Let’s face it: A lot of people just don’t identify with their sun sign, even though it’s the sign that most of us read our horoscope for. Sure, some people may grow to fit more snugly into their sun sign’s mold, but this single planetary placement was never meant to encapsulate someone’s entire personality. To see your whole self reflected in the stars, you need to have your birth chart drawn up and read.
As we’ve discussed previously, your birth chart reveals where the sun, moon, and all of the planets were on the Wheel of the Zodiac the moment you were born. Each of these placements has some bearing on your personality, but your moon sign illuminates a foundational part of yourself — your feelings, emotional needs, and modes of self-expression — one that you might identify with more than your sun sign. And, according to one astrological theory, that preference may be visible with just a glance at your chart.
Everyone’s birth chart is divided in half by a horizontal line that’s meant to represent the horizon. (Your rising, or ascendant, sign can be found on the left, or eastern, end of this line.) We can derive a wide variety of insights from looking at which astrological houses and planets occupy the areas above and below the horizon, but for our purposes here you just have to check the position of one celestial body: the sun. If the sun is placed above the horizon on your chart, you likely identify with it more than you do your moon sign. If the sun appears below the horizon, however, there a chance that you see more of yourself in your moon sign. The former is known as a “day chart.” The latter is, appropriately, called a “night chart.”
It should be noted that day charts and night charts are part of a larger, much older school of thought within astrology often referred to as the astrology of sect, which applies the concept of day and night to the planets as well as someone’s birth chart. Under this system, the sun, Jupiter, and Saturn, are associated with the daytime while the moon, Venus, and Mars, are associated with the nighttime (Mercury, meanwhile, is considered “neutral”). We don’t need to get too into the weeds with the idea of sect, but just know that the idea of day and night charts goes way back.
But, even if your go-to astrologer doesn’t mention it much, learning whether you have a day or night chart can offer further insight into your behavior. For example, the sun is in Capricorn, well above the horizon line, in my birth chart. And I am unmistakably a Capricorn in my everyday life, from my take-it-too-far sense of responsibility to my need for self-preservation to my love of rules (yes, I am a hit at parties). I still identify with my moon sign, Virgo, but there’s no getting around my innate Goaty-ness.
There’s no guarantee that everyone who feels more drawn to their moon sign will have a night chart, but if you’re feeling short-changed by your sun sign, it’s worth taking a look — you never know what else you might discover.
Comments