Astrology cheatsheet

Last updated January 16, 2022

Misc

List of Signs

♈︎ Aries
♉︎ Taurus
♊︎ Gemini
♋︎ Cancer
♌︎ Leo
♍︎ Virgo
♎︎ Libra
♏︎ Scorpio
♐︎ Sagittarius
♑︎ Capricorn
♒︎ Aquarius
♓︎ Pisces

Houses vs Planets vs Signs

§ “ What is the difference between planets, signs and houses in astrology?” Quora.

Planets represent the subconscious faculties that process information within our person.

Houses indicate physical attributes, physical entities and fields of action within space and time.

Signs indicate how planets/houses express themselves within time. (????????)

For example, the Moon, Cancer, and the 4th house have the same signature yet operate on different planes of existence.

The moon represents the soul, how a person inputs information and experiences itself: memorizes the simulcra of actions, feelings, passions, sensual inputs, and thoughts which stirs the psyche/emotional state. This gives indication to the person’s moods, reflexes, reactions, self-image, and nurturing needs.

Cancer represents the expressions of the soul/moon: nurturing, reflecting, yielding, devoting, securing, domesticating, housing, emoting, familiarizing, etc.

The 4th house represents the physical nurturing parent, the physical family, home life, lineage, long-term property, and objective locale of supreme happiness

§ Athen Chimenti. “ How to Read a Birth Chart.. in Minutes!.” YouTube.

The Houses represent the sky at the time of birth. Specifically, the ecliptic, or the path of the planets. (???)

They form the skeletal structure of the chart—always in the same place every time.

Houses = areas of the sky ~= areas of your life.
Signs = characteristics of the sky ~= characteristics of life.
Planets ~= experiences of life.

The houses show which areas of our life are prominent for us. The signs, which characteristics are important.

My take:

Houses ~= areas of life. Like birth, socialising, career, legacy.
Planets ~= subconscious entities within you. They interact with each other. Further out planets are deeper inner parts of you.
Signs ~= styles with which planets approach houses. E.g., nurturing, confrontational, etc.

Meaning of Sun, Moon, Rising

The Sun, Moon, and Rising are the most important “planets” in your system.

@saadalsvvd’s take:

Sun/Moon/Rising are the literal locations of the Sun, Moon, and the degree of the Sign that was on the (Eastern) horizon at the time of your birth
Sun = fundamental mission/identity/archetype you embody throughout life which sometimes carries strong personality indicators but depends on if the Sun/Moon match
Moon = the emotional self, the nature of the mind, safety/comfort/survival needs
Rising = unconscious projection/way of being that others often identify us as because it’s what we put out into the world without realizing it, but also colors/guides the rest of the personality as a core modality of operation by its sign

Someone else said:

sun: how you are perceived, how the world sees you moon: how you perceive yourself, what your lived experience is like rising: how you socially present yourself, how your body interacts with the world

So kind of the same thing, though not entirely. I like @saadalsvvd’s framing more.

My take:

Rising/Ascendant ~= what you unconsciously project, how your first impressions are perceived.
Moon ~= emotional, inner self; safety needs.
Sun ~= fundamental mission, archetype.

Structure of the Houses

@thinkagainer was explaining in NYC:

Only by looking at more ancient astrological texts that explained how to come up with the houses in the first place did he understand:
The houses were divided into quarters. Portions of our lives.
Something about entering the world, becoming social beings, etc.
First one in each was birth or something, second maturation, third one losing it or something.

Structure of the Signs

Polarities

Polarities are positive or negative.

+ve ~= masculine, yang.
-ve ~= feminine, yin.

The signs alternate between positive and negative, odd and even:

+ve = Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius
-ve = Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, and Pisces

The connection to the elements makes me think that negative is a bit like Negative space or Pull energy, in the context of feminine. It pulls. Positive is more pushing.

Elements

Astrology features the famous Four Elements.

Fire is assertion, drive, willpower.
Air is communication, socialisation, conceptualisation.
Earth is practicality, caution, material world.
Water is emotion, empathy, sensitivity.

