Astrology symbols: a guide to the glyphs on your chart

Astrology symbols are small glyphs that stand for the zodiac signs, the planets, a few calculated points and the aspects between them. Learn about thirty of them and a chart wheel turns from a puzzle into a readable map.

Each glyph is a shorthand that saves space on a crowded circle. Most are old drawings. Aries shows a ram’s horns, and Saturn is a cross with a sickle hanging from it. Once you know what each one pictures, they are easy to remember. Keep this page open next to your chart from the birth chart calculator and check each symbol as you meet it.

The twelve zodiac sign symbols

The signs form the outer ring of the chart. They always run in the same order, counterclockwise, starting from Aries.

Glyph	Sign	What the glyph pictures	Element
♈	Aries	Ram’s horns	Fire
♉	Taurus	Bull’s head and horns	Earth
♊	Gemini	Twin pillars	Air
♋	Cancer	Crab’s claws	Water
♌	Leo	Lion’s mane and tail	Fire
♍	Virgo	A maiden’s initial, often read as a sheaf of grain	Earth
♎	Libra	Scales	Air
♏	Scorpio	Scorpion with a raised stinger	Water
♐	Sagittarius	The archer’s arrow	Fire
♑	Capricorn	Sea-goat with a curled tail	Earth
♒	Aquarius	Waves of water or air	Air
♓	Pisces	Two fish tied together	Water

Virgo and Scorpio look alike at first. Virgo’s last stroke curls inward, while Scorpio ends in an arrow-like point. For what each sign means, start at the zodiac signs section, and for the four groups see fire signs and its sister pages.

The planet symbols

In astrology the Sun and Moon count as planets, which gives ten in all. Their glyphs come from three basic shapes. A circle stands for the self, a crescent for feeling, and a cross for matter and the practical world.

Glyph	Planet	Built from	Core theme
☉	Sun	Circle with a dot	Identity and purpose
☽	Moon	Crescent	Emotions and needs
☿	Mercury	Crescent, circle and cross	Thinking and speech
♀	Venus	Circle over a cross	Love, taste, values
♂	Mars	Circle with an arrow	Drive and action
♃	Jupiter	Crescent rising from a cross	Growth and belief
♄	Saturn	Cross over a crescent	Structure and limits
♅	Uranus	Circle under a cross, often with side bars	Change and independence
♆	Neptune	Trident	Imagination and ideals
♇	Pluto	Circle in a cup over a cross (or a P and L monogram)	Depth and transformation

Two glyphs have common alternatives. Uranus is sometimes drawn as a circle with an arrow pointing up, and Pluto appears in two forms depending on the chart program. Both versions mean the same planet. You can read about each one in the planets section, beginning with the Sun.

Points and other symbols

Charts also show a few points that are calculated rather than physical bodies, plus one small body that many astrologers include.

Symbol	Name	What it marks
AC or Asc	Ascendant	The sign rising in the east at birth, the start of the 1st house
DC or Dsc	Descendant	The point opposite the Ascendant, start of the 7th house
MC	Midheaven	The highest point of the ecliptic, linked with career and reputation
IC	Imum Coeli	The point opposite the MC, linked with home and roots
☊	North Node	Where the Moon’s path crosses the Sun’s path heading north
☋	South Node	The opposite crossing point
⚷	Chiron	A small body between Saturn and Uranus, read as the sore spot that teaches
℞ or R	Retrograde	A planet that seemed to move backward at birth

The four angles (AC, DC, MC, IC) need an accurate birth time. Without one, see the guide on an unknown birth time. The Midheaven and the North Node each have their own page.

The aspect symbols

Aspects are angles between two planets. They appear in the aspect grid, a triangle-shaped table beside or below the wheel, and as lines across the center of the wheel.

Glyph	Aspect	Angle	Typical orb	Character
☌	Conjunction	0°	up to 8°	Fusion, the planets act together
⚹	Sextile	60°	up to 6°	Opportunity that rewards effort
□	Square	90°	up to 7°	Friction that pushes for action
△	Trine	120°	up to 8°	Ease and natural flow
⚻	Quincunx	150°	up to 3°	Adjustment between unlike needs
☍	Opposition	180°	up to 8°	Tension between two poles

The orb is the allowed distance from the exact angle. Orbs vary by tradition, so treat these as typical working values, not rules. The aspects section explains each one in depth.

How to read a chart wheel, step by step

A chart wheel packs all of these symbols into one circle. It helps to know how it is laid out before you try to read it.

1. Find the horizon. The horizontal line through the middle is the horizon. The Ascendant sits on its left end, at the nine o’clock position. Everything above the line was above the horizon at birth.
2. Read the outer ring. This shows the signs in order. The sign sitting at the Ascendant is your rising sign.
3. Count the houses. Numbered segments run counterclockwise from the Ascendant, 1 through 12. The lines dividing them are called cusps. The houses section explains each one.
4. Locate each planet. Each planet glyph comes with a degree, a sign glyph and minutes. “☽ 14♋22” means the Moon at 14 degrees 22 minutes of Cancer.
5. Follow the lines. Lines across the center connect planets in aspect. Check the aspect grid for the exact angle and orb.

Do not try to absorb everything at once. A good first pass is the Sun, Moon and Ascendant, then the planets that sit closest to the four angles. Our guide on how to read a birth chart gives the full order.

A note on symbols and meaning

Knowing that ♄ is Saturn tells you the planet, not how it behaves in your chart. The same Saturn can act as a steady backbone or as a source of pressure, depending on its sign, house and aspects. Our Core Method sums that up in a strength level for each planet (Strong, Harmonious, Weak or Afflicted), so the glyph is only the first word of the sentence.

A quick way to learn the glyphs

Start with the ten planets, since they appear in every sentence a chart makes. Then add the twelve signs in order, saying each element as you go. Leave the aspects for last. Draw each glyph by hand a few times on the back of an envelope. Once you see the circle and cross logic, the planet symbols stick within a day or two.