What is a Horoscope?

A horoscope is a map of the heavens drawn for the moment and place you were born and written in astrological symbols.

Picture yourself standing on top of the earth facing north, with east on your left and west on your right. In the chart above the the signs of the Zodiac are around the wheel in blue, showing the sections of the heavens. Spread through the sky are the planets symbols in green. The Sun is just coming over the horizon. It is on the ascendant or rising so both the Sun and Ascendant are in Taurus. The Moon is in Scorpio just going below the western horizon or setting. Jupiter is directly overhead in Aquarius or on the midheaven. The planets represent types of energy. The signs are expressions of those energies like colors are expressions of light. The numbers that you see around the center are the houses which represent areas of the life so the Moon is in the seventh house and Jupiter is in the 10th. Finally, the angular relationships between the planets are the aspects which indicate how planetary energies interact with each other. In the chart above the Sun is opposed the Moon or across the chart from it, indicating that this chart is drawn for a full moon.