Tropical Astrology
Plain, everyday explanations for the astrology terms you keep running into.
What is the anaretic degree?
The anaretic degree is the last degree of any sign, 29 degrees. Where the term really comes from, why birth time matters there, and how to read it calmly.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat are annual profections?
Annual profections move one whole sign per year of life. Your age gives the house in focus, its ruler becomes the lord of the year. A theme, not a forecast.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat are the Arabic parts?
The Arabic parts are Hellenistic lots, not Arabic inventions. How the Ascendant plus A minus B formula works, why sect reverses it and why birth time matters.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the Ascendant?
The Ascendant is the degree rising over the eastern horizon at birth. It opens house 1 and moves about 1 degree every 4 minutes. Explained by Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is an aspect?
An aspect is the angular distance between two planets, 0, 60, 90, 120 or 180 degrees. What each one means and what an orb is, explained with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is astrocartography?
Astrocartography projects the planets of your natal chart onto the world map. See which city switches on which planetary line, calculated in Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a birth chart?
A birth chart is not your Sun sign. Date, time and place together produce planets, houses and aspects. Learn what the calculation really is with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat a blue moon really is
A blue moon is the second full Moon in a calendar month, or the third of four in a season. Where the two definitions come from and why the Moon is not blue.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is cazimi?
Cazimi puts a planet within seventeen minutes of the Sun. Why that number is the Sun's own radius, how often it happens, and what the tradition read in it.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is Ceres in astrology?
Ceres was found in 1801, lost in the Sun's glare, then recovered by Gauss. What the dwarf planet is read for and how much weight the point can carry.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the chart ruler?
The chart ruler is the planet that governs your rising sign. Its ancient origin, the classical versus modern split, and how it colours a chart in Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the Chiron return?
The Chiron return arrives near age 50, when Chiron finishes its 50.4 year orbit. Why the window can stay open for months, and where it sits at midlife.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is Chiron?
Chiron orbits between Saturn and Uranus and stands for the wounded healer. Its return arrives near age 50. Find yours in your chart with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat does combust mean in astrology?
A planet within about eight degrees of the Sun is combust. Where the burning image came from, which planets it happens to, and how the old verdict reads now.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a composite chart?
A composite chart takes the midpoint of every pair of positions in two charts. How it works, how it differs from synastry, and where the arithmetic bites.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a conjunction?
A conjunction is two planets at the same degree, 0° apart. Why it is the strongest major aspect and how the orb changes it, explained with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a cusp in astrology?
A cusp is the line where a house begins, and also the belief in being born between two signs. One is a measurement, the other fails the arithmetic.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a Davison chart?
A Davison chart averages two birth moments in time and place, then casts a real chart for that instant. How it works and where it differs from a composite.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a decan?
Every zodiac sign splits into three decans of ten degrees. Where the thirty six decans came from, the two rulership systems, and what they add to a chart.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the Descendant (DC)?
The Descendant is the setting degree, exactly opposite the Ascendant, and in quadrant systems the seventh house opens there. What the DC axis really shows.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a dispositor?
A dispositor is the ruler of the sign a planet occupies. How the chain is built, what a final dispositor is, and why it is not the same as the chart ruler.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a draconic chart?
A draconic chart re-measures your birth chart with the North Node at zero Aries. What the shift changes, what it leaves untouched, and how it is read.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is an eclipse in astrology?
An eclipse is a New or Full Moon near the lunar nodes, moving faster than a normal lunation. See when it happens and why it feels different, in Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is electional astrology?
Electional astrology picks a start time for something already decided. The classical rules, the order an astrologer works in, and what an election cannot do.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat are the elements and modalities?
Fire, earth, air and water set the temperament. Cardinal, fixed and mutable set the style of action. The two axes behind the twelve signs, with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat are fixed stars in astrology?
Fixed stars sit outside the zodiac signs and drift about one degree every seventy two years. Regulus, Spica and Algol, the one degree orb, and how to read them.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a Full Moon?
A Full Moon is the 180 degree opposition between Sun and Moon. Culmination, closure and emotional visibility once a month, explained by Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a grand cross?
Four planets at right angles, all in one modality, with no empty corner. How a grand cross differs from a T-square and what the April 2014 version taught.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a grand trine?
