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Natal Chart Configuration

The settings panel of a Natal chart window chooses whose birth chart is drawn and lets you test small corrections to the birth time. Select a natal record from the Natal Record drop-down, typing to search the list; edit Natal Date or Natal Time to experiment; and adjust the frame rows, Paral. Aspects, the bodies and the aspect angles.

Settings Panel Layout​

The panel opens with the natal data rows, followed by the frame rows and the rest:

RowWhat It Sets
Natal RecordWhose birth chart is drawn, from the Natal Records database. The record also supplies the chart's location.
Natal DateThe birth date, filled in from the chosen record.
Natal TimeThe birth time, filled in from the chosen record.
ZodiacThe zodiac the chart's longitudes are measured in.
Coord. OriginThe observer's position.
Ref. PlaneThe reference plane positions are reported in.
OrientationHow the wheel is turned.
House SystemHow the wheel's houses are divided.
Paral. AspectsWhich declination aspects the wheel draws as dashed chords.
BodiesThe bodies the chart plots.
AspectsThe aspect angles the wheel looks for.

The Bodies list and the Aspects grid sit below the rows. The five frame rows, from Zodiac to House System, are described in Chart Frame, the list in Chart Bodies Selection and the grid in Chart Aspect Angles.

The Natal chart window shows its settings panel, with the natal data rows and parameter drop-downs above the Bodies list and the Aspects grid, beside the chart wheel.

Choose the Natal Record​

Choose whose birth chart is drawn. The Natal Record drop-down lists the saved natal records of the Natal Records database, which Compass shares with the sibling Rhythm Seven applications. You create, edit, delete, import and export records in the Natal Records Editor (Edit → Natal Records).

  • Select the record from the Natal Record drop-down.
tip

The drop-down is searchable. Once its list is open, typing part of a name narrows the list to the closest matches; click a record to choose it.

The chart redraws for the record's birth moment and place, and Natal Date and Natal Time fill in from the record.

Try a Different Birth Date and Time​

Natal Date and Natal Time are filled in from the chosen natal record. They are there mainly for reference and normally stay as the record gives them, but they remain editable so you can vary the birth moment for what-if experiments without changing the stored record.

  1. Click the Natal Date field to select its whole value.
  2. Type the date.
  3. Click the Natal Time field to select its whole value.
  4. Type the time and press Enter to commit it.

The Natal chart window has its Natal Time value selected beneath the Natal Date field, ready to type a trial birth time.

The chart redraws for the edited moment, and the stored natal record is unchanged. Choosing the record again in the Natal Record drop-down restores its own date and time.

Choose Which Parallels the Natal Wheel Draws​

Decide which declination aspects the wheel draws as dashed chords.

  • Select which parallels to draw in the Paral. Aspects drop-down.

The wheel redraws with the chosen parallels, for this window only. The drop-down offers four options:

OptionWhat the Wheel Draws
NoneNo parallel chords.
AllBoth parallels and contraparallels.
ParallelsParallels only.
ContraparallelsContraparallels only.

A new window takes this setting from the Chart Settings default, described in General Chart Defaults.

Natal Data on Other Charts​

The same three natal data rows, Natal Record, Natal Date and Natal Time, appear on four other chart types and behave the same way there. On the Transit, Primary Directions, Solar Arc Directions and Secondary Progressions charts they sit on the Natal Data tab of the settings panel.

On the Transit chart they choose the person the transits are measured against; see Transit Chart Configuration. On the three technique charts the Natal Data tab is where the birth time is corrected, and every direction in the Directions List re-dates when it changes.