Welcome to Ghost of a Podcast. I’m your host, Jessica Lanyadoo. I’m an astrologer, psychic medium, and animal communicator, and I’m going to give you your weekly horoscope and no bullshit, mystical advice for living your very best life.

My loves, welcome back to another astrology Hot Take with me, your short friend, Jessica. Did you know I was short? At five foot two and a half, you better believe I count the half. 

So this week I am going to talk about something—it’s ridiculous for me to attempt to talk about this on the podcast, but I’m going to do it. I get asked the question all the time, how do I read a birth chart? And it is a very big question. It is a very big question because astrology has a lot of layers to it. There’s a lot of details to learn and a lot of memorization. 

When it comes to astrology, I am a total stickler. I am such a stickler. I am a believer in learning the rules before you start breaking them. As an intuitive person, I will say that when I hear someone say that they are an intuitive astrologer, but they haven’t actually learnt the basics and done the memorization and the book learning that is required, I get really nervous. Because astrology is actually based on many rules, and those rules have to be memorized and thoroughly understood. And there are lots of ways of going about that. There are lots of ways of using astrology, but all of them require a fair amount of years devoted to learning. 

So personally, me, in the first seven years of my private practice, I told all of the people who came into my office for readings, I told every single person I’m in a self-appointed apprenticeship. And I did that because, as an astrologer, I understood that it takes seven years to come to a level of mastery over any old thing—any old thing. It doesn’t matter how good you are naturally at the onset of a thing, just imagine how amazing you’re going to be seven years into it. That’s a Saturn cycle, friends, and Saturn is the planet of mastery. 

So what you want to know is that even if you are naturally good, even if you’ve got a wonderful knack of it, or you’ve got a lot of followers on schminstagram [sp] or whatever stupid thing that we all use these days—seven years, seven years. And I think it’s really important that we leave room for our own growth, we leave room for our own mastery by not claiming to be more advanced than we are. And I suppose that takes a measure of humility, but I actually see it as expansive because it allows room for you to really grow into the fullness of your own capacity. 

If you’re excellent in year three of study, Jesus, just think of where you’re going to be at year five. And if you’re that good at year five, where are you going to be at year seven or twelve or twenty? It’s really worth considering, right. Unless you’re not that serious about it. In which case, I mean, what am I going to say? 

Okay. So how do you read a birth chart? Let’s be really clear, in Western astrology or tropical astrology a birth chart is a wheel; it’s a circle. It is not a square. Many people—I mean, many people do a thing where they send me a screen shot having written down in English on some sort of a grid—it’s not even a proper aspect grid, but some sort of a grid a bunch of astrological information. That is not a birth chart. Friends, lovers, haters, everyone in between, that is not a birth chart. A birth chart is a wheel. Some people say it looks like a clock. I say it looks like a pizza. You get the point. It’s a circle, and it’s cut into lots of, I’m going to say, pizza slices. 

If you are interested in learning astrology and reading a birth chart—that’s actually your interest, then you need to know how to read the glyphs. The glyphs are symbols. Astrology has its own language, and if you skip that step, you’re going to miss out on tons of data because there’s a reason that the glyphs look the way they do. 

There’s so much information. Astrology is so old, and it has been used for so long. There’s so much information to learn about something as foundational as zodiac signs. So learn the glyphs—the glyphs for the zodiac signs and for the planets. Learn the aspect glyphs. Zodiac signs, houses, planets, and aspects, these are the foundational pieces of understanding a birth chart and being able to functionally work with astrology. 

If you’re interested in learning about predictive stuff, what’s going on now, what’s going on next year or whatever, that is advanced astrology. And, again, I am such a stickler. I am not a fan of trying to go to advanced anything before you have a foundation because then you’re really not learning it. And there’s nothing wrong with not learning how to read a birth chart, but this is a little episode for those of you who do. 

So first and foremost, look at an actual birth chart—which is a wheel. Secondly, have a solid foundation of understanding of what all of the 12 houses mean. Those slices of the pizza, the houses, may look different ways based on the house system that you use. Listeners to the podcast may remember that I use something called Campanus houses. There are other astrologers who use whole sign houses. Placidus and Koch are two very commonly used—probably the most commonly used house systems. Use what works for you. 

