Llean Joie B. Bautista
In the previous blog, we talked about what astrology is—and more importantly, what it is not.
Now we move into the core of it:
The natal chart.
What Is a Natal Chart?
A natal chart is the celestial screenshot of the sky during a specific point in time. In relation to people, this is the screenshot of the sky during the time of your birth. A natal chart gives you a glimpse into the celestial blueprint and map of a person and their life path—personality, career, luck and fortune, areas of wealth, areas of growth, and many more. Natal charts can be divided into 4 main aspects:
Signs (zodiac placements themselves, such as Aries, Taurus, etc.)
Planets (celestial bodies, such as the Sun, Moon, Mars, Venus, etc.)
Houses (positional areas in the sky that delve into relationships between different areas)
Aspects (relationships of the celestial bodies and signs against other points in the sky)
The Four Pillars of a Natal Chart
Every natal chart is built from four core components:
Signs — how energy is expressed
Planets — what is acting
Houses — where it is happening
Aspects — how everything interacts
A Simple Way to See It
Imagine your chart as a pie divided into 12 slices.
The houses are the slices — each one represents a different area of your life
The planets are the filling — they bring energy and function into each slice
The signs are the flavor — they shape how that energy behaves
The aspects are how the flavors mix — whether they support or clash with each other
Sounds confusing, huh? Let’s break this down bit-by-bit.
First off, I want you to imagine the sky as a large pie that is cut into 12 different slices. The pie, in this case, is the houses. Each slice represents a different area of your life. For example, the first slice (which is the first house) represents your self-identity and personhood. The second slice, or the second house, represents your material possession and your relationship towards material possessions, and so on and so forth. Each slice of the pie is in regards to a different area of your life.
Now, the planets are the filling of your pie. Each slice is a different filling, because the planets bring different energies to different aspects of your life. In astrology, each planet rules a specific area of expression. For example, the Sun represents identity and the self, Mercury is the planet that rules communication, Venus is the planet that represents love and feminine energy. If you’re familiar with Roman and Greek mythology, but especially Roman mythology, the representations of the planets in astrology are directly correlated to Roman gods, which is also directly inspired by Greek mythology. So, Aphrodite/Venus represents love, Ares/Mars represents the masculine, anger, action, etc. Hermes/Mercury represents communication, the mind, etc. Each slice of your pie can have different planets. Some can have more planets inside a house, some can have one—or none at all, and this all directly correlates to how each house in your chart behaves.
The signs, on the other hand, is how each filling is prepared. In a natal chart, each planet is often associated with a sign depending on how it has formed on your specific pie. The signs dictate how the energy of the planet is expressed. Some signs and planets work better together (like a harmonious flavor profile) and they bring a really great balance to your pie, and some signs and planets are a more challenging combination with each other (like experimental, odd flavor combinations) and they bring an interesting dynamic with each other, and to the rest of the pie as well. Each sign brings a different energy to the table, as each sign has a few things baked into its constitution: an element and a modality. We have four elements; earth, air, fire, and water, and then three modalities which are cardinal, mutable, and fixed.
Each sign will have one element and one modality as its own, with no two signs having the same combination. The element allows you to understand a signs general personality (such as how fire is passionate, while earth is grounded, water is fluid and deep, and air is expressive), while modalities will show you how the element is being expressed (cardinals are explosive, think of them as leading the way in a charge but struggling to sustain the energy through the race, a mutable sign on the other hand is more in line with a go with the flow attitude, while fixed signs are more steady but stubborn, hence the name fixed). These two areas combine together to create the expression of the sign (an Aries is a fire sign cardinal, so they are often seen as explosive, passionate, and extremely forward, while a Taurus on the other hand is a fixed earth sign, so steady, slow going, but stubborn and determined)
Aspects, which is the fourth element, is how each house, planet, and sign interact with one another, depending on where they are placed in your chart. Like I said earlier, each planet will be combined with a sign on your chart, and depending on where they are in your natal chart, is how they would interact to other planets in your chart. Some relationships are really good and it strengthens and empowers both planets in relation to one another, while some are more challenging.
All of these four areas come together to form the pillar and structure of your natal chart. No two charts are alike, with the multitude of different elements and combinations, each chart is a unique blueprint and map of your celestial identity and path.
Let’s structure the together so it’s more easy to digest:
Signs: The Nature of Expression
Each sign carries two defining qualities:
Element (what it is): fire, earth, air, water
Modality (how it moves): cardinal, fixed, mutable
The element tells you the general nature of the energy.
The modality tells you how that energy behaves.
Together, they create the style of expression.
Planets: The Functions
Planets are not personality traits—they are functions.
The Sun → identity and direction
The Moon → emotions and internal world
Mercury → thinking and communication
Venus → attraction and values
Mars → action and desire
Each planet represents something specific.
It doesn’t change what it represents—but it changes how it expresses based on its placement.
Houses: The Areas of Life
Houses determine where things show up.
They divide life into different domains. These are the twelve houses, stripped down to their most basic form:
Self
Money
Communication
Home
Creativity
Work
Relationships
Shared resources
Philosophy
Career
Community
The subconscious
Same energy, different stage.
Aspects: The Interactions
Aspects describe how different parts of your chart relate to each other.
Some combinations flow easily.
Others create tension.
Neither is “good” or “bad”—they simply determine whether something is naturally supported or requires effort to integrate.
Putting It Together
A chart is not a list.
Each part of the natal chart comes together to form the picture as a whole. You don’t break a pie, or a cake, down by the individual parts and flavors but he harmony of it all as it comes together.
Once you understand the structure of the chart, then you can begin to read it.
In the next blog, we’ll walk through what you need to know to read your natal chart for the first time.
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