The elements can be positive or negative.

I think of it in terms of push and pull.

Push = Fire & Air
Pull = Earth & Water

Another way to think about this is that the elements are grouped into the polarities.

Thus, the elements and polarities are on the same axis, so to speak.

Though it’s still best to internalise the elements and the polarities separately. They’re two different categories that happen to correspond.

Modalities

There are also the modalities:

Cardinal ~= Action, dynamic, initiative, great force
Fixed ~= Resistance to change, great willpower, inflexible
Mutable ~= Adaptability, flexibility, resourcefulness
Cardinal is the value of orienting around oneself. Will create pro-social environments or containers.
Fixed is the value of holding your own. Will tear down structures, or resist psy-ops.
Mutable is the value of travelling and creating. Will travel and show you the world.

Elements x Modalities

Together with the elements, the modalities x elements form a 4 x 3 grid that unveil the signs.

Notice that the order of the modalities for each elements as you go through the signs is:

1
2
3
4
 Fire: CFM
Earth:  FMC 
  Air:   MCF
Water:    CFM

You can just read off the signs.

Aries is Fire cardinal.
Taurus is Earth fixed.
. . . and so on.

Just travel down the leftmost column, then the second-leftmost column and so on.

The order of the signs emerges when you consider the canonical order of the modalities as CFM, and the canonical order of the elements as Fire, Earth, Air, Water.

You can start with any sign; just rotate things over. To start with Taurus, the second sign, rotate the elements one over and the modalities one over to Earth, Air, Water, Fire and FMC. Or just rotate the elements to start Earth cardinal (Capricorn) instead (-3 to sign), or just the modalities to start with Fire fixed (Leo) instead (+4 to sign).

Thus, the order is greatly important for consistency. CFM↫, not CMF↫, and FEAW, not another way. You could make it any way you want (as long as the push elements are separated), but you’d just have to reorder all the signs.

Questions:

==Is there any significance to the orders being CFM↫ and not CMF↫, or could we make the structure work with CMF↫?==
==Is there a reason Aries is the canonical first sign, or could we as easily pick any other sign?==

Meaning of Individual Signs

§ “ What is a brief description of the zodiac signs?.” Quora.

Aries: Fire cardinal. Represented by the Ram. Aries is reactive, energetic, and enthusiastic. Bold and passionate, They do not let their voices get drowned. Their heart is fiery and they are often brilliant leaders, leading with determination.
Taurus: Earth fixed. Represented by the Bull. Down-to-earth, strong-willed, gentle. Taurus can be very stubborn when they want to be. Likes comfort and material stability. Does not like to be rushed into making choices or actions.
Gemini: Air mutable. Represented by the Twins. Gemini is imaginative, lighthearted, and often silly. Their attitudes and ideas can shift quickly, making them appear indecisive or flighty. Curious folks who has a need to satisfy the mind.
Cancer: Water cardinal. Represented by the Crab. Sensitive, emotional, and nurturing. Cancer is a protective sign. Known to be loyal to who they love, Cancers are intuitive and personal. They can be defensive and moody at times.
Leo: Fire fixed. Represented by the Lion. Leo is vibrant, bold, and entertaining. They are often very dramatic, expressive, and loves attention. Commonly stereotyped to be attention-seeking and egoistical, but Leo has a great big heart.
Virgo: Earth mutable. Represented by the Maiden. Virgo is reserved, observant, and detail-oriented. Organized and can be seen as nit-picky or fussy by others. They are patiently adaptive and is levelheaded. Sensitive to external environment.
Libra: Air cardinal. Represented by the Scale. Libra appears peaceful, gentle, and fair. They are artful folks who are attracted to aesthetics and beauty. Libra is sociable and active. Diplomatic and does not like conflict, but they are often great leaders.
Scorpio: Water fixed. Represented by the Scorpion. Scorpios are intense, dedicated, and fixative. Closed off and watchful at first, but in comfort they are loving, committed, and selfless. Scorpio can be vengeful and grudge-holding if betrayed.
Sagittarius: Fire mutable. Represented by the Archer. Sagittarius is free-spirited, adventurous, and honest. They are known for their biting honesty and their bluntness. Wise and open-minded, Sagittarius are young at heart and born travelers.
Capricorn: Earth cardinal. Represented by the Sea-Goat. Capricorn is steady, goal-oriented, and ambitious. They are competent and always “has their eye on the prize.” Capricorns are patient, wise, and can be uptight in their desire to reach their goals.
Aquarius: Air fixed. Represented by the Water Bearer. Aquarius is unique, individualistic, active, and enigmatic. They are trailblazers and free thinkers; highly values freedom and intellect. Has an air of rebellion to them.
Pisces: Water mutable. Represented by the Fish. Pisces are dreamy, emotional, and imaginative. They live in their heads as daydreaming and idealistic folks. Often artistic and romantic. Pisces are intuitive and deep, philosophical thinkers.

