1) To get started, you first need to pull your chart. You’ll need it handy for everything in this guide. So, lesson one: This is how you pull your chart:

• Go to www.astro.com and create a free account.

• Enter your birth information and save it so you can pull up your chart again and again.

• From the drop down, choose "Free Horoscopes" --> "Drawings & Calculations" --> "Extended Chart Selection"

• Under Sections, make sure you are on "Round." Then choose, "Chart type: Natal Chart Wheel." "Chart drawing style: Astrodienst Style"

• Under "options for Zodiac and Houses" make sure you choose "Placidus" house system and "Tropical" & "Geocentric" zodiac.

• Under "display and calculation options" check the following boxes: True node, Descending node, and under aspects - check "to all objects"

• Under "Additional objects" highlight "Chiron." You'll see in my sample chart below that I'm running way more objects, but I highly recommend keeping it simple for yourself at first!

  • To add more objects in the future, you can highlight any “additional objects” in the drop down at the bottom that you want to include. You can also manually enter any asteroid numbers for asteroids not in the “additional objects” list by adding them to the “manual entry” box in that same final section of settings. If I’m ever talking about an asteroid in The Magic Guide, and you’re curious about where it is in your chart. Google the name of the asteroid plus “asteroid” to get the number for that specific asteroid. You can then enter that number manually into your chart to see where the asteroid is for you.

• Now, just hit "click here to show chart" and voila! You have your chart.

• On the page with your chart, click "save default setting" so you don't have to set all of this again.

Now your chart is saved in your account.

2) Now that you have your chart, you might be wondering: what the heck does all this mean??? Keep reading to understand the layout of your chart & how to count degrees:

Get your chart handy — it probably looks something like the chart below but with fewer lines in the middle and not as many weird glyphs inside the blue boxes within the wheel:

Okay, first things first: get your bearings.

The wheel is the circle. On the outside of the wheel — in the creamy border — you may recognize the traditional symbols of the 12 zodiac signs (these are the BIG glyphs in green, red, blue, and orange).

Now, within the wheel, just inside the zodiac symbols, you'll see these little curved blue rectangular boxes (numbered 1-12 in the upper left hand corner). THESE are the houses.

Within the houses, you'll see black glyphs. Each of these glyphs represents a planet, a point, or an asteroid. You'll see the name for what the glyph corresponds to in the box to the left of the wheel.

Additionally, there are four thick black lines running through the chart. They are labeled just outside the wheel. If you’re reading them counter-clockwise from the left, they go: AC, IC, DC, MC. These lines are powerful points in your chart.

• The AC (also known as the ascendant or rising) is the most significant point in the 1st house, and it says a lot about your external self and how you are perceived.

• The IC (the imum coeli - Latin for “bottom of the sky”) is the beginning of the 4th house and represents your roots, your subconscious, the past, the part of you that you’ve maybe buried so deep you’ve forgotten all about them.

• The DC (the descendant) is the start of the 7th house and is the most powerful point in the house of marriage (fun fact: my husband proposed as the north node of the moon - aka the destiny point - was exactly conjunct my DC!).

• And last but not least, the MC (the midheaven) is the start of the 10th house and is a powerful point for your career.

The whole wheel represents the path of the ecliptic — this is an invisible line in the sky that marks the path of the sun (as seen from Earth) over the course of a year. Astrology is a practice of divining information based on the relative position of planetary bodies in relation to this path — the path of the sun.

The Zodiac signs are named after the constellations that are in the sky along this path, and when you say a planet is in a certain sign, what you’re really saying is where (approximately) the planet is in relationship to the path of the sun. In other words, the Zodiac is a means for breaking up the sky and using the “signs” as guideposts, like flags on a trail.

Like the lines between countries on a map, the lines between zodiac signs are largely arbitrary, but they do help you know where you are and where you’re going. And by breaking the sky up into pieces, you can orient yourself within the whole.

The path of the sun is broken into twelve zodiac signs, and then, each sign is broken into 30 degrees. (30x12=360 degrees…as in, the degrees of a circle. Get it?)

So, let’s start with the first zodiac sign. The beginning of the trail: Aries. To find this, look for the big red V in the cream border along the wheel. (For reference, it's in the bottom left quadrant of my chart above.)

Now, you’ll notice that on either side of creamy box containing the Aries glyph, there are these little black tick marks. Each tick mark equals 1 degree.

So, when I say that “the new moon is falling at 4 degrees Aries,” what I mean is that it's falling at the fourth little tick mark. You count the ticks COUNTER CLOCKWISE. So you'll be starting at 0 from the blue glyph to the left of the Aries glyph, not from the green glyph to the right of the Aries glyph. The first degree is the first shorter line/tick mark within the sign of Aries (beyond the longer line marking the boundary between the blue zodiac glyph and the Aries glyph).

