You Have All 12 Zodiac Signs in Your Birth Chart—Here’s How to Work With Them (2024)

So you know your "Big Three" by heart, you've read up on your Venus and Mars signs, and you've pulled up compatibility reports for your last five crushes. You’re the first one to ask your Tinder date for their birth time and you might even have a strict "no air signs" rule. While you probably have some salty stories about some of your least favorite zodiac signs, don’t be so quick to write them off and act like you’re nothing like them. Because *drum roll, please* did you know that you actually have ~all~ of the zodiac signs in your birth chart? Yes, even that one! Now here’s why…

There are always 360 degrees in a birth chart

There are 12 zodiac signs, 12 houses, two luminaries (the Sun and Moon), and eight planets in every birth chart. See, a birth chart contains the entire sky at the moment you were born—which means that all 12 zodiac signs appear in your chart somewhere. Even if you like to hate on Geminis, Scorpios, or Sagittariuses, you actually channel their energy in some area of your life.

Zodiac signs that mark the beginning of each house are “on the house cusp”

Every birth chart is divided into 12 different houses, like spokes on a wheel or numbers on a clock. Depending on where your Rising sign (aka Ascendant) falls, each house that follows it will proceed with the zodiac signs that come after it. Confused? Let’s say you’re an Aries Rising—that means your 1st house is ruled by Aries, and your 2nd house is ruled by Taurus, so you'll approach all 2nd house matters (like money and belongings) like a Taurus. If you're a Taurus Rising, your 2nd house is ruled by Gemini, and you tackle 2nd house matters like a Gemini. If you're a Gemini Rising, your 2nd house is ruled by Cancer, and you tackle 2nd house matters like a Cancer. You get the picture!

Planetary rulers give us even more info about our houses

Another important factor to consider is what planet rules each house. For instance, let’s say that Libra falls on your 7th house cusp. The 7th house relates to relationships and partnerships, so you approach these aspects of your life like a Libra—in a sweet, charming, and harmonious way. Venus is Libra's ruling planet, so you can look at where Venus is in your birth chart to get even more info about how you exhibit these energies.

Zodiac signs that are entirely contained within a house are “intercepted”

Depending on which house system you use to calculate your birth chart (yep, there are a bunch of 'em!), it might seem like you're “missing” a zodiac sign because it doesn’t appear on any of the house cusps. But that zodiac sign is still there—it's just somewhere in the "middle" of a house instead. While this may initially make you think that you don’t exhibit that zodiac sign’s signature energy, that’s not true. This is something we call "intercepted."

An intercepted zodiac sign is something like a "silent partner" for the matters of that prospective house. The zodiac sign that lands on the house cusp is the louder and more visible one, while the intercepted zodiac sign does the behind-the-scenes work to make things happen. It also means that you’ll have to put in some extra work to express this energy in a positive way.

“Empty” houses are common—and not a bad thing!

What about “empty” houses—houses with no planets in them? "Empty houses" sound kinda scary, but they occur in most people’s birth charts because planets tend to stay pretty close together, especially the Sun, Mercury, and Venus—so they are often very close in one’s birth chart. This often leaves at least two houses empty, and sometimes as many as three, four, or five!

While you may initially think that empty houses cause struggles around the matters that house rules, it’s actually a blessing in disguise. It simply means that you more easily move through that particular area of life without problems. You tend to find that you’re just not quite as focused on this area of your life because there’s less work to do. Now this doesn’t mean that this area of life is not important to you—like if your 5th or 7th houses (which are super important to relationships) are empty, you don't need to worry that you’ll forever be single. It just shows that you tend to invest more focus on other areas in your life instead!

Remember, you’ve got all the stars—and signs—in you!