LESSON L21 / 31 OF 36
Reading a whole chart: order and checking
Read a whole chart in a fixed order, after checking the birth details.
Original app lesson · free on the web
This lesson has been self-reviewed and is awaiting final sign-off. The classical passages have been checked word by word; the plain-language text and the exercises are written by this project.
With so many cells, where do I start reading the whole chart?
Fictional birth data · teaching example · not a real person's chart · 2026-10-12
In plain words
Before reading a whole chart, check three details: birth date, hour and gender. One hour off can move the Life Palace by a cell. Then read in this order: Life and Body palaces, the phase, the four positions, the other palaces, then the time layers. Each step states chart facts only.
What the text says
Volume 3 sets out what to look at first and what next, starting from the body and life.
Compare with your own chart
Check your birth details on the Chart tab, then say which palace is the Body Palace, as the first step of a whole reading.
An everyday example
A striking term can distract from the whole chart. Start with Life and Body, then major stars and related palaces, and add time layers last. Notice when the question changes.
Record the natal chart, related palaces and time layers in that order.
CHECK YOURSELF
Now, try it yourself.
Answer both questions correctly to complete the lesson. The original explanation appears after each answer.
FIND IT IN THE CHART
Find it on a chart.
Say which palace is your Body Palace.
Open my chart ↗Classical sources
男命先看身命，次看財帛宮祿遷移
For a man's chart, look first at the body and life, then at wealth, career and travel.
Zi Wei Dou Shu Quan Shu, Volume 3; traditionally attributed in received editions
Classical texts provide cultural context. Everyday examples and exercises are written by this project.
YOUR STUDY / L21