Common Astrology Terms Defined, A Thread

PLANETS: the planets in our solar system (mercury-pluto). they represent components of life (needs). the sun and moon are included for convenience sake.
LUMINARIES: a distinction made for the sun and moon in traditional astrology. the brightest objects in sky. source of light

WHY IS EARTH NOT INCLUDED?
because astrology is done through observing the sky through our position on earth. the earth position factors into the ascendant.
WHY IS PLUTO INCLUDED?
https://astrolibrary.org/pluto-valid-astrology-planet/

ECLIPTIC: the apparent path the sun makes “around the earth.” we obviously know this isn’t factually correct, but from earth the sun appears to “move” in a path around the earth. this path makes up our year, and is also the path through which the sun travels through the zodiac.

UM... WHAT?
our concept of a year comes from the sun’s path along the ecliptic. the other planets also follow this path. astrologers from ancient babylon divided the sky into 12 sections, which make up the signs of the zodiac. so this is how the planets move through the zodiac.

ZODIAC: the 12 signs of the zodiac were mathematical calculations that splits our sky into 12 equal parts. while the names match up with constellations, these were not 100% based on constellations or on the position of those constellations in the sky.

HOW WERE THEY CALCULATED?
I’m glad you asked. first the sky was split into 4 sections based on the 2 solstices and 2 equinoxes. each section was divided into 3, 30* pieces making a full 360* zodiac wheel.

ARCHETYPES: the characteristics of the zodiac sign without any planetary influence. the signs represent the “how” to give the planets, which represent the “what,” more meaning.

WHY DO THE DATES FOR SUN SIGNS CHANGE?
because they’re based on actual planetary movement and aren’t fixed like our calendar year. our calendar year just has to be fixed for convenience. just as the solstice & equinox dates change per year, so do our sun sign dates.

HOUSES: the houses wheel is based on the earth’s 24 hour rotation about its axis. the houses represent different areas of life. houses are not energies like planets and signs. they are the “where” these energies manifest most strongly.

NATURAL RULER: this is a highly debated topic! the concept is that each house corresponds to a sign (& the planet that rules the sign). for ex, the 1st house is “ruled” by aries and mars. this is a topic you should research both sides on & form your own opinion.

THE CONCEPT OF RULING:
the word rule can be interchanged with govern. each sign is “ruled” by a planet. each planet “rules” over components of life. each sign “rules” a part of the body. this is a term used to show connection.

PLANETARY RULERS: each planet rules over a zodiac sign. the exact reasons why are kind of unknown. this is a concept that dates back before even the most ancient astrological texts we know about. my assumption is that this was used for symbolic purposes and creating archetypes.

CLASSICAL RULERS: the original planets (mercury-saturn) were assigned to signs before the discovery of uranus-pluto. these are also known as traditional rulers. astrologers will either use contemporary, traditional, or a combination of both rulers. via cafeastrology:

CONTEMPORARY/MODERN RULERS: scorpio is ruled by pluto. uranus rules aquarius. neptune rules pisces. astrologers will use either or both rulers in their interpretations. this is another thing that you can form your own opinion on as you learn more about astrology (I use both).

CHART RULER: the planet(s) that rule(s) the sign of your ascendent. the sign and house position of this planet tells a lot about the native’s personality. for ex. a libra rising individual’s chart ruler is venus. where is venus located in the chart?

HOUSE RULERS: each house is ruled by a sign. the planetary ruler of that sign is referred to as the Nth house ruler. ex. 2nd house ruled by leo. sun rules leo, the sun is in the 5th house. the ruler of the 2nd is in the 5th. these give a deeper meaning to the chart.

CUSPS: the sign that is starting off the house,referred to as the house cusp. I have 4 charts from different websites so we can see how this works. look at the dividing lines of the houses. these are the “spokes” of the house wheel. the sign that the spoke touches rules the house

in order: time nomad (app for ios), astro(.)com, cafeastrology, astrotheme.
the most clear for me is astro to see the spokes of the wheel. the first house is ruled by cancer, 2nd house leo, 3rd house virgo, etc. hopefully seeing these makes it more clear!

ANGULAR HOUSES: houses that are started by the angles of the birth chart. AC, IC, DC, and MC. also known as cardinal houses. these are seen as the most forceful houses. planets in these houses have a lot of influence. the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th houses.

SUCCEDENT HOUSES: houses that follow the angular houses: 2nd, 5th, 8th, 11th. succedent houses support the angular houses. succedent houses have a fixed quality about them because of their central positions in the chart.

