ASPECTS INTENSIVE

Steven Forrest
ASPECTS BIND A CHART TOGETHER—but they are not the only thing that does. If a person has Mercury
in opposition to Neptune, her perceptual function is bound to the psychic function—thus: psychic
visualization. But say another person is a solar Gemini with Mercury conjunct his Sun and with Neptune in the
3rd House. Even if Neptune makes no aspects to his Sun or his Mercury, any helpful reading of his chart must
include a similar synthesis of his perceptual function and his capacity for psychic visualization.

Ultimately, you have only one head between your ears. Everything in the birthchart is interactive with
everything else. Aspects are only one mechanism by which we spotlight the most vigorous interactions.
We must master aspects—but also never forget that there are other mechanisms at work as well.

ALL ASPECTS ARE ABOUT INTEGRATION. If you forget everything else and simply let that principle
guide your thinking, then your work will be helpful, accurate, and profound. I emphasize this principle in
order to counter the distorting idea of “good” aspects and “bad” aspects. Good and bad aspects are not useless
concepts, but please don’t use those exact words—it is far better to say “easy aspects” and “hard aspects,”
remembering that “hard” equals “bad” only for lazy people. We have all done hard things that were good for
us. We have all even done hard things that we enjoyed doing. Why would anyone explore the arctic? Why
would anyone read James Joyce’s Ulysses? Why would anyone learn to play the piano? The pivotal concept
here is not some pop psychological stricture against using “judgmental words.” It is simply that when two
planets are in aspect, the reality is always simply that they are trying to work together. They are trying to
integrate their energies. If it is a so-called “bad aspect” that joins them, that integration is simply more
difficult. If it is an “easy” aspect, it is indeed easier—but there’s also a danger of laziness or a lack of
pressing motivation.

Bottom line, when confronted with any astrological aspect, organize your thinking as follows:

U Start by contemplating the energies the planetary archetypes represent. Realize that if they are linked by
any aspect at all, they are trying to cooperate. Imagine what such an integration might look like if it were
successful. Pay some attention to what it would look like if the partnership became unhealthy—that is always
a possibility too. Notice that what I’ve said so far is totally independent of what aspect we are talking about—
it could be a trine, a square, or a sesquiquadrate; so far, it doesn’t matter.

U Think of the nature of the aspect itself. Are we talking about friction or complimentary tensions between
the two archetypes? Or are we in the realm of the easy aspects? Are we thus talking about mutual
enhancement and support—and the possibility of laziness, a lack of motivation, and dark collusion?

IN A NUTSHELL, PUT THE PLANETARY INTEGRATION FIRST

ORBS

There is nothing rigid about the orbs of aspects—except perhaps astrologers’ opinions. Some of us use
tight orbs in order to strategically reduce the number of aspects in a chart and thus focus narrowly on the most
pressing ones. Others use wider orbs—and thus have more aspects—in order to paint a more subtle portrait.

Two general principles guide us we consider how we will employ orbs:

U Aspects are not all equal in strength. Use wider orbs for the more important ones. Here is hierarchy of
aspects as I’ve experienced them, in descending order of power: conjunctions, oppositions, squares, trines,
sextiles, quincunxes—followed by sesquiquadrates, quintiles, semi-sextiles and the rest of the minor series.
U The more charged the astrological planet or point, the wider the orb it casts. Almost universally,
astrologers use wider orbs for the Sun than they do for, say, Mercury. Be careful here though—if Gemini is
rising, then Mercury rules the chart . . . but where exactly is that Mercury placed and how central is it? Many
factors come together to determine the “power” of a planet.

A FEW WRINKLES

Be sensitive to “whole sign aspects,” no matter what the orbs might be. Anything in Leo is going to
experience some “squaring” by anything in Scorpio. That situation gets very interesting when a planet in 29E
Scorpio “trines” a planet in 1E Leo. That is an out of quality aspect—i.e., one that involves the “wrong” signs.
Out of quality aspects are always tricky to interpret because you have two incompatible principles interacting:
the geometrical aspect and the whole sign aspect. Similar ambiguity can arise when aspects overlap. We might
have two planets separated by, say, 147E. Do we call that a 150E quincunx—or a 144E bi-quintile? As with
the previous “squared trine” example, both interpretations can cast light on the experienced reality.

Applying aspects feel like an in-breath and separating ones an out-breath. Applying one are more
urgent, active and intense, while separating ones are more reflective, cautious, and passive. Similar statements
can be made about waxing aspects in contrast with waning ones. To determine waxing/waning status, always
take the slower body as the anchor point. That is, since Venus moves faster than Mars, see if Venus is waxing
relative to Mars—i.e., between 0E and 180E ahead of it in the zodiac.

IN A NUTSHELL . . .

Aspect Separation Action

Conjunction 0E Fusion. Formation of one single “meta-planet”

Semi-sextile 30 E Clash; annoyance. Waning: Letting go.

Semi-square 45E Fighting for freedom; awkward transitions; endings

Sextile 60 E Mutual excitation and stimulus

Quintile 72E Creativity; inspiration

Square 90E Blocking; challenge; contradiction

Trine 120 E Mutual enhancement; support

Sesquiquadrate 135 E Tension; breakthrough or breakdown; sacrifice

Bi-quintile 144E Demands toward transcendence; “the Call”

Quincunx 150 E Adjustment; shared creativity; romance

Opposition 180E Polarization or Complementarity

©2017. Steven Forrest. Seven Paws Press.