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Astral Atlas
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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.

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Subject

9 terms

B
Zodiac & chart foundations

Benefic →

A traditional label, especially for Venus and Jupiter, describing an interpretive tendency rather than guaranteed good events.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin borrowing.

Latin beneficus combines bene, well, with facere, to do. The traditional label describes doing good or bringing benefit.

How we know · epistemology
Historical interpretive category

Classical texts assign favorable tendencies to certain planets within a larger judgment. The designation is conditional and symbolic; it is not evidence that a placement guarantees a beneficial outcome.

C
Zodiac & chart foundations

Cardinal signs →

Also: cardinal

Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn; a traditional grouping associated with seasonal turning points in the tropical zodiac.

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

Cardinal derives from cardo, hinge, then principal or pivotal. The seasonal turning points explain its astrological application.

How we know · epistemology
Traditional classification

The grouping follows the tropical seasonal turning points in the classical scheme. Applying its symbolism to initiative is an interpretive analogy, not a direct observation of the person being described.

F
Zodiac & chart foundations

Fixed signs →

Also: fixed modality

Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius; one of astrology’s three four-sign groupings.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Descriptive English classification.

Fixed means established or held in place. The classification uses this steadiness metaphor for Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius.

How we know · epistemology
Traditional classification

Classical texts document this four-sign grouping. The label describes a place within an astrological scheme; it does not show that people assigned these signs resist change.

M
Zodiac & chart foundations

Malefic →

A traditional label, especially for Mars and Saturn, describing an interpretive tendency rather than guaranteed harm.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Latin borrowing.

Latin maleficus combines male, badly, with a form of facere, to do. The traditional label describes a harmful influence.

How we know · epistemology
Historical interpretive category

Classical texts use this category for demanding or adverse tendencies within context. It is not an observed harmful force, a moral description of a person, or a prediction of inevitable injury.

Zodiac & chart foundations

Mutable signs →

Also: mutable · common signs

Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces; the traditional group between fixed signs and the next seasonal turning point.

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

Mutable comes from Latin mutabilis, changeable, from mutare, to change; the name supplies the classification's changeability metaphor.

How we know · epistemology
Traditional classification

The grouping is inherited from zodiacal classification rules. Its association with changeability is symbolic, and should not be mistaken for a measured behavioral category.

S
Zodiac & chart foundations

Sect →

A traditional distinction between day and night charts and the planetary groups associated with each.

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

Latin secta meant a following or school. Astrological sect applies the grouping idea to day and night planetary affiliations.

How we know · epistemology
Historical rule with a geometric input

Day or night can be established from a declared solar-horizon rule. The planetary teams and their favorable conditions are traditional interpretations layered onto that astronomical distinction.

T
Zodiac & chart foundations

Triplicity →

Also: elemental triplicity

A grouping of three zodiac signs associated with fire, earth, air or water; rulership tables vary by tradition.

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

From triplicitas, threefoldness. Each elemental triplicity contains three zodiac signs.

How we know · epistemology
Traditional correspondence

Elemental groupings and their rulers are historical interpretive conventions. In Lilly-style use, the triplicity ruler can depend on whether the chart is judged by day or night; use the named table and sect rule rather than treating one ruler list as universal.

Zodiac & chart foundations

Tropical zodiac →

Twelve equal 30° signs beginning at the March equinox, tied to the seasonal reference rather than constellation boundaries.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Classical astronomical terminology.

Tropical is related to the tropics and turning of the Sun; zodiac descends from Greek terminology for the band of figured signs.

How we know · epistemology
Seasonal coordinate convention

The equinox defines the origin of twelve equal sectors. That construction is reproducible; linking a sector to character or events is a further interpretive claim, not a result of the coordinate definition.

Z
Zodiac & chart foundations

Zodiac sign →

Also: sign

One of twelve equal 30° sectors in a specified zodiac; not the same thing as an IAU constellation.

Word origin, evidence & sources
Word origin · etymology
Greek and Latin roots through English.

Zodiac derives from Greek zoidion, a pictured figure or zodiacal sign; sign comes from Latin signum, a mark.

How we know · epistemology
Geometric and symbolic convention

A sign is defined by a sector within a named zodiac, whereas its qualities come from a tradition. Accurate sector assignment does not turn those qualities into measured personality traits.