- Start with repeated patterns, not isolated keywords.
- Planet is what, sign is how, house is where.
- Aspects and rulers connect the chart into a system.
Begin with the chart's overall shape
Before interpreting individual placements, notice what repeats. Which elements and modalities dominate? Are planets concentrated above or below the horizon? Are several planets gathered in one sign or house? Repetition usually matters more than one dramatic placement.
This first pass prevents the chart from becoming a list of unrelated descriptions.
Use the planet, sign, house method
A planet describes a psychological or symbolic function. The sign describes how that function behaves. The house describes the life area where it becomes concrete. For example, Venus describes values and relating, Scorpio gives it an intense and private style, and the sixth house places the pattern in work, craft, service, and daily maintenance.
Keep those three layers separate long enough to understand their roles, then combine them into an ordinary-language sentence.
Add aspects
Aspects describe angular relationships between planets. A trine may show an easy exchange, a square productive friction, an opposition a polarity requiring balance, and a conjunction a concentrated fusion. Orb matters because it describes how close the aspect is to exact.
Easy does not automatically mean good and difficult does not automatically mean bad. Ease can become unconscious, while friction can develop skill.
Follow the rulers
Every sign has a ruling planet. The ruler of the rising sign becomes the chart ruler, and the ruler of each house links that house to the ruler's placement. Following rulers reveals how separate areas of life report to one another.
Finish by returning to the repeated themes. A strong reading should explain how the chart works as a whole rather than reciting every available meaning.