Natal chart

Definition

A natal chart is the snapshot of the sky cast for the exact date, time, and place of a person's birth. It maps the position of the Sun, the Moon, every visible planet, and several derived points into a wheel of twelve houses defined by the horizon and meridian of the birthplace. The natal chart is the base document of personal astrology and the reference layer every predictive technique returns to.

In context

Without the birth time, the house framework of a natal chart cannot be placed: the planets still sit in their signs, but the angles slip and the houses become uncertain. A reliable natal reading depends on a birth time as precise as the records allow. Every transit, every progression, every return draws meaning by hitting points of the natal chart at a specific later moment in time.

To go deeper

The natal chart anchors most other techniques:

• Transit: real sky meeting the natal chart.
• Progression: symbolic aging of the natal chart.
• House system: rule that places its twelve houses.