisces for that month. All of the other planets change signs and affect us too, we just talk and hear about them less. We all have all the planets in our charts (they were all somewhere in the sky when we were born), but it varies where exactly they all were at the moment you took your first breath.

Sun: your basic personality (changes signs every month)

Moon: moods & emotions (changes signs every 2-3 days)

Mercury: mind & communication (changes signs every 3-4 weeks)

Venus: love & attraction (changes signs every 4-5 weeks)

Mars: drive & energy (changes signs every 6-7 weeks)

Jupiter: luck, growth & wisdom (changes signs every 12-13 months)

Saturn: discipline, fears & challenges (changes signs every 2-3 years)

Uranus: change & originality (changes signs every 7 years)

Neptune: dreams & healing (changes signs every 10-12 years)

Pluto: power & transformation (changes signs every 12-15 years)

Source: Astro Style

Houses

1. The First House: Self, identity, and how you present to the world.

   The Second House: Money, childhood friends, and self-esteem.

2. The Third House: Communication, news, gossip, siblings, and short-distance travel.

3. The Fourth House: Home, personal beliefs, family traditions, and ancestors.

4. The Fifth House: Creativity, inspiration, parties, and children.

5. The Sixth House: Daily routine, health, self-care, and the people we see every day

6. The Seventh House: Partnerships — including romance, friendships, and business contracts — and open enemies.

7. The Eighth House: Sex, death, taxes, transformation, and debt.

8. The Ninth House: Long-distance travel, philosophy, intellectualism, higher education, religion, and values (such as honesty).

9. The Tenth House: Career, public image, and what you give to the world.

10. The Eleventh House: Friendship, community, humanitarian endeavors, and astrology.

11. The Twelfth House: Secrets, lies, psychological struggles, and hidden enemies.

Source: Refinery29

My Birth Chart

The best way to explain astrology is really to show you. Time for me to expose myself! Here's my chart and here's what it means:

Rising in Taurus - people perceive me to be elegant and collected.

Sun in Aries - my overall energy is lively, adventurous and impulsive.

Moon in Virgo - my emotions are reserved and my mental processing thrives off of organization and planning – and is a bit compulsive (or a lot).

Mercury in Aries - I communicate quickly, directly, passionately and sometimes chaotically.

Venus is Taurus - I am a committed, connected lover with a flair for indulgence.

Mars in Aries - I am extremely driven, passionate and determined in my work, but easily, easily bored.

Jupiter in Capricorn - big planner, needs tangible results.

Saturn in Pisces - a consistent feeling that life is out of control (classic Pisces).

Uranus in Aquarius - reformer at heart - positive changes for society or bust.

Neptune in Capricorn - sets reasonable goals and society is always in mind.

Pluto in Sagittarius - a passion for pursuing my own purpose based on my own heart and not of others. Also a passion for others to do the same.

Midheaven in Aquarius - my mission here is to basically do my best to save the world by radical shakeup of the norms. Advocate, advocate, advocate.

North Node in Libra - I incarnated into this human form to learn lessons about beauty, balance and harmonious living.

Overall, pretty accurate and this is just the surface. I work with the weaknesses and strengthen the strengths. Knowledge is power, right? Or it's just fun... and that's fun.

Have you ever had your birth chart read? Let me know your sun, moon and rising in the comments below!

Find an astrologer in your area to break down your chart, use an app like, The Pattern, or hit me up for a session and we can deep dive into your astro-make-up with some custom meditation.