At a Glance
A natal chart (or birth chart) is a map of the sky at the exact moment of your birth, viewed from your place of birth. It positions the Sun, Moon, 8 other planets, the Lunar Nodes, and the Ascendant across the 12 signs and 12 houses. This practical guide explains how to get your chart, where to find your birth time, and what to look at first.
Astrology is a symbolic and interpretive tradition. It is not recognized as a science in the empirical sense. Use it as a tool for self-reflection.
What You Need
The three essential pieces of information
1. Birth date (day, month, year)
2. Exact birth time
The birth time is the most sensitive and most important piece of information. It determines:
- The Ascendant (the sign on the eastern horizon at the moment of birth) — which changes approximately every 2 hours.
- The position of the 12 houses (the life sectors: work, love, money, family...).
- The exact position of the Moon (which moves approximately 1 degree every 2 hours).
Without a precise time, you lose the Ascendant and the houses — a significant portion of the reading.
3. Place of birth (city and country)
The location determines the longitude and latitude used to calculate the Ascendant and houses.
Finding Your Birth Time
Primary sources
United States: Most state birth certificates include time of birth. Some older records from the mid-20th century may not. Contact the vital records office of the state where you were born.
United Kingdom: Birth certificates issued after 1969 include time of birth. Older records generally do not. Contact the General Register Office.
Canada: Varies by province. Many provinces began recording birth times in the 1970s-80s.
Australia: Varies by state. Most states now include time of birth on full birth certificates.
Latin America: Highly variable by country and decade. Argentina and Brazil generally include birth time; others less consistently.
Secondary sources
- Hospital records from the birth hospital (contact their medical records department).
- Family members who were present at the birth.
- Baby book, family journal, or handwritten notes.
- Some older hospital wristbands include time of birth.
If you cannot find it
Don't panic — it is possible to work with a partial chart. See the dedicated section below.
Free Tools
Astro.com (Astrodienst) — The gold standard
astro.com is the professional reference standard in Western astrology, used by the vast majority of professional astrologers. Calculations are accurate and comprehensive.
Advantages:
- High-precision calculations (Swiss ephemeris)
- Multiple house systems available (Placidus, Koch, Whole Sign...)
- Access to asteroids, sensitive points, progressions, transits
- Free for basic functions
- Interface available in multiple languages
Disadvantages:
- Outdated interface, not very intuitive for beginners
- Overwhelming volume of information initially
For beginners on Astro.com: see the step-by-step guide below.
Co-Star
Mobile app (iOS + Android). Clean interface, modern design.
Advantages: accessibility, daily notifications.
Disadvantages: textual interpretations are algorithmic and sometimes absurd or alarmist. Not suitable for in-depth reading. Planetary descriptions are often too generic.
Recommendation: good for having your chart on hand, not for interpreting it.
TimePassages
Mobile and desktop app. Good quality written interpretations. Clearer interface than Astro.com for beginners.
Advantages: good quality interpretive texts for beginners, visually clear chart.
Disadvantages: full version is paid.
Café Astrology (cafeastrology.com)
Website with free detailed interpretations by placement. More text-based than chart-based. Good for reading individual placements in depth.
Step-by-Step Guide: Astro.com
Step 1 — Create a profile
Go to astro.com. Click "Free Horoscopes" in the top navigation, then "Extended Chart Selection." You can enter data without creating an account, but a free account allows you to save charts.
Step 2 — Enter your data
- Click "Add a New Person" or "Enter birth data"
- Name: anything (can be a nickname or initials)
- Birth date: day/month/year
- Birth time: enter exact time in hours:minutes
- If you don't know the time: check "unknown birth time" — Astro.com will generate a chart without the Ascendant
- Place: type the city name, select from the dropdown
Step 3 — Generate the chart
- Click "Click here to show the chart"
- The natal chart appears as a zodiac wheel
Step 4 — Read the planetary positions table
Below the chart graphic, Astro.com displays a table with the exact position (sign + degree + house) of each planet. This is where you quickly find your Big Three.
The Big Three: Sun, Moon, Rising
For a beginner, these three elements — commonly called "the Big Three" — already provide a substantial picture.
The Sun Sign
The Sun represents your conscious identity, your vitality, the way you express yourself when you feel fully yourself. This is the sign most people know (your "sign" in everyday language).
Which sign is your Sun in? It depends solely on your birth date.
The Moon Sign
The Moon represents your inner world: emotions, instinctive needs, automatic reflexes, relationship to mother and home, the way you find security. Where the Sun is your public identity, the Moon is your private world.
The Moon changes sign approximately every 2.5 days. To calculate it precisely, birth time is helpful (without it, knowing the day is usually sufficient for most people).
The Ascendant (Rising Sign)
The Ascendant is the sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the exact moment of your birth. It changes approximately every 2 hours.
It represents:
- Your facade, the first impression you give
- Your physical appearance and natural style
- The filter through which you perceive the world
- Your social "mask" (in the Jungian sense, not pejorative)
The Ascendant is often more recognizable than the Sun in everyday interactions — it is what others notice first.
Common Confusion Points for Beginners
"My Sun sign doesn't describe me"
Several possible explanations:
- The Ascendant dominates: if the Ascendant is in a sign very different from the Sun, the person may identify more with the Ascendant.
- The Moon dominates: a strong Moon (in a dominant position or in its sign of exaltation) can "color" the personality more than the Sun.
- Stelliums: a concentration of planets in a sign different from the Sun can shift the personality's emphasis.
"My sign changes depending on the website"
This can happen for people born on the cusp of a sign change (around the 20th-22nd of each month). A minute's difference in birth time doesn't change the Sun — but tools with imprecise ephemeris can give different results. Astro.com uses the Swiss ephemeris (the most precise available).
"My Rising sign changes depending on the site"
Verify that you have entered the same time and the same time zone on both tools. The Ascendant is highly sensitive to exact time.
If You Don't Know Your Birth Time
Option 1 — Whole Sign chart without time (solar noon)
Some astrologers work with a "noon chart" (12:00:00) when the time is unknown. This places the Moon approximately at its midday position. The Ascendant cannot be calculated.
Option 2 — Solar Chart
The Sun is placed exactly at the Ascendant. Technically incorrect but used in popular astrology as an approximation.
Option 3 — Rectification
Rectification is an advanced method used by experienced astrologers to deduce birth time from known life events. It is a lengthy and uncertain process. Some astrologers offer this as a service.
What you can read without time: Sun, Moon (if you know the day), all slow-moving planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto), aspects between planets.
What you cannot read without time: Ascendant, Midheaven, the houses.
Free vs Paid Reports
Free reports (Astro.com, Co-Star)
Automatic free reports are generated algorithmically. They read each placement in isolation, without taking into account the interactions between elements. They can be useful as a starting point but lack nuance and synthesis.
Paid reports or consultation
A consultation with a professional astrologer offers a synthetic reading that takes the entire chart into account — the tensions, dominant resources, and life context. This is a fundamental qualitative difference.
If you want a written report: services like Café Astrology (cafeastrology.com) offer free interpretations more detailed than a simple list of positions.
Going Further
Once you have your chart and your Big Three identified, the natural next steps are:
- Major aspects: the angles between planets (conjunction, opposition, square, trine, sextile) create tensions or ease between planetary energies.
- Planetary dominants: which planet is most powerful in your chart?
- The houses: which life sectors (work, love, money, health...) are most activated?
Astrology is a symbolic language. The more you immerse yourself in it, the more connections become apparent — and the more useful the tool becomes for understanding your own cycles.