Birth chart
HellenisticModern WesternEditorial synthesisTraditional doctrine
Definition
A diagram of the sky as seen from a specific place at a specific moment (usually a birth), showing the zodiac positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets, and, in most systems, the houses. Also called a natal chart.
Also called: Natal chart · Nativity · Horoscope (traditional sense)
In more depth
Chart-based (horoscopic) astrology, organised around the moment of birth and the rising point of the zodiac, took its lasting shape in the Hellenistic period, building on earlier Babylonian horoscopy. Manuals from Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos to William Lilly's Christian Astrology teach how such charts were constructed and read in their traditions.[1][2][3][4]
A chart is always a calculated object: it depends on exact birth time, location, the chosen zodiac mode, and the chosen house system. Different settings produce different charts, which is why serious tools always state their parameters.[5]
References
Numbered citations in the text link to the records below; each record links to the full source registry.
- Nicholas Campion. A History of Western Astrology, Volume I: The Ancient and Classical Worlds. Continuum. 2009. Historical scholarship View source record
- Francesca Rochberg. The Heavenly Writing: Divination, Horoscopy, and Astronomy in Mesopotamian Culture. Cambridge University Press. 2004. Historical scholarship View source record
- Claudius Ptolemy. Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos, or Quadripartite: Being Four Books of the Influence of the Stars. J. M. Ashmand (translator). W. Foulsham & Co. Ltd, London. 1900. Historical primary source View source record
- William Lilly. Christian Astrology, Modestly Treated of in Three Books. T. Brudenell for J. Partridge & H. Blunden, London. 1647. Historical primary source View source record
- Chris Brennan. Hellenistic Astrology: The Study of Fate and Fortune. Amor Fati Publications. 2017. Modern practitioner interpretation View source record