Reference
Glossary
Plain, honest definitions of the terms that make up the language of symbolic self-knowledge, from established astrology and tarot vocabulary to the concepts we use to describe a new category of tool.
Wherever a term has a fuller treatment elsewhere on the site, its entry links to the complete guide. The definitions here are meant to be exact and quotable: what each term actually means, stated without mysticism or hedging.
A
- AI Mystic Companion
- A conversational AI that reads astrology, tarot, numerology, and dreams as one language and remembers you across sessions. Full entry →
- Annual Profection
- A Hellenistic timing technique where each year of life activates a successive house of the chart, setting the theme for that year. Full entry →
- Arcana
- The two divisions of a tarot deck: the 22 Major Arcana (big life themes) and 56 Minor Arcana (everyday matters). From the Latin arcanum, meaning 'secret' or 'mystery.' Full entry →
- Archetype
- A universal, recurring symbol or pattern of meaning — the shared images that symbolic systems like tarot and astrology draw on. Full entry →
- Ascendant (Rising Sign)
- The zodiac sign rising on the eastern horizon at your birth — the rising sign, and the start of the first house. Full entry →
- Aspect
- The angular relationship between two chart points — such as conjunction, square, trine, or opposition. Full entry →
- Astrological Memory
- An AI's ability to remember your chart and past readings, so guidance builds on what came before. Full entry →
C
- Conversational Astrology
- Exploring your birth chart through dialogue rather than a fixed, one-way report. Full entry →
- Court Cards
- The Page, Knight, Queen, and King of each tarot suit — 16 cards that usually represent people, roles, or facets of personality. Full entry →
- Cross-System Synthesis
- Reading several symbolic traditions together as one coherent answer, not separate lookups. Full entry →
- Cusp
- The boundary between two zodiac signs or two houses in a chart. 'Born on the cusp' means a birthday near a sign boundary — but your sun sign is still definite. Full entry →
D
- Descendant
- The point directly opposite the ascendant and the cusp of the 7th house — what you seek in partnership and how you relate one-to-one. Full entry →
- Divination
- Seeking insight through a structured system of symbols — tarot, astrology, the I Ching — read as a mirror, not a prophecy. Full entry →
- Dream Interpretation
- Reading the symbols your mind produces in sleep as reflections of your inner life — in the Jungian tradition, less as omens than as messages from the self. Full entry →
E
- Ephemeris
- A table of precise planetary positions by date and time; the astronomical data every accurate chart is built from. Full entry →
H
- Houses (Astrological)
- The twelve divisions of a birth chart, each governing an area of life — identity, money, relationships, career, and more. Full entry →
L
- Life Path Number
- In numerology, the single digit derived from your full birth date, describing core temperament and direction. Full entry →
- Lunar Nodes
- The North and South Nodes of the Moon — points read in astrology as the direction of growth and the familiar patterns you're moving beyond. Full entry →
M
- Major Arcana
- The 22 trump cards of a tarot deck, from The Fool to The World, representing the major archetypal turning points of a life. Full entry →
- Midheaven (MC)
- The highest point in a birth chart and the cusp of the 10th house — the angle of career, public life, and reputation. Full entry →
N
- Natal Chart
- A map of the sky at the exact moment and place you were born; the foundation of personal astrology. Full entry →
- Numerology
- The practice of finding meaning in numbers derived from your birth date and name — a symbolic lens on temperament, direction, and timing. Full entry →
O
- Oracle Cards
- A divination deck with no fixed structure, unlike tarot's standard 78 cards. Any number of cards on any theme, each usually printed with its own message. Full entry →
- Orb
- The degree of allowance around an exact aspect — how far from perfect an angle can be and still count. The tighter the orb, the stronger the aspect. Full entry →
P
- Personal Year
- In numerology, a number from 1 to 9 giving the theme of your current year within a repeating nine-year cycle. Full entry →
- Proactive Transit Guidance
- When an AI notices a significant transit forming in your chart and starts a conversation — timed to your sky, not a generic schedule. Full entry →
R
- Reflective Divination
- Using symbols as prompts for self-reflection rather than predictions of a fixed future. Full entry →
- Retrograde
- When a planet appears to move backward through the zodiac — an optical effect, traditionally read as a time to review and revisit. Full entry →
- Reversal
- A tarot card that appears upside-down in a reading, often read as a blocked, internal, or excessive version of its upright meaning. Reversals are optional. Full entry →
S
- Secondary Progressions
- A predictive technique where each day after birth stands for one year of life — 'a day for a year.' Full entry →
- Solar Arc Directions
- A predictive technique that advances every chart point by the same arc — roughly one degree per year of life. Full entry →
- Stellium
- A cluster of three or more planets in the same sign or house, concentrating that sign or area of life into a dominant, defining theme. Full entry →
- Suit
- One of the four groups of the tarot's Minor Arcana — Wands, Cups, Swords, and Pentacles — each tied to an element and an area of life. Full entry →
- Sun Sign
- The zodiac sign the Sun occupied at your birth — the 'sign' of popular horoscopes, just one of many chart placements. Full entry →
- Symbolic Intelligence
- The human capacity to read meaning in pattern and symbol. Full entry →
- Synastry
- The comparison of two natal charts to read the dynamic between two people; the basis of compatibility readings. Full entry →
- Synchronicity
- Carl Jung's term for a meaningful coincidence — events linked by meaning rather than cause and effect. Full entry →
T
- Tarot
- A deck of 78 symbolic cards — 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana — used as a structured mirror for reflection on a present question. Full entry →
- Transit
- The movement of a planet in the present sky relative to your natal chart; how astrology describes timing. Full entry →
The glossary grows over time as new terms are added.