Personally, me, I only use whole sign houses when I’m writing horoscopes, which is the most general form of astrology or the most general use of astrology. I really am not a fan of whole sign, but I don’t have to like your house system; you have to like your house system. And the thing to know about astrology is there are so many systems. There are so many house systems. There are so many uses for astrology. There are so many approaches to astrology. There’s so many different methodologies to astrology. 

Many astrologers do not really work with the outer planets. For me, it is the focal point of my work. They are not wrong, and I am not right. Of course, I think I’m right. Of course, I think I’m right, but I know objectively that they’re just different systems. What you want to do is align yourself with a system that you find to be useful to learn foundationally and then build from there. 

If you are somebody who likes to learn all the angles of a thing, how exciting is astrology going to be for you? In untold ways, my friend. Because the reality is there’s so much to learn. And if you’re someone like me who likes to find kind of a path and methodology and then go really deeply into it, ditto. There’s so much to learn there. 

Now, depending on the house system you’re using, it means that your houses are going to be different shapes and sizes. What never changes, regardless of your house system, is your Ascendent or Rising Sign and your Midheaven. These are really important points to learn about, and they are foundational to understanding who you are. 

Very briefly, the Ascendent or Rising Sign. It’s the sign on the first house cusp that is your identity and your sense of self. It’s what you project into a room when you first enter it. A Midheaven, the tenth house cusp, is related to your conscious life objectives, so it’s more your career and not so much your work life—not your day to day work life. It’s more your sense of calling and career. For some people, that’s wrapped it in what they do for a living. For many people, it is not. So that’s just very briefly. 

When looking at a birth chart, right, your own birth chart, the first thing you want to do is notice what the Midheaven and the Ascendent are. Notice what zodiac signs are on what house cusp. Paying attention to the layer of meaning of what zodiac signs are on what house cusp is really foundational to understanding so much about yourself—whether or not this planet’s in any given house. 

There are always zodiac signs on the house cusp, and when we want to know more about a particular house or the energies in the house and there’s no planets there, what we do is we look at the ruling planet to the zodiac sign on that house cusp. In other words, let’s say you have no planets in the fifth house—the fifth house is where we find like fun sex and flirting and affairs and art and creativity—that doesn’t mean you never get laid and you never have fun. What you do is you look at the sign on the house cusp. 

Let’s say it’s Libra. The ruling planet of Libra is Venus, and so, we would look at Venus in your birth chart to see what it’s doing, and understanding what Venus is doing will give you more information about what your fifth house functions like. Maybe Venus is conjunct Jupiter. That means you’re going to get lots of creativity, lots of play, lots of sex, lots of dynamic energy from that fifth house of yours. Let’s say Saturn is conjunct Venus and not Jupiter, well then, it’s going to be kind of the opposite. It’s not going to be easy flow. You might be more inclined to long-term, committed, sexual relationships or creative dynamics and projects as opposed to lots and lots and lots. Because Jupiter is more, and Saturn is less. That’s just a quick read there. 

Now, we look at the houses, we look at the signs on the house cusps, and then we look at the planets. So step one, look at where each planet falls in the birth chart—what house is it in and what sign is it in. When first learning astrology, it is very tempting to a, ignore the outer planets. Pay attention to them because the outer planets, as I’ve talked about on the podcast before, are related to inherited issues. They are related to inherited trauma, resources—it’s your inner most psychology on some levels and in meaningful ways. So don’t ignore the outer planets. 

Now, pay attention to the house as much as you pay attention to the zodiac sign. Another thing people do when first learning astrology is only focus on the zodiac sign or mainly focus on the zodiac sign simply because most people have more information about zodiac signs early in their studies of astrology because it’s more commonly spoken about. 

What you want to do is notice what sign your planet is in and what house it’s in and really study and understand that overlap of information. That right there will tell you so much about yourself or the person whose birth chart you’re reading. 

