Of course, for you, this book is packed with many new concepts and terms – you’ve learned a whole new way of looking at your life! Hopefully you now feel at home with the new words and phrases you’ve come across, but here’s a very brief overview of some of the astrological terms you might hear about, and wonder what they are.
If you go beyond your basic studies, it may interest you to know that there’s a lot of Greek and Roman mythology in astrology. Of course, some of the names of the planets are actually Classical gods and goddesses, such as Jupiter and Venus. The more you know about the Greek and Roman references, the better. However, there are so many different ways to study astrology, be it via the myths or in a Jungian fashion or through political astrology. The direction is up to you. But it’s worth knowing about the myths. The book Mythic Astrology by Liz Greene is a great place to start.
One thing that’s good to know when you’re starting out is that certain of the faster-moving planets can never be more than a certain distance apart from each other. This might sound more like astronomy, but in astrology it gives you more of a sense of a person. So the Sun and Mercury can never be more than 28 degrees apart, and the Sun and Venus can never be more than 48 degrees apart.
This is an increasingly popular form of astrology in which you cast a chart for the moment you ask a question – e.g. ‘Will my house sale go through?’ You then analyse the chart you get using most of the same basic principles employed in natal astrology. It’s a fun subject to study and it can be accurate. However, I prefer Tarot cards and Angel oracles.
I don’t use intercepted houses or signs as I use the Whole Sign System. However, this is when you use another house system (such as Placidus or Koch) and one house is bigger than 30 degrees, so you have two signs in it. So say the 4th house starts with one sign in it, has another entire sign in there as well, and then the beginnings of another sign in there afterwards. So you start with one sign – Libra, say – then you get 30 degrees of Scorpio in there and then Sagittarius starts.
Astrologers disagree on the exact meaning of an intercepted house or sign. One theory is that as Scorpio – in this example – doesn’t rule a house cusp, you are that bit less Scorpionic than the average person. It may be that you need more Scorpionic energy in your life and for that you would look to working out your Mars or Scorpio. It’s also said that where you have an intercepted house or sign in your chart, you should pay special attention to it as it’s a bit ‘special’.
A midpoint is the point between two planets. They are of interest in the following scenarios: if you have a planet on a midpoint between two of your other planets; if someone else has one of their planets on one of your midpoints; if there is a celestial event (i.e. a New Moon or an eclipse or a planet is transiting) on one of your midpoints. Essentially, the combined energies of the planets triggering and being triggered come to the fore. Some astrologers are crazy about the implications of midpoints, others not so much. If you’d like to learn more, the book to read is Reinhold Ebertin’s Combination of Stellar Influences.
This is when one planet is in another planet’s sign and vice versa. For example, if Mars is in Taurus and Venus is in Aries.
You may hear about Saturn Return and other returns once you start to study astrology. This is when a planet returns to where it was on the day you were born. If, say, you were born with Saturn at 18 Aquarius, about 29–30 years after your birth, Saturn will have gone around all the signs (and through all the houses on your chart) and tested you in all those 24 ways (12 sign and 12 houses; Saturn is all about tests). Then Saturn comes back to where he was when you were born.
In the weeks leading up to his return to 18 Aquarius, you are tested further. But you’ve been tested in every part of your life by now – you’re now an astrological grown-up. Moreover, as a result of these tests, you have an idea of what you’re made of, how tough you are, what you can withstand, overcome and hopefully learn from. You know how resilient you are. Once Saturn returns to 18 Aquarius, you get to see what in your life is still standing. It’s often a time when a person separates more from their parents, because Saturn is about being mature. For what it’s worth, I would recommend never marrying anyone until after their first Saturn Return.
A stellium is defined as a group of four, five or more planets all in one sign. It happens more often than you might think. A stellium makes the individual focused on whatever the sign is. So if you have a lot of Aries planets – say your Sun, Moon, Mercury and Venus – then you’re ‘very Aries’ and those planets are called a stellium. For a good introduction to the subject, check out Donna Cunningham’s ebook The Stellium Handbook (skywriter.wordpress.com).
If you go further in your study of astrology, you’ll come across this word. It’s how astrologers describe the study of astrological compatibility. ‘What sort of synastry do you have?’ means ‘How do your planets fit with his or her planets?’
