The aspects: conjunction, opposition, trine, sextile and square

So far, you have read each body on its own: its sign, its house, its ruler. But in a chart, the bodies talk to each other. When two points of the chart, most often two bodies, stand a precise angle apart on the circle, they work together: that is an aspect.

Five angles matter before all others, the major aspects: the conjunction (0°), the sextile (60°), the square (90°), the trine (120°) and the opposition (180°). Other distances exist, such as 30°, 45°, 72° or 150°: these are minor aspects, nuances to keep for later.

On the wheel, an aspect is drawn as a line between two bodies. Here are the three tightest of the example sky: tonight, you learn to name them, to measure them and to read them.

The conjunction (0°) brings two bodies together at the same place in the sky, most often in the same sign. They act as a single block, for the best and for the excess. It is neither harmonious nor challenging by nature: everything depends on the bodies it joins. Venus with Jupiter does not have the color of Mars with Saturn.

The opposition (180°) sets two bodies face to face, in two opposite signs, six signs apart. They look at each other from one end of the wheel to the other and seek their balance. It is a challenging aspect: you lean one way, then the other, until you can hold both. In the example sky, Jupiter in Cancer faces Uranus in Capricorn.

The trine (120°) links two bodies four signs apart, hence in two signs of the same element. You recognize the triangle from the first night: Aries, Leo, Sagittarius. Between two bodies in trine, everything flows from one into the other without effort: a talent so natural that you sometimes forget to use it.

The sextile (60°) links them two signs apart: fire with air, earth with water, elements that get along. It is an understanding that comes alive as soon as you take the first step: the door is open, you still have to push it.

Trine and sextile are the two harmonious aspects. In the example sky, Mars in Pisces and Pluto in Scorpio, two water signs, form an exact trine.

The square (90°) links two bodies three signs apart. Two signs in square share the same mode, never the same element: Aries and Cancer are both cardinal, one a fire sign, the other a water sign. They want the same thing, to initiate, but each in its own way.

Between two bodies in square, there is friction: they clash, and that tension pushes you to act, to adjust. Along with the opposition, it is the other challenging aspect. Read it as an engine, never as a wall: a square you work with becomes a force for getting things done.

In the example sky, Venus in Aries squares Uranus in Capricorn: loving and staying free, two needs to put to work together.

An aspect is rarely exact to the degree. The margin allowed around the exact angle is called the orb. An exact square is 90°; at 87° or at 94°, it is still a square.

The orbs used on the site: 8° for the conjunction and the opposition, 7° for the square and the trine, 5° for the sextile, and 2° more when the Sun or the Moon is involved. Beyond that, the aspect no longer counts.

The tighter the orb, the more the aspect weighs: 1° from exact, it is felt far more strongly than at 7°. To measure it, compare the degrees: an aspect is exact when both bodies hold the same degree, each in its own sign. The difference between their degrees gives the orb.

The method takes two moves. First, count the signs from one body to the other, by the shortest way: same sign, conjunction; two signs, sextile; three, square; four, trine; six, opposition. One or five signs: no major aspect.

Then compare the degrees: their difference gives the orb. Mars at 16° Pisces and Pluto at 16° Scorpio: four signs, same degree, an exact trine. Venus at 9° Aries and Jupiter at 8° Cancer: three signs, a square 1° from exact.

On the wheel, same move: find the sign of each body, then count. The eye helps: the opposition crosses the wheel through the center, the square spans a quarter of the circle, the trine a third, the sextile a sixth. In the trial, a line will link two bodies: it is up to you to name the aspect.

An aspect is not frozen: the bodies keep moving, each at its own speed, from the Moon, the fastest, to Pluto, the slowest. The faster of the two catches up with the other, forms the exact aspect, then moves away.

Look at their degrees. As long as the faster body has not reached the degree of the slower one, the aspect is applying: it is tightening, gaining power. Once that degree is passed, it is separating: it is fading, it has already given its peak. In the example sky, the Sun is at 21° Taurus, Saturn at 25° Capricorn: the Sun has not reached 25° yet, their trine is applying.

You can now link the bodies to one another. Next night, you will bring everything together, signs, houses, rulers and aspects, to read a chart at a glance: the synthesis.