If you count 4 tick marks (a.k.a. 4 degrees) into Aries on my chart, you'll see that it is very close to a black V-shaped glyph with a little lightning bolt/flame above it (marking the asteroid Vesta). Is there anything at 4 degrees Aries in your chart? Maybe your sun is there or your moon or nothing at all. But whatever is there can help you know how an Aries new moon falling at 4 degrees might affect you (lesson 3 will help you interpret this further).

Now, in addition to the glyphs for the asteroids/planets, you'll also observe that the 4th tick mark falls within one of those curved rectangular blue boxes known as houses. In my case, it's in my 2nd house (see the number in the upper left hand corner). So, even if you don't have a planetary glyph by a moon, the moon will ALWAYS fall within a specific house in your chart, and this information really helps you understand what area of your life the moon is most affecting.

3) Signs, Planets, and Houses

That last lesson poses the obvious question: what the heck do the houses represent? Also the questions: What do the planets represent? What's up with the signs????

Use The Magic Guide cheat sheet! This free guide is set up to look like the zodiac wheel, and it tells you - very generally - what each sign, planet, and house represent. It also includes a two page how-to on using the sheet and really starting to make sense of the houses, planets, and signs.

As you read The Magic Guide month after month, the real meanings of the signs and planets, the elements, and all of this will become clearer and clearer. I always explain what it means as it’s relevant with each moon and major astrological cycle. I’m a big believer in learning as you go. There is so much to learn. Whenever you get curious about a planet or a sign, look it up. Start reading. There is a lot of great free information online, and there is a magic to astrology. Some people cannot read a chart. They just can’t. Their head goes all fuzzy, and they can’t take absorb it. It’s almost as though, at that moment in time, it’s not meant for them. But when the practice calls you, it’ll keep calling. Let your curiosity guide you to your practice and your understanding of it all, which may or may not be the same as mine.

Here is a general rule of thumb about the difference between planets, houses, and signs:

PLANETS tell you WHAT in your life is being affected (e.g., the sun is your SELF, the moon is your EMOTIONS, etc.). So if a full moon falls on your sun, it will affect you in a big way (often in relation to your identity).

HOUSES tell you WHERE in your life something is affecting you (e.g., the first house is your EXTERNAL SELF/BODY, the second house is your MONEY/WORTH, etc.). So if a full moon falls in your second house, you’re likely to see something happen related to your finances/sense of self worth. (For more detailed descriptions of the houses, I really love this source.)

SIGNS tell you HOW something in your life presents itself. For example, if your Mars (which rules your actions <— that’s the what) is in Pisces, then you will act in accordance with Pisces energy - fluid, intuitive, lacking boundaries, daydreamy, etc.

There's so much more to all of this, but this summary plus the cheat sheet plus The Magic Guide will teach you in time.

4) Where are the planets today?

Your birth chart - like what’s shown above - shows you where the planets were when you were born. If you want to see where the planets are TODAY (or for any particular date), then make sure that you enter the “start date” under “chart drawing style” within the settings on astro.com.

Then, click the blue button: “click here to show the chart.”

Then, once you see the chart, click on the blue button above the chart drawing that says “+ with transits.” When you do this, you will then see a bunch of green glyphs on the outside of the wheel. Like so:

The green glyphs are where the planets are on the date you chose! You can run a chart for any date. You can run a chart for today and see what’s happening now. You can run a chart for a date in the future to see what’s happening on that big meeting you have scheduled. You can run a date for the past to see what was happening on that day you felt like your world was falling apart. Play with this. And start small. The next lesson will start to teach you how to make sense of these green glyphs and how they connect with your personal chart.

5) What are transits and aspects?

There’s a lot involved in actually reading a chart and making sense of it all, and I know that for a lot of people, just looking at a chart can be headache-inducing. It’s A LOT of information. Be gentle with yourself. Let yourself just focus on one small piece at a time. Let your perspective of the chart expand and open for you organically. Like a new piece of the puzzle slipping into place, when the time is right.

Once you have your chart, once you understand the shape of it, once you have a general understanding of the planets/houses/signs, and once you add in the green glyphs noting where the planets are on a specific date in relationship to your birth chart, then you’re ready to start moving into thinking about transits and aspects.

What’s a transit? A transit is the specific movement of a planetary body. It’s often the current movement of the planetary body. As in, the sun is transitting through Scorpio (a.k.a. the sun’s in Scorpio). The transits (green glyphs) are different than the specific transits when you were born, which are always the same within your personal birth chart. The transitting planets engage with your birth chart, lighting up pieces of it as the transitting planets move past places in your chart.

