Glossary
The words used in the readings, in plain language: what each planet, sign, house or aspect stands for, and the technical terms you will come across.
Planets and nodes
- ☉︎Sun
- what you aim to become, your centre, your vitality
- ☽︎Moon
- your emotional needs, what reassures you, your reflexes
- ☿︎Mercury
- how you think, learn and communicate
- ♀︎Venus
- what you love, your tastes, how you connect
- ♂︎Mars
- your energy, how you act, desire and fight
- ♃︎Jupiter
- what helps you grow, your confidence, your worldview
- ♄︎Saturn
- structure, effort, time: what you build slowly
- ♅︎Uranus
- originality, breaks, the need for independence (slow planet: partly shared by your generation)
- ♆︎Neptune
- imagination, ideals, inspiration (slow planet: partly shared by your generation)
- ♇︎Pluto
- intensity, deep transformation (slow planet: partly shared by your generation)
- ☊︎North Node
- what makes you grow: a direction to develop over life
- ☋︎South Node
- what you already know how to do: your assets, your comfort zone
Points and asteroids
- ⚷︎Chiron
- a wounded sensitivity that can become a skill
- ⚸︎Lilith
- what you refuse to let anyone tame in you
- ⊗︎Lot of Fortune
- where well-being and material luck flow most easily
- ⊕︎Lot of Spirit
- where your will expresses itself, what you do with your own drive
- Ε︎Lot of Eros
- what attracts you and sparks desire, in the broad sense
- Ν︎Lot of Necessity
- what constrains you and you must learn to accept
- Κ︎Lot of Courage
- where you find the nerve to act
- Β︎Lot of Victory
- where you can succeed, helped by others or by luck
- Σ︎Lot of Nemesis
- what resists you, the obstacles that make you grow
- ⚳︎Ceres
- how you nurture and take care
- ⚴︎Pallas
- your strategic intelligence, your sense of form
- ⚵︎Juno
- what you expect from a lasting commitment
- ⚶︎Vesta
- what you devote yourself to, your inner flame
Angles
- ASAscendant
- how you approach the world, the first impression you give
- MCMidheaven
- your visible place in the world, your vocation, your reputation
- DSDescendant
- what you look for in others, in couples and partnerships
- FCImum Coeli
- your roots, your home, what nourishes you in private
Houses
- IHouse I
- you: your body, your look, your way of being
- IIHouse II
- your resources: money, what you own, what you are worth to yourself
- IIIHouse III
- communication, close circle, learning
- IVHouse IV
- home, family, roots
- VHouse V
- pleasure, creativity, romance, children
- VIHouse VI
- daily work, habits, service
- VIIHouse VII
- couple, partners, relating to others
- VIIIHouse VIII
- what is shared, crises, transformations
- IXHouse IX
- travel, studies, beliefs, the search for meaning
- XHouse X
- career, reputation, vocation
- XIHouse XI
- friends, networks, collective projects
- XIIHouse XII
- inner life, retreat, what happens behind the scenes
Signs
- ♈︎Aries
- drive, courage, impatience
- ♉︎Taurus
- stability, sensual pleasure, constancy
- ♊︎Gemini
- curiosity, mobility, exchange
- ♋︎Cancer
- protection, memory, sensitivity
- ♌︎Leo
- radiance, pride, generosity
- ♍︎Virgo
- precision, usefulness, analysis
- ♎︎Libra
- balance, relationship, aesthetics
- ♏︎Scorpio
- intensity, depth, mastery
- ♐︎Sagittarius
- freedom, search for meaning, enthusiasm
- ♑︎Capricorn
- ambition, structure, endurance
- ♒︎Aquarius
- independence, community, innovation
- ♓︎Pisces
- empathy, imagination, permeability
Elements
- Fire
- action, drive, initiative
- Earth
- the concrete, the body, results
- Air
- ideas, exchange, connections
- Water
- emotion, listening, imagination
Modes
- Cardinal
- starts, opens, takes the initiative
- Fixed
- holds, deepens, makes things last
- Mutable
- adapts, connects, handles transitions
Aspects
- Conjunction
- two energies merge and act together
- Sextile
- an ease, an opportunity to seize
- Square
- a tension that pushes you to act
- Trine
- a natural harmony, a talent that comes easily
- Opposition
- two needs pulling in opposite directions, looking for balance
- Semi-sextile
- a quiet link between two neighbouring energies, needing a small adjustment
- Semi-square
- a small friction, an irritation that gets you moving
- Sesquiquadrate
- a background tension that keeps coming back until it is dealt with
- Quincunx
- two energies that do not understand each other: constant adjustment needed
Technical terms
- Almuten
- the planet with the most authority over the key points of the chart, by tradition
- Angular
- a planet close to an angle of the chart (Ascendant, Midheaven…): it shows very visibly
- Ascendant
- the sign rising on the horizon at your birth: how you approach the world
- Aversion
- two signs that do not “see” each other (no aspect possible): what a planet rules partly escapes it
- Benefic
- in tradition, the planets that ease (Venus, Jupiter) or test (Mars, Saturn), depending on sect
