Aspects in the natal chart

The planets in a chart sit at different degrees of the zodiac circle. If the angular distance between two of them equals a particular value — for example 90° or 120° — we say there is an aspect between them. In interpretation this means that the themes of these planets are linked and work not separately but together.

The sign shows how a planet’s theme is expressed, the house shows where it is most noticeable, and aspects show what it is connected with. That is why aspects are read after the planets and houses: the order of reading is described in the article how to read a natal chart. Like all astrology, this is a tradition of interpretation: the links between planets are a way of organising self-observation, not a proven mechanism.

The division into “harmonious” and “tense” aspects is conventional. A trine does not guarantee luck and a square is not a sentence: tension often becomes a source of development, and ease a reason for inaction. That is why we describe aspects in the language of themes and questions, not of judgements.

Exact aspects are rare in a chart. The orb is the permitted deviation of an angle from its exact value. If two planets are separated by, say, 93°, that is a square with a deviation of 3°. The smaller the deviation, the stronger the aspect is considered in interpretation.

For the Sun and Moon the orb is wider, because the tradition gives them greater weight. For the other bodies it is narrower:

We do not use minor aspects — for example the semisextile or quincunx. Which ones are included depends on the school, and a reading of the chart without them remains complete. The full description of the calculation is on the methodology page.

Uranus, Neptune and Pluto move very slowly, and aspects between them last for years and are shared by a whole generation. That is why we do not interpret the aspects Uranus–Neptune, Uranus–Pluto and Neptune–Pluto: they say nothing personal, but merely describe the era of birth.

Aspects of the outer planets to the Sun, Moon and other bodies are taken into account: these are what link generational themes with personal ones. For more on the role of each body, see the article planets in the natal chart.

The example is fictional: the positions are invented to explain the idea and are not calculated from anyone’s data.

Suppose that in a hypothetical chart Venus is at 12° Aries, Saturn at 15° Cancer, the Moon at 25° Libra and Mars at 20° Gemini.

• Venus and Saturn. From 12° Aries to 15° Cancer is 93°. This is a square with a deviation of 3°, which falls within the 7° orb between other bodies. The theme of attachment and taste (Venus) meets the theme of boundaries and caution (Saturn). Such a square can be read as a question: how can the wish for closeness be combined with the need for reliability?
• The Moon and Mars. From 20° Gemini to 25° Libra is 125°. This is a trine with a deviation of 5°, which falls within the Moon’s 8° orb. Feelings (the Moon) and action (Mars) can agree: the person responds quickly to what they feel. Ease is not a guarantee: it needs to be used consciously.

Neither of these aspects is responsible for “fate” or for specific events. They are two hypotheses about inner links, which are worth checking against your own observations.

Aspects refine the interpretation of the planets in the full reading. Chapter 10, “Inner contradictions and areas of growth”, has a special role: it gathers the combinations in which themes pull in different directions. We do not present them as flaws: the chapter shows where a person has an inner argument and what they can try in order to work with it. How the chapters look in practice can be seen in the open sample reading.

Every statement in the reading rests on a specific chart factor, and the texts are assembled by rules from ready interpretations rather than written anew at the moment of the order.

To see the aspects in your own chart, build your chart: the full reading includes the positions of all bodies and shows in detail how they are linked to one another. If you want to go back to the basics, read what a natal chart is.