Library
Astrology symbols and terms
Tropical zodiac, Western astrology
The 48 symbols of Natalora’s charts and the common astrology terms, each with a short definition and a link to the page that explains it.
Chart symbols
| Symbol | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Sun | A circle with a dot at its centre. It stands for the Sun, the source of light and the centre of the self in a natal chart. | |
| Moon | A crescent. It stands for the Moon, which in a natal chart describes feelings, habits and what makes you feel safe. | |
| Mercury | A circle with a crescent on top and a cross below. It stands for Mercury, the planet of thinking, speaking, learning and getting around. | |
| Venus | A circle above a cross, like a hand mirror. It stands for Venus, the planet of attraction, values and the way you relate. | |
| Mars | A circle with an arrow pointing up and to the right. It stands for Mars, the planet of drive, courage and how you go after what you want. | |
| Jupiter | A crescent leaning on a cross, a little like a numeral 4. It stands for Jupiter, the planet of growth, belief and the wish for more room. | |
| Saturn | A cross with a curved hook at the foot. It stands for Saturn, the planet of structure, limits, responsibility and long effort. | |
| Uranus | Two upright strokes joined by a bar, with a circle below. It stands for Uranus, the planet of change, independence and sudden breaks from routine. | |
| Neptune | A trident: a crescent with three points on a cross. It stands for Neptune, the planet of imagination, ideals and blurred boundaries. | |
| Pluto | A circle held in a cup above a cross; some fonts show the letters P and L. It stands for Pluto, the planet of intensity, power and deep change. | |
| North Node (mean) | A horseshoe opening downward with a small circle at each end. This version marks the mean North Node, the Moon's rising node averaged over time. | |
| North Node (true) | The same horseshoe symbol. This version marks the true North Node, the Moon's rising node at its actual position that day, which wobbles around the mean. | |
| South Node | The North Node's horseshoe turned upside down. It marks the South Node, always exactly opposite the North Node, 180 degrees away. | |
| Lilith | A crescent over a cross. It marks Lilith, the Moon's apogee, the far point of its orbit. A calculated point, not a body you can see in the sky. | |
| Chiron | A small circle under a stem that branches like a key. It marks Chiron, a small body between Saturn and Uranus, linked with old hurts and with teaching. | |
| Ceres | A scythe: a curved blade on a short stem. It marks Ceres, a dwarf planet in the asteroid belt, linked with nurturing and the cycle of giving and withdrawing care. | |
| Pallas | A diamond set on a cross, like a spearhead. It marks Pallas, an asteroid linked with strategy, spotting patterns and practical wisdom. | |
| Juno | A star or asterisk raised on a cross. It marks Juno, an asteroid linked with commitment, partnership and fairness inside a pair. | |
| Vesta | A small hearth with a flame on a stand. It marks Vesta, an asteroid linked with focus, devotion and what you protect as important. | |
| Part of Fortune | A circle with a cross inside it. It marks the Part of Fortune, a point calculated from the Sun, Moon and Ascendant. Not a body in the sky. | |
| Vertex | Written Vx. It marks the Vertex, a calculated point in the west of the chart where the prime vertical crosses the ecliptic, linked with meetings that feel significant. | |
| Ascendant | Written Asc or AC. The Ascendant is the degree of the zodiac rising on the eastern horizon at birth, and it starts the first house. | |
| Descendant (DSC) | Written Dsc or DC. The Descendant is the point setting on the western horizon, always opposite the Ascendant, and it starts the seventh house. | |
| Midheaven (MC) | Written MC, from the Latin Medium Coeli, "middle of the sky". It is the degree of the zodiac highest in the sky, and the tenth-house cusp in most quadrant systems. | |
| Imum Coeli (IC) | Written IC, from the Latin Imum Coeli, "bottom of the sky". It is the lowest point of the chart, opposite the MC, and the fourth-house cusp in most quadrant systems. | |
| Aries | Two curved strokes meeting at a stem, like a ram's horns. It stands for Aries, the first sign of the zodiac: cardinal fire. | |
