Applying And Separating Aspects
Many astrologers distinguish between the effects of applying aspects, where the faster-moving factor was getting closer to achieving the exact aspect with the slower-moving one, and will have reached it after the moment of birth; and separating ones, where the exact aspect had already happened before birth and the faster-moving factor was therefore moving further away from the slower one. Astrologers mostly believe that applying aspects are stronger in their effects than separating ones, and some even allow them larger orbs accordingly; however, one prominent astrologer in the late 19th century took the opposite view. The process whereby a faster-moving planet comes within orb of an aspect to a slower-moving planet or stationary point in the figure and approaches the exact aspect over time is called its application to the slower-moving planet or point.
Dexter vs. Sinister Aspects
A further distinction in perspective is drawn between dexter or lower aspects: those from a specified planet to a point less than 180º after it in the zodiac (anticlockwise from it in the figure), and sinister or upper aspects: those from a specified planet to a point less than 180º before it in the zodiac (clockwise from it in the figure).
Working out what aspects are in a natal figure:
1. Either use a free chart calculation service such as the ones at astro.com and astrology.com, or use the manual calculation procedure detailed in the Calculation article, to determine the positions by signs, degrees (º) and minutes (') of the celestial bodies and angles in the birth chart whose aspects you want to look up. If you use an automated service, you should see your sign placements clearly listed beneath the natal figure itself - you can ignore the diagram of the figure; and the signs to which the shorthand astrological 'glyphs' or symbols correspond are labelled. You don't need to use the glyphs yourself; the words will do fine. Write down all the sign, degree and minute placements on a piece of paper in a list.
2. For the sake of convenience when it comes to calculating the angular separation between all your factors, convert the minutes of degrees into the nearest complete decimal point of a degree: for 0-5 minutes, add 0.0; for 6-11 minutes, 0.1; for 12-17 minutes, add 0.2; for 18-23 minutes, add 0.3; for 24-29 minutes, add 0.4; for 30-35 minutes, add 0.5; for 36-41 minutes, add 0.6; for 42-47 minutes, add 0.7; for 48-53 minutes, add 0.8; for 54-59 minutes, add 0.9. For example, if you have the Sun at 19º46' of Scorpio, convert it into 19.7º Scorpio.
3. Follow the step-by-step instructions under 'Calculating the Aspects' in the Calculation article.
You will be asked to make a note for each aspect you discover of the orb of proximity that you are having to allow. The closer to the centre of the allowed range for the aspect type, the stronger the effects of the aspect will be. In the example in the article, 84.6º is 5.4º away from the exact angle of the square, 90º, so you would write down '5.4º' by 'Sun square Moon'. You can see that this is about three quarters of the distance towards the outer limit (7º) of the allowable orb for a square, so the aspect will not apply at maximum strength but will still be significant, squares being among the strongest aspects in any case.
4. Continue until you have worked out all the aspects in the figure and their orbs of proximity
This article taken from
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07.01.2007.