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A Glossary of Astrological Terms for the letter "I"
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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.
I
Iamblichus
Iamblichus (c. 250-325 CE), an influential figure in the Neoplatonic school of Plotinus. Born at Chalcis in Syria, he traced his ancestry through an ancient line of priest-kings. A student of Porphyry, the chief disciple of Plotinus, his influential treatise Theurgia, or On the Mysteries of Egypt describes a higher magic through the agency of the gods. He sought to reconcile Plato and Aristotle, but held that Pythagoras was the supreme authority, reviving his teachings on Number as the basis of all things. He taught that the individual soul becomes lost in matter and cannot grasp the transcendent reality with intellect alone, because the transcendent is supra-rational. He recommends theurgy, a series of rituals and operations aimed at recovering the transcendent essence by retracing the divine signatures through the layers of being. Agrippa refers frequently to Iamblichus in his Occulta Philosophia. Iamblichus also had a strong influence on other Renaissance occultists like Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, and Giordano Bruno.
Isopsephia
The Greek word for Gematria, the system of encoding letters with numbers for occult purposes. See Gematria.
Iapetus
Saturn's third-largest moon, discovered by Cassini in 1671. There is some discussion as to whether this satellite is actually artificial – placed by an unknown race in the remote past – due to its very unusual features including an exceedingly dark leading hemisphere (possibly a coating) and a relatively bright trailing hemisphere; a very light density (is it hollow?); and the most striking thing: a giant ridge (13 km high) that goes right around it at the equator. Its two-tone effect has been photographed and looks impressively like the Yin/Yang symbol of the Tao. We shall have to wait until NASA sends another expedition to find the facts. In Greek mythology Iapetus was a Titan, the son of Uranus, the father of Prometheus and Atlas and an ancestor of the human race. Though fascinating, it has no known astrological significance. More about Iapetus [off site].
Iatromathematics
Medical application of astrological principles, especially timing, critical days, etc. Remedies, such as herbs and minerals, are chosen by their correspondence and significance to the energetic matrix of the subject, or to the decumbiture chart, through their astrological signatures.
IAU
International Astronomical Union. The professional body for contemporary astronomers. No astrological significance.
Image
Schmidt's translation of Zoidion, the ancient Hellenistic term for Zodiacal Sign. See Zoidion.
Immersion
The beginning of an eclipse, or of an occultation. The opposite of Emersion, or coming out of the aspect.
Impedited
Debilitated, hindered, or damaged. A planet is impedited (impeded) in its natural action when afflicted, especially by malefics, or is in a general state of weakness due to position or lack of dignity. Particularly applies to the Moon, when afflicted by Sun, Mars or Saturn.
Imum Coeli (IC)
The fourth house cusp. The Lower Heaven, or Nadir. The north point of the horoscope.
Inconjunct
Widely used in recent times to refer to the quincunx, although the classical meaning is "not in mutual aspect". Neither semisextile nor quincunx are proper aspects in the traditional sense, as a planet is unable to "see" another in these relationships, unless it also beholds the other by virtue of being either antiscion or contra-antiscion (so not inconjunct). DeVore states that inconjunct means "dissociate" and that a planet is inconjunct when it forms no aspect and is not in parallel declination or mutual disposition to another planet, as well as being either quincunx or semisextile.
Increasing in Light
A planet increases in light as it progresses from the conjunction with the Sun to the opposition. Mainly used regarding the Moon.
Increasing in Motion
A planet moving faster than on the previous day.
Increasing in Number
- Waxing. See "Increasing in Light".
- A generally obsolete term for "Increasing in Motion".
- Traditionally, Moon, Mercury and Venus, planets below (inferior to) the Sun in the ancient geocentric schema.
- Planets orbiting between the Earth and the Sun (Moon, Mercury and Venus and the postulated Vulcan). The orbits of the superior planets, Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter and Mars (also the asteroids and trans-plutonian "planets" such as Trans-Pluto) lie beyond that of the Earth from the Sun.
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