Casting Your Natal Chart
Here are some resources for pulling up your Natal Chart, if you haven't already.
I use three different sites. Two of them are FREE and the other isn't. I am going to talk about each one and share why & what I love/dislike about each.
This FREE site is amazing because, well, she is amazing. She is one of my very favorite Astrologers and she's what really brought me back to my study of this glorious language after years of just trying to learn from books...and struggling.
This site is already set up to cast charts in Whole Sign Houses. This is the house system I use. We will learn more about House Systems in the Houses Section.
The nice thing about this site is the fact that you don't have to convert the chart to Whole Signs. It is also beautiful, simplistic in it's design AND if you click on the glyphs it lights up the aspects to that planet. It has simple glyph keys and descriptions right there for reference. It has a lot of other features that are helpful in learning about your chart.
The Downside: you can't save charts on this site (yet) so that means that every time you go to the site you have to reenter the birth info. The site will email a copy of the chart to you if you request it. That way you'll have the chart to refer back to easily and you can print the PDF from the email.
This site also doesn't allow you to look at the chart of right now OR the transits to. your chart like the other two do. This is a great site for taking a look at your chart and Chani is always a great teacher when you're first learning about your chart or Astrology in general. Her book and her workshops are highly recommended!
Chani also has a new App you can download (on the iOS platform only). I haven't used it much yet but I'll come back and make an update about it after I've had some time to play. So far it looks amazing and I am super excited about all the things she creates.
AstroDiest (aka Astro.com) is a FREE site that's considered the go-to for most professional astrologers and I highly recommend & trust the info on this site BUT it can be overwhelming because there is so much info and so many ads on it. This website also has a huge catalog of historical figures & celebrity charts available AND all of them are rated for accuracy & integrity.
The Downside:
This site has a very technical-looking chart schematic. It can overwhelm the viewer when they're beginning their studies because it looks so complex. It doesn't have a glyph key for the Zodiac Signs so if you don't yet know your glyphs you may struggle to identify which sign is which. This will motivate you to sit down and learn your glyphs! (See below for the Glyph Key WeRKsheets I designed to help with this!)
I love this site because it's so graphically pleasing and the mechanics are seamless BUT it's not FREE. It's about $5/month to have access to this site. It does let you cast & save charts but I use it for looking at Transits AND as an Ephemeris (an astrological book of tables showing where are the planets are & will be on any given date or time). For example, if you wanted to know where the planets would be next Tuesday at 3:42 pm in Austin, Texas this site is the easiest for looking that up in under 15 seconds. You can also click thru the transits and watch the planets and points as they move around the chart every minute, hour, day, week, month, or year. It's very useful, once you've reached that level of curiosity.
The Downside: It's not FREE and it's definitely set up for a bit more advanced users. You can click on the glyphs and it will open up some details on them but if you're not quite fluent in the language that can come across as a bit too complex. I recommend learning more about this site if you're first questions while learning are about where the planets are RIGHT NOW. This will satisfy that query without requiring you to learn how to read an Ephemeris (tho you will be taught that in this WeRKshop, lol).
Here's a quick tutorial on how to use Luna Astrology's site for tracking transits and looking at the Astrology of selected dates and times:
The apps I use regularly & recommend often:
TimeNomad (iOS only) FREE with really intensely cool add ons
(don’t do the upgrades until UR Astro300 level). Can easily be adjusted to Whole Sign Houses. Save 50 charts on your mobile device. Real time transit & alerts of YOUR transits. So much info! 9/10
TimePassages (iOS & Android) FREE with personalization & horoscopes.
Can easily be adjusted to Whole Sign Houses. Lots of cool features. I don’t use this one often but it’s a good app for Android users. Take the horoscopes in the app with a grain of salt. 6/10
Don’t Have A Birth Time?
That’s okay, lots of people are missing this info! There are ways to rectify a birth chart. It’s not an easy process but it is worth a try. Reach out to Dianna for support & don’t forget that sometimes your birth time is hidden in a baby book or the memory of one of your relatives or family friends. Be a detective for your own info AND if none of that is available to you don’t fret, there are other ways to try to seek your info. REACH OUT!
A note on casting the charts of others:
You can create additional for loved ones BUT you 'should' always consider the ethical implications of pulling up someone's chart without their permission. Make sure you feel good about doing it so that the energy is always in the right relationship because looking at another's birth chart to gain power or an edge over them is always going to backfire on you. Use caution even when pulling up the charts of famous people - they are people too! Our Natal Charts are a gift and a Magical Tool so use them with the best of intentions and things will always go well.
Whole Sign Houses
We will talk about house systems more in this WeRKshop but I like to clarify WHY I use this system. It's what I learned from my teachers. That is the most common answer when Astrologers are asked about their House system. There is no wrong way. It's similar to how our different languages have different letters, sounds, glyphs, punctuation but when we say, "I love you" it still means the same thing. We get to the root of the data from all the House systems it just takes a different route to get there. I also like Whole Sights because it's simple. Why make a complex language MORE complex?! This system is the most ancient, original House system too. That connects it to the use of ancient techniques like Annual Profections, rulerships, and many other things we're gonna learn more about. You cannot accurately calculate these things in other House systems.
Questions? As always, if you have any questions... Please Ask!
Additional Resouces:
Chart WeRKsheets
I always recommend drawing your chart often and regularly. It's easy to print out a copy but drawing the chart is like casting a spell. It connects us to the glyphs, aspects, and energetics of our unique placements. Learn your planetary degrees too. Eventually, you'll be able to say, "I have my Moon at 16º of Taurus and my Sun at 22º of Capricorn". This is helpful for tracking transits and you'll notice I talk about the degrees a lot when I write MoonScopes or posts about the current AstroWeathers.
Here are some blank WeRKsheets you can print out to help you draw your chart regularly.
Blank_Natalchart_Werksheet.pdf
*AstroArtistry_Astro_Glyph_Key_Sheet.pdf