Skip to content
Astral Atlas
Sign-in, reset and navigation labels are translated. Some surrounding features still use English.
Learn

Astrology wiki

Explore wiki concepts, word origins, evidence and their connections to traditions and tools.

Meaning, evidence and context

Concepts A–Z

512 concepts, each with a definition, word origins, a brief epistemology and source links. Hover or focus a dotted term to preview it. Tap once for the preview, then follow the entry.

Explore the Astrology tree →
Subject

21 terms

A
Horary & traditional technique

Accidental dignity →

Also: accidental fortitude

A planet's traditional condition from chart circumstances—such as house category, motion, and solar proximity—rather than its essential zodiacal dignities. The relevant circumstances and their treatment must be named by the method.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin-derived technical phrase.

Accidental means circumstantial rather than inherent here; dignity names rank or standing. The phrase concerns chart conditions beyond essential zodiacal status.

How we know · epistemology
Context-dependent traditional evaluation

House membership, apparent motion, and stated solar separation can be calculated from declared chart conventions. Lilly-style judgments attach traditional testimony to selected circumstances, but no single score, priority order, or automatic yes/no verdict follows from these labels. Essential dignity concerns a planet's zodiacal placement; accidental dignity concerns the circumstances of this chart.

Horary & traditional technique

Angular, succedent, and cadent houses →

Also: angular houses · succedent houses · cadent houses

The traditional grouping of houses 1, 4, 7 and 10 as angular; 2, 5, 8 and 11 as succedent; and 3, 6, 9 and 12 as cadent. In a quadrant system, angular houses begin at the chart angles. The grouping is one circumstance in a horary reading.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
English terms with Latin antecedents.

Angular comes through Latin angularis from angulus, ‘corner’ or ‘angle’. Succedent comes from Latin succedens, the participle of succedere, ‘to follow’ or ‘come next’. Cadent comes from Latin cadens, the participle of cadere, ‘to fall’. These histories explain the positional language, not the origin, validity, or universal interpretation of the astrological house categories.

How we know · epistemology
Chart-relative house classification plus traditional interpretation

Given a stated house system, place, and time, a planet's house membership and its angular, succedent, or cadent category can be reproduced. This is not the same thing as mundane angularity in observational astronomy, which concerns an object's relation to a local horizon or meridian. Lilly-style claims about strength are traditional judgments from this chart circumstance; category membership alone does not establish a result or a universal ranking across schools.

B
Horary & traditional technique

Bound →

Also: astrological bound · astrological bounds · terms (astrology)

In traditional astrology, one of the unequal degree-ranges within a zodiac sign whose assigned ruler is determined by the selected bounds (terms) table.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Bound in the sense of a limit comes through Middle English and early French bodne, from Latin bodina. The alternative technical word term is associated with Latin terminus, boundary.

These are distinct word histories for two labels used in astrology. Their shared boundary sense does not establish the date or route by which a particular dignity table acquired either technical name.

How we know · epistemology
Historical table-based classification

A bound ruler is a result of placing an unrounded zodiacal degree in a named table's interval. Historical tables differ, so the interval convention and source must accompany the result; the label is not a measured property of a planet or evidence for a personal outcome.

C
Horary & traditional technique

Cazimi →

A traditional label for a planet in exceptionally close conjunction with the Sun, treated in some Western sources as distinct from combustion. Its exact criterion must be named by the method.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
A medieval astrological loanword transmitted through Latin from Arabic.

Astrodienst’s reference glossary identifies cazimi as a Latin transliteration of Arabic kaṣmīmī and gives the gloss ‘as if in the heart’. Its account also relates the Arabic term to Greek egkardios. This is a glossary’s historical account, not an independently established full transmission history; spelling and transliteration vary, so the entry should not claim a single settled form beyond that qualified account.

How we know · epistemology
Solar-proximity classification in a named traditional rule

A calculation can report the chosen Sun-planet separation. Whether that separation is called cazimi, whether it is exempted from combustion, and what it signifies are school-specific interpretive rules. Longitude proximity is not a direct test of optical visibility, physical distance, or a planet's causal power.

Horary & traditional technique

Collection of light →

Two significators apply to a third planet; in Lilly's description, the heavier collecting planet and reception conditions can connect their affairs.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Historical phrase using a gathering metaphor.

Collection comes from colligere, gather together. The phrase describes a planet gathering the light or testimony of other significators.

How we know · epistemology
Traditional convergence of aspects

Two significators must apply to a collecting planet under the chosen rules, including any speed and reception conditions. Shared contacts in a chart are not enough to establish collection, and the pattern cannot prove that a third party will help.

