Personalized natal chart in PDF

How the chart is calculated

A natal chart maps the sky at one moment from one place on Earth. Three inputs produce it: date, exact time and birthplace. Change any of the three and the chart changes. The work runs in two stages, positions first and houses second, and that split explains most of why two charts for the same day can look so different.

Positions come from the Swiss Ephemeris

Planetary positions are taken from the Swiss Ephemeris, the data set used by most professional astrology software. It returns the degree and minute of the Sun, Moon and planets for the requested moment, plus the speed of each body, which determines whether a planet is direct, stationary or retrograde.

Positions are measured in the tropical zodiac, counted from the vernal equinox rather than from the fixed stars. That is why the signs in this reading match other Western sources and may differ from sidereal systems. Neither is wrong; they answer different questions.

Houses come from time and latitude

House cusps are calculated with Placidus from the birth time and the coordinates of the birthplace. This is the part of the chart that reacts most sharply to small errors: the Ascendant advances about one degree every four minutes, so a time rounded to the half hour can move the rising sign and every cusp with it.

Planets barely move in that window. A time twenty minutes off usually leaves the Sun, Mercury and Venus where they were, while reassigning the houses and the Ascendant. That asymmetry is the most common source of confusion when two charts for the same person are compared side by side.

How to read your PDF in order

The document is arranged so each section builds on the one before it. Reading front to back gives a different result than jumping to the planet you are most curious about.

• Ascendant and chart shape. Start here. The rising sign sets the frame, and the spread of planets around the wheel shows whether the chart is concentrated in one area or evenly distributed.
• Sun and Moon. The two luminaries carry the core of the reading: what the chart is oriented toward and how it processes experience. Read them together, not as separate traits.
• Personal planets. Mercury, Venus and Mars describe how you think, what you value and how you act. Their sign, house and condition shape daily life more than the outer planets do.
• Aspects and orbs. The angles between planets show how the pieces interact. A tight aspect describes something that operates constantly; a wide one is softer and easier to miss.
• Houses. Read the house a planet occupies as the setting where its function plays out, and the ruler of each cusp as the planet responsible for that area of life.

Aspects and orbs at a glance

An aspect is an angle between two planets; the orb is the tolerance allowed around that exact angle. A conjunction within two degrees says more than one within eight.

Aspect	Exact angle	Orb with Sun or Moon	Orb with personal planets	Orb with slow planets
Conjunction	0 degrees	8 degrees	6 degrees	3 to 4 degrees
Sextile	60 degrees	8 degrees	6 degrees	3 to 4 degrees
Square	90 degrees	8 degrees	6 degrees	3 to 4 degrees
Trine	120 degrees	8 degrees	6 degrees	3 to 4 degrees
Opposition	180 degrees	8 degrees	6 degrees	3 to 4 degrees

Orbs widen for the Sun and Moon because they weigh more in the chart, and narrow for Uranus, Neptune and Pluto because their aspects last years and would otherwise flood the reading. An aspect just outside the orb is mentioned as background, not as a defining feature.

What it cannot tell you

• It does not predict events or dates. A chart describes tendencies and timing themes, never a specific day. A reading that names one should be treated with suspicion.
• It is not medical, psychological or financial advice. Astrology is a symbolic language, not a diagnostic tool. Those decisions belong with a qualified professional.
• It does not work the same without a birth time. Without one, the Ascendant and the houses are unreliable, and a planet near a sign boundary may be uncertain. Signs and aspects still hold; house-based statements become provisional.
• It does not reduce you to a fixed set of traits. Two people with nearly identical charts live different lives, because a chart describes a starting configuration, not a script.

Common questions

Do I need my exact birth time?

For a full reading, yes. The time determines the Ascendant and every house cusp, which is roughly half of what the document discusses. A time recorded on a birth certificate is ideal; a time remembered by family works if you know how approximate it is.

What if my birth time is unknown or rounded?

The planets, signs and most aspects can still be calculated, and the reading will mark which parts are provisional. Some astrologers estimate a time from life events through rectification, but the result is an estimate, not a recovered fact.

Why do two charts for the same day look different?

Because the Ascendant moves about one degree every four minutes and the houses are built from it. Two people born hours apart share their slow planets but not their rising sign or house structure, so the same transit can land in entirely different areas of the two charts.

Does a retrograde planet change how a placement is read?

It adds a qualifier rather than reversing the meaning. A retrograde planet in a natal chart is read as a function that turns inward before it expresses outward. It is a permanent feature of the chart, not an event, and it is not the same as a planet that is retrograde in the sky right now.

Read in this order, the document moves from structure to detail, and each section supplies the terms needed for the next one.