Glyphs And Symbols

Glyphs and Symbols. Glyphs are the small symbols astrology uses as shorthand for the planets, signs, and aspects. A chart is drawn almost entirely in these symbols rather than words, so learning them is like learning the alphabet of the chart. Once they are familiar, a reader can take in a whole chart at a glance. Each planet has its own glyph, built from combinations of three basic forms: a circle for spirit, a crescent for soul, and a cross for matter. The Sun is a circle with a central dot, the Moon a crescent, and Venus a circle above a cross. Each of the twelve signs has a glyph too, often a stylized picture of its symbol, such as the horns of Aries the Ram or the wavy lines of Aquarius the Water-Bearer. The major aspects have simple geometric glyphs, like a triangle for the trine and a square for the square. A few extra symbols appear often. A planet moving backward is marked with the retrograde symbol, written Rx, and the lunar nodes have their own looped glyphs. These symbols are consistent across most of astrology, so a chart drawn anywhere can be read by anyone who knows them. Learning the glyphs is the first practical step toward reading a chart on sight.