Horary & traditional technique

Combustion (astrological) →

A traditional condition in which a planet is judged to be too near the Sun under a named rule, commonly distinguished from an exceptionally close cazimi conjunction and from the wider area called under the beams.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Middle English combustioun, through Anglo-French and Late Latin combustio, from comburere, to burn up.

The noun records a burning metaphor. Its astrological use does not imply that a planet is physically consumed or establish the validity of a solar-proximity interpretation.

How we know · epistemology
Solar-proximity classification in a traditional method

The observable input is a Sun-planet separation in a declared coordinate convention. A method must also declare its boundaries and any cazimi exception before assigning combustion. The traditional reading of impairment is interpretive; it does not report that the body is physically burning, invisible in every observational circumstance, or unable to produce an outcome.

D
Horary & traditional technique

Detriment →

Also: in detriment

A traditional debility assigned when a planet occupies a sign opposite one of its domiciles; Venus in Aries is an example in Lilly’s table.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin through French.

Detrimentum meant loss or damage, from a verb meaning wear away. The traditional classification adopts that diminished-standing vocabulary.

How we know · epistemology
Opposition within a rulership scheme

Opposition to an assigned domicile determines this label, not a physical injury to the planet. Its interpretation describes conventional testimony rather than proving harm, incompetence or a failed outcome.

Horary & traditional technique

Domicile →

Also: domicile rulership · in domicile

A zodiac sign traditionally assigned to a planet as its own domain; a planet is in domicile when it occupies one of those signs.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin through French.

Domicilium means dwelling place or home. Astrology adopts the home metaphor for a planet's own sign.

How we know · epistemology
Traditional sign-rulership convention

This sign-rulership convention differs from numbered house placement. Lilly counts it as essential dignity, but favorable testimony within a tradition does not demonstrate a successful real-world outcome.

E
Horary & traditional technique

Essential dignity →

A planet’s traditional condition by zodiacal position, assessed with a named table of domicile, exaltation, triplicity, bounds (terms), and faces and, where applicable, its day/night rule.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin-derived technical phrase.

Dignity comes from dignitas, worth or rank; essential identifies status inherent to a body's zodiacal placement.

How we know · epistemology
Historical evaluative convention

Specified tables assign dignity from zodiacal position. Alternative tables can produce different scores, so the source matters; these scores describe traditional suitability or standing, not measured force, moral worth or a person's intrinsic value.

Horary & traditional technique

Exaltation →

Also: in exaltation

A traditional essential dignity assigned to a planet in a particular sign. Lilly applies it throughout that sign, not only at the listed degree of exaltation.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin-derived noun.

From exaltare, to lift high, with altus, high. The traditional dignity name uses a metaphor of elevation.

How we know · epistemology
Historical dignity assignment

The designation expresses an inherited evaluative rule, not physical height above the horizon. Its symbolic status cannot establish superior character or override the other conditions in a chart.

F
Horary & traditional technique

Face (astrological) →

Also: faces · decanal face · decanal faces

A traditional ten-degree division of a zodiac sign used as a minor essential dignity in a specified astrological table; it is also called a decan in this zodiacal sense.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin facies, ‘form, appearance, or face.’

The Latin lexical sense supports the English word's ancestry. The supplied sources do not establish a complete transmission history from facies to this astrological technical sense, so that history is left open.

How we know · epistemology
Historical zodiacal subdivision and rulership convention

Within this use, a face follows a declared ten-degree zodiac partition and table. It is not the ordinary word for a human face, and it is not automatically the Egyptian stellar-decan system; shared names do not make their sources, stars, or interpretations interchangeable.

P
Horary & traditional technique

Peregrine →

Also: peregrine planet · peregrine planets

A planet with none of the five essential dignities at its position: domicile, exaltation, triplicity, term or face, under the selected tables and day/night rules.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin through French.

Peregrinus means foreign or from abroad. A planet without essential dignity is described through the metaphor of a stranger away from home.

How we know · epistemology
Absence of assigned essential dignity

This condition requires checking all five essential dignities under the selected table, including the applicable day/night rule for triplicity. Absence of domicile or exaltation alone cannot prove peregrine; the historical category is not evidence of dishonesty, social exclusion, or a person’s worth.

Horary & traditional technique

Perfection →

Also: perfecting an aspect

Exact completion of an aspect; in horary judgement, also the inferred fulfilment of the matter through specified testimonies. Distinguish the two uses.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin through French.

From perfectio, completion. Horary uses the completion sense for a contact or arrangement bringing the judgment to fulfillment.

