The Free Birth Chart Craze

Astrology is experiencing an increase in popularity these days. Everyone is being offered a free birth chart. But what is that exactly?

Simply put, a free natal chart would be drawn based on an individual's date, place, and time of birth.

The purpose of a free birth chart would be to obtain information about that particular individual.

Celestial bodies are in constant motion relative to the Earth, so each passing moment offers a new opportunity for a free birth chart.

A free birth chart should be personal and unique to that individual.

A pair of twins should each be given a free birth chart since their times of birth would vary slightly.

Time of birth is usually recorded on birth certificates. Sometimes however, rounding off occurs.

This is a fairly common practice, so parents should try to record the exact time that their newborn draws its first breath.

Relying on the doctor or nurse to record the exact time may not be the best idea when it comes to accuracy for birth charts.

But even an exact time of birth is not of much use without an exact location. So make sure you have all this information.

Most charts have the Earth as its center. But there are also varieties of charts where other heavenly bodies are the center. Most common among these are heliocentric charts where the Sun is the center.

Keep in mind that interpretation of these kinds of charts differs from interpretation of geocentric charts. An entirely different set of calculations would be needed for such chart variants.

An astrologer would have to take the exact time and location and convert it into Universal Time.

He then converts that figure into local sidereal time to calculate the ascendant and midheaven.

The resulting horoscope will be divided into twelve sectors which are called houses.

The division process itself has many variants. Tables of houses have been published to expedite this task.

Once this is completed, the astrologer then positions the heavenly bodies at the correct longitudes. To complete the horoscope, he considers relative angles between pairs of planets.

Only when all that has been set up can interpretation begin. Natal astrologers can build a profile of the person with the information on the chart.

There are two main steps which are chart weighting and chart shaping. Chart weighting involves the distribution of signs and houses on the chart.

Chart shaping is assessing the placement of the planets by aspect and position on the chart. If you do not have the exact time of birth, you can try to speculate with a process called rectification.

Again, there are various approaches for this.

A common one is to try to relate major planet transitions and moon progressions to events in the life of the individual.

So you can see why this is such a fascinating subject. It involves discovery about both the universe and yourself.

This is probably why astrology has intrigued people for thousands of years. And it is safe to say it will continue doing that.