Minor Aspects

As I mentioned in our June astrology lesson about aspects- there are minor aspects also at play that also come into the mix. I didn’t really think that there was a full blog’s worth of info in that, so, I’m just adding them to this one. (If you’re new, that also includes links to the prior blogs in this series.)

The Semi-Sextile- 30°

You don’t really see a whole lot of talk about the semi-sextile mostly owing to the fact that its influence isn’t really that great. Not great, meaning, not big. I will look at them mostly because it helps to flesh things out, and really: the best way to describe it is that it more or less helps to back up a lot of the other things that are more heavy-hitting.

The Semi-Square- 45°

If the square’s a really big pain in the butt, the semi-square’s sort of “Hey, that’s sort of annoying, but not horribly painful.” It generally indicates some form of frustrating but relatively minor internal issues.

The Sesqui-quadrate- 135°

This is a really...well, if the semi-square’s sort of “you’re arguing with yourself,” or your client is arguing with themselves- this aspect’s difficulties gone external, but a bit more than just the square creates. It is 3/8ths of the whole pie, so, it’s pretty much a square plus half a square in both measurement and intensity.

Quintile- 72° (Also, Bi-quintile- 144°)

These are both actually nice little aspects indicating a creative mind, and someone who probably has some sort of intellectual talent and is usually sort of a small boon to the person or situation.

Quincunx/Inconjunct- 150°

I think some people read this aspect as particularly challenging- and it is, but there’s often this tendency to see it as wholly negative: which it is not. Stressful, sure: but, those challenges, depending on the other aspects, may be necessary for the evolution of the person or situation. Sometimes, this is one of those things where someone’s not paying enough attention to a certain part of their lives or it’s something that they never chose.

What the heck am I looking at?

Dissecting a natal chart: the basics

And now, we’re going to go into how to look at a natal chart. I’m going to write this out but also, in this video, I also pull up a chart in Sirius to show you, step by step what I’m talking about alongside August’s lesson next month so that we can tie it together in a much better-illustrated way. This is going to be a sort of Part 1, as it’s a lot of information to digest.

Before we get started, let me introduce the person behind the chart. Some of you probably know him: this is Dustin Pari of Ghost Hunters, Ghost Hunters International, and Patch Ministry. If you do know him, you know he’s quite possibly one of the sweetest people on the planet: and always the uplifting man about town. Well, given his birthday is on the 12th, I figure: he’s a good guy to check out. Happy birthday, Dustin!

He’s also fairly easy on the eyes.

(Via: PariPrints)

Okay, first, let me be clear: we’re using the Placidus system here, and I will get into the varying house systems at a later time. This is the one that most are familiar with.

Okay, so, from the jump, let’s look at the wheel, here.

There’s a Zodiac wheel and of course, each one of those is the 12 signs of the Zodiac. You can see this one running around the outside there in blue. As you can see, well, each sign is denoted by its glyph there- but, the glyphs are placed where they go into the houses: those dividing lines are dividing up the houses and not the signs. Planets fall within the Zodiac wheel, including the Sun and Moon based on where they’re positioned in space- and then, that wheel is put over the house wheel. If you’ll look, you can see it’s pretty obvious that these two wheels don’t exactly match up- this is because this is based on your exact time and date of birth and not anything else: so, it’d be pretty rare for the houses and the signs to be in the exact same place.

On the inner circle- again in blue, here’s where things get interesting. First, the basic gist here: houses 1-12. I went into the basics of each house in March’s Astrology Lesson. The wheel itself is based on the path of the Sun around the Earth or the ecliptic. Whatever point that ecliptic happened to be on, on the Eastern Horizon at your exact birth date and time: well, there’s where the 1st house begins. While the Zodiac wheel may change in position- this house wheel never does: they will progress counterclockwise around the chart, and each one of those dividing lines is the cusp. Those little numbers you see around the wheel are the degree measurements that show the house cusps as they relate to the outer Zodiac wheel.

There are four of these cusps, however, that have special significance. On that first house cusp is the Ascendant, the fourth is the I.C. or imum coeli, the seventh is the Descendant, and then, on the tenth is the M.C, or the medium coeli.

Now, that ascendant has the most bearing on the rest of the chart- which, well, if you wondered why I ranted so much about accurate time of birth: this is why. You can’t get the Ascendant without full birth data and this sort of sets the tone by which the rest of the chart is going to work with. In Dustin’s case, it’s Scorpio.

