Getting started with the birth chart.

Life certainly has its grace and its challenges. Situations and experiences in our life are consistently requiring us to grow and evolve as spiritual beings. Powerful tools such as astrology can help us see exactly what these experiences are and what we can do to use these experiences as opportunities for our spiritual development.

In astrology our life experiences can be seen by the planets in the birth chart. Each planet has a unique type of experience associated with it. For example, some planets like Venus are considered benefics where the experiences related to them are about opportunity and enjoyment, while malefics such as Saturn are about challenge and necessity. Regardless of the planet involved each of these experiences give us an opportunity to evolve and grow into more well-rounded and healthy individuals.

The most important concept about each of the planets is that there is an over and under extreme associated with each of them: polarities. One side of the planet is trying to pull us into the upward direction, of over emphasizing that planet’s dimension of experience. While the other side of the planet is trying to pull us downward, of under emphasizing that planet’s experience. Either of these extremes are unhealthy and can lead to an unbalanced life style.

The key as you might imagine is balance. Cultivating the centered, healthy expression of each planet’s attributes.

To do this, we must understand what our birth chart says about our personal life experiences. This is done by looking at the personal planets in our chart. These are the Sun, Moon, and Chart Ruler. Along with the inner planets of Mercury through Saturn. If you are new to astrology and not yet familiar with how to identify these personal components in the chart.. you can watch this short video explaining it in detail.

Before we continue you will need a copy of your birth chart. If you don’t already have one, you can use this quick and simple-to-use online online chart calculator.

Sign and house strength of planets.

Now, as you know up to this point, each planet has a sign and house position associated with it. The sign placement shows the ‘qualities’ of these experiences that we are bringing into balance, and the house the ‘area of life’ we are balancing.

However, not all signs and houses are comfortable for each of the planets to be in. Some planets are stronger in some signs and houses, while weaker in others. For example, Mars’ assertive and achievement-oriented nature is at its best at the top of the chart in the 10th house, or in Capricorn. Conversely, he is not very comfortable at the bottom of the chart, or in Cancer.

How a planet is placed in the chart, both in sign and house placement, can show us the natural tendency of the planet to be balanced, or imbalanced. In other words, if a planet is placed in a sign and house it is strong and comfortable in then those qualities will be easier to balance than if the planet is placed in an uncomfortable sign or house. This is known as the sign and house ‘strength’ of a planet. You can use these PDF’s here and here to see the sign and house strength of the planets in your birth chart. Write down each personal planet’s sign and house strength. Starting with your most personal planets first.

Aspect strength of planets.

The next important thing to look for when analyzing the strength of a planet are its aspects. Like it’s sign and house placement, how a planet relates to other planets in the chart shows us whether the natural tendency of the planet is to be balanced or imbalanced.

Planets with sextiles and trines are considered easy to work with, while squares and oppositions more challenging to work with. Conjunctions are considered inherently neutral and are dependent more on the planets involved.

Like before, start with aspects to and from your personal planets, then work your way to the more outward planets. Write the number of easy and challenging aspects next to each planet.

Your strongest and weakest planets.

At this point in the exercise you should have a general idea about which planets in your chart are easier to balance than others. This is based on the strength of each of the planets in regards to their sign, house, and aspects.

Number your planets from strongest to weakest. Note that within each planet there are likely some attributes about it that are both easy and challenging.

Let’s look at your strongest planets first.. these represent your greatest personality strengths. They are great attributes to channel your time and energy into as they come natural to you and don’t typically require extra attention to cultivate in a healthy way. These are excellent qualities that can be easy to continue to sharpen and hone in on. Here is a list of what each of the planets represent to give you an idea of what these easier expressions of your personality are all about.

With your more challenging planets.. these are your greatest growth potential, and where you can evolve spiritually. Focus on balancing these aspects of your personality. The more integrated and balanced they are the more goodness you will see for yourself and those around you. Consider these the areas that can be worked on so that you have a more well-rounded and healthy life. Note that these are your greatest gifts to the world when integrated in healthy ways. You can use the same planet meanings list to see these growth potentials of your personality.

Going deeper.

To go deeper, you can look at how to specifically balance each of the different signs, houses, and aspects associated with your personal planets. You can use these PDF’s here, here, and here to see how exactly this can be done. Remember that the strongest planets in your chart will have an easier expression of these qualities, areas, and aspects of life. While the weaker ones require more attention to bring into balance for your spiritual development.

By cultivating your strengths, and balancing your weaknesses, as seen in the birth chart.. you are able to gain a tremendous advantage in self-actualization and mastering this wild ride we call.. life.

Video Resources:

Birth Chart Calculator

Birth Chart Analysis Video

Planet Sign Strength

Planet House Strength

Planet Meanings

Sign Meanings

House Meanings

Aspect Meanings