So I get questions about Draconic astrology all the time, and have been wanting to explore it in detail with you all. I’ll start by laying out the basics:

You can create your Draconic chart on astro.com, under Extended Chart Selection > Please select the type of chart you want. It will be in that drop-down menu, near the very end. You can either select a Draconic chart, or a Comparison natal-draconic. Just for ease of use you can start out with the former, and look at the comparison when you’re ready to start weaving together both of your charts.

So how is the Draconic chart calculated? It takes your North Node and shifts it over to 0 degrees Aries. However many degrees that takes is how many degrees the rest of your chart will shift. The house placements will remain the same, but the planets will be in different signs. As will the Rising and the rest of the house cusps. If you’re not familiar with the lunar nodes, they are points in the sky where the Moon crosses the ecliptic. They are also known as the Dragon’s Head (North / Rahu) and Tail (South / Ketu). The North Node shows us what our destiny is, what lessons we must learn in this life. The South Node shows us our past lives, what lessons we’ve already learned, what we’ve brought into this life.

In a sense, we can think that this is a chart inside a chart, and it is unlocked by bringing the North Node (the destiny) to the beginning of Aries - the first spark of self. If your North Node is already in Aries in your Tropical chart, your Draconic chart will not be much different. This is because your destiny is already interwoven with finding and expressing your true self. You are already doing the work of the Draconic chart. For the rest of us, there is going to be a discrepancy between the two.

I think you will find that when you create your Draconic chart, you will feel a deep resonance with it, and you may also be surprised, not in the sense that it seems unlike you, but surprised to face your true self. This is what the Draconic chart represents, it is the soul, the self within the self. It goes beyond this life, it is the energy of your soul stream, floating above you in space, trying to communicate its essence into your every day life. In exploring the Draconic chart, we shift who we are, because we come to awareness of this special energy within us.

Now this is not to say you aren’t truly your natal chart. That is the doorway through which your Draconic self, your soul, comes down to Earth. For whatever reason, you needed the characteristics in your natal chart during this incarnation. It almost feels, to me, that these are characteristics that would suit your needs early in life. There is a synchronicity between the day you were born, the family you will grow up with, and the person you will become. It seems that there is a cause and effect going on here that has little to do with the birth-date. You were born, your family shaped you, and you became a certain way. But in astrology, we see that these things are acausal, in the sense that the personality was picked before incarnation, and the appropriate birthday was chosen with astrology in mind. There is a reason behind your natal chart, and you will never leave it behind, even after knowing your Draconic chart.

The Draconic chart is there to remind you of who you truly are, beyond this. Although you are a singular person living her on Earth, with a certain personality, there is a soul-stream behind you that also has its own ‘personality.’ We can access this through the Draconic and it is a boon to us, it is a gift to know this energy, because it is like coming home to ourselves.

If you are able to, you can imagine that there is another ‘you’, watching from above. You can think of it as the soul, the higher self, whatever is sensible to you. The Draconic chart tells you what they’re like.

The Draconic Sun - your true light, your true identity and essence. This shining light bursts its rays through your natal Sun, which also is you. It is almost as if the natal chart is a costume, a costume that defines our identity for this incarnation. It is in no way fake, it is in no way meaningless. But the Draconic chart goes beyond this life, and must be remembered.

The Draconic Moon - your soul’s urge, your soul’s desire, the inner self of the inner self. This is the most important part of the Draconic chart, because the Moon is more in line with the soul. This is the seat of the soul.

The Draconic Rising - this is the way your soul approaches all endeavors. While the natal Rising is the medium between you and the world, the Draconic Rising is the medium between your soul and all experience. It probably describes the way your soul approached incarnating on Earth in the first place.

The Draconic IC - this is something I learned from Alyssa Sharpe’s video, which I recommend watching. She explains that the Draconic Imum Coeli (the 4th house cusp) is the family we expected to get when we incarnated, the family we really needed. The natal IC is the one we actually got.

The Draconic Descendant - in this same line of thinking, we could guess that maybe the Draconic Descendant (7th house cusp) describes the type of relationship our soul desires. The natal Descendant might be what we normally seek out in this life, while the Draconic would perhaps fit our soul better.

The Draconic Midheaven - the MC is the energy we bring out into the world, opposite from what we experienced in the family (IC). If the Draconic IC is what we wanted from a family, the Draconic MC is the energy we would be ready to bring out into the world. Instead, we have the natal MC, which balances out our home-life. The Draconic MC may be our soul’s greatest aspirations here on Earth.

The Draconic Venus - this is the soul’s way of relating, the way our soul wants to love and be loved. It may be a more natural way of expressing in relationship, once we get in contact with it. The natal Venus may be the way we have learned to love and relate.

The Draconic Mars - this is what really gets our soul going, what drives it. The way we express our energy may be different than what our soul desires.

The Draconic Chiron - this is the soul’s wound. This is how we have been wounded at a soul-level, in this lifetime and in others. This wound cuts to our core, while the natal Chiron may feel more like a wound to the personality.

The Draconic Jupiter is what expands our soul, while the Saturn restricts.

When it comes to the outer planets, I have not found a specific way of interpreting them, because the house placement has always been more important for them, and that stays the same in the Draconic chart.

These are just some brief ways of thinking about this - I think it is more important to meditate on your Draconic placements, alongside your natal placements, and ask yourself - how do these feel to me? How would I feel if I embodied the Draconic placements - would I feel more ‘true’ to myself? more ‘real’ and ‘authentic’?

Another interesting thing to look at is the comparison chart between the two. Pay attention to the conjunctions. I’ll give an example from my charts. I have a natal Chiron in Leo, and a draconic Leo Sun. They are conjunct. We can see from this that in my personality, there is a wound around self-expression. But it is the essence of my soul, to express. My soul’s Sun has to work its way through my Chiron, through my wound, in order to get to me. Another conjunction I have - natal Mercury in Aries, draconic Moon in Aries. Before I saw my draconic, one of the only places I really asserted myself aggressively was in the classroom, or in debates, or in conversation. It’s as if my soul’s urge (Moon) to assert and dominate as an Aries only had this outlet - through my mind (Mercury). My natal Venus is also in Aries, but it is conjunct my draconic Neptune. In this case, it is my soul’s sense of Oneness (Neptune) that is trying to be expressed in the sphere of love (Venus).

I hope some of these ideas help you - as I said, there is not much information on the Draconic chart, and so this is mostly my own thoughts on it.