familiarity : Any kind of aspect or reception between two planets.

feminine signs : Earth and water signs. Feminine characteristics do not refer to sex or gender; they are associated with receptivity. Synonymous with negative signs.

fertility : A classification of the signs based on their susposed productivity. Fertile signs, Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces are said to be good for planting when occupied by the Moon, and are indicators of offspring when occupying the cusps of the fifth or eleventh houses. Semi-fertile or moderately fruitful signs are Taurus, Libra, and Capricorn. Barren or sterile are Aries, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Aquarius. The barren signs are good for cultivation when occupied by the Moon, and are indicators of not having children when occupying the cusps of the fifth or eleventh houses.

Finger of God : An ambiguous term used variously to indicate the handle in a bucket formation or the yod, a configuration consisting of two planets in sextile and each quincunx to the same third planet. the yod is associated with karma. See also shaping, yod.

fire signs : Aries, Leo and Sagittarius, signs which belong to the fire triplicity, associated with the element, fire. Fire signs symbolize fiery characteristics (ardor, spirit, spontaneity).

fixed signs : Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, which are related to a fixed or stable mode of expression. Fixed signs are associated naturally with succedent houses: the second, fifth, eighth and eleventh respectively.

fixed stars : Stars which, because of their great distance from Earth, appear to be motionless or fixed in space although in actuality they are not.

flat chart : Alternate term for natural chart. See natural chart.

focal point : Any point in a horoscope where several influences converge or disperse, such as the position of the squared planet in a T-square formation, the action point in a yod, the handle of a bucket, etc. See also T-square.

Fortuna : From the Latin fortuna, fortune. Interchangeable with Part of Fortune.

fortunes : Another term for the benific planets. See benefic.

fruitful signs : The water signs: Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, which are associated with fertility.

frustration : An alternate term for Abscission. See abscission.

full Moon : That point in the lunar cycle when the Moon exactly opposes the Sun; begins the waning phase.

galaxy : One of the billions of huge cosmic systems, each composed of innumerable stars, planets, etc. Members of a galaxy revolve as a unit around a common point in space. Our solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy.

G

genethliacal astrology : An old term for natal astrology. See also natal astrology.

geniture : From the Latin, birth or origin; used in astrology to refer to a birth or a natal horoscope. See also natal astrology.

geocentric : Measured or viewed in relation to Earth as the reference or observation point; Earth-centered measurements.

gibbous Moon : The Moon approaching the full Moon, more than 135° and less than 180° ahead of the Sun. A natal gibbous Moon indicates that self-analysis is an important factor in motivation.

grand cross : An aspect configuration in which four planets, each in a different sign of the same quadruplicity, form mutual squares. Much tension is generated among planets forming this pattern. If signs are mixed (aspects within orb but not in signs of the same quadruplicity), the impact associated with a grand square is somewhat diminished.

grand trine : The aspect pattern formed when three planets, each in a different sign of the same triplicity (air, earth, fire or water), trine each other. A grand trine permits smooth flow of energies among the planets involved in accordance with the triplicity occupied. A dissociate grand trine, one in which the three planets fall within orb to form mutual trines but do not occupy the same triplicity, supplements ease of planetary expression but lacks the cohesiveness of a grand trine formed between planets occupying one triplicity.

great circle : A circle described on the surface of a sphere (Earth, for example) so that its plane passes through the center of the sphere.

Great Year : The astrological ear based on the time it takes Earth's axis to complete on revolution around the pole of the ecliptic, about twenty-five thousand years. A Great Year is divided into twelve "months" of about two thousand years duration.

Greater Benefic : A term reserved for the planet Jupiter which, according to ancient beliefs, was responsible for life's greatest blessings.

Greater Malefic : A term applied to Saturn, the planet ancients believed to generate the evils in life.

Gregorian calendar : The calendar now used internationally, devised by Pope Gregory in the 1580s to replace the Julian calendar, which by then had accumulated a ten-day discrepancy with the solar year. Most, but not all, countries accepted the Pope's calendar by the 1700s (Great Britain, 1752). Russia did not change until 1918 and Turkey in 1928. Astrologers working with older dates should determine whether they are based on the Julian calendar, designated Old Style or OS, or on the Gregorian calendar, designated New Style or NS.

H

Hades : The second symbolic planet used in Uranian astrology. See also Uranian astrology.

Halley's Comet : Named for the English astronomer, Edmund Halley, who correctly predicted, in 1682, the comet's return in 1759. One of the most brilliant comets viewed from Earth, it reappears approximately every seventy-seven years.

half-sum : An alternate term for mid-point, the point in the zodiac that lies exactly midway between two planets.

hard aspects : Aspects that stimulate action or tension and induce motivation. All hard aspects are disharmonious to some extent except the conjunction and parallel, whose influence depends largely upon the natures of the planets involved; that is, planetary energies do not merge smoothly when two planets form a hard aspect such as the semi-square, square, opposition or sesquiquadrate.

harmonics : The term for zodiacal aspects that describe the energy levels or vibrational frequencies associated with aspects. An aspect, derived from the division of a circle (360°) by a whole number, and its multiples share the same frequency and therefore operate at similar energy levels. For example, division of 360° by four yields 90°, a square. The square is a fourth harmonic aspect as are its multiple, 180° (opposition) and 270°. Several harmonics may merge in a single aspect. The square is a multiple of the semi-square (45°), an eighth harmonic aspect; the square's primary harmonic is four (sometimes written 1/4) and its sub-harmonic is eight (2/8, second of the eighth harmonic). The opposition's primary harmonic is two (1/2 x 360°= 180°); its sub-harmonics are four (2/4, second in the series of fourth harmonics), six (3/6, third of the sixth harmonic), eight (4/8, fourth of the eighth harmonic), etc.

harmonious aspect : Aspects in which the planets involved are mutually supportive; their energies operate together comfortably and productively. The sextile and trine are major harmonious aspects; also called easy aspects.

heavy planets : A term used to refer to the slower-moving whose influece is considered more serious ("heavier") than the other planets. They are: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.

heliocentric : Measurements based upon the Sun as the central point of reference or observation; Sun-centered.

Herschel : The original name for the planet Uranus, which was discovered in 1781 by the British astronomer Sir William Herschel.

higher octave planets : The three outermost planets, which symbolize the higher or spiritual level of expression in contrast to the lower or physical level symbolized by the inner planets with which they are linked. Uranus, the higher octave of Mercury, objective intellectualism. Neptune, linked to Venus, expresses spiritual love; Pluto, the higher octave of Mars, is associated with spiritual evolvement; Mars with physical development.

horary astrology : Derived from the Latin hora, hour. The branch of astrology devoted to answering specific question by means of a horoscope drawn up for the time a question is asked.

horizon : The visible juncture of Earth and the sky, represented in a horoscope by the Ascendant-Descendant axis.

house : One of the twelve mathematically derived sections (houses) of a horoscope, each of which represents a particular area of life. The size of a house and the zodiacal degree that appears on its cusp depend upon the house system used.

house cusp: The zodiacal degree at which a house begins.

Houses, Table of : A reference book that lists house cusps according to the local sidereal time and location of birth. A table is applicable to the particular house system for which it is devised.

human signs : Signs that exhibit human qualities such as sparse body hair: Gemini, Virgo, the first 15° of Sagittarius and Aquarius. Some authorities include Libra and all of Sagittarius in this group, thereby equating articulate with human signs. See also articulate signs.

humanistic astrology : Person-centered astrology as opposed to event-oriented.