AST Terms IRL Meanings

[Mimilu]

So back when Shadowbringers first came out, Techic_AIngel made a post on Reddit that went over DNC's kit and their IRL meanings, so I wanted to do the same with AST.

Astrology Terms
Benefic Spells
Refers to Benefic Planets, planets/celestial bodies that provide a positive influence and guidance to a person.
Jupiter (known as the Greater Benefic) and Venus (known as the Lesser Benefic) are the Benefic Planets in traditional Astrology, while the Moon can also be one, depending on the Lunar Cycle and how much light it gives (New Moon to Full Moon is best).

Malefic spells
Refers to Malefic Planets, planets/celestial bodies that providing a negative influence and bad luck.
Saturn and Mars are Malefic Planets. In certain situation, the Sun can also be Malefic and in modern Astrology, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are Malefic.
Mercury can be either Benefic or Malefic because Mercury takes on attributes based on the other Planets it associates with.

Horoscope
A Horoscope is a star chart showing the positions of the planets and stars at a specific time or event (for example, a Natal Horoscope is the horoscope from when a person was born).

Synastry
Synastry (or Astrological compatibility) is a branch of astrology that studies two peoples' natal horoscopes to judge relationship compatibility.

Aspected spells
Aspected Benefic and Aspected Helios
Aspects are the angles planets make with each other in a horoscope and indicate the time for transitions and changes in a person's life.
There are Major Aspects and Minor Aspects.
Major Aspects are the traditional Aspects that can be used to divide 360 (a full rotation) and are divisible by 10.
The Major Aspects are: Conjunction (a 0-10 degree angle), Sextile (a 60 degree angle), Square (a 90 degree angle), Trine (an 120 degree angle), and Opposition (an 180 degree angle).
Minor Aspects were added later and don't have to follow the divides-360-and-divisible-by-10 rules.
The Minor Aspects are: Quincrunx (or Inconject, an 150 degree angle), Semi-Sextile (a 30 degree angle), Quintile (a 72 degree angle), Septile (a 51.5 degree angle), Semi-Square (a 45 degree angle), and a Novile (a 40 degree angle).
Each Aspect relates and indicates different things, which lead us to our next term...

Celestial Opposition
Two planets are in Opposition when they are 180 degrees apart, a.k.a. on opposite sides, of the celestial sphere (the radius they rotate around the Sun) and with one being hidden behind the Sun.
Planets that are in Opposition with each other reflect back each other qualities, which causes tension between the two. However, this is also important for the them to be able to reach an understanding and find balance.
Opposition aspects can also represent opposing forces affecting a person or relationships that could be oppositional or complementary.
Different planet combinations can have different effects and/or affect different aspects of a person or their life.
Opposition is considered to be the second strongest Aspect, after Conjunction.

Ascend
I think this is referring to Ascendants (which there are two terms for).
The ascendant (or rising sign) is the zodiac sign that was raising from the eastern horizon on your day of birth (not to be confused with your sun sign, which is the Zodiac sign based on what month and day you were born, a.k.a. the Zodiac signs most people know).
Ascendants are thought to be connected to a person's physical appearance and health, attitude, and demeanor.
The rising sign is believed to be one of, if not the, most influential sign when reading a horoscope.
Ascendant is also one of the four cardinal points on a star chart (along with Midheaven, Descendant, and Imum Coeli).
They could also just be referring to something ascending/raising (and I could just be overthinking it...).

Essential Dignity
Essential Dignity is the strength or weakness a celestial body or zodiac sign has based on its position on a star chart.
There are five Essential Dignities: The Domicile and Detriment (the planets that rule over a sign vs the planets that oppose that sign), Exaltation and Fall (when a planet is at a certain angle with a specific sign or at the opposite angle), Triplicity (the three signs that share the same element), Terms (or bounds, 5 uneven subdivisions of each sign based off the original 7 "planets", sans the Sun and Moon), and Face (or decan, 3 subdivisions of each sign divided by about 10 days each).