- Cardinal sign
- the signs that open each season (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn): starting, initiating
- Cazimi
- a planet in the heart of the Sun (under 17′): instead of being eclipsed, it is strengthened
- Chart ruler
- the planet ruling your Ascendant sign: it colours the whole chart
- Combust
- a planet very close to the Sun (under 8°): its voice is drowned out
- Conjunction
- two planets in the same place: their energies merge
- Cusp
- the beginning of a house
- Decan
- the smallest traditional dignity: each sign has three 10° slices
- Descendant
- the point opposite the Ascendant: what you look for in others
- Detriment
- a planet in the sign opposite the one it rules: it has to adapt
- Dignit:y
- a planet’s strength according to its sign: at ease, in difficulty or neutral
- Dispositor
- the planet ruling the sign another planet sits in: it “hosts” it
- Domicile
- a planet in the sign it rules: at ease, fully expressed
- Dominant planet
- the most influential planet in the chart, by position and links
- Eclipse
- an eclipse falling on a sensitive point of your chart often marks a turning point
- Exalted
- a planet in a sign that brings out its best
- Firdaria
- a medieval technique assigning each period of life to a planet
- Fixed sign
- the signs at the heart of each season (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius): holding, making things last
- Gauquelin zone
- just after a planet rises or culminates: statistics found a link there with professional success
- Generational
- shared by a whole generation: slow planets stay years in one sign
- Grand cross
- four planets in crossed tension: lots of energy to channel
- Grand trine
- three planets in harmony: a natural ease, sometimes too comfortable
- Hayz
- a planet doubly in its place: of the right sect, on the right side of the horizon and in a sign of its gender
- In its fall
- a planet opposite its exaltation: its expression takes more effort
- In its joy
- each planet has a house where it rejoices (Mercury in I, Moon in III, Venus in V, Mars in VI, Sun in IX, Jupiter in XI, Saturn in XII)
- In its own term
- one of the traditional dignities: each sign is cut into five slices given to five planets
- Loosing of the bond
- in zodiacal releasing, a jump to an unexpected sign that signals a change of course
- Lord of the year
- the planet ruling the theme of the current year
- Lot of Fortune
- a calculated point: where well-being and material luck flow most easily
- Lot of Spirit
- a calculated point: where your will expresses itself
- Lunation
- the Sun–Moon cycle in the progressed chart, a 30-year growth cycle
- Midheaven
- the highest point of the chart: your visible place, your vocation
- Mutable sign
- the signs that close each season (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces): adapting, handling transitions
- Mutual reception
- two planets each in the other’s sign: they help each other
- North Node
- what makes you grow, the direction to develop
- Opposition
- two planets face to face (180°): two needs to balance
- Orb
- how far from exact an aspect is: the smaller, the stronger
- Out of bounds
- a planet further from the celestial equator than the Sun ever goes: it works off the norm
- Peregrine
- a planet with no support in its sign: it depends more on the other planets
- Profection
- each year of life activates one house of the chart in turn: it sets the year’s theme
- Progressed Moon
- the chart that moves one day per year of life: it shows your inner evolution
- Quincunx
- a 150° angle: two energies that do not understand each other and must adjust
- Retrograde
- a planet that seems to move backwards: its energy turns inward
- Sect
- day chart (Sun above the horizon) or night chart: it changes which planets help most
- Semi-sextile
- a 30° angle: a quiet link between two neighbouring signs
- Semi-square
- a 45° or 135° angle: a minor friction that gets you moving
- Sextile
- a 60° angle: an ease, an opportunity
- Solar arc
- the whole chart moves about 1° a year: when one point reaches another, a chapter opens
- South Node
- your assets and comfort zone, to go beyond without denying them
- Square
- a 90° angle: a tension that pushes to act
- Stellium
- three or more planets grouped in one sign or house: a very loaded area
- Syzygy
- the last new or full moon before your birth
- T-square
- two opposite planets both squaring a third: a powerful but demanding engine
- Transit
- the planets in today’s sky passing over your birth chart
- Trine
- a 120° angle: a natural harmony
- Triplicity
- one of the traditional dignities: a planet “among allies”
- Under the :Sun’s
- a planet too close to the Sun (under 15°): it acts, but in the background
- Zodiacal releasing
- a Hellenistic technique dividing life into long periods with peak moments