| Taurus | A circle topped by a crescent, the head and horns of a bull. It stands for Taurus, the second sign: fixed earth. | |
| Gemini | Two upright strokes joined at the top and bottom, like the Roman numeral II: the Twins. It stands for Gemini, the third sign: mutable air. | |
| Cancer | Two curls facing opposite ways, like claws or a pair of 6 and 9 on their sides. It stands for Cancer, the fourth sign: cardinal water. | |
| Leo | A curl ending in a looping tail, the lion's mane and tail. It stands for Leo, the fifth sign: fixed fire. | |
| Virgo | An M-like form whose last stroke curls into a small loop. It stands for Virgo, the sixth sign: mutable earth. | |
| Libra | A flat line beneath an arch: the beam of a pair of scales. It stands for Libra, the seventh sign: cardinal air. | |
| Scorpio | An M-like form whose last stroke ends in an arrow, the scorpion's sting. It stands for Scorpio, the eighth sign: fixed water. | |
| Sagittarius | An arrow pointing up and to the right, crossed by a short bar: the archer's arrow. It stands for Sagittarius, the ninth sign: mutable fire. | |
| Capricorn | A V-like stroke with a curling tail, the sea-goat: goat in front, fish tail behind. It stands for Capricorn, the tenth sign: cardinal earth. | |
| Aquarius | Two parallel wavy lines, the water-bearer's stream. It stands for Aquarius, the eleventh sign: fixed air. | |
| Pisces | Two curved strokes joined by a cross-bar, two fish tied together. It stands for Pisces, the twelfth sign: mutable water. | |
| Conjunction | A small circle with a line leaving it at an angle. Two points at the same degree, 0° apart. Their meanings blend into one. | |
| Opposition | Two small circles joined by a line. Two points 180° apart, straight across the chart from each other: a pull between two sides. | |
| Trine | A triangle. Two points 120° apart, usually in the same element, classically read as easy flow. | |
| Square | A square. Two points 90° apart, usually in signs of the same modality but different elements, read as friction that pushes toward action. | |
| Sextile | A six-armed asterisk. Two points 60° apart, usually in compatible elements, read as an opportunity that needs a first move. | |
| Quincunx | A short stem with a slanted stroke. Two points 150° apart, in signs that share neither element nor modality, so the pair has to adjust. | |
| Semisextile | A short stem with a small slanted stroke. Two points 30° apart, in neighbouring signs, a half sextile. A minor aspect read with a tight orb. | |
| Semisquare | A corner mark, a half square. Two points 45° apart. A minor aspect read as a small, nagging friction, with a tight orb. | |
| Sesquiquadrate | A corner mark topped by a bar, a square and a half. Two points 135° apart. A minor aspect read as friction, with a tight orb. | |
| Quintile | A letter Q. Two points 72° apart, a fifth of the circle. A minor aspect, read as a creative knack, with a tight orb. | |
| Biquintile | A Q marked as double (bQ). Two points 144° apart, two fifths of the circle. A minor aspect, like the quintile, read with a tight orb. |
Astrology terms
Natal chart
A map of the sky for the exact moment and place of a birth: where the Sun, Moon and planets stood in the signs and houses. Every personal reading in the app starts from it.
Transit
A planet's current position in the sky, set against your natal chart. When a moving planet makes an aspect to a natal point or passes through one of your houses, that is a transit.
Ephemeris
A table that gives the positions of the Sun, Moon and planets for each date, as sign and degree. Chart software reads positions from an ephemeris or calculates them directly from the same orbital data.
Zodiac
The band of sky the Sun seems to follow through the year, divided into twelve signs of 30 degrees each. A planet's position in a chart is always read against this band.
Tropical zodiac
The zodiac measured from the March equinox, so 0° Aries is where spring begins in the northern hemisphere. The signs follow the seasons, not the stars behind them. Most Western astrology uses it.
Sidereal zodiac
The zodiac measured against the fixed stars. Today it sits about 24 degrees behind the tropical zodiac, so a planet usually has a different sign in each system. Indian and Thai traditional astrology commonly use it.
