Ascendant (Rising Sign)
The zodiac sign rising over the horizon at the exact moment and place of birth — the outward, first-impression layer of a chart. See Rising Sign Meaning.
Aspect
The angular relationship between two placements in a chart, such as a conjunction, opposition, square, or trine. See How to Read a Birth Chart.
Big Three
Shorthand for a person's sun, moon, and rising signs together. See Sun, Moon & Rising Explained.
Cardinal Sign
One of the four signs that opens a season — Aries, Cancer, Libra, or Capricorn. See Zodiac Modalities Explained.
Conjunction
An aspect where two placements sit close together in the same part of the zodiac, blending their themes.
Cusp
The boundary moment where the sun (or another body) crosses from one sign into the next. See Zodiac Cusp Dates.
Element
One of four groupings — fire, earth, air, water — that every zodiac sign belongs to. See Zodiac Elements Explained.
Ephemeris
A table of the precise positions of the sun, moon, and planets at given dates and times — the data source behind any accurate chart calculation.
Fixed Sign
One of the four signs that holds steady through the middle of a season — Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, or Aquarius. See Zodiac Modalities Explained.
House
One of twelve divisions of a birth chart, each linked to a different area of life. See The 12 Houses in Astrology.
Modality
A sign's role within its season — cardinal, fixed, or mutable. See Zodiac Modalities Explained.
Moon Sign
The zodiac sign the moon was in at birth — the emotional, inner-self layer of a chart. See Moon Sign Meaning.
Mutable Sign
One of the four signs that closes out a season — Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, or Pisces. See Zodiac Modalities Explained.
Natal Chart (Birth Chart)
A map of where the sun, moon, and planets were positioned at the exact moment and place of someone's birth. See How to Read a Birth Chart.
Opposition
An aspect where two placements sit roughly opposite each other on the wheel, often described as a push-pull tension between complementary themes.
Quincunx (Inconjunct)
An awkward aspect between placements that share neither element nor modality, often described as requiring real conscious effort to reconcile.
Retrograde
The apparent backward motion of a planet as seen from Earth, due to differing orbital speeds. See Mercury Retrograde Meaning.
Sextile
An aspect between placements two signs apart, generally described as an easy, complementary angle.
Square
An aspect between placements that share a modality but not an element, often described as the most effortful, friction-prone angle.
Sun Sign
The zodiac sign the sun was in at birth — the placement most people mean by "my sign."
Synastry
The comparison of two people's charts against each other — the technical term behind what this site calls compatibility.
Transit
The current, ongoing position of a planet in the sky, as compared against a fixed birth chart — the basis of most "what's happening astrologically right now" forecasting.
Trine
An aspect between placements that share an element, generally described as the easiest, most naturally flowing angle.