Your Chart
Pattern
Do your planets crowd into one part of the wheel or spread all the way round? The analyzer sorts the ten planets into Marc Edmund Jones's seven shapes by the empty arcs between them, shows each measurement, and lists the chart's T-squares, grand trines, yods and stelliums.
What the analyzer measures
The ten planets, Sun to Pluto, are sorted round the zodiac and the empty arcs between them measured. The size and number of the large empty arcs decide the shape. The result also lists the API's T-squares, grand trines, yods and stelliums.
📊 The Seven Shapes
Bundle
All ten planets within 130°, about four signs.
Bowl
All ten planets within 190°, about half the wheel, with no handle across the gap.
Bucket
A handle of one planet (or two within 8°) at least 30° clear on both sides; the other planets within 190°.
Locomotive
The widest empty arc is 100° to 140°, close to a trine.
Seesaw
Two empty arcs of 60° or more, together 150° to 250°, split the planets into two groups of at least 2.
Splash
The empty arcs are nearly even: their standard deviation is under 0.6 of the 36° average.
Splay
Fits none of the six tests above.
What a Chart Shape Is
Look at a chart wheel from arm's length, before reading any sign or house, and the planets make an outline: a tight cluster, a half-filled bowl, a ring with one gap, two groups facing each other. Marc Edmund Jones (1888–1980) gave those outlines names.
Jones set out seven shapes in The Guide to Horoscope Interpretation, first published in 1941: the Splash, Bundle, Locomotive, Bowl, Bucket, Seesaw and Splay. They are a first look at a chart, a way to see how its parts are arranged before reading any one of them, and astrologers still use his names for them.
A shape depends only on the spacing of the ten planets around the zodiac. It does not care which signs they are in, which houses, or which aspects they make, and turning the whole wheel leaves it unchanged. That is also its limit: two charts with the same shape can differ in every other respect.
How the Analyzer Decides
The analyzer asks the API for your chart, takes the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto from the API's ephemeris, and sorts them around the circle. Between each planet and the next it measures the empty arc. Ten planets make ten arcs that add up to 360°, an average of 36°. The widest arc decides most of the result: 360° minus the widest arc is the smallest stretch of the zodiac that holds all ten planets.
The tests run in a fixed order, and the first one that fits names the shape:
| # | Shape | Test as coded | Days, 1900–2050 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 🎯 Bundle | All ten planets within 130°, about four signs. | 1.9% |
| 2 | 🥣 Bowl | All ten planets within 190°, about half the wheel, with no handle across the gap. | 12.1% |
| 3 | 🪣 Bucket | A handle of one planet (or two within 8°) at least 30° clear on both sides; the other planets within 190°. | 35.5% |
| 4 | 🚂 Locomotive | The widest empty arc is 100° to 140°, close to a trine. | 18.2% |
| 5 | ⚖️ Seesaw | Two empty arcs of 60° or more, together 150° to 250°, split the planets into two groups of at least 2. | 13.7% |
| 6 | 💦 Splash | The empty arcs are nearly even: their standard deviation is under 0.6 of the 36° average. | 3.4% |
| 7 | 🌟 Splay | Fits none of the six tests above. | 15.2% |
Details of the tests
- Bucket handle. The handle is a planet whose empty arcs on both sides are at least 30° wide, or two planets within 8° of each other with 30° clear on their outer sides. With the handle set aside, the other planets must fit in 190°. The clearance keeps a planet that merely trails off the edge of a bowl from counting as a handle.
- Seesaw groups. The two widest empty arcs split the planets into two groups, and each group must hold at least 2 planets. A single planet cut off by two wide arcs is not a group.
- Splash spread. The standard deviation of the ten empty arcs must be under 0.6 times the 36° average, that is under 21.6°. Perfectly even spacing would give 0°.
- Leading planet. Astrologers who follow Jones single out the planet at the clockwise edge of the occupied arc, the first of the group to rise as the sky turns, as the leading planet of a Bundle, Bowl or Locomotive. The result names it for those three shapes.
Where the numbers come from
The shapes are usually described by the arc the planets fill: a third of the wheel (a trine) for the Bundle, half for the Bowl, two-thirds with an empty trine for the Locomotive. Writers who turned those descriptions into rules chose their own margins; one published set allows 12° either way. We have not been able to check Jones's own wording for exact figures, so the thresholds in the table are this analyzer's, stated in full: 130° and 190° give the Bundle and Bowl 10° of leeway over 120° and 180°, and the Locomotive accepts an empty arc within 20° of a trine. A chart near a threshold could be named differently by another program, and the result lists the measurements so you can judge.
