Tarot, astrology & numerology glossary

Tarot

AstrologyNumerologyVedic astrology

Every definition is one sentence, and every term links to the page that explains it properly. Start anywhere.

Major Arcana — The 22 trump cards, from The Fool (0) to The World (21). They mark the large movements of a life rather than the everyday. read more
Minor Arcana — The remaining 56 cards, across four suits. They describe the concrete: the gestures, the weeks, the situations. read more
Suit — One of the four families of the Minor Arcana — Wands, Cups, Swords, Pentacles — each tied to an element and an area of life. read more
Reversed card — A card that lands upside down. It does not simply invert: it softens, delays or turns inward the upright meaning. read more
Spread — The layout of the cards and the meaning given to each position. A classic three-card spread reads past, present, future. read more
Yes or no draw — A single card pulled to settle a closed question. Good for deciding quickly, thin for understanding. read more
Cartomancy — The umbrella term for any card reading: tarot, oracle, playing cards, Lenormand. read more
Oracle deck — A free-form deck with no fixed structure — the card count and themes change from creator to creator, unlike tarot. read more

Ascendant — The sign rising on the horizon at the exact hour of your birth. It changes roughly every two hours, which is why birth time matters. read more
Birth chart — The map of the sky at the moment you were born: planetary positions, signs and houses. read more
House — One of the twelve sectors of a chart. The sign says how, the house says where — work, home, relationships. read more
Retrograde — A planet that appears to move backwards from Earth. It is an effect of perspective, not a change of course. read more
Decan — A ten-degree slice of a sign. Each sign has three, which is why two people of the same sign often share little. read more
Tropical / sidereal zodiac — Two ways of dividing the sky: tropical follows the seasons, sidereal follows the constellations. They have drifted about 24 degrees apart. read more
Annual profection — An ancient technique assigning a house — and so a planet — to each year of life. read more

Life path number — The number obtained by reducing your full date of birth. The most used figure in Western numerology. read more
Destiny number — Calculated from the letters of your full name. It describes what you set in motion rather than what you are. read more
Master number — 11, 22 and 33 — the only ones not reduced to a single digit, and held to be more demanding. read more
Personal year — A one-to-nine cycle that renews annually and colours the period you are moving through. read more
Angel number — A repeated sequence — 111, 444, 1111 — read as carrying a message. See also mirror hours. read more
Mirror hour — A time with identical or symmetrical digits, such as 11:11 or 20:02, noticed by chance. read more

Kundli — The Vedic birth chart, drawn in the sidereal zodiac. The basis of Jyotisha, Indian astrology. read more
Rashi — Your Vedic moon sign — where the Moon stood at your birth. Often different from your Western sun sign. read more
Nakshatra — One of the 27 lunar mansions. The one the Moon occupied at your birth describes your inner temperament. read more
Ayanamsa — The gap between the tropical and sidereal zodiacs. The Lahiri value is the standard in India. read more
Mangal dosha — Mars placed in certain houses, called “manglik”. Very common, and often cancelled by other factors. read more
Guna Milan — Vedic marriage compatibility, scored out of 36 points from both people's nakshatras. read more

Twin flame — The idea of a mirror soul that wakes what you avoid. Distinct from a soulmate, which is gentler. read more
Destiny matrix — A recent system placing the tarot arcana on an octagram built from your date of birth. read more
Human Design — A modern system blending astrology, the I Ching, kabbalah and chakras, sorting people into five energy types. read more
Aura — The energy field some traditions describe around the body, often read through colour. read more
Chakra — One of the seven energy centres of the Indian tradition, running from the base of the spine to the crown. read more
Akashic records — The memory of every experience of a soul, in theosophical thought. read more
Synchronicity — A meaningful coincidence with no causal link. The term is Carl Jung's. read more
Sacred geometry — The study of shapes and proportions — the golden ratio, the flower of life — held to structure living things. read more

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