Western Aspects and Vedic Aspects

Aspects are the most poorly understood aspect of Vedic schools of astrology. Even “Vedic astrologers” seldom know what Vedic aspects really are. It is a real shame. The beauty of Vedic astrology is that its ancient form is still largely intact. This gives us access to the way global astrology was practiced centuries and millennia in the past. Thus you can trace most techniques or principles of any school of astrology to a Vedic origin.

Most people think that Western Aspects deal with orbs and exact degrees. The truth is that Vedic Aspects also deal with orbs and exact degrees, as you have just learned, and have done so potentially for thousands of years since Sage Parashara wrote the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra during the time of Maharaja Yuddishthira, roughly 5,000 years ago.

There is a Western Aspect theory that applying aspects (those less than their exact focal point, but getting closer to it) are more intense while separating aspects (those separating from their focal point and moving past it) quickly dissolve. Look at the basic chart for Vedic aspects to the most fundamental point, 180º away. You will see that the effects are far more intense as the aspecting planet applies to (approaches) the aspected planet, and once the focal point of 180º is reached the intensity of the aspect quickly falls off. This is because as the aspecting planet approaches the aspected planet stands in its eighth house and gradually moves into the seventh. After being exactly opposite in the seventh house it moves towards the sixth. Follow the graph for from the eighth house (210º) through the sixth house (150º) and you will see that it is an exact description of applying and separating aspects.

In Western Aspects trines are thought of as mild and beneficial influences. This is because in ancient astrology planets mildly aspected the trines (fifth house / 120º & ninth house / 240º), except for the beneficial Jupiter who aspected these points at full strength.

Squares are considered to be rigid, strengthening, but rough aspects in Western Theory. This comes from ancient astrology in which rigid and rough Saturn is the only planet who fully aspects the tenth house (the 270º square), and strong but rough Mars is the only planet who fully aspects the fourth house (the 90º square).

When you use real Vedic aspects, the aspects that calculate exact degrees, there is no need to wonder if you should also use Western aspects. You already are, because vedic degree aspects are the mother of Western aspects. The only unfortunate thing is that vedic software does not yet offer as appealing and intuitive an interface to depicting aspect patterns on charts.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

© 2010 Vic DiCara, All Rights Reserved

What is an “Aspect”?

“Aspect” is another rather obscure and outmoded English word. If you look it up in a normal dictionary, you will learn that the word refers to the position of one thing in relation to another; the way things face each other; the way things look at other things. You can “study something from every aspect” if you turn it around and look at it from different directions. By looking at things from many different angles you can learn about them in all their aspects. So, the word aspect is all about the angle from which you look at things.

Aspect is a word of Latin origin. It is based on the word spec which means “to look.” Eyeglasses, for example, were originally called spectacles. Putting an “a” in front of “spec” makes a verb of it. Aspect really means “the act of looking.”

The Sanskrit word for astrological aspects is drishti, the meaning of which is identical to the meaning of aspect. They both mean “the act of looking.”

Aspects / drishti are not ordinary, casual glances. They are special, careful, willful glances which reveal new facets of things, and which even influence the things they look at. For example, a businessperson in a board meeting says, “This data is going to significantly aspect the way we do business in the coming year.” The data and the business plan “look at” each other in a profound way that influences both of them.

Sometimes a girl will look at a boy in a way that turns his legs to jelly and makes butterflies take flight in his heart. That sort of willful, powerful, influential glance is exactly what an aspect really is.

How Aspects Work

Right now I am sitting at my desk writing these words. There is a window in front of me, just to the right. Looking out that window I can see the driving school two blocks away from me, and all the people walking on the sidewalk in front of it. I am not on that sidewalk, but it is almost as if I was – because I have a clear line of sight to it. If I wanted to affect something going on there, it would be pretty easy. I could wait till someone walked by and then shout something or whistle – and the person would be shocked and affected by my energy. That is me “casting my aspect.”

I could not really do this very well to some spot I could not see with a direct line of sight, even if that spot was closer to me physically.

Also, if I stand up from the desk and walk just a little bit to the right the view I get our of my window changes dramatically. Now I see rooftops. Moving still more to the right I will see my neighborhood street. This illustrates that aspects are all about the position of two bodies in relation to one another. When there is just the right angle between me, my window, and the driving school sidewalk – I can see it perfectly and influence it dramatically. If the angle is not right, the line of sight is obscured or changes to some other focal point.