How we know · epistemology
Geometric event and horary judgment

An exact aspect is a calculable event, whereas fulfillment of a question is an interpretive conclusion. Applying motion must be followed through intervening changes; present proximity alone establishes neither future exactness nor the real-world outcome.

Horary & traditional technique

Planetary fall →

Also: in fall

A traditional debility assigned in the sign opposite a planet’s exaltation sign; it is distinct from detriment, which is opposite domicile.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Ordinary English word used as a status metaphor.

Fall supplies the downward counterpart to exaltation's elevation. Planetary specifies whose traditional dignity status is being described.

How we know · epistemology
Opposition within an exaltation scheme

The condition follows a zodiacal table rather than a body’s downward motion or the autumn season. Its name does not establish moral failure or make an adverse judgment inevitable.

Horary & traditional technique

Planetary moiety →

Also: planetary moieties

Half of a planet’s adopted orb. In a pairwise moiety calculation, the two halves are added to set the tolerated deviation from an exact aspect.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
French through Middle English, with Latin roots.

Moiety means a half or portion, from Latin medietas. The aspect rule uses a half-share of a planet's orb.

How we know · epistemology
Traditional angular tolerance convention

The arithmetic is reproducible once the orb table is declared. Lilly records alternative values; the resulting tolerance is a traditional selection rule rather than a measured radius of influence.

Q
Horary & traditional technique

Querent →

The person asking a horary question, usually represented by the first house and its ruler.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin participle adapted as an English noun.

From quaerens, asking or seeking. The word names the person who asks the horary question.

How we know · epistemology
Horary role assignment

The question establishes who the querent is, and a traditional rule usually assigns the first house and its ruler. That role depends on the consultation context; it should not be inferred from an unrelated saved birth profile.

Horary & traditional technique

Quesited →

The person, object or matter asked about; its relevant house helps determine its significator.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin participle adapted into English.

From quaesitus, sought or asked for, plus English -ed. It names the subject being inquired about.

How we know · epistemology
Contextual house assignment

The matter being asked about determines its relevant house under the adopted horary rules. Different interpretations of the question can change the assignment, so the chosen topic and reasoning should be explicit before judging the planets.

R
Horary & traditional technique

Reception →

A traditional relationship in which a planet occupies another planet's dignity; state who receives whom and whether the method additionally requires an aspect.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin through French.

From receptio, a receiving. Astrology applies the receiving or hosting metaphor to a planet in another planet's dignity.

How we know · epistemology
Directional traditional relationship

The dignity holder receives the occupying planet under the selected rule. Mutual reception requires both directions; whether an aspect is additionally required, and how it contributes to perfection of a matter, are separate method questions. A positional hosting label alone cannot establish cooperation, contact, or completion.

S
Horary & traditional technique

Significator →

A planet assigned to represent a person or matter in an astrological judgement; the assignment depends on context and method.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Late Latin agent noun.

Significator means one that signifies or indicates, from the significare word family. A chart factor is assigned that representative role.

How we know · epistemology
Declared representational rule

A planet stands for a person or matter because the method assigns it that role. The same planet can signify different things in different questions; its identity alone is insufficient evidence for a personal claim.

T
Horary & traditional technique

Translation of light →

A faster planet separates from one significator and applies to another, creating a connection whose interpretation depends on the selected traditional conditions.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Historical phrase using a carrying metaphor.

Translation derives from transferre, carry across. A planet figuratively carries light or testimony from one significator to another.

How we know · epistemology
Traditional sequence of aspects

The proposed link requires a faster planet to separate from one contact and apply to another under the adopted conditions. A static pair of aspects is insufficient; even a qualifying sequence supplies traditional testimony rather than proof of mediation.

U
Horary & traditional technique

Under the beams →

A traditional label for a planet within a stated vicinity of the Sun. Some methods separately identify combustion and cazimi within that wider vicinity; the Atlas ledger displays mutually exclusive categories under its named rule.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
English descriptive phrase; beam is an Old English and Germanic word whose light-ray sense developed in Old English.

The phrase uses beam in its light-ray sense. The retrieved sources trace beam to Old English beam, ‘tree, beam’, with a cognate Old High German boum, and report that the ray-of-light sense developed in Old English. The deeper origin is uncertain in the cited etymological account. This word history does not set an astrological solar-proximity boundary.

How we know · epistemology
Solar-proximity classification with source-dependent boundaries

This label can be calculated only after the source's solar-proximity range and priority between nearby categories are stated. It is a chart rule based on a coordinate separation. It should not be read as an observational visibility report: visibility also depends on sky brightness, altitude, atmosphere, magnitude, and observer conditions.