Ayanamsa
The angle between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs, about 24 degrees today. It grows slowly, by roughly 50 arc-seconds a year, and several versions exist, so two sidereal charts can differ by a fraction of a degree.
Ecliptic
The Sun's apparent path across the sky over a year. The zodiac is laid out along it, and the planets always stay close to this line, which is why their positions can be read as signs and degrees.
Longitude
A position along the ecliptic, from 0° to 360°, counted from 0° Aries. Every planet position in a chart is a longitude: 15° Taurus is 45°, and 0° Cancer is 90°.
Birth time
The clock time of birth. It fixes the Ascendant, Midheaven and houses. The Ascendant moves through a degree about every four minutes, so even a few minutes of error can change what you read in the houses.
Birth time unknown
A chart cast without a known birth time. Planets in signs and the aspects between them can still be read, but the Ascendant, Midheaven and houses cannot, and the Moon's exact degree is less certain.
Rectification
Working backward from known life events to estimate an uncertain birth time. It takes judgment and several candidate times, and the result is an estimate to test, not a record of when you were born.
House
One of twelve sectors of the chart, cut from the horizon and meridian of the birthplace. Signs describe how a planet acts, planets describe what acts, and houses describe the area of life where it happens.
Cusp
The line where a house begins. Its sign and degree show the house's entry point. Some astrologers read a planet just before a cusp as belonging to the next house; others stay with the exact house line.
House system
A rule for cutting the chart into twelve houses. Most systems share the Ascendant and Midheaven but divide the rest differently, so one planet can fall in different houses under different systems.
Placidus
A quadrant house system built on time: houses are cut by how long degrees take to travel between the angles. Very common in modern Western astrology. Houses are unequal in size, and it breaks down near the polar circles.
Whole Sign
A house system where each house is one entire sign, with the Ascendant's sign as house 1. Every house is exactly 30° wide. It is the oldest Western system, used in Hellenistic astrology.
Angular house
Houses 1, 4, 7 and 10, the ones that begin at the four angles. Traditionally the strongest places for a planet, because they carry the most visible, most active parts of the chart.
Succedent house
Houses 2, 5, 8 and 11, which follow the angular houses. Traditionally of middle strength: matters here build on and sustain what the angular houses start.
Cadent house
Houses 3, 6, 9 and 12, which fall away from the angles. Traditionally the weakest in strength; in modern reading they are the houses of learning, routines, beliefs and the unseen.
Angles
The four sensitive points of a chart: Ascendant, Descendant, Midheaven and IC. They come from the horizon and meridian at the time and place of birth, so they need a known birth time.
Element
Fire, earth, air or water. Each element covers three signs and gives them a shared temperament: fire energises, earth steadies, air connects and water feels. Every sign has exactly one.
Modality
Cardinal, fixed or mutable: how a sign tends to act. Cardinal begins things, fixed holds on to them, mutable adapts them. Each element has one sign of each modality.
Cardinal
The modality of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, the signs that open a season in the tropical zodiac. Read as starting, initiating and setting direction.
Fixed
The modality of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, the signs in the middle of a season. Read as sustaining, persisting and holding steady, and sometimes as resisting change.
Mutable
The modality of Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces, the signs that close a season. Read as adapting, adjusting and preparing for what comes next.
Polarity
The split of the signs into two groups. Fire and air are active (outward-moving); earth and water are receptive (inward-moving). Signs opposite each other, like Aries and Libra, share a polarity.
Ruler
The planet traditionally linked with a sign, such as Mars with Aries. Traditional rulers use the seven visible planets; modern astrology gives Aquarius to Uranus, Pisces to Neptune and Scorpio to Pluto.
Domicile
A sign a planet rules, such as the Sun in Leo or Saturn in Capricorn. Traditionally the planet is at home there and acts easily and in its own style. Also called rulership.
Exaltation
A sign where a planet is traditionally honoured, such as the Sun in Aries or the Moon in Taurus. A planet here is read as working well, like a welcome guest.
