Western astrology entries: the books and the contents
This page keeps the books and the rules, and splits the entries into the pages that follow. The definition is not written here.
Editorial review: 2026-09-22 · Reviewed by fateshow · Editorial method
Concept snapshot
Where the definition sits
On the tool page, not in this contents
What this page keeps
The books, the rules, and the links
Explore concepts
Planets and angles
Planets, the four angles, retrograde, and the nodes
A Western chart uses the tropical zodiac. The ten bodies run from the Sun to Pluto. The Ascendant, Midheaven, Descendant, and Imum Coeli are angles, not four extra planets. The nodes are orbital crossings, not planets.
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House systems
House systems: Placidus, whole sign, and equal houses
The twelve houses divide the ecliptic into twelve areas of life. Cusps follow the house system. At the same instant, a different house system can change the houses. Planet longitudes stay.
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Aspects
Aspects and orbs
An aspect is the angle between two bodies. The orb is how far that angle may sit from exact. A wide miss is written as wide. A near miss is not called exact.
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Elements
Elements, modalities, and where a sentence stops
Elements are fire, earth, air, and water. Modalities are cardinal, fixed, and mutable. The count follows where the bodies sit. The count is not a personality score and does not become one fortune sentence.
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Astrology synastry
Astrology synastry: overlays, aspects, composite, and Davison
Synastry here is two natal charts placed on each other. It is not a sign-pairing slogan. Both birth instants and both places have to be real before any overlay means anything.
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Where the definition sits
What Western astrology looks at is written on the tool page.
What it looks at is on What Western astrology is. This contents does not repeat that sentence.
The pages that follow
Planets and angles, house systems, aspects, and elements each have one page. Relationship matching stays on its own page, last in the sidebar.
Books used for the names
Longitudes use a tropical ephemeris. The house system stays on the chart.
An ephemeris does not turn an illustration into something that has already happened.
Rules kept on every page
The birthplace clock and the historical offset fix the instant. True solar time is not applied. The default house system is Placidus.
The same instant and the same house system keep the same longitudes.
Common mistakes
- Writing the definition on this contents page.
- Treating an illustration as something that has already happened.
- Merging two systems into one sentence.
Use it in fateshow
Frequently asked questions
Is the definition on this page?
No. It is on the tool page. This page is the books and the contents.
Does relationship matching sit in these pages?
Relationship matching stays on its own page and is not folded into these four.
Can the illustration be read as something that already happened?
No. It only checks the fields the engine printed.
Sources and editorial basis
- 1. Tropical ephemeris
Planetary longitudes and the four angles.
- 2. fateshow rule snapshot
Supports only the fields printed in the illustration. An illustration is not something that has already happened.