Astrology placements refer to the planets and nodes that are arranged in your birth chart at the moment you were born. Your placements help set the foundation of your mind, heart, and soul.
So how can the different chart placements in astrology influence your life and how do you find them in your chart?
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Planets are some of the most important placements in astrology.
- Some planets hold more power in your chart than others.
- The Nodes are astrology placements that describe your karma.
- How your planets are placed is also meaningful.
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What Are Placements in Astrology?
Your birth chart placements in astrology are the “players” in your chart. Where and how they are placed influences how you think, feel, and experience life.
Below is a list of the important placements you need to know about when you learn astrology along with specific ways they could be arranged.
Planets in Astrology
The leading actors when it comes to astrology placements are your planets.
In an astrology reading, there are 10 planets routinely examined by astrologers. Some of them aren’t planets in scientific terms but are still considered to be planets in astrology.
- The Sun ☉
- The Moon ☽
- Mercury ☿
- Venus ♀
- Mars ♂
- Jupiter ♃
- Saturn ♄
- Uranus ♅
- Neptune ♆
- Pluto ♇
Each planet in astrology represents a different part of our psyche, an area in our mind, heart, or our soul.
The Zodiac sign and house of a planet clue you in on the style and ways in which you may think and communicate (Mercury), connect with the higher power (Neptune), or show love to others (Venus).
Depending on their placement in the birth chart, planets can also interact with each other through angles called aspects, forming relationships that can either feel supportive or unfriendly.
The planets are divided into two categories depending on their distance from the Sun. These groups are the inner planets and the outer planets.
Inner Planets
The inner planets are the set of planets that are closer to the Sun. They are thought by some astrologers to be more influential in the details of your personality and identity, the nitty-gritty of who you are.
These planets move quickly around the Sun and don’t stay in one place very long.
The inner planets include:
- The Sun
- Mercury
- Venus
- Mars
- Jupiter
- Saturn
- The Moon
Outer Planets
Outer planets are the planets in the solar system that are furthest from the Sun. These planets move much more slowly and are thought by some astrologers to be experienced in a more general or even generational way, although this doesn’t mean they are less important.
Astrology University describes them as means to help us find more purpose and meaning.
The outer planets include:
- Uranus
- Neptune
- Pluto
The Big 3
Even though there are 10 planets or more that an astrologer reads in an astrological chart, some planets hold a bit more power than others.
Your Sun and Moon are two of the most important planets in your chart and astrologers generally look to these planets first when beginning a reading. Many people are already aware of their Sun sign, but another important astrology placement is their Moon sign.
These two planets plus your 1st House, also called your Ascendant, are together referred to as your Big 3 in astrology.
Interpreting your Big 3 gives you a great start when it comes to understanding your chart, offering up clues on how you experience emotions (Moon sign), view the world, and present yourself to others (Ascendant, rising sign) and the core of who you are (Sun sign).
Astrologers often begin a chart reading with the Sun sign, Moon sign, and Ascendant and rising sign, and you can learn much more about your Big 3 in our article all about it found here.
Chart Ruler in Astrology
There is one planet in your chart that automatically gains authority in your birth chart and that is your chart ruler.
Your chart ruler is a placement that astrologers will look to early on in the reading and will consider a “major player”.
The ruling planet in your chart is the planet that rules your rising sign (the sign your 1st House Ascendant sits in).
Whichever Zodiac sign and house this planet inhabits will add more detail to the impression you give off to others and the way in which you view the world.
Nodes in Astrology
Planets aren’t the only players you should be on the lookout for when considering your placements.
Another type of chart placement is the Nodes of the Moon.
You have two Nodes, your North Node ☊ and your South Node ☋. These are two vital karmic placements in astrology.
In the type of astrology I practice, Evolutionary Astrology, your Nodes describe the karma you bring into this life and also how you can heal that karma.
Their Zodiac signs and houses will reveal patterns of behavior that may have followed you through multiple lifetimes (South Node), and also what you need to do in order to grow out of these patterns (North Node).
Your South Node will describe leftover feelings and ways of living and being that will feel familiar and that you could easily fall back into. The North Node in your chart, on the other hand, will point you in a new direction and one that may feel awkward and new for you.
The Stellium
When thinking about birth chart placements, where and how the planets are positioned is also vital information.
Some ways in which the planets are arranged in your chart add extra meaning, and one of these types of placements is called the stellium.
A stellium is when 3 or more planets are placed within the same Zodiac sign or house. You can see an example in the chart below.
These planets blend and cooperate together, and also the sign or house they inhabit can be experienced more strongly in your life.
You can think of a stellium as one big super planet, and if you spot a stellium in your chart, it is a placement that can’t be ignored and should be considered early on in the reading.
Empty Houses in Astrology
There are generally 10 planets that astrologers consider in an astrology reading, but there are 12 houses in a birth chart.
It is inevitable that you will find empty houses, houses with no planetary placements, in your chart.
Here is an example of an empty house in the chart below.
Even though you will inevitably have multiple empty houses in your chart, there may be reasons why the empty house is much more influential than it appears at first glance.
Are your empty houses something you should be concerned about or not? What do empty houses mean in astrology?
Hemispheres & Quadrants in Astrology
Sometimes, placements in astrology are concentrated in certain areas of your birth chart.
If you notice that most of your planets sit in the top or bottom half of your chart, or if they are even mostly crammed into one corner, then you may need to learn more about the hemispheres and quadrants.
There are four hemispheres in your chart, the south, north, east, and west.
The lines that divide the hemispheres and quadrants are the Ascendant/Descendant line (AC/DC) and the Imum Coeli/Midheaven line (IC/MC).
Each hemisphere represents a general structure for how you may experience life.
Will the most important work in your lifetime be done outwardly, for all the world to see, or will it be done through internal work and personal growth?
How will these major life shifts occur, will they be things that you initiate and put energy toward, or will fate take the reigns and synchronicity and chance will usher in the most important changes in your life?
Another article you may enjoy:
Understanding Lines on a Chart
