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CHAPTER 11

ASPECTS IN WESTERN ASTROLOGY

Aspect literally means ‘DRISHTI’. We have stressed above, that planets should not be perceived merely as mass of objects floating around aimlessly in space, but are actually Divine Entities or Beings and are put in their definitive orbits around the Sun, by the will of God. Each planet has its own individualistic motion according to which they move in these pre-determined orbits and while doing so, emit their own vibrations, when these vibrations of one planet come in contact with the vibrations of another planet, their rays intermingle with one another, and an aspect or dirshti, is formed. In other words, when planets in the course of their orbits, form certain geometrical positions, they are said to be in aspect to one another. In a sense, therefore, the various yoga’s formed are also a necessary and extended corollary to these aspects or dirshti. The principles regarding aspects are of very great importance for predictive astrology and for the delineation of a chart and should, therefore, receive very special and meticulous attention of the students.

According to the Indian system (Niryana) of Astrology, it is said that all planets aspect the 3rd and 10th houses from its own position, with 1/4^th aspect; The 5th and the 9th houses from itself with 1/2 aspect; the 4th and the 8th from itself with ¾ aspect; and the 7th house from itself with full aspect. Over and above this basic rule, the outer planets (viz Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) have special aspects. Accordingly Mars aspects the 4th and the 8th house from itself with full aspect (and not the normal 3/4th aspect); Jupiter aspects the 5th and the 9th from itself with full aspect (and not the normal 1/2 aspect) and Saturn aspects the 3rd and the 19th from itself with full aspect (and not the normal 1/4 aspect). Since Hershel, Neptune and Pluto are not considered in the Niryana system, no mention is made of their aspects. In case of Rahu and Ketu some astrologers are of the opinion that they have special full aspect on the 5th and the 9th houses, but we are of the considered opinion that they aspect only the 7th house from their respective positions. For the purpose of general predictions, however, only the full aspects are considered for all planets and the 1/4, 1/2 or 3/4 aspects are generally ignored. If, however, where greater accuracy is required, these partial aspects may indeed be considered also.

It may be borne in mind that when we say that a planet aspects a particular house (as stated above), it ipso-facto also means that the planet also simultaneously aspects the Rashi or the Sign as well as the planets posited therein.

In yet another field of astrology known as “TAJIK SHASHTRA” dealing with Varshaphala or delineation of annual charts, the Tajik Acharyas have given a different set of aspects or drishtis. Accordingly, the aspect cast by a planet to the 5th and 9th house from itself is “Pratyeksha Snehala drishti” or Direct Benefic aspect. On the other hand, every planet aspects its own place as well as the 7th from itself with “Pratyeksha Shatru Drishti” or Direct Malefic Aspect, also every planet aspects the 3rd and the 11th house from itself with “Gupta Snehala Drishti” i.e. Secretive Beneficial Aspect. Lastly every planet aspects the 4th and the 10th house from itself with “Gupta Shatru Dirshti” or Secret Enemical Aspect.

Finally, according to the Sayana System (Western System), the aspects are calculated or measured to involve the arc of the Zodiac, i.e. they are calculated according to the exact distance a planet is away from the other and actually form a geometrical position from one another. We shall presently discuss them in some detail.

However, before we proceed with the Sayana aspects, it is important to know, that the intermingling of the rays take place only within specific distances called ‘orbs’ or ‘diptamshas’. Unfortunately, as always, pandits differ on the exact orbs or diptamshas of different planets, not only between the different systems, but also even within the same system. For our purpose, we propose that the student should adhere to the following orbs or planets:

Planet	Orb	Planet	Orb
Sun	15°	Moon	12°
Mars	7°	Mercury	7°
Jupiter	9°	Venus	7°
Saturn	9°	Hershel	5°
Neptune	5°	Pluto	5°
Rahu	5°	Ketu	5°

The orb of the cusp of any house as also that of the “Part of fortune” is 5 degrees. The orb of a Parallel aspect (Kranti) is just 1 degree. Finally, the orb of Fixed Stars is also just 1 degree (or even less in certain cases). However, for a couple of Fixed Stars the orb extends even to 5 degrees to 6 degrees. In actual practice, orbs need not be specific or rigid. In fact, they should not be and cannot be static. The orbs would naturally differ even for the same planet, depending on whether its daily motion is faster or slower than average or whether it is static, direct or retrograde. Much would also depend on whether the planet is in Signs of long or short ascension. Finally, orbs would also depend on whether the planet is in a movable, common or fixed Sign as also whether it is in a quadrant, Succecdent or cadent houses. The student shall have to use his intuition in this matter.

