Astrology Basics
Each birth chart is made up of four basic components: Signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc.), Houses (the 12 major areas of life), Planets (the gods and goddesses of the sky, the inner characters of the psyche/soul), and aspects (the major relationships between the planets in your individual chart.
We All Have All the Things
All of us have all the parts of the chart in us — every sign, planet, and house; uniquely distributed or emphasized at the moment of our birth. Sometimes people feel like this means their chart isn’t individual to them. Not so! We also all have lungs, hearts, stomachs, brains, and a bellybutton, but we are profoundly unique. So it is with the components of our birth charts. Indeed, Carl Jung often spoke of the archetypes within (ancient patterns and forces within the human psyche) as the organs of the psyche.
The Birth Chart: Your Inner Dish
We can play with the birth chart as if it were an image of these ancient forces alive in our psyches, these archetypes. If the psyche were a pot, the planets would be the foods (meat, potatoes, carrots, etc.), the signs the flavorings (spices and herbs that infuse the planets with flavor), the aspects would be how those foods and flavorings intermingle (some spices and foods argue, others play well together), and the houses would be where the foods are being served up in the restaurant of our lives. Let’s explore these basic components a touch more.
Planets (The “meat and potatoes” of the dish that is your birth chart). In the playground of astrology, we can think of the planets representing ancient characters within the psyche that we have all inherited. These are the main ingredients in the birth chart; the meat and potatoes, so to speak. A helpful example of this, as per Steven Forrest: we all have the need to connect with others. In astrology, we call that need Venus. But your Venus (i.e. your inner need to connect with others) is different than other people’s. Venus’s placement in your chart also suggests *where* the energies of rebirth may be accessed within your Psyche or Soul by way of connection and relatedness. Going a bit further, Venus rules the aesthetic response within us as well. She is our bridge to Beauty with a capital B, that thing in us that innately knows what is Beautiful to us, and teaches us so by causing an involuntary gasp—the Greek eisthesis—like when we stumble upon an ancient tree or waterfall on a hike. Psychologist James Hillman suggests that Venus and Her aesthetic response, is our recourse, a lifeline to reviving our souls. Another new friend of mine, Gillian Demurtas, is a therapist in Ireland to whom doctors send those who seem to be beyond hope or help. She recently shared with us that she believes, ardently, that “aesthetics are a matter of life and death,” when it comes to the well-being of soul. And in your chart, this sense of Venus-as-lifeline to experience living life-force is a pronounced theme; along with Aries’ motifs of renewal and rebirth. As Marian Dunlea says, “Life itself is supporting us.” Your Venus placement suggests that re-encountering your experience of being held by Life HerSelf is a matter of great importance in your life. Venus rules the arts as well, especially those that are embodied and sensual (in the most nuanced and broad of meanings of the word). These arts include gardening, drawing, and music.
Signs (The “spices and herbs”). These are the constellations of the Zodiac (Aries, Taurus, etc.). From the perspective of earth, it appears that the constellations of the zodiac circle the earth like a Great Wheel, or a Great Round. The ancient Greeks thought of this wheel of the zodiac as the spinning wheel of the Goddess Ananke, Necessity, who spins the threads of existence from her Great Wheel. These constellations, these Signs, can represent our inner motivations, agendas, or values. As we said, the signs are like spices that flavor the food of the planets. Signs are. Signs indicate being. If a planet were flavored by the sign Aries, those might be some fiery flavors! By Taurus, an earthy parsley perhaps. Gemini, on the other hand, would refuse to be locked into just one flavor, and would be sure to grab several spices which would unfold in a dance back and forth on our taste buds. (As you may have guessed, Holly has so much Gemini in her chart.)
Aspects (how the “foods” intermingle). The angular relationships between the planets. On your chart, these are the red and blue lines between planets. They indicate connections between the inner characters (planets) in your chart. Basically, if the planets are the inner characters of your psyche, the aspects indicate which characters are connected in the story of your unfolding life, and how they are connected. Or, to use another analogy, if the planets are the main ingredients of the dish that is your birth chart, the aspects are how those ingredients interact when they stew together in your life’s journey.
Houses (where the “foods” of the planets and signs are served in your life). On the birth chart, these look like pie slices, numbered 1 through 12. They represent portions of the sky, with each slice of sky representing a specific area of life. Anything on the top half of your chart was above the horizon at your birth (i.e. they were visible). Anything on the bottom half of your chart was below the horizon at your birth. I like to think of these sections of sky—these houses—in two ways: First, as developmental phases in the cycles of creativity/life. (For example, the 1st house as the experience of birth and thresholds; 2nd house as the embodied distinction between self and other, child and mother; 3rd house as language to make distinctions between ourselves and our environment, and so on). Second, I like to view the houses as specific areas of behavior in life. (For example, 1st house as the house of self, 4th house the house of roots and home, 5th the house of creative expression, 7th house as the house of other, and so on). Houses offer location, a soulful experience of place.