Believe it or not, you now know more about what aspects are than maybe 90% of people who have been practicing astrology for years. Each planet has certain “windows” through which they can look at things. When a house cusp or another planet moves into an opportune angle to those windows, the planet can see it and can therefore influence it.

Now you have to learn about what those angles are and what windows the various planets have.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

© 2010 Vic DiCara, All Rights Reserved

The Impact of Implicit Transits on Aspect Patterns

Here is where east meets west. Actually if you have your wits about you, you’ll know that its not about “east meeting west” but about seeing the link between what is modern and what is ancient.

In ancient astrology, which for the most part is what Vedic astrology is, every planet aspected the sign opposite from it. Of course, some of you are wondering what an aspect is. Its the way that something influences something else from a distance. Like if you are sitting in a restaurant right in a particular line of sight from some kid, and you wind up continually looking at each other. You have a relationship where there is a connection between you, in spite of physical distance.

That’s what an aspect is.

Its how a planet influences a place in the sky besides the place it actually occupies.

So, in Ancient astrology, every planet aspects the sign directly across from it. So, for example, if you were a planet in Aries, you would aspect (and thus influence) anything in the opposite sign, Libra. But, there were always three special planets who had additional aspects.

• Mars, besides the 7th house (opposite sign) also aspects the 4th and 8th.
• Jupiter, besides the 7th also aspects the 5th and 9th.
• Saturn, besides the 7th also aspects the 3rd and 10th.

Now, fast forward to modern “western” aspects. They talk about trines, squares and also about quincunx sometimes. These are geometrical patterns. I am going to tell you how these patterns came to be recognized, and how important they are even to those who practice the ancient techniques of Vedic Astrology.

Implicit Transits

Much of what you think is about reading a birth chart, is not really about the birth chart, but about how the chart implicitly will react to transits. I’m writing this sentence here. I am going to post it on the internet. Probably a 10th of the people who should read it are actually going to read it. And probably less than a 10th of them are going to pay the attention to it that they should. The chart means what it means mostly because of how it will react to transits.

This is something you really have to meditate on.

For example…

Say you have one planet in Aries and another in Leo. They are “trine” – they are 5 houses / signs apart. Western astrology says they have a certain relationship therefore. In fact so does Vedic astrology. This is why: If two planets are trine, it means they are going to both be activated by the same transits at the same time, every time – and thus create a regular pattern throughout the person’s life.

In this case, with one planet in Aries and another in Leo, whenever Jupiter goes into Sagittarius, both of these planets will simultaneously be activated by that transit, because Jupiter’s 5th House aspect will hit Aries, and his 9th house aspect will hit Leo.

Or, whenever Saturn is in Aquarius, the same thing will happen, Saturn’s 3rd house aspect will hit the planet in Aries, and his 7th house aspect will hit the planet in Leo. both planets will be activated by the same agent at the same time.

Again, whenever Mars transits Capricorn, his 4th House aspect will trigger the natal planet in Aries, and his 8th house aspect will trigger the other planet, in Leo.

So any planets which are trine to one another (5 or 9 signs away from one another) most definitely have an extremely strong relationship, because they will always operate together on the native, throughout the natives life. This cannot be denied. You must look for it in any chart you look at.

Orbs

Western geometrical aspects operate within “orbs” or ranges. This is also true in Vedic astrology because of our reliance on the divisions within each sign, the Vargas. The closer two objects come in degree, in orb, the more vargas they share in the harmonic divisions – and therefore the more intense their relationship. By the way – this explains why orbs are a useful tool for Western astrologers.

So if that planet in Aries is at 1º Aries, and the other planet in Leo is at 28º Leo – they do have a sort of 5/9 “trine” relationship yes… but it is not as strong as if the Leo planet was much closer to 1º of leo, or the Aries planet was much closer to 28º of Aries. The closer the two planets are by degree, the more exactly they will be simultaneously triggered by the trinal aspects of the Mars, Jupiter and Saturn.