Three planets 120 degrees apart closing one triangle, almost always in a single element. What a grand trine tends to give, what a kite adds, how orb decides.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is horary astrology?
Horary astrology judges one question from the chart of the moment it was asked. Significators, translation of light, and the strictures before judgment.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat are house systems?
Placidus, Whole Sign, Koch and Equal Houses produce different cusps. How house systems differ and when each one gets chosen, explained with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the Imum Coeli (IC)?
The IC is where the ecliptic crosses the lower meridian, opposite the Midheaven. Why it is not the nadir and what the base of the chart actually describes.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat are intercepted signs?
An intercepted sign sits inside a house with neither boundary on a cusp. Why latitude and the house system decide it, and what the reading can honestly claim.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is Juno in astrology?
Juno is a main belt asteroid discovered in 1804 and read for commitment style. Where its astrological use came from and how much weight the point can carry.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the Jupiter return?
Jupiter needs 11.86 years to circle the zodiac, so the return lands near ages 12, 24, 36 and 47. What the cycle marks and what it does not promise.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a kite pattern?
A kite is a grand trine plus a planet opposite one corner. Six aspects have to hold at once, and the tail always lands in the complementary element.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is Black Moon Lilith?
Black Moon Lilith is the Moon's calculated apogee, not a physical body. It maps suppressed desire and autonomy. Explore your Lilith with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat are the lunar nodes?
The North Node and South Node form the karmic axis of your chart. Not planets, but calculated points on an 18.6-year cycle. Read yours with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat a lunar return chart shows
A lunar return chart is cast when the transiting Moon hits its natal degree, about every 27.3 days. How to read one and where its limits sit honestly.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat a lunation is and how to read one
A lunation is one full cycle from new Moon to new Moon, or the new Moon itself. How the 29.53 day figure works and how to read a lunation in your chart.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is Mars retrograde?
Mars turns retrograde roughly every 26 months and holds it 60 to 80 days, always around its opposition to the Sun. What that means natally and by transit.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is Mercury retrograde?
Mercury retrograde is an optical effect, not a real reversal. It runs 3 to 4 times a year for about 3 weeks. Communication, tech and travel, with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the Midheaven (MC)?
The MC is the highest point of the meridian at birth, and in most systems the tenth house begins there. Career, reputation and direction, with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat are midpoints?
A midpoint is the degree halfway between two planets. The Hamburg School method, why only hard aspects count, and the counting problem that makes orb decisive.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat the eight Moon phases mean
The eight Moon phases run from new to waning crescent across 29.53 days. What the geometry is, how long each stage lasts and how astrologers read them.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is mutual reception?
Mutual reception is two planets each sitting in a sign the other rules. What the older sources meant by reception, and why the swap idea is worth questioning.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a New Moon?
A New Moon is the exact 0° conjunction of Sun and Moon, the zero point of a 29.5 day cycle. The sign and house set the theme. See yours in Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the North Node?
The North Node marks where the Moon crosses the ecliptic heading north. A calculated point on an 18.6 year cycle, read as unpracticed ground in a chart.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is an opposition?
An opposition is 180° between two planets, tension looking for balance. How it differs from a square and which sign axis it activates, with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is an orb in astrology?
An orb is the margin allowed around an exact aspect. Where the number came from, why modern tables disagree, and how to pick one that keeps a chart readable.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is an out of bounds planet?
A body past 23 degrees 26 minutes of declination is out of bounds. Where the line comes from, why the Sun never crosses it, and the Moon's 18.6 year rhythm.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is Pallas in astrology?
Pallas was found in 1802 and travels on the steepest orbit of the large asteroids. What the point is read for in a chart and what it cannot measure.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the Part of Eros?
The Part of Eros is a Hellenistic lot built from Venus and the Part of Spirit. How the day and night formulas run, and the claims the point cannot support.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the Part of Fortune?
Part of Fortune, Ascendant plus Moon minus Sun by day and Ascendant plus Sun minus Moon by night. What the tradition read in it and what it never promised.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the Part of Marriage?
The Part of Marriage has no single agreed formula. One common version, why the sources disagree with each other, and why it says nothing about a wedding date.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the Part of Spirit?