Anatomy of a Circular Chart

§ Jo Gleason. “ HOW TO READ AN ASTROLOGY CHART.” YouTube.

PRELUDE

We’re using astro.com to make our charts. Astro Café gives wrong calculations sometimes.

SIGNS
- The signs are always on the outside, 30º each.
- They run counter-clockwise. They always starts with Aries, although where on the chart they start may be different.
- The charts are made so the far left sign is the person’s “rising” sign. It’s whichever sign contains the “Ascendant.” We’ll get to what the Ascendant is in a minute.
- These are the signs:

HOUSES
- The houses are numbered 1st–12th.
- The pie slices demarcate these unevenly divided houses.
- The houses depend on the latitudes from which the chart was cast.
- Different ways to cast the houses. Don’t worry about these different systems.
- Opposite houses are always 180º apart. You can see their degrees in the bottom-left:
HOUSE CUSPS
- The lines between the houses are house cusps.
- Some of the cusps are special. 1st house is AC, or Ascendent. 7th house is DC, or Descendant. The 10th is the MC, or mid-heaven. The 4th house is the IC.
- They are the pivot points. Pretty important which sides planets are on.
- The AC is where planets rise over the Eastern horizon. The MC is where they culminate overhead and are the highest they can be. The DC is where they set below the Western horizon. The IC s the furthest down below us they can be.
- There’s the AC-DC axis, which always goes horizontal. And the MC-IC axis, somewhere for top to somewhere from the bottom.
PLANETS
- The glyphs inside the sectors are planets.
- Not all of them are planets, but they are some important heavenly body.
- Each planet is in a particular sign and a particular house, that may not have to do with each other. The sign is the 30º sector, and the house is the little inside pie slice it’s in.
- The planet placements are indicated below.
- E.g., Mars is in the 10th house, because houses are always number 1–12 counter-clockwise from the far left.
- There’s the 5º house cusp rule, which means a planet close neough gets considered in the next one.
- Planets can be in the same house, and different sign, or the same sign, and different house. Houses can end up being super wide too, including a whole sign and then some.
ASPECTS
- The mess of lines in the middle are aspects, and they indicate how the planets interact.
- The blue ones are soft, or harmonious aspects. The red lines indicate hard aspects, like squares or oppositions. The green or black ones are minor aspects.
- Some of the lines come together and make geometric shapes. They look super important, though they end up not being tbh.
- The aspects grid tells you if plants have an aspect. Like a square mean they’re in square aspect.
- Here’s a legend:
ELEMENTS AND MODES
- The elements are Fire, Air, Earth, Water, and the modalities are Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable.
- People might say, “He has a lot of fire in his chart.”
- It’s a fun feature, but not super important like the wheel itself.
OTHER HOUSE SYSTEMS
- § Athen Chimenti. “ How to Read a Birth Chart.. in Minutes!.” YouTube.
- His system is the sidereal system, which divides into equal houses.
- The leftmost is the Eastern horizon, or what’s rising. The AC, or ASC.
- The MC is above.

How to approach a Chart