The aspects

Aspects are the relationships between the planets. So far we have seen each function on its own —the Sun, the Moon, Mars— but in a chart those functions do not live in isolation: they talk to each other. An aspect measures that dialogue through the angle that separates two planets on the wheel of the zodiac. It is not a metaphor: it is geometry. When that angle approaches certain specific values, the two planets "speak".

What they are for: aspects describe how two functions get along inside you. If the Sun is identity and Saturn is limit, a tense aspect between them describes someone who feels their expression clashes with an inner demand; a flowing one, someone for whom identity and discipline cooperate effortlessly. Aspects are often the most revealing part of a chart, because they show the inner dynamic, not just the pieces.

The five major aspects:

• Conjunction (0°) — two planets at the same point. Their functions merge and intensify. Neither good nor bad: intense. It all depends on which planets join.
• Sextile (60°) — an available opportunity. It eases the collaboration between the two functions, but asks for a conscious step to make use of it.
• Square (90°) — friction. A tension that pushes, discomforts and forces growth. It is the chart's engine of development, not a flaw.
• Trine (120°) — natural ease. The two functions flow without effort. Its risk is comfort: what comes easily sometimes goes undeveloped.
• Opposition (180°) — two functions facing each other at opposite poles. It asks for integration, learning to hold two truths at once.

A key idea so as not to fall into "good and bad aspects": none is either. The flowing ones (trine, sextile) give resources but can fall asleep; the tense ones (square, opposition) cost effort, but they are the ones that produce the most solid growth. A chart without tensions often lacks drive; a chart of only tensions is powerful but exhausting. The art lies in working with both.

How they are recognised in the chart: each aspect has an orb, which is how many degrees it is from being exact. The smaller the orb, the more powerful the aspect: a square with a one-degree orb weighs far more than one of seven. When reading a chart, you begin with the most exact aspects —those of small orb— and, among them, those involving the Sun, the Moon and the personal planets. There lies what most defines the person.

With the how (signs), the where (houses), the what (planets) and the relationships between them (aspects), you now have the full alphabet. The last step is to put it all together: how a whole chart is read.