Regardless of the rising sign, the planets conjunct the ascendant act as modifiers. I’ll get into all of that at a later time, but it’s important to understand that in Dustin- and any Scorpio rising’s case: the ruling planets are Mars and Pluto, so, the most likely planet you’d be looking at is Mars, because Pluto is a very slow-moving planet. Dustin’s Mars happens to be in Taurus, which makes it a little different than someone who has Mars in another sign. There are a variety of factors that come into play and as you read a chart: it’s very important to look at the whole, rather than any one aspect. In any case, the chart ruler here is Mars- and this does set the tone for the rest of the chart: so, if you were to try to “Hmmm. Typical Cancer.” Dustin, you’d be wrong.

Scorpio Rising

As a general rule, those with Scorpio ascendant are going to be larger than life personalities, and they just do not go unnoticed. They’re also not someone you want to push around- and when they walk into a room, you can already sort of pick up on that. There’s just something about their presence that commands attention- but, also, respect and sometimes, even fear. They tend to be very powerful people, and that definitely comes through in the way they carry themselves.

They are also usually pretty intuitive sorts, in a sense. They aren’t keen on superficial things and can see right through any of that nonsense with an almost uncanny ability to read right between the lines. For some people, that’s a very scary thing, but for others, it’s an almost irresistible draw. They also have a strong tendency towards protecting their privacy- which, makes the fact that I was allowed to do this chart even more flattering. Then again, I fall on the “irresistible draw” side of things: I find Scorpio rising people to be fascinating.

Taurus Descendant

“Hmmm...wait, isn’t Scorpio the opposing sign to Taurus?” Hey, gold stars for you, you’re right. That’s because the Ascendant/Descendant is an axis: so, the signs will oppose one another.

With a Taurus descendant- this shows someone who really looks for someone who’s got a good head on their shoulders, someone who’s a bit more grounded and practical. Though I would hesitate to say this applies solely to relationships- it does show that he prefers that those closest to him are incredibly loyal: he’s not really looking for a bunch of superficial friendships and definitely not a superficial relationship. (Of course, he’s married, so, he’s not looking at all: but you get the idea.) Sex and love are definitely tangled up in each other, so, a sensual partner is an absolute must or someone with a Scorpio rising. They may feel that they aren’t loved at worst and at best: they’ll feel undesirable, and it can make them insecure if their partner isn’t quite as physical as they are. This is a big indicator of someone who is very serious about commitment, though: and someone who might endure quite a lot as a result of said commitment.

So, moving on to the other two cusps that come into play as we begin to explore this chart.

MC: Virgo

When we look at the Midheaven, like with the Ascendant: you need to look at what planet rules that sign for more information: especially if you’re determining a possible career outlook. In Dustin’s case, with a Virgo Midheaven: it’s Mercury. Dustin’s Mercury happens to be in Leo: which does indicate a showmanship in communication. Fancy that, he’d end up on television.

With Virgo on his Midheaven, this does indicate that he’d be involved in something that involves analysis. Because Mercury is a very intellectual planet, it can often mean someone who is going to end up in any career field that pays attention to detail. Another aspect of all of this is the element of service: he wants to be useful on some big levels. People with this aspect are often management and if they’re not: they’re usually the one holding everything together because they’re incredibly adept at taking every little detail and bringing them together to illustrate a clear sense of purpose. They often do exceptionally well in the medical profession because this brings all those threads together: attention to detail, problem-solving, and acting in service to others. Very frequently, people with this aspect find themselves in religious vocations.

IC: Pisces

Again with the whole axis thing. Now, that profound desire to help others stems from all the compassion and empathy that Pisces carries. People with a Pisces IC tend to feel that strong pull of Universal Oneness: that we are all connected in some form or fashion. Now, at times, when the person’s not quiiiiite there, yet: this can lead to an awful lot of compartmentalization. You see, that Virgo urge there in the MC is very strong, and it wants to overcompensate for the often surreal, dreamy emotions Pisces brings about. Virgo is quite pragmatic, and so, those depths often don’t make much sense. For those who are sort of stuck, you often see this come out in behaviors like trying to make sure every aspect of day to day life is tightly controlled. Once a person with this axis begins to grow, they come to recognize that all those little bits and pieces that the Virgo MC is missing are found within that wellspring of mystery, within the whole rather than simply one corner of reality. Once they do come to terms with all of this, however, they begin to be more capable of service on a whole ‘nother level entirely- something pretty close to legendary heroism or the divine.

So, this is where we begin with things. I think you’ll find if you are quite familiar with your Sun sign and what that entails, reading a bit more into these particular facets of your chart is going to help you a great deal. For August’s lesson, we’ll go into how these tie into house rulers, the houses themselves- and the planets contained in them, and the planets in the signs. After that, we’ll bring it right back around to those Major and Minor Aspects, and I’ll show you how to tie it all together.

In the meantime- why not stop by our Facebook page and let me know what you think? What did you discover about your chart that perhaps you didn’t know before?