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Two planets are said to be "in aspect" when the angle between them* is close to (see "orbs") 360° divided by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 or 12. These small divisors of 360° (1, 2, 3, etc.) are said to be the "harmonic number" of that aspect, and are given in the first column of each row below. If you divide 360° by an aspect's harmonic number you get the degrees in that aspect (col. 3). Aspects produced by dividing 360° by 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 are called "major aspects." Aspects produced by dividing 360° by 5, 7, 8 and 12 (and their multiples: 3/8, 5/8, 3/7, 5/12, etc.) are called "minor aspects" (i.e., minor aspects have harmonic numbers 5, 7, 8 and 12). Aspects with harmonic numbers 5 and 7 are not understood as well and therefore not interpreted as much as aspects with harmonic numbers 8 and 12; aspects with harmonic numbers 9, 10 and 11 are rarely considered. If you subtract an aspect from 360° the resulting aspect is interpretively identical to the original; e.g., 60° and 300° aspects, 90° and 270° aspects, and 120° and 240° aspects are all the same. Planets in aspect combine energies and work in harmony, discord, or in a more esoteric fashion as described in the last column of each row below. |
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harm- onic # |
Aspect name |
angle |
fraction of a circle |
orb: Sun & moon |
orb: planets |
aspect description |
| 1 | conjunction | 0°, 360° | 1/1 | 12° | 11° | power, intensity, emphasis; harmonious or inharmonious depending on the energies of the planets involved |
| 2 | opposition | 180° | 1/2 | 12° | 11° | change, polarity, awareness, objectivity, a particular style of relating; symbolizes a conflict between an internal energy and an apparently external one that one fails to see in oneself and projects onto the world; signifies others we bring into our life to externalize unconscious or rejected aspects of our being. |
| 3 | trine | 120° | 1/3 | 8° | 7° 30' | harmony, ease, gifts, stability, creativity; often denotes inertia |
| 4 | square | 90° | 1/4 | 8° | 7° 30' | obstacles & challenge creating dynamic inner tension leading to conflict & change; planets in square work at cross-purposes and resist, test & limit each other. Their energies are released when the aspect is resolved; not as exteriorized as opposition. |
| 5 | quintile | 72° | 1/5 | 2° | 2° | the bringing together of the male and female within an individual, thus indicating marriage, creativity, and one’s art |
| 5 | biquintile | 144° | 2/5 | 2° | 2° | same as the quintile |
| 6 | sextile | 60° | 1/6 | 5° | 4° 30' | opportunity; unlike the trine, the sextile needs a little push from the will to activate its natural harmony |
| 7 | septile | 51° 25.7' | 1/7 | 1° 30' | 1° 30' | receptivity to inspiration, sacred & religious matters, creativity, children |
| 7 | biseptile | 102°51.4' | 2/7 | 1° 30' | 1° 30' | same as the septile |
| 7 | triseptile | 154°17.1' | 3/7 | 1° 30' | 1° 30' | same as the septile |
| 8 | semisquare | 45° | 1/8 | 2° 30' | 2° | half square; challenge and resistance; like square but weaker |
| 8 | sesquiquadrate | 135° | 3/8 | 2° 30' | 2° | similar to the semisquare: crisis, resistance to challenge |
| 9 | novile | 40° | 1/9 | 1° | 1° | |
| 10 | decile | 36° | 1/10 | 1° | 1° | |
| 12 | semisextile | 30° | 1/12 | 2° | 1° 30' | similar to the quincunx |
| 12 | quincunx | 150° | 5/12 | 2° 30' | 2° | unites signs with no natural relationship or connection to each other; discord, necessity for adjustment, or a forced choice between inharmonious conditions. |
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Aspects with angles equal to 360° divided by 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 and 12 are interpreted in your book You and the Universe, and with those equal to 360° divided by 5 (the quintile) and 7 (the septile) are all calculated and displayed in your horoscope chart on page three of You and the Universe. Although the faster of any two planets in aspect is the active force making the aspect, the faster planet is always learning lessons from and being shaped by the slower planet, and never vice-versa. In the case of Mercury opposed Pluto, for example, since Mercury is closer to the Sun and therefore faster in its orbit than Pluto, Mercury is the one learning lessons from and being shaped by Pluto. The planets from slowest to fastest—from teacher to student—are Pluto, Neptune, Uranus, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury and the Moon. In addition to the former aspects which are measured in degrees along the ecliptic, there are also aspects measured in degrees of "declination" (i.e., north and south of the celestial equator: the Earth's equator projected into space or onto the celestial sphere). Two planets that are the same (angular) distance north and south of the celestial equator and on the same side of it are said to be in "parallel" aspect. Two planets that are the same (angular) distance north and south of the celestial equator and opposite sides of it are said to be in "contraparallel" aspect; both have orbs of 1°. So two planets with the same declination are in parallel, and two planets with opposite declinations are contraparallel. This aspect is said to act like the conjunction when two planets have the same declination and are on the same side of the celestial equator (in parallel), and like the opposition when two planets have the same declination and are on opposite sides of the celestial equator (in contraparallel). Not every two planets are in aspect, but when they are their energies combine to work in harmony, discord, or in some other fashion. 14 possible aspects are drawn in your horoscope chart in You and the Universe, and named and sorted by planet and by orb beneath it. All five major and four minor aspects that you have in your chart are interpreted in your book and briefly described in the above table. The larger orb in column 5 is for aspects including the Sun or the Moon; the smaller orb in column 6 is for planets other than the Sun or Moon. More advanced material on aspects is given in You and the Universe in the Appendices on pages 302 - 321. * The aspect between two planets is technically the angle between the two planets in the ecliptic plane with the Earth at the apex of that angle. |
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