Aspect configurations
The list of T-squares, grand trines, yods and stelliums is the API's own search, run over every body in the chart, and the analyzer only sorts it: those made by the ten planets alone come first, and the rest are folded away. The search uses tighter orbs than single aspects (6° for each side of a T-square or grand trine, 4° for a yod's sextile and 3° for its quincunxes) and counts a stellium when three or more bodies share a sign within 15°. The single-aspect orbs are on the methodology page.
How Common Each Shape Is
To see how often each shape occurs, we ran the analyzer's rules over the sky at 12:00 UT on every day from January 1, 1900 to December 31, 2050: 55,152 days, positions from an offline run of the ephemeris the API uses. The figures are shares of days, not of people, since births were not spread evenly over those years.
The Bucket comes first, on 35.5% of days, followed by the Locomotive (18.2%), the Splay (15.2%), the Seesaw (13.7%) and the Bowl (12.1%). The Splash (3.4%) and the Bundle (1.9%) are rare. The handle of a Bucket is most often the Moon (18.9% of Buckets), then Saturn (17.6%), Uranus (14.9%) and Jupiter (14.8%); the Sun and Mercury never stand alone as a handle, because they never get far from each other and from Venus. In 9.4% of Buckets the handle is a close pair. A Locomotive is led most often by Pluto (21.8%), the Moon (14.9%) and Saturn (13.4%).
The slow planets set the odds for whole decades. A Bundle needs Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto inside the same third of the zodiac as the Sun and its companions, so it turns up in only 7 of the 15 full decades. It peaks in the 1980s, on 10.8% of days, when Saturn, Uranus and Neptune were close together, and the 1980s were also the high point for the Bowl (29.2%). There is none at all in the 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1960s, 2000s, 2030s and 2040s.
| Decade | Bundle | Bowl | Bucket | Locomotive | Seesaw | Splash | Splay |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 0.0% | 7.6% | 24.5% | 21.8% | 22.1% | 2.9% | 21.1% |
| 1910s | 0.0% | 13.3% | 39.4% | 26.3% | 10.3% | 0.5% | 10.3% |
| 1920s | 0.0% | 1.0% | 36.1% | 28.0% | 12.9% | 5.5% | 16.5% |
| 1930s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 34.3% | 14.5% | 23.3% | 6.6% | 21.4% |
| 1940s | 5.6% | 26.1% | 35.8% | 14.0% | 7.2% | 1.1% | 10.1% |
| 1950s | 3.6% | 18.6% | 35.7% | 14.7% | 9.2% | 4.0% | 14.3% |
| 1960s | 0.0% | 4.5% | 47.5% | 17.5% | 17.9% | 0.6% | 11.9% |
| 1970s | 1.0% | 11.9% | 36.9% | 18.3% | 14.1% | 4.6% | 13.2% |
| 1980s | 10.8% | 29.2% | 31.0% | 13.8% | 8.2% | 0.5% | 6.5% |
| 1990s | 3.4% | 17.1% | 39.2% | 13.7% | 9.0% | 2.9% | 14.8% |
| 2000s | 0.0% | 7.0% | 33.1% | 29.0% | 14.1% | 2.7% | 14.0% |
| 2010s | 0.1% | 12.4% | 34.8% | 15.7% | 9.9% | 8.3% | 18.8% |
| 2020s | 4.3% | 19.5% | 33.1% | 18.7% | 9.6% | 2.1% | 12.7% |
| 2030s | 0.0% | 14.1% | 34.7% | 14.5% | 14.6% | 3.7% | 18.6% |
| 2040s | 0.0% | 0.0% | 37.8% | 12.3% | 21.6% | 4.9% | 23.3% |
Worked Example: Barack Obama
Barack Obama was born at 7:24 PM on August 4, 1961, in Honolulu, by his birth certificate. Going round the zodiac from the Moon, his ten planets and the empty arcs between them are:
| Planet | Position | Empty arc to the next planet |
|---|---|---|
| Moon | 3°21′ Gemini | 28.4° to Venus |
| Venus | 1°47′ Cancer | 30.5° to Mercury |
| Mercury | 2°19′ Leo | 10.2° to Sun |
| Sun | 12°32′ Leo | 12.7° to Uranus |
| Uranus | 25°16′ Leo | 11.7° to Pluto |
| Pluto | 6°58′ Virgo | 15.6° to Mars |
| Mars | 22°34′ Virgo | 46.0° to Neptune |
| Neptune | 8°36′ Scorpio | 76.7° to Saturn |
| Saturn | 25°19′ Capricorn | 5.5° to Jupiter |
| Jupiter | 0°51′ Aquarius | 122.5° to Moon |
The widest empty arc is the 122.5° from Jupiter back round to the Moon, so all ten planets fit in 237.5°: too wide for a Bundle or a Bowl. The Bucket test then looks for a handle. No single planet qualifies, but Saturn and Jupiter are only 5.5° apart, with 76.7° of empty zodiac on one side and 122.5° on the other. Set the pair aside and the other eight, Moon, Venus, Mercury, Sun, Uranus, Pluto, Mars and Neptune, fit in 155.2°, inside the 190° limit. The analyzer calls the chart a Bucket with a Saturn–Jupiter handle.
