A natal chart is a map of the sky from the exact place and minute you were born. It records where each planet stood against the zodiac, which of the twelve houses each one fell into, and the geometric angles between them. Everything else in astrology is derived from it.
The Big Three reveal (Sun, Moon, and Rising sign) is free. The full report, covering every placement, all twelve house cusps, and the major aspects, is a one time $19.99 purchase delivered as a PDF.
Planets are the what: the drive or function involved. Signs are the how: the style that function is expressed in. Houses are the where: the area of life it plays out in. Mars in Libra in the tenth house is one sentence made of three separate pieces of information, and reading only one of them is where most bad astrology comes from.
The rising sign moves through all twelve signs every twenty four hours, roughly one sign every two hours. It sets the first house cusp, and with it the position of all twelve houses. A four hour error in birth time will usually put every planet in a different house, which changes the interpretation of the entire chart even though the planets themselves have barely moved.
If you do not know your time, the chart is still useful for planet by sign and for aspects. The houses and the rising sign are the parts you should treat as provisional, and we mark them as such rather than pretending otherwise.
First, self and appearance. Second, personal money and values. Third, communication, siblings, short journeys. Fourth, home and roots. Fifth, creativity, play, romance. Sixth, work, routine, health. Seventh, partnership. Eighth, shared resources, debt, depth. Ninth, travel, study, belief. Tenth, career and public standing. Eleventh, friends, groups, long term hopes. Twelfth, solitude, the unconscious, what is hidden.
Note the second and eighth distinction, because it is the single most common error in cheap chart reports: the second house is your own resources, the eighth is resources you share with someone else.
Positions come from an ephemeris calculation using your birth date, converted birth time, and the coordinates of your birth city, with the historical time zone rules applied for that year. The interpretation is drafted against those calculated values and reviewed by an editor. Astrology is offered here for self reflection and entertainment, not as professional advice.