Detriment
The sign opposite a planet's domicile, such as the Sun in Aquarius. Traditionally the planet is read as out of its element and has to work harder to show what it does.
Fall
The sign opposite a planet's exaltation, such as the Sun in Libra. Traditionally read as a place where the planet finds it harder to show its best. A description of conditions, not a verdict.
Peregrine
A planet with no essential dignity where it stands: not at home, exalted or in any other dignity. Traditionally called wandering, and read as more dependent on its surroundings and on its ruler.
Essential dignity
Traditional astrology's measure of a planet's standing by sign: domicile, exaltation, triplicity, term and face for strength, with detriment and fall as the weak counterparts.
Triplicity ruler
A planet that shares rule over an element's three signs, by day, by night or jointly. In the Dorothean scheme fire is Sun, Jupiter, Saturn. Not the same thing as the triplicity decan.
Face
Another name for the Chaldean decan lord. Each 10° section of the zodiac has one, in the order Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, starting at 0° Aries. A planet in its own face has a minor dignity.
Dispositor
The ruler of the sign a planet is in. Venus in Aries is disposed by Mars. Following dispositors from planet to planet shows which planet the chain of rulers finally leads to.
Sect
Whether a chart is a day chart, with the Sun above the horizon, or a night chart, with the Sun below it. Traditional astrology uses it to judge which planets work more comfortably.
Cazimi
A planet within about 17 arc-minutes (0°17′) of the Sun, "in the heart of the Sun". Traditionally the planet is strengthened rather than overwhelmed. The closest of the three solar conditions.
Combust
A planet within about 8°30′ of the Sun, outside cazimi. Traditionally read as overwhelmed by the Sun's glare, so the matters of that planet are harder to see or express.
Under the beams
A planet within about 17° of the Sun. A wider zone than combust, where the planet is traditionally less visible and its voice is softened by the Sun's light.
Decan
A ten-degree third of a sign, 36 in the whole zodiac. Each decan has a lord that adds a second flavour to its sign. Two systems assign the lords: Chaldean and triplicity.
Chaldean decan
The decan system whose lords follow the Chaldean order Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter, starting at 0° Aries and repeating through the zodiac. The lord is also called the face.
Triplicity decan
The decan system where a sign's three decans take the signs of its element in order, beginning with its own: Aries 1 Aries, 2 Leo, 3 Sagittarius. The lord is that sub-sign's ruler.
Degree
One 360th of the circle. A sign holds 30 degrees and each degree holds 60 arc-minutes. Natalora prints a position as degree and minutes, so 10°30′ means ten and a half degrees into the sign.
Retrograde
When a planet appears to move backward through the zodiac as seen from Earth, an effect of how fast the planets move relative to us, not a change in the planet. Shown as Rx. The Sun and Moon never do it.
Direct
A planet moving forward through the zodiac in its usual direction, as every planet does most of the time. The opposite of retrograde.
Station
The moment a planet appears to stand still before changing direction: station retrograde when it turns backward, station direct when it turns forward. The planet moves very slowly nearby, so its degree stays emphasised for weeks.
Ingress
The moment a planet enters a new sign. The Sun's entries into the four cardinal signs mark the seasons in the tropical zodiac; the ingresses of slow planets mark long shifts of tone.
Aspect
A meaningful angle between two points in the chart, measured along the ecliptic. The major aspects are conjunction, sextile, square, trine and opposition; minor ones include the quincunx.
Orb
How far an angle may be from exact and still count as that aspect. Wider orbs are given to the Sun and Moon and to major aspects, narrower ones to minor aspects. Traditions differ on the figures.
Applying
An aspect in which the faster planet is still moving toward the exact angle. Read as something still to come into force, rather than something already passed.
Separating
An aspect in which the exact angle has passed and the planets are moving apart. Read as something already underway, whose strongest moment is behind it.
Exact aspect
An aspect at its exact angle, such as a square of 90°00′. The orb is zero and the aspect is at full strength. The nearer an aspect is to exact, the more it stands out.