The chart would also pass the next test. Its widest empty arc, 122.5°, is inside the Locomotive's 100°–140°, and read as a Locomotive its leading planet would be the Moon, at 3°21′ Gemini, the planet at the clockwise edge of the occupied arc. Because the Bucket is tested first, it wins; a program that tested the Locomotive first would call the chart a Locomotive. The result shows both measurements, so the choice is visible.
The birth time makes no difference here. The script that built this example recomputed the shape for every hour of August 4 in Honolulu with the same ephemeris, and all 24 hours give a Bucket; the Moon moved from 23°00′ Taurus to 5°15′ Gemini that day without crossing a threshold.
The configuration list for this chart is empty as far as the ten planets go. Every one of the API's 13 entries (8 T-squares, 3 grand trines and 2 yods) leans on at least one extra body: Part of Fortune, Chiron, South Node, Vesta, Midheaven, Lilith, Ascendant, Ceres, North Node, Juno and Pallas. That is why the analyzer separates the two lists; whether to count a grand trine that needs an asteroid is a choice each reader can make.
The Seven Shapes
Each shape with the analyzer's test, how often it occurs, and how astrologers who use the shapes read it.
🎯Bundle
1.9% of days, 1900–2050
Bundle
1.9% of days, 1900–2050
Test: All ten planets within 130°, about four signs.
Every planet sits inside roughly a third of the wheel, so two-thirds of the zodiac, and with it a large share of the houses, holds nothing. The traditional reading is a narrow, concentrated life: a person who works from a small set of interests or circumstances and goes far within them.
Strengths. Concentration comes easily: the person does not have to choose between many competing interests, because the chart offers few. Skills tend to deepen rather than spread, and the life often has a clear central subject.
Difficulties. The empty two-thirds of the wheel can stand for areas of life that feel foreign or get left to other people. A narrow focus can turn into a narrow view, and changes that force the person outside the bundle can be hard going.
Look at next. Which signs and houses the bundle covers, and the leading planet at its clockwise edge, which sets the direction the concentration takes.
🥣Bowl
12.1% of days, 1900–2050
Bowl
12.1% of days, 1900–2050
Test: All ten planets within 190°, about half the wheel, with no handle across the gap.
One half of the chart holds every planet and the other half holds none. The two planets at the rims face each other across the empty half, often close to an opposition. The usual reading is self-containment: the person works from what is already in hand and is acutely aware of what the empty half stands for, which can become a cause, a mission or a lifelong search.
Strengths. A clear sense of what one has to offer, and the ability to act on it without outside help. Bowl charts are often read as purposeful, because the empty half gives the occupied half something to aim at.
Difficulties. The empty half can be handed over to other people, so that partners, institutions or opponents seem to supply what the chart lacks. A sense of something missing may never fully go away.
Look at next. Whether the occupied half is the upper or lower, eastern or western half of the houses, and which planet leads at the clockwise rim.
🪣Bucket
35.5% of days, 1900–2050
Bucket
35.5% of days, 1900–2050
Test: A handle of one planet (or two within 8°) at least 30° clear on both sides; the other planets within 190°.
A Bowl with a handle: one planet, or a close pair, stands alone in the empty half. Astrologers who use the shapes treat the handle as the most important planet in the chart, the outlet through which the rest of the planets act. Its sign, house and aspects describe where the person puts their effort.
Strengths. Effort has a direction. Everything in the bowl can be brought to bear on the handle's concerns, and people with a strong handle are often known for one thing.
Difficulties. So much rests on one planet that its difficulties are felt everywhere. When transits or progressions press on the handle, the whole chart feels it, and a person can overinvest in the one channel.
Look at next. The handle planet first: its sign and house, and whether it opposes the middle of the bowl or leans toward one rim.
🚂Locomotive
18.2% of days, 1900–2050
Locomotive
18.2% of days, 1900–2050
Test: The widest empty arc is 100° to 140°, close to a trine.
The planets fill about two-thirds of the wheel and leave a third empty, an arc close to a trine. The usual reading is momentum: a self-driven person who keeps moving to close the gap. The leading planet, the one at the clockwise edge of the occupied arc, is read as the engine, and its nature colors the drive.
Strengths. Self-starting energy and staying power. The occupied two-thirds offers range, and the empty third gives it a direction, so the shape is associated with practical, sustained effort.
Difficulties. The drive does not switch off easily. The empty third can describe a part of life the person keeps pushing toward without ever settling into.
Look at next. The leading planet and its house, then the planet at the other end of the occupied arc, which trails behind.
