Aspects: How Planets Interact

What an aspect is

Draw a line between any two planets in a chart and measure the angle. Certain angles are meaningful, and each one describes a different working relationship between those two planets. An aspect does not say a planet is good or bad. It says how easily two parts of a person cooperate.

The major aspects

• Conjunction (planets together). Two functions fuse and amplify each other. Powerful, and hard to separate.
• Sextile and trine (the easy angles). The two planets support each other. These show up as natural talent and flow, the things a person does well without trying.
• Square and opposition (the hard angles). The two planets pull against each other. These create friction, and also the drive to actually do something about it.

Tension is not the same as bad

The easy aspects feel good but can make someone coast, because nothing is pushing them. The hard aspects are uncomfortable, but they are usually the engine of growth and achievement. A square between drive and discipline can read as stress on paper and look like a relentless work ethic in real life. The friction is often where the talent gets built.

How aspects show up

Aspects are the layer that makes a chart specific. Once you know the planets, signs, and houses from your birth chart, the aspects tell you how those pieces talk to each other. They also matter between two people's charts, which is the basis of synastry and compatibility, and between today's sky and your chart, which is how transits work.