Placement meanings

The Sun is the placement people usually mean when they ask "what's your sign?" It's the core of the chart: your sense of self, what you're growing into, what you keep coming back to.

The Moon moves faster than any other body in the chart, changing signs every two or three days. In astrology it points to your inner world: what soothes you and the stuff you rarely say out loud.

The Rising sign, also called the Ascendant, is the zodiac sign that was climbing over the eastern horizon at the exact moment you were born. It shapes the mask you wear in new rooms and the first impression people walk away with.

Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun, named for the Roman messenger god. In a chart it governs how your mind processes information and how you communicate what you think.

Venus is the second planet from the Sun and the brightest point in the night sky after the Moon. In astrology it covers your values, what you find beautiful, and the way you want to be wanted.

Mars is the red planet, named for the god of war. In a chart it governs drive, anger, and appetite, the way you go after what you want.

Jupiter is the largest planet in the solar system and takes about twelve years to travel the zodiac, spending roughly one year in each sign. In a chart it points to where you see possibility and how you grow.

Saturn is the ringed planet and takes roughly twenty-nine years to complete one lap of the zodiac. In a chart it governs structure, limits, and the long slow work you don't get to skip.

Uranus was the first planet discovered with a telescope, and it rotates on its side, unlike any other body in the solar system. In astrology it governs disruption, independence, and the places you break your own patterns.

Neptune is the farthest planet from the Sun and moves so slowly it spends about fourteen years in each sign. In a chart it governs dreams, intuition, and the places where clear edges blur.

Pluto is a dwarf planet on a long elliptical orbit, spending anywhere from twelve to thirty years in a single sign. In a chart it governs transformation and power, the things that get dismantled so something truer can show up.

Chiron is a small icy body orbiting between Saturn and Uranus, often called the wounded healer. In a chart it points to the wound that keeps teaching you and the place you end up helping others with what you had to learn yourself.

The Midheaven, or MC, is the point at the very top of the chart, calculated from your exact birth time and location. It governs your public identity and what you want to be known for.

Lilith isn't a physical body. It's a calculated point marking the farthest spot in the Moon's orbit from Earth. In a chart it points to the parts of you that don't ask permission: instinct, anger, desire, anything you won't soften for someone else's comfort.

The North Node isn't a planet. It's one of two points where the Moon's orbit crosses the path of the Sun, a calculated axis. In a chart it points to the growth you're being pulled toward, the work that feels unfamiliar because it's new.

The South Node sits directly opposite the North Node on the lunar axis, a calculated point rather than a planet. In a chart it names what comes easy: the moves you already know by heart, the comfort that quietly keeps you small.