Fundamentals Overview

Astrology Fundamentals. Before a chart can be interpreted, it helps to understand the framework it is built on. The fundamentals are the nuts and bolts of astrology, the structure and notation that every reading relies on. They explain what a chart actually is, how the sky is mapped onto it, and how positions are measured and written down. This section covers the basic machinery rather than interpretation. The chart wheel shows how the whole picture is laid out. The ecliptic explains the band of sky the signs are drawn from, and the difference between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs explains why systems can disagree about which sign a planet is in. Degrees and minutes are the units of measurement, cusps are the dividing lines between houses and signs, and the glyphs are the symbols astrology uses for everything. None of this tells you what a placement means, but all of it is needed to read a chart in the first place. Once these basics are clear, the rest of the wiki, from signs and planets to the advanced techniques, has a solid foundation to build on. The entries here define each fundamental in turn.