Starpath · Reading a chart
The shape of a chart
Twelve cells around an empty centre, each fixed to one of the twelve earthly branches.
A traditional chart is a square of twelve cells around an empty middle. Each cell is fixed to one of the twelve earthly branches: 子 (zi), 丑 (chou), 寅 (yin) and so on, going round the square.
The twelve palaces are placed into those cells in a fixed order, one cell at a time from the Life palace: Life, Siblings, Spouse, Children, Wealth, Health, Travel, Friends, Career, Property, Wellbeing and Parents.
The centre holds you: your birth data, your “bureau” (an element class) and where your Life and Body palaces sit. In Astravia’s 3D observatory, the instrument floats in that centre.
Go deeper
Because the order never changes, the relationships between palaces never change either. Wealth is always four steps from Life, Career always eight, and Travel always sits opposite. That fixed geometry is what makes reading palaces together possible.