CADENT HOUSES: houses that carry us into the next quadrant. the greek word for these houses means to fall or decline. these houses are falling from the influence set by the angular house. planets in these houses can be seen as weak or inharmonius. 3rd, 6th, 9th, & 12th.

HOW A BIRTH CHART IS DRAWN
the birth chart is the house wheel and natal wheel on top of one another (pic via astrolibrary). the inner circle of the zodiac wheel represents the place on earth you were born, at the exact moment you took your first breath.

the birth chart is drawn to compare the position of the planetary bodies in the sky to the position of the earth in its rotation on its axis. the way in which the two wheels align is based on your ascendent or rising.

ASCENDENT: also called the rising (abbreviated AC or ASC). this is the point on the ecliptic that was on the eastern horizon the exact moment you were born. the rising sign changes approx every 2 hours (not exact like 1:00-3:00, it varies, which is why exact time is important).

TIME IS IMPORTANT
as I said an exact time is important because while the signs change in about a 2 hour period, the degree of the ascendent is changing throughout that time period. someone with a leo rising at 2:52am will have a different chart than a leo rising at 3:38am

BIRTH CHART LAYOUT: a common mistake is misreading planets that are very close to the next sign or house. each site is a little different. the first two divide houses on the inside & signs outside. the 3rd’s house lines don’t extend. the fourth has houses outside and signs inside

STELLIUMS: via the astrological dictionary, a stellium is a grouping of several planets in a single zodiac sign or house. all the planets are capable of being involved in a stellium. qualities of the sign or topics of the house will be more prominent. http://theastrologydictionary.com/s/stellium/ 

HOUSE SYSTEMS: there are several house systems an astrologer can choose from. different house systems can work better with different types of astrology. the most common for western tropical (and default for a lot of sites) is the Placidus system. whole sign is another popular one

INTERCEPTIONS: this is NOT having two signs in one house! with the placidus system, this happens naturally. an interception is when you have a sign that does not land on a single house cusp. the house completely engulfs the sign. here’s my chart next to someone w interceptions

this is alyssa sharpe’s chart from her website’s article on interceptions. you can see libra and aries are completely intercepted. these signs were missing from her development. this is a karmic lesson. her life path includes finding these energies within herself.

OTHER ANGLES IN THE CHART:
IC: imum coeli, represents your roots, 4th house cusp
DC: descendant, what you look for in a partner, 7th house cusp
MC: midheaven/medium coeli, represents career and social status, 10th house cusp

NORTH NODE: aka ascending node, your destiny, generational by sign, house placement gives a more personal look into what our soul needs
SOUTH NODE: aka descending node, your karmic baggage/comfort zone, exactly opposite your south node

OTHER CELESTIAL BODIES:
there are a number of asteroids, comets, fixed stars, and mathematical points that astrologers can work into their interpretations. these points can also aspect your planets but may not be included in grand trines, t-squares, etc.

there’s chiron, juno, vesta, lilith, part of fortune, etc. there are a lot!

CARDINAL: aries, cancer, libra, capricorn. the initiators. action oriented signs.
FIXED: taurus, leo, scorpio, aquarius. the maintainers. set in their ways.
MUTABLE: gemini, virgo, sagittarius, pisces. the flexible. adaptable signs.

FIRE: aries, leo, sagittarius. action, passion, independence
EARTH: taurus, virgo, capricorn. practical, grounded, logical.
AIR: gemini, libra, aquarius. intellectual, social, curious.
WATER: cancer, scorpio, pisces. intuitive, compassion, receptive.

DUALITY: masculine/feminine energy. does not refer to gender. these energies are present in everyone in varying ratios
MASCULINE: direct, energetic. aries, gemini, leo, libra, sagittarius, aquarius
FEMININE: receptive, magnetic. taurus, cancer, virgo, scorpio, capricorn, pisces

OTHER TYPES OF CHARTS
SYNASTRY: placing two natal charts on top of one another and comparing the two. you can see where one’s planets fall into the other’s houses and the aspects being made between the charts. these are used to tell us about the compatibility of relationships

COMPOSITE: created and popularized in the 1970s. finds midpoints of the two people’s charts. read like a natal chart, we look at planets, angles, & houses (not signs). used to look at dynamics of a relationship in an easy way. angular houses are seen as the best for planets here

PROGRESSED: used for predictive astrology. most common progressed chart is secondary progressions. shows how our personalities develop over time. planets progressing into the next sign is very significant.

PULLEN: used to calculate dominant energies. your mileage may vary on accuracy. the weight it holds in the astrological community is debated.

there are a lot more, and each has its own use in different traditions of astrology.