Astrology Glossary
Astrology has its own vocabulary, and much of it is older than English. Here are the terms you will meet most often, in plain language. Where a full article exists, the term links to it.
A to C
Air. One of the four elements: Gemini, Libra and Aquarius. Ideas, words, connection. See the elements.
Angles. The four most personal points of a chart: the Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven and IC, where the horizon and meridian meet the zodiac. See the angles.
Angular houses. The 1st, 4th, 7th and 10th houses. The most visible and active areas of a chart.
Applying. An aspect that is getting closer to exact. Applying aspects are read as stronger and still unfolding.
Ascendant (rising sign). The sign on the eastern horizon at birth. Your approach to life and how others first meet you. See the big three.
Aspect. An angle between two planets that links their energies, such as a trine (120 degrees) or a square (90). See aspects.
Big three. The Sun, Moon and rising sign together. See the big three.
Cadent houses. The 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th houses. Learning, adjusting and letting go.
Cardinal. The modality that starts things: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn. See the modalities.
Chart ruler. The planet that rules your rising sign. One of the most important planets in any chart. See rulership.
Conjunction. Two planets at about the same degree. Their energies blend.
Cusp. The starting line of a house, or the border between two signs. "Born on the cusp" usually means born near the Sun's change of sign, though you are always one sign or the other.
D to H
Decan. One of three 10-degree thirds of a sign. Some astrologers use decans to fine-tune a sign's meaning.
Descendant. The western horizon, opposite the Ascendant. The start of the 7th house, what you meet in others.
Detriment. A planet in the sign opposite its home, working against the grain. Not bad, just harder. See dignity.
Dignity (essential dignity). How comfortable a planet is in its sign. The major dignities are domicile and exaltation; the major debilities are detriment and fall.
Dispositor. The ruler of the sign a planet is in. Mars in Leo is disposed of by the Sun. Following dispositors shows how a chart is wired. See rulership.
Domicile. A planet in a sign it rules, fully at home. The Sun in Leo, the Moon in Cancer.
Earth. One of the four elements: Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn. The body, skill, patience, the real.
Element. Fire, earth, air or water: the basic temperament of a sign.
Ephemeris. A table of where the planets are on each day. The basis of every chart calculation.
Equal houses. A house system in which every house is exactly 30 degrees, starting from the Ascendant.
Exaltation. A sign where a planet is an honoured guest, at its best. The Sun is exalted in Aries.
Fall. A planet in the sign opposite its exaltation, least at ease.
Fire. One of the four elements: Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. Spirit, courage, initiative. See Leo.
Fixed. The modality that sustains: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.
Glyph. The symbol for a planet, sign or aspect. See reading the chart wheel.
House. One of the twelve areas of life a chart is divided into, counted from the Ascendant. See the houses.
House system. A method of dividing the chart into houses. Whole sign, equal, Placidus and Porphyry are common. They agree on the 1st house starting near the Ascendant and differ on the rest.
I to P
IC (Imum Coeli). The lowest point of the zodiac, opposite the Midheaven. Roots, home and private life.
Luminaries. The Sun and the Moon.
Midheaven (MC). The highest point the zodiac reaches overhead at birth. Direction, career and public life.
Modality. Cardinal, fixed or mutable: how a sign moves.
Mutable. The modality that adapts: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.
Mutual reception. Two planets, each in a sign ruled by the other, such as Venus in Aries with Mars in Libra. They support each other. See rulership.
Natal chart. Your birth chart.
Nodes (lunar nodes). The two points where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's. The North Node is read as a direction of growth, the South Node as what comes easily from the past.
Opposition. Two planets about 180 degrees apart, facing each other across the chart. Tension that asks for balance.
Orb. How far from exact an aspect can be and still count, usually a few degrees.
Outer planets. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Slow, generational, most personal where they touch the Sun, Moon or angles.
Peregrine. A planet with no essential dignity at all in its sign, including the minor dignities. A wanderer working by its own means.
Polarity. Active (fire and air) or receptive (earth and water). See polarity.
Progressions. A symbolic timing method that moves the chart forward a day for each year of life. See timing.
See your own birth chart
Every sign, planet and house you just read about, placed exactly as the sky stood when you were born.
Q to Z
Quincunx. Two planets about 150 degrees apart. An awkward link that asks for constant adjustment.
Retrograde. A planet that appears to move backwards from Earth for a while. An optical effect, read as energy turning inward.
Return. When a planet comes back to the exact position it held at birth, such as the yearly solar return or the Saturn return near 29.
Ruler. The planet most at home in a sign. Mars rules Aries. See rulership.
Sect. Whether a chart is born by day (Sun above the horizon) or by night. It changes how several planets behave. Not a dignity, but a condition of the whole chart.
Separating. An aspect that has been exact and is moving apart. Read as fading or already integrated.
Sextile. Two planets about 60 degrees apart. An easy opportunity that asks for a little effort.
Sidereal zodiac. A zodiac measured against the stars, used in Indian astrology. About 24 degrees different from the tropical zodiac today.
Sign. One of twelve 30-degree sections of the Sun's path: the style a planet acts in. See the signs.
Square. Two planets about 90 degrees apart. Friction that builds strength.
Stellium. Three or more planets in one sign or house. A centre of gravity in the chart. See aspect patterns.
Succedent houses. The 2nd, 5th, 8th and 11th houses. Building on what the angles start.
Transit. A planet's current position read against your birth chart. See timing.
Trine. Two planets about 120 degrees apart, usually in the same element. Easy flow.
Tropical zodiac. The zodiac measured from the spring equinox, tied to the seasons. Used in Western astrology and on this site. See what a birth chart is.
Water. One of the four elements: Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. Feeling, memory, bonds.
Whole sign houses. The oldest house system: the whole rising sign is the 1st house, the next sign the 2nd, and so on.