Major aspect
One of the five aspects used since antiquity: conjunction (0°), sextile (60°), square (90°), trine (120°) and opposition (180°). They carry the most weight in a reading.
Minor aspect
An angle beyond the five major ones: semisextile 30°, semisquare 45°, quintile 72°, sesquiquadrate 135°, biquintile 144° and quincunx 150°. Read with tight orbs, as supporting detail.
Aspect pattern
A figure formed when three or more planets are linked by several aspects at once, such as a grand trine, T-square or yod. A pattern shows how single aspects join into one story.
Stellium
Three or more planets close together, usually in one sign or one house. The chart's attention gathers around the themes of that sign or house.
Grand trine
Three planets about 120° apart, forming a triangle, usually in one element. A closed circuit of ease: the talent flows, and sometimes goes untested because nothing pushes it.
T-square
Two planets in opposition that both square a third. The third planet, the apex, is where the tension is released, and is often the planet you are pushed to act with.
Yod
Two planets 60° apart that both form a 150° quincunx to a third, the apex. Read as a point of adjustment, where the pair must find a way to work with the apex.
Luminary
The Sun or the Moon, called the lights because they give light. Traditionally the two most important bodies in a chart. In aspects they get a slightly wider orb.
Benefic
Traditional label for Jupiter and Venus, read as supportive and generous planets. A tradition's label for their nature, not a promise: any planet can be used well or badly.
Malefic
Traditional label for Saturn and Mars, read as the planets that restrict or provoke. A tradition's label, not a verdict: both planets are useful when used with care.
Personal planet
The Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars: fast planets tied to daily life, personality and close relationships. They change sign within weeks, so they differ even between people born close together.
Social planet
Jupiter and Saturn, the planets that connect the personal planets to the wider world: opportunity, rules and roles. Jupiter stays in a sign about a year, Saturn about two and a half.
Outer planet
Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. They move so slowly that each stays in a sign for seven years or more, so a whole generation shares the sign. Their personal meaning comes from the house and aspects.
Chart ruler
The traditional ruler of the Ascendant's sign. Its sign, house and aspects are read as a thread through the whole chart. With Aries rising, the chart ruler is Mars. It needs a known birth time.
Chart shape
The overall pattern in how the ten planets, Sun to Pluto, are spread round the circle: bundle, bowl, bucket, locomotive, seesaw, splash or splay. Natalora also reports when none of them applies clearly.
Dominant
The planet, sign, element or house that stands out most in a chart: by number of planets, rulership, angularity or aspects. Methods for counting vary, so a dominant is a point of emphasis, not a fact of nature.
Progression
A timing technique in which one day after birth stands for one year of life. The progressed Moon moves about one degree a month, so it makes a new aspect or sign change every few years.
Solar arc
A timing technique that moves every point in the chart forward by the same arc, the distance the Sun has progressed that year, about one degree per year. Contacts to natal points mark timing.
Solar return
The chart cast for the moment the Sun returns to its exact natal position each year, close to the birthday. Read as a map of the year that follows.
Profection
A yearly technique that moves the house of the year forward one house per year from the Ascendant: age 0 is house 1, age 1 house 2, and the cycle repeats at age 12.
Lord of the year
In annual profection, the ruler of the sign of the year's house. Its natal condition and the transits it receives are read as the main theme of that year.
Synastry
Comparing two natal charts by reading the aspects between one person's planets and the other's, and where each person's planets fall in the other's houses.
Composite chart
A single chart built from the midpoints between two people's planets. It is read as describing the relationship itself, rather than either person.
Midpoint
The point exactly halfway between two planets or points along the zodiac. Midpoints are the basis of composite charts and a central tool in Uranian astrology.
Lunar phase
The Moon's angle to the Sun, from new through crescent, quarter and gibbous to full and back. A chart's natal phase is the Moon–Sun angle at birth, read as a style of how you handle changes.
Eclipse
A new or full Moon close to the lunar nodes, when the Sun, Moon and Earth line up. An eclipse degree that touches a natal point is read as a sensitive spot for some months.