The Part of Spirit mirrors the Part of Fortune, Ascendant plus Sun minus Moon by day. What the older tradition read in it, and how the two lots work together.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the progressed Moon?
The progressed Moon moves about one degree a month of life and takes roughly 27 years to circle the chart. What its sign, house and phase actually describe.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat are progressions?
Secondary progressions age the natal chart on a day-for-a-year scale. The progressed Moon changes sign every 2.5 years. Explore yours with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a quincunx?
A quincunx joins two planets 150 degrees apart, sharing no element, modality or polarity. Why the tradition called it aversion and how modern practice reads it.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is rectification?
Rectification narrows down an uncertain birth time by testing life events against the chart. Ascendant, solar arc and how the process works, with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the retrograde shadow period?
The retrograde shadow is the band of degrees a planet crosses three times. How the pre and post shadow are set by the two station degrees, with Mercury.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat does retrograde mean?
Retrograde is the geocentric illusion of a planet moving backwards. No planet ever truly reverses its orbit. See what is retrograde today in Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a Saturn return?
Saturn comes back to its natal degree roughly every 29.5 years, near ages 28 to 30 and 57 to 60. What the transit asks, and how to read it calmly.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a semi-square?
The semi-square is the 45 degree angle, half of a square. Where Kepler found it, why the Hamburg dial made it central, and how tight the orb has to stay.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a semisextile?
The semisextile is the 30 degree aspect, two planets one sign apart. Why the old tradition left it out, what the phase model made of it, and what orb to use.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a sesquiquadrate?
The sesquiquadrate is the 135 degree angle, one and a half squares. Its four names, its place in the eighth harmonic, and where it falls in a transit cycle.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a sextile?
A sextile is 60° of opportunity between two planets, and it never flows on its own. How it differs from a trine and how to use it, with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is solar arc direction?
Solar arc direction moves the entire natal chart about 1 degree per year, at the Sun's own pace. That is how the timing of a year gets read with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a solar return?
A solar return chart is cast when the Sun comes back to its natal degree each year. Ascendant, aspects and city all matter. Read yours with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the South Node?
The South Node sits exactly opposite the North Node and marks the skills that fire without effort. How to read it by sign, house and planetary contact.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a square in astrology?
A square is 90° of friction between two planets that share a modality but not an element. Why it pushes you to act and how to find one, with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a stellium?
A stellium is three or more planets gathered in one sign or house. Learn how to read it and when the concentration helps or unbalances the whole chart.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat a supermoon actually is
A supermoon is a full or new Moon near perigee, a term coined in 1979. The real distances, the 14 percent size difference and the claims that do not hold.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is synastry?
Synastry overlays two birth charts to read the dynamic between two people. Venus-Mars, Sun-Moon and why a single compatibility score misses the point.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a T-square?
Two planets in opposition, both square a third. How the apex planet carries the load, what the empty leg means and why the modality changes the whole reading.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a transit?
A transit is an angle a currently moving planet makes to a fixed point in your birth chart. Slow versus fast planets, orb and house, explained by Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a trine?
A trine is 120° of harmony between two planets of the same element. Where natural talent comes from and when that ease turns into idleness, with Moon Shine AI.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is an unaspected planet?
An unaspected planet makes no major aspect to any other planet within the orbs in use. Why the label depends on your settings and how to read one honestly.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is Venus retrograde?
Venus turns retrograde about every 18 months for roughly 40 days, and the pattern repeats near the same degrees every eight years. Natal and transit reading.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is the Vertex?
The Vertex is where the prime vertical meets the ecliptic in the western sky. How it is calculated, why it needs an exact birth time, and how to read it.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is Vesta in astrology?
Vesta is the brightest asteroid, found in 1807 and named by Gauss. What the point is read for in a chart, and which popular claim about it is modern.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a void of course Moon?
A void of course Moon makes no more major aspects before it changes sign. Where the horary rule came from, how long it lasts and what it does not mean.
Read the term → Tropical AstrologyWhat is a yod?
A sextile at the base, two quincunxes meeting at an apex. How a yod is built, why the apex sign shares nothing with the base and why orb decides everything.
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