What's in this glossary?

The meaning of every planet, sign, house, and aspect used in a birth chart — four categories, each with an entry per element (10 planets, 12 signs, 12 houses, the major and minor aspects).

What's the difference between an entry's Essential and Traditional levels?

Essential explains in 2 to 4 simple sentences, free of jargon, for a beginner. Traditional gives the reference data used by practitioners — aspect orbs, angles, an aspect's harmonious or tense nature, a house's precise domain. Both levels coexist on every entry, never mixed within the same sentence.

What is the Sun × Ascendant combination?

The Sun sign describes the deep identity, the Ascendant how it appears to the world. Crossing the two (144 possible combinations) refines the reading beyond the Sun sign alone, often the only one used in popular astrology.

What is the Planet × House combination?

Each planet in the chart falls into one of the 12 houses: the planet's nature (what it expresses) meets the house's area of life (where it expresses itself). This page lets you explore any of the combinations.

Do you need to know your birth chart to use the glossary?

No — every entry can be consulted freely, with no birth data entered. If a chart is already calculated (via the Dossier), the glossary can additionally filter the display to your own Ascendant and your own planets in houses.

Understand

Glossary

The meaning of every planet, sign, house, and aspect — at your own pace, from the simplest to the most technical.

Welcome to this astrology glossary designed to let you quickly find essential information about the major elements of astrological language. Explore four major categories: Planets, Signs, Houses, and Aspects, featuring three reading levels tailored to your journey for each term—from beginner level to a traditional, then advanced approach. This free astrological lexicon provides a clear and accessible answer when you are looking for a house definition, a sign meaning, or a precise explanation of a concept. Unlike the in-depth articles offered elsewhere on the site, this page favors a quick, concise, and practical consultation to easily find a notion. To go further and discover a personalized interpretation of the astrological symbols that make up your own birth chart, calculate your natal chart now.

Signs

The 12 signs of the zodiac.

Houses

The 12 areas of life.

Aspects

The relationships between planets.

Go further

Your Sun sign and your Ascendant, crossed: what the meeting between your identity and how you appear to the world reveals.

Sun × Ascendant

Go further

A planet from your chart, in a specific house: what the meeting between that energy and that area of life reveals.

Planet × House

Go further

A planet from your chart, in its sign: what the meeting between this energy and this way of being reveals — reliable even without an exact birth time.

Planet × Sign

A glossary with three reading levels

A birth chart is read from four building blocks: the planets (what acts), the signs (how it acts), the houses (where it acts), and the aspects (how the planets talk to each other). This glossary devotes an entry to every element of these four categories.

Each entry offers two reading levels, never mixed: an Essential text accessible with no prerequisite, and a Traditionallevel giving the reference points used by practitioners (aspect orbs, harmonious or tense nature, a house’s precise domain).

Two pages go further by crossing two categories with each other: Sun × Ascendant and Planet × House. An already-calculated birth chart additionally lets you filter the display to your own Ascendant and your own planets in houses.

Frequently asked questions

What's in this glossary?: The meaning of every planet, sign, house, and aspect used in a birth chart — four categories, each with an entry per element (10 planets, 12 signs, 12 houses, the major and minor aspects).
What's the difference between an entry's Essential and Traditional levels?: Essential explains in 2 to 4 simple sentences, free of jargon, for a beginner. Traditional gives the reference data used by practitioners — aspect orbs, angles, an aspect's harmonious or tense nature, a house's precise domain. Both levels coexist on every entry, never mixed within the same sentence.
What is the Sun × Ascendant combination?: The Sun sign describes the deep identity, the Ascendant how it appears to the world. Crossing the two (144 possible combinations) refines the reading beyond the Sun sign alone, often the only one used in popular astrology.
What is the Planet × House combination?: Each planet in the chart falls into one of the 12 houses: the planet's nature (what it expresses) meets the house's area of life (where it expresses itself). This page lets you explore any of the combinations.
Do you need to know your birth chart to use the glossary?: No — every entry can be consulted freely, with no birth data entered. If a chart is already calculated (via the Dossier), the glossary can additionally filter the display to your own Ascendant and your own planets in houses.

Planets Signs Houses Aspects Sun × Ascendant Planet × House