Types of Patterns

• Jupiter says that Trines and Sextiles are blessed
• Mars says that Trines, Squares, 2/12, and Quincunx are agitated
• Saturn says that Trines, Squares and Quincunx are distressed

Trines and Sextiles

Because Jupiter simultaneously affects the 5th, 7th and 9th position from him – if you have planets that occupies some or all of these spots anywhere in a chart – they will be simultaneously activated by Jupiter repeatedly throughout a persons life by Jupiters transits. The strongest possible configuration would involve 4 points, A planet occuping Point A, another planet Trine to Point A, and second planet in the other trine (forming a “Grand Trine”) and a fourth planet opposite one of the trines. I suppose you could even have two other planets opposte the other two members of the trine to make a “Star of David” aspect pattern, which is fairly huge.

So for example

• Sun: 5º Aries
• Moon: 5º Leo

These two are in an exact trine. They are therefore strongly related because all the outer three planets (Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) will activate them simultaneously.

• Add Mercury: 5º Gemini

Mercury is “sextile” to both the Sun and Moon. He is 3 houses away. In this case, exactly 60º. Any sextile planets are strongly related to Jupiter, because Jupiter aspects 120º, 180º and 240º from wherever he is (5, 7 and 9 signs). Each of these is 60º appart. So any planets in a trine or a sextile are blessed by Jupiter.

• Now add Mars: 5º Sagittarius

This puts Mars in trine to both the Sun and Moon – a grand trine. All four planets will be simultaneously activated whenever Jupiter transits Sagittarius, especially when he is close to 5º Sagittarius.

Trines are the most important of all relationships because all three of the planets, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn aspect trines simultaneously.

Squares, Quincunx, & 2/12

Mars aspects any planet in it’s 4th House. Saturn aspects any planet in it’s 10th House. In other words Mars aspects any planet 90º away in one direction, and Saturn aspects any planet 90º away in the other direction. A 90º aspect is a “Square” in the modern western terminology. Why are squares considered difficult aspects? Because they are activated by Mars and Saturn.

Mars will also simultaneously aspect any two planets which are Quincunx which means they are 150º or 210º apart – in 6th or 8th house/sign relative to one another. This aspect pattern should not be overlooked or undervalued. A planet in Libra, for example, and another in Taurus have a strong relationship besides the fact that they both dwell in property owned by Venus – they are 6 and 8 houses away from one another and therefore in a Quincunx pattern. This means that they blend their energy together because they will always be activated at the same time by the same agent over the course of the native’s life.

Saturn also simultaneously activates planets in this relationships. This is why Quincunx, like Square, is known as a very agitating, challenging, and powerful aspect pattern between planets.

2/12 Relationship

If you have two planets in adjacent signs (especially if close to the same degress), they are bonded together by the aspect of Mars. For example if the Sun is at 5º Aries and the Moon 5º Taurus, whenever Mars transits near 5º Libra – he will simultaneously activate both the Sun and Moon for the native. Thereby causing them to act as a pair.

Relative Strengths of the Patterns

This 2/12 relationship is a weaker relationship that Quincunx, because only Mars is involved. Quincunx and Square is a stronger pattern because both Mars and Saturn activate it. And trine is strongest of all because Jupiter, Saturn and Mars all activate it. Sextile is of lesser strength as well, for the same reason, only Jupiter activates it.

Opening the Door

Hopefully this stream-of-consciousness article has not just alerted you to what I have directly spoken about, but has opened the door to the whole new consideration of how the configuration of a chart will implicitly be activated by transits. This may also lead you to a related subject of examining the relative positions of the Ascendant and Moon and Sun in light of the implicit transit effects there. Anyway, in short, I hope this has opened your mind and made new connections for you. Namaste.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Sidereal, Sagittarius, Cancer, Capricorns, Relationships, Ascendant Aspects, & Mars Transits

Tropical & Sidereal – Same Aspects?

I did a calculation for my sidereal natal chart, the houses & aspects are exactly the same in my tropical chart, the only difference is the signs in the planets. Is the Tropical & Sidereal such similar methods that the houses & aspects don’t change?

When you do a sidereal chart it is not very helpful unless you look at it from a sidereal perspective. There is a reason why both sidereal and tropical astrology can yeild accurate results: because they both have systems of interpretation developed around them which maximize their strengths. So to take your chart and set it to sidereal, but continue to look at it through a tropical system will just wind up being confusing. And really this is why many people walk away from sidereal astrology saying, “it doesn’t work.” or “It doesn’t make sense.” or “It doesn’t seem to apply to me.”

So when you want to see your sidereal astrology you should learn the sidereal system, or even go to a sidereal astrologer. Here are a few important fundamentals:

- Sidereal astrology relies on the whole sign house system

- The interrelationship of various house lords is very useful in interpreting sidereal charts. Much more than in tropical charts.

