Aspects in astrology: the angles between your planets

Aspects in astrology are the angles between planets in a chart, such as 90 degrees for a square or 120 degrees for a trine. They show how the parts of you get along. Some of your drives cooperate, some compete, and some make each other louder.

A planet on its own tells you about one need, like Venus for affection or Mars for drive. A sign shows its style, and a house shows the area of life where it plays out. Aspects add the relationships. Two people can share a Venus sign and still love very differently. One has Venus in a smooth trine to Jupiter, and the other has it squared by Saturn.

The main aspects at a glance

Six aspects carry most of the weight in a natal chart. The angle is measured along the 360 degree circle of the zodiac. The orb is the leeway astrologers usually allow.

Aspect	Symbol	Angle	Typical orb	Character
Conjunction	☌	0°	8° (up to 10° with Sun or Moon)	Fusion: two planets act as one
Sextile	⚹	60°	4–6°	Opportunity that rewards a little effort
Square	□	90°	6–8°	Friction that pushes toward action
Trine	△	120°	6–8°	Natural ease and flow
Quincunx	⚻	150°	2–3°	Awkward mismatch that needs adjustment
Opposition	☍	180°	6–8°	Polarity: a pull between two sides

Trines and sextiles are called soft or flowing aspects. Squares and oppositions are called hard aspects. The conjunction takes on the tone of the planets involved. The quincunx sits apart as a minor aspect with a major reputation.

How do orbs work?

An aspect is rarely exact. Say Mars sits at 10° Aries and the Moon at 14° Cancer. They are 94 degrees apart, which makes a square with a 4 degree orb. Most astrologers allow wider orbs for the conjunction, opposition, square and trine. The sextile gets a little less, and the quincunx only two or three degrees.

The closer an aspect is to exact, the louder it speaks in the chart. A square with a 1 degree orb tends to be a lifelong theme. One at 7 degrees may feel like background noise. The Sun and Moon get a slightly wider orb because they are the most personal points in the chart.

Applying and separating aspects

An aspect is applying when the faster planet is still moving toward the exact angle. It is separating once that planet has passed it. The Moon moves fastest, followed by Mercury, Venus, the Sun and Mars, then the slower outer planets.

Many astrologers read an applying aspect as something still building. A separating one feels familiar, a theme the person has lived with and partly absorbed. In transits the difference is practical. An applying transit is still on the way, while a separating one is easing off.

Aspects in natal charts, synastry and transits

The same angles show up in three settings. In a natal chart they describe the inner wiring of one person. In synastry, one person’s planet aspects another person’s planet, which is the basis of compatibility work. In transits, a planet moving through the sky today aspects a planet in your birth chart. That theme then switches on for a while.

How aspects shift planet strength

The Zenar method gives every planet one of four strength levels, and aspects are one of the main inputs.

• Strong. A planet with good sign and house support can stay Strong even with a hard square, because the square gives it work to do.
• Harmonious. Trines and sextiles from well-placed planets lift a planet toward this level, so it works easily with the rest of the chart.
• Weak. A planet with few or no aspects may read as Weak, since nothing else in the chart supports or engages it.
• Afflicted. Several tight squares or oppositions, especially from Saturn or Mars, can push a planet here.

Aspects never decide the rating alone. Sign, house position and patterns count too. The planet strength calculator shows the result for each of your planets, and the planet strength section explains the levels in more depth.

Aspect patterns

When three or more planets link through several aspects at once, they form a pattern. The grand trine is built from trines. The T-square comes from an opposition and two squares, and the yod from two quincunxes and a sextile. The grand cross, kite and mystic rectangle combine several aspects into larger shapes. You will find all of them in the patterns section.

Where to start with your own chart

Generate your chart with the birth chart calculator and open the aspect grid. Pick the three tightest aspects, plus any that touch your Sun, Moon or chart ruler. Those usually say the most. The guide to reading a birth chart shows how aspects fit with signs and houses into one picture.