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The wheel is intimidating the first time. After this lesson you’ll know what every ring, symbol and line means. Keep yours open beside you.
Create your chart for free and look at it while you read. We’ll go from the outside in.
The twelve sectors with glyphs (♈︎♉︎♊︎…) are the signs, the sky’s “measuring ruler”: 360° divided into twelve 30° slices. Every planet falls at a degree of a sign — “24° Pisces”, say. When you read a position, note the sign AND the degree.
Inside the band you’ll see twelve numbered sectors: the houses, which distribute life’s areas (identity, money, home, partnership…). Unlike the signs, the houses depend on your time and place: they are the most personal part of the wheel. The dividing lines are called cusps.
Each symbol (☉☽☿♀♂♃♄♅♆♇) is a planet placed at its exact degree. Several huddled together is called a stellium and marks a dominant theme in your life. A small ℞ means retrograde.
The horizontal line marked ASC is your Rising sign (the east: how you enter the world) and its opposite the Descendant (the other, partnership). The one marked MC is the Midheaven (the highest point: vocation and public image) and its opposite the IC (your roots). Any planet glued to these axes sounds twice as loud.
The web of lines crossing the inner circle joins planets at meaningful angles. In our wheel: gold = conjunction, blue = sextile, green = trine, red = square or opposition. They get their own lesson.
Before any detail, see where your planets cluster. Mostly up? A life pointed at the world, the public, the social. Mostly down? Weight on the intimate, the family, the inner. Mostly left (Rising side)? Self-starting, self-defining. Mostly right? Life plays out through encounters with others. Not an iron law — but it orients the first glance like a compass.
Open your chart and answer: what sign is my Rising? Which house holds the most planets? Up or down, left or right? Write it down: that’s your first analysis.
Create your birth chart for free and apply this lesson with your own sky in front of you. And if you want to compare readings, the premium interpretation starts at €2.90.
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