Astrology, explained

I · Your chart

• Birth chartA map of where the Sun, Moon and planets were, seen from the exact place and minute you were born.
• Big ThreeYour Sun, Moon and rising signs — the three placements that say the most about you.
• Sun signThe sign the Sun was in when you were born. Your core self — and the one horoscopes use.
• Moon signThe sign the Moon was in when you were born: your emotional needs and what makes you feel safe.
• Rising signThe sign coming up over the eastern horizon when you were born. It shapes first impressions.
• AscendantAnother name for your rising sign: the point of the zodiac on the eastern horizon at your birth.
• MidheavenThe highest point of the zodiac at your birth (MC). It speaks to career, ambition and reputation.
• North NodeNot a planet but a point in the Moon's orbit. It points to the growth that feels unfamiliar but right.

II · Signs & houses

• ZodiacThe band of sky the Sun, Moon and planets travel through, divided into twelve 30° signs.
• ElementFire, earth, air or water — four temperaments the twelve signs are grouped into.
• ModalityCardinal, fixed or mutable: whether a sign starts things, sustains them or adapts.
• Ruling planetThe planet that 'looks after' a sign. Your chart ruler is the planet that rules your rising sign.
• CuspThe boundary between two signs or houses. Born on a cusp? Your exact time decides which side you're on.
• HouseOne of twelve slices of the chart, each standing for an area of life — money, home, love, work and so on.
• Whole-sign housesThe oldest way of dividing the chart: each house is exactly one sign, starting from your rising sign.

III · Aspects

• AspectA meaningful angle between two planets. It tells you whether those two parts of you cooperate or clash.
• ConjunctionTwo planets side by side (0°). Their energies blend and amplify each other.
• SextileTwo planets 60° apart. A friendly opening — easy, if you take it.
• SquareTwo planets 90° apart. Friction that pushes you to act.
• TrineTwo planets 120° apart. Natural flow and talent — so easy you may not notice it.
• OppositionTwo planets 180° apart, facing each other. A balancing act between two needs.
• OrbHow close to exact an aspect is. The tighter the orb, the stronger it feels.

IV · The moving sky

• TransitWhere a planet is in the sky today, and the aspects it makes to your birth chart.
• RetrogradeWhen a planet appears to move backwards across the sky. A time to review rather than rush ahead.
• Mercury retrogradeThree or four times a year Mercury seems to go backwards for about three weeks. Double-check plans and messages.
• Moon phaseHow much of the Moon is lit, from new to full and back, over about 29½ days.
• New MoonWhen the Moon sits between Earth and Sun and can't be seen. Traditionally a time to begin things.
• Full MoonWhen the Moon is opposite the Sun and fully lit. A time when things come to a head.
• Solar returnThe moment each year the Sun comes back to its exact birth position — your astrological birthday.
• EphemerisA table of where the planets are on each day. Astrologers have printed them for centuries.