An astrologer works from a chart calculated for the date, time and place of your birth. The chart is fixed and reproducible; the reading is interpretation. That is why two astrologers can look at the same chart and emphasise different things, and why the birth time matters so much: it sets the houses and the rising sign.
The common types of reading
A natal reading walks through the whole chart and usually runs an hour to ninety minutes. Transits compare current planetary positions against your chart and are used for timing. Synastry compares two charts for a relationship. Electional work picks a date for something specific, such as a launch or a wedding.
What it costs
A first natal reading runs $80 to $250 in the United States, usually with a recording included. Shorter transit updates cost less, and many astrologers offer a reduced rate to returning clients. Ask what happens if your birth time is unknown: some astrologers will rectify it from life events, others will read without houses and tell you what precision you lose.
Traditions differ
Western tropical astrology measures from the equinox and dominates in Europe and the Americas. Vedic or sidereal astrology measures against the fixed stars, so your sun sign is often one sign different. Hellenistic and traditional revivals use older techniques and fewer planets. None is a version of the others, so ask which one a reader works in before you book.
Before you book
Bring the time from your birth certificate rather than a family memory, come with two or three specific questions, and ask what the chart does not tell them. Decisions about health, law and money need professionals in those fields. Our introduction to astrology explains what signs, houses and aspects actually are, which makes a first reading much easier to follow.