For a very magical example: Scroll up just a bit and look at my chart (the one with the green glyphs outside the wheel). Find my moon in the bottom right quadrant, in the 5th house, in the sign of Gemini. See how there are two green glyphs just outside the wheel right next to my moon? They’re kind of framing it - one one either side. One green glyph says “Hekat” and the other is a symbol with a diamond at the top. These two glyphs are technically “conjunct” my moon right now, and I’ll get to what a conjunction is in just a bit, but first, another exercise. You found my moon. Now, find the transitting moon. The little green glyph that’s shaped just like the crescent moon in my chart. If you look around the wheel, you will see how it is in the sign of Libra in the upper right quadrant. That is where the moon was on the date I ran the chart. Now, look at the black glyphs inside the wheel (in my birth chart) that are also in Libra, right by where the green moon is. Notice anything? They’re the same glyphs as the green glyphs by my moon in Gemini! This happens all the time! Major transits touch our charts in two places, from the inside out and the outside in - highlighting the meaningfulness in our lives. So what’s the meaning of the diamond & “Hekat” glyphs and the moon? Well, the diamond glyph represents the asteroid Pallas Athena - which is said to note where “your personal genius” lies - and “Hekat” is short for Hekate, an asteroid named after the Greek goddess of witchcraft, magic, and the moon. So, in short, this is saying that my personal genius relates to witchcraft, magic, and the moon (ha!), and on this very day, the moon is reminding me of this, and helping me find joy and fulfillment through embracing my genius. Which explains why last night (before I even ran my chart and saw this transit), I dreamt about getting all giddy as I stumbled upon some words about witches. And now, here I am…writing all of this for you. (The astrology behind the creation of “The Astrology Lessons” is truly wild. I’ll be sharing more about it in a future lesson.)

Now…moving on…to understand transits and to understand how planets relate to each other, you have to understand planetary aspects. When I mentioned a conjunction in the example above, that was an aspect. In its simplest definition, an aspect is the geometric angle between two planetary bodies as observed from Earth.

A conjunction is when two planets (or significant points, but let’s keep it simple for now and just say planets) are within 8 degrees of each other along the zodiac wheel. (Remember how to count degrees.) When two planets are conjunct, they appear to be in the exact same spot. From Earth, this often looks like two stars coming together to form one very bright star, like their light is combining and blending, and this is what a conjunction does: it blends the “energy” of the planetary bodies as they light each other up.

Because conjunctions are simply two (or more) planets being in the same spot, they are the easiest to spot when just looking at the chart. Like the moon on my Hekate/Pallas Athena mentioned in the example above. In that instance, the asteroids Hekate and Pallas Athena are conjunct each other (representing how they were on the day I was born), AND the transitting moon is conjunct that natal conjunction in my chart.

Beyond conjunctions (0-8°), other major aspects (angles between planets) commonly used in astrology are:

Sextile (60°)
Square (90°)
Trine (120°)
Opposition (180°)

BUT, I mostly only ever use conjunctions and oppositions, and you can read why by clicking here, or just yada yada past that point for now and keep reading.

In addition to conjunctions, I also often use oppositions. Oppositions are when two planetary bodies are on opposite sides of the celestial sphere as seen from Earth - they are opposing each other. In my experience, this creates a dynamic that can feel like tension between the two bodies, or it can feel like a balancing between two objects, but this part of astrology is not some fact-based, objective system, and when it comes to the meaning of aspects, I’ve found that it’s a subjective, intuitive art form.

Conjunctions and oppositions are the primary ways that planets relate to each other. You consider these aspects when looking at your birth chart and seeing where the planets are placed within the wheel. For example, in my chart above, my moon in Gemini is conjunct the asteroid Chiron (that black glyph that’s inside the wheel (looks like a little K) at the exact same point as my moon).

One day, if you’re anything like me and you speak this language, it’ll all just click, and when you look at a chart, you’ll see all the connections all at once like the whole chart is just lighting up like the night sky itself.

Until then, I hope that with these basics in hand you can have fun learning about all of the glyphs and starting to engage more with everything. Baby steps. One step at a time. No rush. No pressure. Let it be light and fun. Just explore the things you are called to explore. Trust your intuition to lead the way.

And now that you have your chart and know how to count degrees and can locate what house a moon is falling in and can then look at the cheat sheet to see what that house represents, etc. etc., my hope is that The Magic Guide just became WAY MORE PERSONAL for you. And if you love this stuff, let The Magic Guide teach you. Just work with it a little bit at a time. I’ve had so many readers become incredibly skilled at reading their own chart just from reading The Guide moon after moon, year after year.