Can anyone read astrology natal charts?

Can anyone read astrology natal charts or the planets and houses? I’ve been trying to figure my chart out for a long time to no avail, it would truly be so helpful for me. [This is a question I also answered on Quora.]

This is a wonderful question

It strikes me you are “chomping on the bit” on the threshold of a voyage of discovery – that needs a little patience.

Anyone can learn to read astrology natal charts – and particularly their own natal chart – over time.

It’s not unlike learning to play a piano, you need to know what sound all the keys do and how they resonate with each other, major and minor keys, when played together – harmoniously or disharmoniously. And you need to practice, practice and practice to get it right. It’s not a skill that can be learnt overnight. It takes time and commitment.

That said some of us get to pick it up quite quickly, have an inclination for it, and be good at playing the piano. While the rest of us may knock out a good tune only after possibly years of practice.

One’s birth-chart requires a similiar approach to learning the piano. It is an holistic document. The components of planets, signs, houses, angles and aspects all have their own sound and you have to learn about each one, and where it features in relationship with the other components in your natal chart.

More complex than the piano

In the analogy I’m using, the one major difference, that I note, between the piano and astrological components is that the piano keys stay where they are, while in astrology the signs and houses may be in the same order but the Earth and the rest of the planets keep moving. So that your natal chart will be unlike the next person’s natal chart. Same components but in a different order.

On this basis, I’d suggest, astrology can become more complex to learn than playing the piano. Each of us will be a new tune to learn to play. But then when the tune is personal to us, that can be a big draw, a big incentive to grasp and learn to play it, and importantly learn to improve on it. And getting to know our natal chart is getting to know who we are.

Astrology provides a most profound means for getting to “Know Thyself” within this transitory situation that we call “life,” and that truly is worth taking time over and learning the ropes.

I hope this helps…

By the bye, if it interests you, I recently published a series or short books, Discover Proper Astrology, on getting familiar with, and reading the natal chart in Western astrology, that you can find on Kindle. They each cost less than a cup of coffee. The series is also in PDF (for less than a tenner) here.

Associated links:

What are some reasons to believe in astrology?
Three questions about zodiac signs
Astrology and a Stellium of Planets in the 8th House