Aspect

Aspect (Latin aspectus — "gaze"; German Aspekt) is the angular distance between two planets (or significant points) in the natal chart, creating a harmonious or tense interaction of energies.

Ptolemy's Major Aspects

• Conjunction (0°) — fusion of energies, amplification
• Opposition (180°) — polarity, conflict, awareness
• Square (90°) — tension, challenge, action
• Trine (120°) — harmony, flow, talent
• Sextile (60°) — opportunities, cooperation

Minor Aspects

• Semi-sextile (30°)
• Quincunx / Inconjunct (150°)
• Quintile (72°), Bi-quintile (144°)
• Semi-square (45°), Sesquiquadrate (135°)

The Orb

The allowable deviation. The orb (Latin orbis — "circle") is the allowable deviation from an exact aspect.

Schools of orbs. Wide orbs (8–10°) — the humanistic school; narrow (1–2°) — Ebertin's Cosmobiology (#42).

Aspects in Jyotish

"Drishti" — the gaze of the planets. In Jyotish (#18), aspects (दृष्टि, drishti — "gaze") work fundamentally differently: planets "look" at signs, not at degrees.

Special rules. Saturn aspects the 3rd, 7th and 10th signs from itself; Jupiter — the 5th, 7th and 9th. These are "special aspects" not found in the Western tradition.