So, I’m a Libra. But I’m also a Capricorn Rising with a Libra Moon. My Venus is in Scorpio, my Mars in Virgo, and my Mercury in Libra. That’s quite a bit of information, isn’t it? When I was first getting into astrology, I had absolutely no clue what any of those signs or planets meant for me, and to be honest, it’s still a learning process. However, I think knowing your big six is really helpful in knowing yourself, as your placements play a big role in how you interact with the world.
More than that though, I don’t think you should spend so much time analyzing one part of your chart and deem it your worst qualities (I’m talking to you, Venus in Scorpio), because your chart isn’t just random signs scattered amongst the planets, it’s the culmination of interactions of different facets of your personality. Different parts of your personality (and by extension, your chart) come into play when you’re expressing anger and when you’re making new friends. Your ego is vastly different than the impression you give when you first meet someone, and that’s perfectly normal. As a result, I’ve written an easy guide for y’all to follow along with in order to better understand your chart.
In order to read the remainder of this article most efficiently, I recommend having your big six, or personal placements, on standby to refer to as you go through each point. If you don’t have your big six memorized like me, you can find it out on: cafeastrology.com, or some of these apps: The Pattern, Charts (this one is my favorite), and TimePassages.
Sun Sign:
Very basically, your Sun sign is your ego, your internal monologue, if you will. It’s the most basic version of who you are,—what your interests and ideals are. I would argue, it’s who you think you are to other people, and often, it’s how you come off to people, though perhaps not at first.
Ascendant:
Aha! Yes. Your Ascendant (usually indicated as your rising sign) is who you come off to be at first, and it sets up the rest of your chart. When strangers meet you, this is the immediate vibe you give off. I’ve heard that your ascendant plays a bigger role in your youth than your adult life, and that as you get older, it begins to fade as you become more secure in yourself (aka your sun sign). While I appreciate this knowledge, I do think that you can lean into this part of your chart more dominantly than what the latter sentence implies.
Moon Sign:
Delicious. Your moon sign is how you process and deal with your emotions. Personally, I regard it as the most sacred part of your chart— who you are behind closed doors, when you’re all alone. Your moon placement decides what your intuition feels like, your unconscious behaviors, and how your moods are expressed.
It’s all very delicious.
The Planet of Mars:
Well. This is a bit intimate. I see your Mars placement as how you express yourself, aggressively and sexually. It’s not tied to your romantic and courting side of your personality, it’s wholly tied to your passion,desire,survival instincts, and sexuality. Very fun, am I right?
I might be selling Mars a bit short. As intense as it is (because your Mars placement can be very intense), your Mars placement will help determine your work ethic, what your ambition looks like, and interestingly, how you handle confrontation.
The Planet of Venus:
I think the planet of Venus should speak for themself. What do you think of, when you think of Venus? If you think about love, relationships, aesthetics, and sociability, I give you an imaginary point. Your Venus placement determines how you court in relationships, how you treat your family and friends, and also plays a role in your love languages.
It’s all very pretty and poised, just like Venus themself.
The Planet of Mercury:
Your Mercury placement determines how you communicate with others, how your intelligence and logic are developed, and your perception of others’ communication skills and intellect. It plays a large role in the construction of your thoughts into words, and the way you tend to come off when you’re communicating.
Even though I’ve outlined the big six individually, remember, it’s not so much about these placements by themselves, but instead how they interact with each other!
For example, my best friend and I share roughly half of the same placements, and as a result, we can come off very similarly with similar ideas of the world and reactions to it. However, it’s the interaction of the other differing half of our chart with the rest of our placements that really defines us as individual people. Her Virgo Moon interacting with her Libra Sun and Capricorn Rising warrants a very different person than a girl with a Libra Moon interacting with her Libra Sun and Capricorn Rising, so please keep that in mind.
Your chart is your story, it’s what the stars looked like on the day you entered this world, and you are so much more than just a Sun sign.