In the sample chart above, the signs are depicted by the 12 colored sectors of the big circle. Since every circle contains 360°, each of the 12 signs contains 1/12th of 360°, or 30°. Each sign begins at 0° at its clockwise border, or cusp, and continues counterclockwise. A sign ends at the end of its 29th degree. 30° of a sign is considered to be 0° of the next sign.

A planet’s zodiacal position is measured in degrees from the beginning of the sign it is in. The two numbers in your chart next to each planet’s symbol are its sign position in degrees and minutes. The degrees are closer to the planet and end in a superscripted °  symbol. Each planet’s sign appears as a tiny symbol between the degrees and minutes numbers.

Signs are like colored glass windows through which the planetary energies in them shine. Each color (sign) emphasizes or inhibits a particular light (planet), but doesn’t fundamentally change its energy. Descriptions of the signs are listed in the table below.

Signs are grouped together if they are harmonious with or discordant to each other. More precisely, since it is not the signs but rather the planets in them that do the relating, signs are grouped by how the planets in them relate. Signs in which planets relate with harmony are grouped into what are called the "triplicities" or the "elements:" earth, air, fire and water. A table showing how the signs are sorted by element is displayed in "You and the Universe" on page 17.

A planet is said to "rule" a sign whose properties are similar to, resonate with, or emphasize that planet’s properties. A planet in a sign it rules is more powerful, expresses itself more freely than otherwise, and is said to be "dignified." The sign(s) that each planet rules is/are listed in "You and the Universe" in the third column of the table on page 21. Mercury and Venus each rule two signs.

A planet in a sign opposite the one it rules is said to be in its "detriment." Here it is diminished in its power or inhibited in its expression. Every planet also has one sign in which it expresses its nature most harmoniously and its energy in its highest form. It is said to be "exalted" in that sign. And in the sign opposite its exaltation, its "fall," planets express themselves most poorly and are at their weakest. The last three columns of the planets table  in "You and the Universe" on page 21 list planetary detriments, exaltations and falls.

Jupiter, for example, rules Sagittarius because the expansive, philosophical, extroverted, pedantic, optimistic, spiritual nature of Jupiter is harmonious with the quality Sagittarius. You may have Sagittarius qualities accentuated in your personality by having one or more planets there, or by having Sagittarius Rising. To say, however, "you are a Sagittarius," means that you were born when the Sun in particular was in Sagittarius. Yet whether or not "you’re a Sagittarius," it’s somewhere in your personality and thus somewhere in your chart. Sagittarius’ meaning for you, and the personal meaning of all the other signs as well, will be interpreted for you when a planet falls in that sign, or when that sign falls on a house cusp.