Learning the Chart ( Brief )
This is a brief blog discussing how a beginner can look at their chart and charts of other people. I strongly recommend looking and learning your chart before moving on to other people. Sometimes it seems hard that way, but only you know yourself. You can have good guesses for other people, but it is easy to generalize.
When first learning astrology, look at your own chart first. First look at all your planets and what signs they are in. There is the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, etc etc. Dissect the planet, what it means and apply it to the sign. ( Example: Mercury in Libra; Mercury is the planet of communication, short travels and writing and Libra is eloquent, communicative, intellectual, just, fair, etc etc. For example, someone with Mercury in Libra's communication style is fair, sociable, tactful, and eloquent. This is modified for the house the planet falls in, but that is the next step ).
Once you get all your signs, do your research and all that, you then see what planets fall into which house. There are 12 houses, with different meanings. If you want more info, there are lots of good resources when you do a google search. Also, I have some blogs from way back when if you check out my Archives. For example; Let's say someone has Aries Mars in the 1st house. An Aries Mars person is blunt, quick to anger ( but quick to forget ), rash, impulsive, yet brave, quick to react, a doer, and someone who is driven to succeed. In the 1st house, this manifests in a way that is on the forefront of their personality. So if you have a Pisces rising, you could be a quiet individual who has creative tendencies, but is also a doer, quick-tempered, impulsive, and/or occasionally rude, not thinking about other people.
Someone may have an Aquarius Venus in the 8th house. Now this might seem like two conflicting areas. Aquarius Venus is usually seen as someone who has a love life that is freedom loving, yet committed when the find the right one. They may not be into gushy feelings or may even be seen as asexual, or not interested in sex, more so the intellectual trappings of the relationship. They value friendship highly. Unless they are really into someone, they do not mind just being friends and can be weirded out when a friend likes them more than as a friend. In the 8th house this is modified quite a bit; the 8th house is Scorpio's house. It deals with secrets( both good and bad ), sexuality, taboos, other people's moneys, and the dark side of our emotions/psychology. Someone with an Aquarius Venus in this house might not always fit the textbook Aquarius Venus description. They might find that while they value freedom, they also value commitment and a deep connection. Others might find there is a conflict in their personal life between personal freedom/independence and the need to connect with others in a deep level. They may have an intellectual interest in sex, and learning about sex and why people are the way they are. I am just using this as an example, because they are two positions that may not seem like they go together ( Aquarius Venus and the 8th house ).
Lastly, you can look at planetary aspects. When I was learning astrology, this was the last thing I looked at. Examples of some aspects are: Sun conj Neptune, Moon square Mars, Mars conj Jupiter, Uranus square Asc, Uranus conj Moon, Mercury conj Neptune, Mercury trine Pluto, Venus sextile Pluto, etc etc. Let's take the Moon for example: Moon conj Jupiter and Moon conj Pluto can be very very different and someone can even have both in their chart. Moon conj Jupiter is more likely to have optimistic feelings or overbearing feelings, or often feels jovial and kind, or really likes to eat, party and shop. ( Ok, I have Moon square Jupiter, and I like to eat and shop, but we can;t eat and shop too much ). Moon conj Pluto is a person who is very controlling of their emotions, but often these emotions run deep. There are highs and lows in the emotions; often feeling judging, possessive and jealous of friends and boyfriends/girlfriends. They are interested in the dark side of emotions and what makes people tick. They often burn bridges, even when it is not in their best interest. They have good intuition.
Once you gather all of the key items in the chart, you can connect and see the big picture. Often you look at the planet's sign, house position and aspects to other planets as a big picture/whole.