Aspects are the angular distances between two points.  The name of the aspect describes the angular distance.  A Conjunction is defined as both points at the same place.  New Moon is a conjunction of the Sun and the Moon.  They are at the same location and hence 0 degrees apart.  The Opposition occurs when the two points are on opposite sides of the chart (180 degrees apart).  In the Moon cycle, this would be full Moon.  There are many aspects. Here we will just deal with some of the more powerful aspects.

      Let us take a minute and explain the principal of aspects. All of life is made up of countless numbers of cycles.  The 28 day Moon cycle is one.  The sun's yearly cycle is another.  The cycle of birth, maturity and death is the cycle of life.  All cycles have much in common.  Plants sprout, grow, bear fruit and die away.  This is the life of a cycle.  There is a birth, a growth to culmination, and a dying away.  Aspects are the study of the cycle.

      All cycles have this in common.  They all start, reach a culmination, and fade away.  The start of a cycle is the conjunction (0 degrees).  The peak of the cycle is the opposition (180 degrees).  Just like the life of a plant. It sprouts, grows to maturity, produces fruits, and fades away to prepare for the next sprouting.  The aspects between 0 degrees (conjunction) and 180 degrees (opposition) are concerned with reaching that culmination.  The aspects between 180 degrees and the next conjunction are concerned with the fruits of the cycle and the preparation for the start of the next cycle.  The problem with understanding aspects is a lack of the greater picture.  Most books tell you about aspects and what they individually mean.  (We're about to do it, too.)  The information they give is accurate.  The big picture is rarely adequately explained.  You will see that a conjunction is a joining of energies affecting the house where the conjunction occurs and the houses that the planets rule. This is true; but for what purpose?  The purpose is the eventual opposition. You will be told that with a square aspect you must choose.  But choose what?  The answer is in the grandeur of the big picture.   The square aspect is 90 degrees.  This is half way between the conjunction and the opposition.  This is the point of no return.  If the square is between the conjunction and the opposition, the choice is to continue to grow toward the opposition or to fall back to the old pattern and return to the familiar of the conjunction.  The reverse is true if the square is between the opposition and the next conjunction. The choice is between falling back to the recent glory of the opposition or to let go and prepare for the coming conjunction.  The universe is patient.  If you take the easy way out and fall back to the old and familiar, or don't fully learn the lesson, the lesson is repeated, with variation, at the next conjunction (these are circles).  If you have learned, the next time around will not be as difficult as you learn to be better. (Everything is easier once you know how.)

      Let's look at the easier aspects.  The trine is 120 degrees apart.  Planets in this aspect are in the same element family (fire, earth, air, and water).  Energy flows easily between them.  We are also dealing with 2 out of 3 modes of expressing that element.  Cardinal (initiator), Fixed (stable effort), or Mutable (adaptable) modes of expression. This is the same as being 5 houses away.  The 5th house is where we find creativity aware of hopes and wishes (11th).

      If you were to start to write a book at a conjunction in your third house (communication and what you think) it would be with an awareness of the possibility of publishing (9th). When the planets moved to the sextile position, this would be the time you would be collecting your thoughts (3rd of 3) as is indicated by the sextile.  Don't forget that the culmination of this is still the 9th house.  The sextile to where the conjunction originally started is also a trine to the ultimate goal and hence of the same element family.  This also enables you to see your goal more clearly.

      Lets take a simple concept and expand on it.  You have seen, in the explanation of houses and signs, that there is a story in the natural order of signs and houses and a natural affinity between the different houses and signs. Now, we must take into account (again) that this is a circle. A circle has no start nor end point.  We only started the discussion of their significance at the start of Aries out of convention.  We could have started at any point on the circle.

      Let's illustrate this with an example.  For this discussion we are going to ignore the planets and just look at the houses.  Let's say that you have always wanted to write a book. You look in your chart and look in the third house (the 3rd house rules writing and what you think).  As we have explained in the discussion of aspects, this is a starting point of an undertaking with the opposition as the goal. What could you read into the goal knowing that it is a 9th house goal?  The 9th house rules publishing and what others think.  Even if you have decided never to publish your work, it is still a 9th house decision. To take no action is an action.  You can't push one end of the see-saw without the other end being affected.  In fact, in your decision to publish or not, you could look to the sign on the cusp of that house and tell why you came to that decision.  (Scorpio - secretive, Pisces - limitations, Leo - limelight, Taurus - values)  Now we have a start (3rd) and a culmination (9th) and a start of the next cycle (3rd).  We have a circle.  So let's start at the cusp of the 3rd house. This is the start of the circle; so we will look at it as the first house of the circle. In Astrology, this is called the 1st of 3rd.

      The 4th house of the 3rd is next.  It is also the 6th house of your chart.  As the 4th of the 3rd, it is angular to the third.  In aspects, it is square (90).  It is the point of no return.  Write the book or give up the idea.  It is the choice of the square.  New beginnings is also a meaning of the 4th house and this is the 4th house of the 3rd.  As the 6th house of your chart, it is still concerned with work and service.  There will also be a choice (square) of how much energy to put in on your book at the expense of work. Again, we can't push the 6th house without affecting the 12th (limitations and beliefs), which is also the 10th of the 3rd (honors and acclaim).  Can you put in the effort required (6th)? Are you aware (opposition) of your limitations and belief in yourself (12th).  As the 4th of the 3rd, the other side of the see-saw is the 10th of the 3rd.  You are aware that this new beginning (4th of 3rd) may culminate in honors and acclaim (10th of 3rd).2  All of this is still at cross purposes with your ideas and your intent to publish.  To see what others think.  Can you see a reason for the conflict of the square?

      Are you beginning to see the complexity that is possible with a chart?  You can continue around the circle and complete the book example on your own, but why?  You have your own chart.  Pick an area of your life and start in that house and do the same thing.  It all depends on what you want to know and how deeply you want to go into it.  Plus, we do need to remind you that in the previous example we have virtually ignored the planets, and just dealt with the houses, signs and the general relationship between the houses, signs and aspects.

      This is similar to only looking at the hours on your digital watch.  You get a general idea but you don't see the detail. You can't tell if it is 10:01 or 10:59.  It is the repeating use of the symbolism that is important.  Take the simple rules and just keep applying them from a different perspective.  In our example, we used the symbolism of the houses from 1-12 and changed our perspective to the 3rd house.  We also wanted to show you that, if you get confused about the aspects, they can be related to the relationship of the houses in the natural chart by mode and element. This means that a trine between a planet in Aries and a planet in Leo will carry with it the same relationship as the first and fifth houses.  If the planet in Aries is in the 8th house and the planet in Leo in the 12th, the 8th to 12th relationship still holds true and must be blended with the 1st to 5th relationship.  Similarly, the same planets in a trine in Aries and Sagittarius will carry a first and ninth house relationship.  It will still be a fire sign (aggressive leadership) trine (easy flow of energy because we're just talking about different styles of leadership) with a different perspective on the circle. The symbolism stays the same.  It's just modified by the circumstance, and always mindful of the fact that we are going around in circles.

      You can see that there is a lot to be considered.  Your mind will get dizzy going around in circles.  If you are doing it correctly and your time is accurate, the story should stay consistent and accurately describe your life.  Don't make it harder than it is.  As you get the hang of it, things will get easier.