Astrology basics
Learn your birth chart, one layer at a time
Astrology reads your birth chart, a map of where the Sun, Moon and planets were at the moment you were born. Planets show what drives you, signs show how, houses show where in life, and aspects show how it all connects.
You don’t need to learn everything at once. Start with your big three: the Sun, Moon and rising sign. Then add Mercury, Venus and Mars, the personal planets that color how you think, love and act. Next come the houses, which place each planet in an area of life, and finally the aspects, which show how your planets get along.
Use the free calculators to find your own placements, then follow the guides below as each one comes up.
Rising signs
Rising signs
Your rising sign, or Ascendant, is the sign that was coming up over the eastern horizon when you were born. It shapes first impressions and changes roughly every two hours, so it needs an accurate birth time.
Free calculators
Start with your chart
See your sun, moon, rising and every planet in its sign and house — free.
- Birth chartA birth chart is a map of the sky at the moment you were born.
- Rising signYour rising sign is the zodiac sign that was rising on the eastern horizon when you were born.
- Moon signYour moon sign is the sign the Moon was in when you were born.
- Big threeYour big three are your sun, moon and rising signs — the three placements people feel first.
- Venus signYour Venus sign is the sign Venus was in when you were born.
The Cazimi app
Know your chart. Then ask about it.
Read your placements in full, see how they work together, and ask anything — the Cazimi app answers from your own chart.
Scan with your phone camera