The divider line before each house is called its “ cusp.” The horizontal line that extends directly left is the 1 st House cusp. The Houses progress counter-clockwise around the chart. Notice the planet glyphs arranged on the chart, labeled with their degrees of position. The wheel of Houses should always be laid out like this, with the first house on the left the zodiac wheel (along with the planets in the heavens) is what gets rotated according to birth data. Notice though, that the 12 houses are in their original location. This is because the joint positioning of the two wheels depends entirely on your exact time and place of birth. Notice that the zodiac sign divisions do not line up with the House divisions. The zodiac sign divisions can be seen along the outer edge of the wheel, represented by different colors. The slices in the chart represent the House divisions, not the zodiac sign divisions. The result is a birth chart wheel that looks like this:Īround the outside edge you see where the zodiac signs fall into the Houses. Then, that wheel is laid on top of the wheel of Houses. Now, the planets are arranged on the zodiac wheel according to their actual astronomical position in space. This is why an exact birth time is vital for an accurate horoscope. The point on the ecliptic that was on the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth denotes the sign and degrees of the beginning of the 1st House in your chart. The Houses wheel is based on the ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun around the Earth). Each slice (each House) in that circle represents a different area and specific function of your life. Next, the circle on the right represents the 12 Houses, or areas of your life. The Moon and the rest of the planets also fit into the zodiac wheel, at the point that corresponds to their astronomical position (which we find in an ephemeris). Each section measures 30°, with the whole circle measuring 360°. The zodiac wheel represents our view of the heavens sliced into 12 sections. The Sun spends about one month in each sign, as it travels towards the next sign.

From our viewpoint on Earth, the Sun appears to travel around the Earth, passing through each of the 12 zodiac signs. We know that, in actuality, the planets revolve around the Sun, but astrology studies how the solar system interplays with us here on Earth.

In your personal horoscope (your natal chart), that inner circle represents the coordinates, or exact location, of your birth place. The inner circle there represents the Earth. The 12 slices represent the 12 signs of the zodiac. It begins with two circles, each divided into 12 slices. In this lesson you will learn the parts of an astrology birth chart wheel. If you prefer, get your free birth chart instead.)

Birth chart with planet degrees