We will now proceed to look at the Sayana aspects in some detail, there are over two dozen aspects in all, but for the moment, we will only concentrate on a few important ones.

Aspects	Arc (Degrees)	Orbs (Degrees)
Conjunction	0	8/10
Semi -Sextile	30	2
Sextile	60	3
Trine	120	6/8
Semi-Quintile	36	2
Quintile	72	2
Bi-Quintile	144	2
Semi-Square	45	3
Square	90	6/8
Opposition	180	8/10
Sesquiquadrate	135	3
Quincunx	150	2
Parallel	Declination	1

Of the above aspects, three groups can be formed i.e. major aspects, sub-major aspects and minor aspects. Thus:

Major aspects:

Conjunction, Square, Trine, Opposition and Parallel are considered as major aspects.

Sub-major Aspects:

The Semi-Square, Semi-Sextile, Sesqui-quadrate and Quincunx are sub-major aspects.

Minor Aspects:

The remaining aspects i.e. Semi-Sextile, Semi-Quintile, Quintile and Bi-Quintile are considered as minor aspects.

Again a further division is made of aspects. These are two groups i.e.: whether they are good or soft aspects and evil or hard aspects. Thus:

Good/Soft Aspects:

Trine and Sextile are considered as Major Good Aspects, while Semi-Sextile, Semi-Quintile. Quintile and Bi-Quintile are considered as minor good aspects.

Evil/Hard Aspects:

Opposition, Square and Semi-Square are considered as Major Evil Aspects, while Sesquiquadrate and Quincunx are taken as minor evil aspects.

Note:

Conjunctions between natural or functional benefics are considered good aspect, whereas, conjunctions between natural or functional Malefics are considered as evil Aspect.

Again, a Parallel between two planets, of the same direction (both having either North or South declination) is of the nature of conjunction aspect, whereas, Parallel between two planets of the opposite direction (one having North and the other South declination) is of the nature of opposition aspect.

At this stage, one important matter needs to be well understood. This is the difference between an applying aspect and a separating aspect.

When a faster moving planet is behind another slower moving planet, the aspect, which is formed, is an applying aspect. For example, suppose Moon is in Aries 14 degrees and Jupiter is in Leo 17 degrees. Since Moon is the faster of the two, and since it is behind the slower moving Jupiter, the aspect formed (viz. Trine) is an applying Trine Aspect. The Tajik Acharyas call it as Ithasala.

On the other hand, if the faster moving planet is ahead of the slower moving planet, the aspect is a separating aspect. In the above example, If Moon is at 20 degrees Aries, it would be ahead of the slower moving Jupiter and hence the Trine Aspect is a separating aspect, i.e. when Moon was at 17 degrees Aries it formed an exact Trine and has now separated from that Trine Aspect. In Tajik Shashtras, it is called as Ishraf.

For a beginner, this brief introduction to aspects will be sufficient, as this itself is considered enough to ignite the imagination of an initiate to the subject. As you advance, you will feel compelled to replace this elementary knowledge with more specific and detailed understanding of the subject, Inter-alia, this includes a peep into Dissociate Aspects and the Super Aspects such as the Grand Trine, Kite Aspect, Grand Sextile, Grand Square, the Mystic Rectangle, the T-Square and the Yod Aspects. Finally, the advanced student will also need to know, how to deal with unaspected planets as well as the aspects caused by retrograde planets. We expect to come out with another publication shortly, in the form of Essays, where this matter will be taken up rather exhaustively.

ASPECTS IN INDIAN ASTROLOGY

PLANETS	ASPEST
SUN:	On 7^th house from where it is sitting.
MOON:	On 7^th house from where it is sitting.
MARS:	On 4^th/ 7^th/ 8^th house from where it is sitting.
MERCURY:	On 7^th house from where it is sitting.
JUPITER:	On 5^th/ 7^th/ 9^th house from where it is sitting.
VENUS:	On 7^th house from where it is sitting.
SATURN:	On 3^RD /7^th/ 10^th house from where it is sitting.
RAHU/ KETU	On 5^th/ 7^th/ 9^th house from where it is sitting.

NOTE: All planets gives results where the are sitting.