A Glossary of Astrological Terms

Use this glossary to look up the meanings of words you come across on this website, or in your astrological reading. Just select the first letter of the word you need and click on it in the table below to go straight to that sector.

M

Malefics

Planets generating difficult circumstances: Mars, Saturn, Uranus. The jury is still out on Pluto, but he is most likely malefic.

Mars

The planet of action! This masculine planet rules Aries and Scorpio and is exalted in Capricorn.

More about Mars.

Masculine & Feminine Planets

Pluto, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Sun are masculine. Neptune, Venus and Moon are feminine. Mercury is convertible; masculine when with masculine planets and feminine when with feminine. When unaspected its sex is determined by its sign. These terms in astrology do not simply relate to gender, for masculine and feminine also express these other polarities:

• active/passive
• positive/negative
• dry/moist
• hot/cold
• light/dark

Masculine & Feminine Signs

Masculine Signs Aries Leo Sagittarius Gemini Libra Aquarius

Feminine Signs Taurus Virgo Capricorn Cancer Scorpio Pisces

Matutine

Stars or planets rising before the Sun in the morning. See Vespertine.

MC

See mid-heaven.

Mean or Average Daily Motion of Planets

The normal rate of travel of a planet through the zodiac.

Mean Time

True Local Time

Medium Coeli (MC)

Mid-heaven, or meridien. The Southern point of the chart.

Mercury

A fast moving planet never more than 28° from the Sun. This planet, neither masculine, nor feminine but convertible, rules Gemini and Virgo and is exalted in Virgo.

More about Mercury.

Meridien

A great circle projected onto the celestial sphere, which encompasses the north and south points on the horizon and the zenith, which is directly above the observer.

Meridien Distance

Measurement along the celestial equator between any point and the upper or lower meridien. A portion of the semi-arc, usually expressed in degrees of time.

Metonic Cycle

The 19 year cycle wherein the conjunctions of the Sun and Moon begin to appear progressively in the zodiac in the same places as in the previous cycle. Discovered by Meton of Athens. This is the cycle whereby the solar and lunar calendars can be approximately synchronised.

Mid-heaven

Cusp of tenth house. Meridien, or MC. The point of the chart at which the meridien intercepts the ecliptic. More on mid-heaven.

Midnight Mark

Mean local time at birthplace when it is midnight at Greenwich, England.

Moon

The Earth's satellite. The Moon is classed as a planet ("wanderer") in astrology and represents matters to do with women, the mother, the public, the emotions and so on. A feminine planet, she rules Cancer and is exalted in Taurus. Several other planets have recently been determined by astronomers to have moons, but these are not generally considered in astrology.

More about the Moon.

Movable Signs

See Common Signs

Mundane Astrology

Deals with Ingresses, Lunations, Eclipses, Great Conjunctions or Comets as indicators of conditions affecting nations, states, or communities.

Mundane Parallel

Equal distance of two planets from any angle.

Mutable Signs

Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces.

Mutual Reception

See Reception.

Mystic Rectangle

A configuration formed by at least four planets, comprising two trines and two sextile aspects with oppositions forming from all four corners of the configuration.