I will pull back for a moment to say I firmly, strictly say unto you don’t you dare pathologize other people based on their birth chart. Do not condemn yourself or others based on the birth chart. That’s not what it’s about. It’s not what it’s about. It’s a tool, and if you’re going to use it in such a way that you just give yourself panic and fear, it’s not a very useful tool. Use it constructively or put it down. There are many ways of enjoying astrology. Everybody has a different tolerance for learning astrology and also for predictive tools and spiritual tools and analytic tools, and astrology is all of that. So if it doesn’t work, drop it. That’s cool. Just listen to the podcast and let it go, you know what I’m saying? 

Anyways, so you’re going to look at the overlap of information. Understand that when it comes to those slower moving planets—Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto—the house placement is more important and more personal to you in many ways than the zodiac sign. Because those planets move so slowly, everyone in your generation or many people of your generation are going to have those same outer planets in a particular zodiac sign, right. And, so, you want to really know what house it’s in because that will give you really personal information that will tell you a lot about yourself or whoever’s birth chart you’re reading. 

And then the next step is looking at aspects. There are many aspects that astrologers can use. I personally work with what are called the major aspects. I work with conjunctions, oppositions, squares, sextiles, and trines. I can speak more about what those mean in a different episode, but also pop open my book, Astrology For Real Relationships, and I break it down there. You can also do a very simple Google search to understand the very basics of what those aspects, those natal aspects, aka birth chart aspects mean. 

What aspects are in the birth chart are planets talking to each other. Astrology is math. You’ve heard me say it before; I’ll say it again—astrology is math. The zodiac signs are broken up into 30 degrees. So basically, what you need to be able to do is to learn how to determine how many degrees apart each planet or point in your birth chart is or in the birth chart is. 

Different astrologers will work with different orbs of influence. But let’s say I have one planet, the Sun, and it is 90 degrees away from Pluto—that’s a square. That’s a 90-degree angle; it’s a square. Let’s say I have the Sun, and it is opposite Pluto; it is 180 degrees apart—you see where I’m going. This conversation between those two planets means first of all, they’re talking to each other. So if two planets aren’t aspecting each other, they’re not communicating with each other. They’re not in active engagement with each other. 

But also, when we look at the difference between let’s say a square, an opposition, a sextile, or a trine or a conjunction, we’re going to get really different information about the tone and content of their engagement. And when we understand that what we can understand is how your nature works. 

So if we’re talking about something like the Sun—the Sun in astrology is when somebody’s like, “Oh, I’m an Aquarius.” What they’re saying is when I was born, the Sun was in the zodiac sign of Aquarius. Having your Sun in the sign Aquarius might mean that you’re like super kooky and weird and eccentric and humanitarian. That’s what all the books will tell you. But what if your Sun is conjunct the Moon? That means you’re born on a New Moon, BT Dubs. That’s going to soften up your Sun quite a bit. What if your Sun is tucked away in the twelfth house? Well then, you’re going to have much more of a Neptunian, Piscean feel about your Sun. 

In other words, there are mitigating factors—the house placement, the aspects to the Sun—that will make you feel a different kind of way than the stereotypical Sun sign way. And this is a really valuable thing to know. And it’s true for all the damn planets. So what you then need to be able to do is understand what each of the aspects mean in general, and then what the aspects mean in relationship to the specific planets involved in your birth chart. 

I am giving you the most kind of generalized description of how to read a birth chart. Basically, what you want to be able to do is have the functional knowledge of looking at all of these layers, and in this way you will understand how to read a birth chart or how to begin to read a birth chart. 

Ethically speaking, I do not think it is wise or right to read people’s birth charts without their permission. Sorry. And that includes famous people. I personally do not read actresses and musicians’ birth charts because unless they have given me their expressed permission, it is not my fucking business. I don’t believe that having a public life means that you should have astrologers and witches peeking into your insides. I don’t think that’s fair. Maybe you do. I will tell you; it is not the only thing that I stand alone on. I don’t know very many people who agree with me about this. I don’t know many people who follow through on that kind of thinking as I do, but I feel pretty strongly about it. 

I think people who are in public service, politicians, are more fair game. It can be a little messy, but I think it’s more fair game. So if you’re going to be reading charts as a way to learn about other people, I would encourage you to get permission from those people because it’s more ethical, and it’s great to start things off ethically. Don’t you think? 

This is an update on the Wet’suwet’en Nations fight to protect their territory from pipeline construction. The spread of COVID-19 has drastically changed the way that solidarity action can take place. In February we saw thousands of people rally in support of the Wet’suwet’en land defenders. Now everything has moved online. 

