The same few questions tend to come up before a reading. Do I need to know anything about astrology? What do you do with my details? Is it a call, a document, both? So here is the whole thing, in six steps.
In short: A four-system reading begins with a free summary. You send your full name at birth, the name you use today, and your date, time and place of birth, and within a few days you receive a PDF of around 8 pages covering your Human Design, astrology, Ba Zi and numerology. If you want to go further, you choose a full reading, fill in a short form about what is going on in your life, and I write your reading before we talk it through on a call. Afterwards you receive the full written reading to keep. You don’t need to know anything about any of the four systems beforehand.
What do I need to send for a free summary?
You fill in the form on the website: your full name at birth, the name you use every day, your date, time and place of birth. That is all I need to begin.
Each detail has a job. The date of birth is used by all four systems. The time and place are what make an astrology chart and a Human Design chart personal: they decide your rising sign, the houses, and parts of your Human Design chart that can shift within a few hours. In Ba Zi, the time gives the fourth of your four pillars, the hour pillar. Your names are for numerology, and there is a whole article on why I ask for the one on your birth certificate.
If you don’t know your birth time, say so. There is plenty I can still tell you. I would much rather work with an honest “I don’t know” than with a time someone guessed, because a wrong time gives a confident answer to the wrong chart.
What is in the free summary?
I calculate your chart in each of the four systems and write a short summary. Within a few days you receive a PDF with your Human Design type, your three main signs, your Chinese Day Master and your main numbers, and a paragraph about where they agree. That last part is the reason I read four systems and not one.
Each summary is prepared for you personally, and I check every one myself before it is sent. It is short, around 8 pages, and it comes by email. Some people read it once and recognise themselves straight away. Others put it aside and come back to it a week later, when a sentence suddenly makes sense.
Do I need to know anything about astrology or Human Design?
You don’t need to know any of the vocabulary. I explain as I go.
Most people have never seen a Human Design chart, have only ever read their Sun sign in the paper, and think of Ba Zi as “the Chinese animal”. That is a perfectly good place to start. Where a word is unavoidable, such as Day Master or rising sign, I say what it means in plain language the first time it appears.
How do I choose the right reading?
Some people stop at the summary, and that’s fine. Others want the full picture. Each reading uses all four systems; what changes is the question it is built around.
The personal reading looks at you as a whole: how you’re made, love and relationships, money, energy, the chapter of life you’re in. It is the one most people choose first.
The founder reading looks at your work: what you’re built for, how you decide, how you lead, when to push and when to wait. It suits people who run a business or are about to start one.
The compass reading is the lighter one, for people choosing or changing direction, who mainly want to know what kind of work they’re made for.
The duo reading is a reading for two people who want to understand each other better: partners, a parent and a grown child, two friends, two business partners.
If you’re hesitating between two, ask yourself which question keeps coming back to you. If it is about your life in general, the personal reading. If it is about work, the founder or compass reading. You can compare the readings side by side, and if you still can’t decide, write to me.
Why is there a form before the call?
Whichever reading you choose, I send you a short form to fill in first. What is going on in your life, or in your work, at the moment? What would you like to understand? What decision is waiting?
This matters. A chart describes how you’re made. It doesn’t know that your youngest has just left home, or that you’ve been offered a job in another country. Your answers tell me where to look first.
A few suggestions for filling it in:
Write what is really on your mind, not what you think a reading ought to be about. If the question is whether to sell the house, say so.
Be specific where you can. “I feel stuck” is a start; “I feel stuck at work since the reorganisation last spring” gives me something to look for.
Don’t polish it. A few honest lines are worth more than a careful essay.
What happens while the reading is being written?
This is the long part, and you don’t see it. I read the four charts separately, then side by side, and write your reading. Where the four systems say the same thing, I tell you plainly. Where they differ, I tell you that too.
Reading them separately first matters. Each system has its own logic, and I want to hear what each one says on its own terms before I start looking for agreement. Then I lay them next to each other and go back to your form. If you asked about work, I look at what all four say about how you work best. If you asked about a relationship, I look at how you love, how you decide and what you need around you.
Disagreement between the systems isn’t a problem to hide. It usually points to two sides of you that both need room, and naming them is often the most useful part of the reading.
What is the reading call like?
We talk, in English, French, German or Spanish, whichever is easiest for you. I take you through the reading, you ask your questions, and we spend the most time on what matters to you now. The call is often where it lands: a sentence on paper becomes “oh, that’s why I always do that”.
For a personal reading, the call lasts about 90 minutes. You don’t need to prepare anything, though it helps to have your summary nearby and a note of any questions that came up since you filled in the form. Choose a quiet moment when you won’t be interrupted. People are often surprised by how much they want to say once they start.
What do you receive after the call?
After the call, I send you the full written reading. It is yours to keep, and it is made to come back to for months: before a decision, at the start of a new season, or simply when they need reminding how they’re made. For a personal reading, it runs to around 60 pages.
It is written to be read more than once. The first time, you tend to notice what confirms what you already knew. Months later, a different page catches your eye, because your life has moved and a new question has come up.
And the agenda, if you’d like one
After a reading, I can write your personal agenda: twelve months, month by month, based on your chart. It needs four to six weeks, so if you’d like to begin a new year with one, ask in good time.
The agenda is a diary of over 300 pages, with your own rhythm built into every month. For those who want to go further still, the Living Curriculum is a written plan for your next three months or your whole year: what to learn, build and try.
Everything else, including prices, is on the readings page.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to receive the free summary?
Usually a few days. I write each summary myself, so it isn’t instant, and it arrives as a PDF by email.
Can I give a reading to someone else?
Yes, with a gift voucher. The reading starts from the person’s own birth details and their answers to the form, so they will be the one to fill those in.
Will the reading tell me what is going to happen?
No. A reading describes how you’re made, how you decide and what kind of season you’re in. It doesn’t predict events, and what you do with it is entirely yours.
Is the reading done live, or is it a document?
Both. I write the reading before the call, we go through it together when we talk, and afterwards you receive the full written version to keep.
Can I have my reading in French, German or Spanish?
Yes. The call and the written reading can be in English, French, German or Spanish, whichever is easiest for you.
Would you like the full picture?
The personal reading is where everything in this article comes together: around 60 pages written for you across the four systems, then a 90-minute call where we go through it and you ask whatever you like. If your question is more specific, you can see all the readings and choose the one that fits.
Not sure yet? Start with the free summary and see how it speaks to you.
About Catherine
I’m Catherine Polet. I’ve read Western astrology, numerology and Ba Zi for many years, and Human Design completed the set. I’ve also taught yoga and autogenic training for more than thirty years, and I’m a holistic nutrition health coach. I write every reading myself, one person at a time, in English, French, Spanish or German, from my home in Southwest France. Read my story.