When you’re doing synastry, or compatibility – or looking at how the planets are affecting you now – you’re looking at degrees. So in a compatibility chart, for example, you would compare your chart with someone else’s, and see whose planets conjoin, trine, sextile, square or oppose whose. Your Venus conjoining, trining or sextiling the other person’s Mars (or any other planet) is going to feel much better than his/her Venus, Mars or anything else squaring something in your chart. You need to learn about aspects (see Chapter 8).
This is a very complicated document that’s really beyond the basics of astrology; however, all student astrologers need a table of dignities to hand, so I’ve included an explanation below. You can also visit theastrologybook.com/dignities for a visual representation of the table.
Essentially, the table of dignities is a guide to which planet rules which part of a sign, once it’s broken down into what are called decans. The table of dignities shows which planets rejoice in which sign and which are not so thrilled to be there. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the table of dignities, yet it’s highly regarded by so many people – you can discover what you think of it later. Note that the modern planets aren’t included in this table, as it predates their discovery. Below is a brief guide to decoding the table of dignities.
Column 1 shows the signs of the zodiac.
Column 2 shows which planet rules which sign and when (D and N = day and night). For example, Mars rules Aries in the day and Scorpio at night (if you want to look at this on your chart, you’ll need to know whether you were born in the daytime or at night). Venus rules Taurus, Mercury rules Gemini and so on. The planet is at home – in its ‘house’ – in this sign and feels comfortable.
Column 3 shows which sign each planet is ‘exalted’ in. That means where it feels best, acts best, fulfils its potential. For example, on the first line the Sun is exalted in Leo. Under that, the Moon is exalted in Taurus. Each planet just has one sign where it’s exalted. When the planet is in that sign, it’s as though it’s an honoured guest. The number shows the exact degree of exaltation – when the planet is there it’s extremely strong.*
Column 4 shows the triplicity of the planets: in other words, the planetary rulership of the triplicities. So in the day, for example, the Sun is the triplicity ruler of all the Fire signs. By night it’s Jupiter. When a planet is in its triplicity, that placement really suits it. The sign of a planet’s triplicity is a familiar, relaxed environment. The planet works well here.
Column 5 shows the terms of the planets. Terms are subsections or sub-rulerships of the signs. The nature of a planet in a sign is altered by the planet in whose term it happens to be. As you can see in the first line of the terms on the table, Jupiter rules 0.0 degrees to 5.59 of Aries, Venus rules 6 degrees to 13.59 degrees of Aries, and so on. For another example, look and you’ll see that Jupiter also rules 14 Cancer. When a planet is in its term, it’s slightly strengthened.*
Column 6 shows the degrees where rulership by face transfers, also known as the decans. Faces, or decans, are another way to break down the signs. Most astrologers disregard faces and have done for hundreds of years, yet they persistently show up in tables of dignity! When a planet is in its favoured decan, it’s slightly strengthened* but not totally comfortable.
Column 7 shows the signs where the planets are in so-called detriment. That means the planet does not do well in this sign. I don’t really look at this, as I don’t believe that any planet is ever really in trouble in any sign. There is always a positive. Many other modern astrologers agree with me. However, ancient astrologers used detriments and it’s a concept worth knowing about.
The detriment of a planet is always the sign opposite the sign it rules. For example, Mars, on the first line, rules Aries, the opposite sign to Aries is Libra and the planet associated with Libra is Venus. When a planet is in detriment, it’s at a disadvantage and needs to stick to the rules; it’s vulnerable.
Column 8 shows the signs where the planets’ experience falls. Again, like detriment, this is not a good thing and again, I don’t tend to use it as I’ve never found it terribly accurate; plus, it’s undeniably negative. For the record though, the sign of Fall is the opposite to the sign of a planet’s exaltation. When a planet is in its Fall, it has difficulty in expressing itself properly.
* A note on planetary strength and weakness: the stronger a planet is, the more you’re likely to feel its influence. And if two planets are making an aspect to each other, the stronger one has stronger control over the outcome of the aspect. For example, if the Moon and Saturn are in trine, they work well together, but if the Moon is strongest, that working well together happens on a more emotional level (Moon).