Aspects and Houses
The aspects I use in this system are the 12 major aspects:
- the conjunction
- the opposition
- the squares
- the trines
- the sextiles
- the semisextiles
- the quincuxes
Let's see how aspects between planets can and do define house placements, where houses coincide with signs.
- Two planets conjunct within a certain sign will share the qualities of that particular sign. They will identify with each other, so a conjunction is like a first house placement: the house of identity.
- An opposition between two planets is a direct challenge between the two energies represented by the planets, which confront each other. This kind of challenge will appear to come from the outside, whether that be another person (relationship) or other external circumstances. A planet in opposition to another therefore acts like a seventh house placement with respect to the other planet.
This reasoning may be applied to all the other aspects:
- Squares are fourth or tenth house placements. They are powerful and challenging aspects. A planet in the tenth house/sign from another planet will force it to go forward in its own direction (its own symbolic meaning). The tenth house is often misunderstood as the house of career or fame, whereas it simply represents the person's duty or more generally the life path. In a similar way, one planet in the tenth sign from a second planet will represent the duty of the latter planet. Conversely, the second planet will be in a fourth house placement with respect to the first planet. The fourth house represents origins and passive/self-protective qualities. Therefore the second planet will exert a force on the first planet by keeping it backward.
- Trines are free-flowing aspects and represent fifth and ninth house placements. A planet in the ninth from a second planet will exert an expansive force on the latter, as the ninth house represents expansion in the same fashion as the ninth sign Sagittarius' ruler Jupiter. Therefore the ninth trinal aspect tends to enhance the meaning of the aspected planet, which in turn perceives the aspect as a fortunate one. On the other hand, the planet which is in the fifth place will act as a creative product for the aspected planet (the fifth house traditionally rules children and the creative process in general).
- Sextiles are more dynamic aspects than the trines and represent third and eleventh house placements. The planet in the eleventh from another will tend to act as helper towards it, while at the same time exerting a 'revolutionary' effect on it, while the planet in the third will tend to exert a dynamic change or movement over the other.
- Planets in semisextile are in a more difficult position: the one in the second house placement is an accumulation for the other and will tend to exert a stabilizing force, while the planet in the twelfth will act as an ending or loss for the other planet.
- The quincux is the most difficult of all aspects since it represents a sixth/eighth house relationship between the planets involved. In traditional astrology this aspect is termed "inconjunct" and the energies at play cannot be reduced to each other. The planet in the sixth from the other will make the latter uneasy (the sixth house as 'dis-ease') while the planet in the 8th will act as destroyer of the energies of the other planet.
Which of the two planets involved in an aspect will 'win', depends on the relative strength of the planets themselves. One general rule is that the slower moving planet is stronger than the faster moving one. However other considerations come into play, such as sign position of the planets, which influence their strength as well.
Orbs for aspects may in a very general way be quantified as following:
It goes without saying that the closer the aspect, the more powerful the effects will be.
Copyright Ó 2006 Maddalena Cecchinato
