There are many parts to chart analysis, and I think that Stephen Arroyo was right when he affirmed that whole chart synthesis is largely impossible (and impractical). But enough can be gleaned, I think, from the natal chart to make any exercise in psychological profiling worthwhile. The individual tiles that constitute the finished work can be summarised thus:
When reading this chart interpretation, it is important to understand a little of what is hoped can be achieved through the study of the natal chart. The chart itself is calculated for the exact birth time, date and place for an individual. Subsequently, it is impossible to find two identical charts. There may be close similarities, but a natal chart will essentially remain unique to the individual for whose birth data it represents.
Through the study of the natal chart, much information about an individual can be ascertained. In fact, to a trained astrologer, nearly all facets of an individual’s life can be intuited. The character, personality, psyche, potentials, relationships with mother, father and siblings, career possibilities, love life…the list is endless. In order to garner this information, an in-depth understanding of the natures of the energies that are mapped out by a chart is necessary. There are 24 basic energies at work in any individual. It is the relative strengths and placements of these energies, as well as the patterns that they form, that yield the bulk of the information for any individual.
The four primary elements to keep in mind when reading this natal chart analysis are the Ascendent, the Ascendent or chart ruler, the Sun and the Moon. The Ascendent is that point which falls exactly at the Eastern horizon for the time and place you were born. For example, if you were born at 3.28 am in Brisbane, Australia, on the 3rd of April, 1977, you will have roughly 8 degrees of Pisces as your Ascendent point. The Ascendent is important in your chart as it serves as a primary focus for much of the energy that courses your veins. Whatever your Ascendent might be, it is the nature of that sign in which the horizon point falls that determines much of how you experience the world. The Ascendent is said to represent the personality of an individual, and while I personally believe this claim to be a little too narrow in its scope, it does go someway to describing how the Ascendent is most easily experienced. It is often the nature of the Ascendent through which new people come to understand us. It is certainly essential to the astrological understanding of the individual.
The Ascendent, or chart, ruler is that plant which rules the sign in which the Ascendent point falls. Going back to our earlier example, if we had Pisces ascending, Neptune (and to a certain extent, Jupiter) would rule the chart. Its position by sign and house, as well as its aspects, will be vital in understanding much of how and why and to what end the individual lives their life. Much information can be gleaned from the chart ruler, and special attention should be focussed on any interpretations that involve it.
The third primary force in any chart will be the Sun. The solar energy is vital in all of us, though its heat radiates to different degrees. The Sun represents the primal core of the individual, the ego, that which cannot be altered or destroyed or re-created by any means. In this sense it further represents a karmic state, a soul-attunement prescribed by previous conditions. It must always be acknowledged in the chart, for serious issues will arise when it is buried, forgotten or otherwise denied. Without the ego, we cannot be human; when the ego is finally transcended, no further karma will attach to that energy force and no further re-birth will occur.
The Moon represents the emotions, reactions and instincts of the individual. It is where and how the individual feels ‘at home’. Even a weakly placed or unaspected moon in a chart will have a powerful influence, by sign and house position, over much of the behaviour of the individual. Without the Moon, the individual would have no feeling of safety or comfort.
Other important factors to note in the chart are the Sun and Moon rulers, the house positions of Jupiter and especially Saturn, as well as the house positions of the North and South Nodes and Pluto.
When using these interpretations, please bear in mind that, inevitably, every chart will contain some contradictory influences, and as a result certain interpretations of different items in the same chart may seem difficult to reconcile. However, this may still be an accurate reflection of the individual whose chart is being interpreted, as people do experience conflicting desires, events and circumstances in their lives. It is the responsibility of the astrologer to synthesise these apparent contradictions in order to present a cohesive and realistic interpretation of the dilemmas of the chart.
This is a simplified version, of course, and needs much elaboration. Over the course of the next few weeks,I will seek to do just that, padding out each facet of chart analysis until we have a working ‘whole’.
