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Another very popular chart style in use today is what is called the open wheel or 360-degree wheel. This format is another step closer to accenting the band of the zodiac. Notice that it puts the 12 signs in the traditional position, with Aries at the left, Capricorn to the top, and so on, all around. The 12 houses are then drawn where they belong in the zodiac, in unequal mode. In this format, the houses are de-emphasized in favor of the fixed position of the zodiac in space. This type of chart form is excellent for keeping track of everything out there in space, such as the various fixed stars and important points like the galactic center (GC), which is around 26 degrees of Sagittarius. Instead of having to look through the chart wheel to see where a point like the GC occurs, instead you look right at the 26 degrees of Sagittarius, since that is where it always is.

This format has the disadvantage that you do have to find where the First House cusp is (or any other cusp), and this can be distracting. But for those astrologers like myself who are more interested in the large-scale patterns in the chart and only less concerned about house position, this chart form or a variant of it may be the chart wheel of choice, which leads me to the chart form that I actually use, coming up next.