Earthly Star, Earthly Dominance, Greater Dominance, and Stellar Detonation
From what I can research, this doesn't have any IRL counterpart for Earthy Star (even the JP name of the skill is just Earthly Star).
Maybe it's suppose to relate to the Source's form of Geomancy, which draw's power from the "star" you are on, Hydaelyn, versus Astrology, which uses stars in the sky.
Earthly Dominance and Greater Dominance could refer to the Planet of Dominance/Dominant Planet (or Domicile, as we talked about in Essential Dignity), which is the planet that rules over a specific zodiac sign.
In IRL astrology, Earth doesn't have an assigned zodiac sign.
Stellar Detonation just sounds cool, I guess... >x>

Sects
Diurnal, Nocturnal, and Neutral Sects.
In medieval astrology, it was believed that the 7 "planets" (the Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) were divided into either Diurnal or Nocturnal sects, based on when they were their most powerful on a star chart.
The Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn where Diurnal, being more powerful above the horizon, while the Moon, Venus, and Mars were Nocturnal, being more powerful below the horizon.
Mercury can change it Sect depending on if it rises before or after the sun, rising before being Diurnal, and rising after being Nocturnal.
From what I could gather, Neutral Sect doesn't have an RL counter-part. (I remember a 5.0 leak that refereed to the skill as Crepuscular Sect, which makes more sense, seeing as crepuscular means something related to twilight, the time in between day and night or vice-verse.)

Celestial Intersection
Again, from what I've researched, Intersection isn't an astrology term.
Maybe it's referring to the angle's celestial bodies intersect but that's just the Aspects... :B

Tarot Terms
Cards
The 6 main cards ASTs use (Balance, Spear, Bole, Arrow, Ewer, and Spire) are refereed to as the Major Arcana.
In Tarot-based cartomancy (Divination via cards), the Major Arcana are the 22 iconic cards that are separate from the 4 suits.
In the Tarot card game, the Major Arcana are a separate suit called Trumps.

Minor Arcana
In Tarot, the Minor Arcana are the 4 suit cards (Swords, Cups, Wands, and Pentacles). Each suit has 14 cards: Ace-10, Page, Knight, Queen, and King.
On the Source, there are 6 Minor Arcana (Crowns, Cups, Rings, Knives, Staves, and Irons) that represent one of the 6 elements, each with 9 cards (1-6, Knave, Lord, and Lady).
The cards ASTs use for Minor Arcana are the Lord and Lady of Crowns, which are associated with the Lightning Element, along with the Spire card.

Other Terms
Helios
Helios is the Greek personification of the Sun.
Some people like to call the sun Helios to be poetic. :B

Divination
Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation via supernatural means.
It's kind of redundant given we're already using cards and stars. >w>

Lightspeed
Light speed is the speed light travels...Obviously... >w>
When we look at stars in the sky, what we see is the light they emit, not the actual star.
In a vacuum, light travels at about 300,000 km per second (thanks Google >w> ).

Collective Unconscious
In really, really basic terms, in Jungian Psychology, the Collective Unconscious is inherited images, symbols, and behavior patterns that are shared among a species. Things like instincts, archetypes, and universal symbolism are part of the collective unconscious.
Carl Jung (who founded Jungian Psychology, also known as analytical psychology) used myths and mysticism in his research, including astrology and Tarot. Jungian Psychology can be very metaphysical, or even spiritual, at times.
If you've played Persona 5, you've heard this term before. All the SMT Persona games are heavily influenced by Jung's work.
In JP, this skill is called Wheel of Fortune, like the Tarot card (and its buff).

Sleeve Draw
No clue on this one...
Maybe it has to do with hiding cards in your sleeve? Like when doing magic tricks or cheating in gambling.

Deleted Spells and abilities
Exalted Detriment
A planet is in Detriment (or exile) when it is in the house (Houses being 12 subdivisions of a star chart, 1 for each zodiac sign) of an opposing Zodiac Sign.

Stella
Stella is Latin for star.

Royal Road
While there are debates on when, where, and who first practiced Tarot as a form of divination (the card game modern Tarot is based on originates from Italy), some theorize that it originated in ancient Egypt, with the word tarot coming from the Egyptian "Tah Ro", which means Royal Road.
The term Royal Road can also refer to getting results quickly and effectively. The term comes from the Persian Royal Road, which was built in the 5th Century BC, which allowed for rapid communication through out the Persian Empire.

[Cincierta]

After reading this, I suddenly feel a bit smarter about AST. Now if I can only get better RNG.

[SamRF]

Interesting