The latest call to action is asking for you to help put pressure on Coastal Gaslink to ensure strict safety standards for transient workers. Their continued arrival on the territory places small, nearby communities at risk of COVID-19 exposure. Please visit their social media. Their Instagram, their Facebook, and Twitter handles will be in the notes. Keep sharing and keep checking in for updates. Thank you and stay safe out there.

Now, let’s say you’ve done all those things. You know all about all that stuff and you just want to get your hands dirty with some astrology. Okay, let me tell you what I look at first when I’m looking at a birth chart because for me, at this stage of my knowledge of astrology, I can glance at anyone’s birth chart and take all those details in very quickly and synthesize them very quickly. To be fair, I started studying astrology formally in 1992 or 3, so I’ve had some hours logged in efforts to learn astrology. 

That said, what I really am looking at, now that I have all that foundational knowledge under my belt, and I’ve taken into account all of those kinds of details, what I am looking at first and foremost is actually natal aspects from outer planets to personal planets. I am looking at primarily conjunctions, oppositions, and squares. And the reason why I start by looking at those things is because I believe that those are the natal aspects or placements that describe inherited issues, trauma, and the things that most deeply drive us. And I am a big believer that functionally speaking our compulsions, our issues, the difficult things we’ve experienced, our beliefs about the world, our beliefs about our own value, those things drive us more than anything else. 

It is really tempting to focus on the inner planets, also referred to as the personal planets—Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars. Those planets are fast moving, and that means that from my birth chart to your birth chart they’re going to be totally different, even if we were born in the same year. But the tricky thing about them is is that the outer planets, the houses, but especially the outer planets change the way they function very meaningfully. And those changes are fundamental to understanding the person’s nature when looking at a birth chart, so I start off with looking at those things. 

Because if I see a heavily Neptune influenced chart, as an example, I’m going to immediately know that hard prediction, a kind of aggressive tone of voice, those things are going to be upsetting—those things are not going to actually be digestible to the person. In astrology, when we’re talking about the person getting a birth chart reading, we call them the native, so it’s related to nativity or natal chart. What you want to be able to know is if somebody is deeply Plutonian, they are not going to be comfortable having you see their deepest insights, even though that is exactly what they want. 

So understanding the nature of the outer planets and how they directly impact a person and their experience of their inner most world helps me to better effectively communicate in a way that actually works for them. Because here’s the thing in all relationships—from your personal relationships to your relationship to astrology—you can say what you want to say, and you could be right, but if you say it in a way that I can’t hear it, then you’re just verbally jerking off. You’re not actually saying something that I’m hearing and that is touching me. You’re just saying something because you’re convinced that you’re right about it. And a lot of astrologers do this—a lot of people do this. But to what end, I say? To what end? 

I am primarily interested in helping people to help themselves, to have more effective, happy, and well-adjusted lives, to heal from trauma. You don’t have to use astrology that way. You don’t have to be interested in astrology that way. For me, it is the most interesting and transformational way to use astrology. But it’s just for me. So because of this, I use astrology in the way I’m describing. 

And as much as I’ve told you about what to look for in the birth chart and how to approach the birth chart, what I’ve really just done is given you this really kind of wide range of points of investigation. The cool thing about astrology is that you can be 30 years into a dedicated practice of astrology and still be learning. 

So this is my Hot Take, cheat sheet on how to read a birth chart. I hope that it inspires you to get a little bit more organized and structured and committed in your study and use of astrology because astrology is so helpful. Man, it’s good. It’s so good. 

Now, my loves, if you want to hear more about anything that I touched on in this episode, shoot me an email—go to ghostofapodcast.com. If you want me to answer a question about your personal birth chart or some sort of personal issue that you’re dealing with, you know I would love to answer questions every Sunday, so send me questions in the same place as well. 

As always, I encourage you to be kind to yourself and others. And if you haven’t already done it, hey, go pick up my damn book. It’s a great book, and it focusses really foundationally on the planets in the signs and the houses. It’s a really solid resource for beginning your astrology study or deepening your astrology study. My book is very feminist. It’s very queer because I am.