⚖️Seesaw
13.7% of days, 1900–2050
Seesaw
13.7% of days, 1900–2050
Test: Two empty arcs of 60° or more, together 150° to 250°, split the planets into two groups of at least 2.
Two groups of planets face each other across two empty stretches. The reading follows the picture: a person weighing one side against the other, aware of opposing points of view, sometimes swinging between two sets of commitments. Oppositions between the groups often carry the theme.
Strengths. Seeing both sides of a question comes naturally, which suits negotiation, judgment and any work that balances competing claims.
Difficulties. Indecision, or a life split into two compartments that do not talk to each other. The person may put one group on hold while living through the other.
Look at next. What each group shares (signs, houses, element), and the oppositions that run between them.
💦Splash
3.4% of days, 1900–2050
Splash
3.4% of days, 1900–2050
Test: The empty arcs are nearly even: their standard deviation is under 0.6 of the 36° average.
The planets are spread round the whole wheel with no large empty stretch. The usual reading is breadth: wide interests, ease with many kinds of people and situations, and a life that touches many areas rather than concentrating on one.
Strengths. Range and adaptability. With planets in most parts of the chart, few areas of life are unfamiliar, and the person can usually find common ground.
Difficulties. Scattered effort. Without a natural focus, depth has to be chosen on purpose, and other people may find it hard to pin the person down.
Look at next. Any planet that stands out despite the even spread: a close conjunction, a planet on an angle, or a stellium.
🌟Splay
15.2% of days, 1900–2050
Splay
15.2% of days, 1900–2050
Test: Fits none of the six tests above.
An uneven spread: the planets fall into irregular clusters with gaps of different sizes, so no simple outline fits. It is read as the most individualistic of the shapes: a person with a few strong, personal points of emphasis who resists being sorted into a type.
Strengths. Independence and specific, strongly held interests. The clusters point to the areas that matter most, and the person usually knows which those are.
Difficulties. The interests can pull in different directions, and fitting into set routines or other people's expectations can be uncomfortable.
Look at next. The clusters: the planets that sit close together and the empty arcs between them, read one at a time.
Sources
- Marc Edmund Jones, The Guide to Horoscope Interpretation (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1941; reissued by the Theosophical Publishing House, 1974), where the seven shapes are named and described.
- The site's ephemeris for every planetary position, through the API and, for the frequency table, through an offline run of the same ephemeris. The methodology page covers the setup.
- The configuration search is the API's, with the orbs given above. The analyzer's shape rules are its own, listed in the table on this page.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a birth chart shape?
The outline the ten planets make on the chart wheel, judged by where they bunch together and where the wheel is empty. The American astrologer Marc Edmund Jones named seven shapes in The Guide to Horoscope Interpretation (1941): Bundle, Bowl, Bucket, Locomotive, Seesaw, Splash and Splay. The shape ignores which signs and houses the planets are in; it is a first look at how the chart is organized before any single planet is read.
What is the rarest chart shape?
The Bundle, by a wide margin. With the analyzer's rules it occurs on 1.9% of days between 1900 and 2050, about one day in 53, and not at all in 8 of the 15 full decades, because it needs the slow outer planets close together. The Splash comes next at 3.4%. The most common shape is the Bucket, on 35.5% of days.
Which planets does the analyzer use?
The ten planets from the Sun to Pluto, as in Jones's system. The lunar nodes, Chiron, Lilith, the asteroids, the Part of Fortune and the angles are left out of the shape, because adding bodies fills the empty arcs the shapes are defined by. They do appear in the list of aspect configurations, marked separately from the ones made by the planets alone.
Does my birth time change my chart shape?
Usually not. Only the Moon moves far in a day, 11.76° to 15.39°, so the shape changes during a day only when the Moon crosses one of the thresholds. The worked example keeps the same shape at every hour of its birth date. If you leave the time blank, the analyzer uses noon and says so. Configurations that involve the Ascendant, Midheaven, Vertex or Part of Fortune are dropped without a birth time.
Can a chart fit two shapes at once?
Yes, and the order of the tests decides. The analyzer checks Bundle, Bowl, Bucket, Locomotive, Seesaw and Splash in that order and stops at the first that fits, so a chart that passes both the Bucket and the Locomotive tests is called a Bucket. The worked example is one: its widest empty arc, 122.5°, is inside the Locomotive's 100°–140° range, but it also has a handle. The result lists every measurement, so you can see near misses.
Are T-squares and grand trines part of the chart shape?
No. The shape comes from the spacing of the planets; a T-square, grand trine, yod or stellium is a specific set of aspects or a cluster in one sign. The analyzer shows both. Among the ten planets alone, the API finds at least one of the four on 60.1% of days: a stellium on 30.0%, a T-square on 26.8%, a yod on 9.3% and a grand trine on 9.1%.
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