- The system of aspects is different, because sidereal planets influence signs themselves, not just planets within orb. In general every planet influences the 7th sign from it, but the outer planets also influence/aspect two additional houses.

There’s a bunch to learn about, but it is extremely well worth it, and I encourage you to devote some effort to it.

As for the aspects of the tropical system… these measure the number of degrees between one planet and the other. It pertains to the distance from one planet to the other, not to the placement of those planets in the zodiac. So changing the method of calculating the zodiac will not affect it. If your Jupiter is 90º away from your Moon, it will ALWAYS be 90º away from your Moon regardless if you are using a zodiac system that is Tropical, Sidereal, Draconic, etc. etc.

A simple way to understand the difference between the Sidereal and Tropical zodiac is that the Tropical zodiac has currently slipped just about 24º *ahead* of where the real constellation-based zodiac borders are. So subtracting 24º from every point in your tropical chart (including Ascendant, and Midheaven, they are no exception) will give you the real / sidereal location of the bodies in your chart. As I said, though, to make SENSE out of those locations you need to view them through a sidereal astrological perspective. I highly suggest Vedic astrology for that perspective, though I admit it is quite frustrating sometimes finding a reasonable and somewhat engaging explanation of how to do Vedic astrology.

I am currently writing a book on Vedic / Universal Astrology! =)

Is Sagittarius a good sign?

Every sign is both good and bad. Every sign has strengths and weaknesses. Sagittarius has inherent strength towards moral experimentation, growth and learning, but has some weaknesses as well. For example Venus is the closest Sagittarius has to an outright enemy. She owns the 11th and 6th Houses from Sagittarius and therefore tends to present challenges and blessings concerning the mixing of friends and enemies. Sagittarius is a place in which friends can act like enemies and be argumentative, but where enemies can be made peace with and turned into friends. Often this is a cyclic experience.

Why dont Cancer men say what they feel when it comes to love?

Always beating around the bush. I just want to shake the **** out of them!

Cancer is the 4th house of the zodiac… the 4th sign. Therefore it is quite shy and private. Why are you asking Cancer influenced people to rip off their emotional clothes in front of you? It’s not fair to them. What you can learn from Cancer is to calm down, take your time, and let the “clothes” come off gradually, with trust, and in time.

~~~

As for those who report “Cancers” not acting like this. Remember that you are only talking about their Sun sign. A person who is strongly influenced by Cancer will act like this (unless their planets are very unusually positioned). The strongest influence is to have the Ascendant in Cancer, the Next is the Moon in Cancer. The next is the ascendant lord in Cancer. Then comes the Sun in Cancer…

Why are Capricorns and Leos attracted to each other?

They are NOT attracted to one another.

What you are probably doing, though, is referring to two people with **Sun** signs of Capricorn and Leo. These individuals may be attracted to one another **in spite of** their incompatible Sun signs, because their Moons & Ascendants are in compatible alignments.

When you look at a natal chart do you make an interpretation Of how the person may be?

Say you were to meet someone (a stranger and only know their gender and age), and were given their natal chart to possibly make an interpretation of how they would be, would you? Do you believe that you would be right? If they were an Gemini, for example, known to be talkative, would you suddenly become talkative yourself? Take on extroverted characteristics to accommodate them, yourself to them? If there were Square aspects from Mercury to other placements, how would you interpret that? A slow mind? Would you feel superior to them thinking that those aspects may make them have trouble communicating, learning, etc? Just as an example, again.

It really doesn’t matter if you do or don’t because whether you know what’s happening between you or not, it’s going to happen. In general I think it is an EXCELLENT idea to look into the chart and interpret it as you outlined in your question, so that you can be proactive and productive about the destinies that will unfold in your relationship. Although in practical reality, you would probably only want to do this with relationships you consider very important unless you have a lot of extra money to pay an astrologer, a lot of free time to spend developing trustworthy interpretations on your own, or a lot of naivety to put your trust in some free website.

Planets aspect Ascendant?

Since the Ascendant is about someone’s appearance, how would people view me based on the planets that aspect my Asc?

Sun trine Ascendant – orb +0.18

Mars trine Ascendant – orb +2.35

Pluto trine Ascendant – orb +2:53

Midheaven square Ascendant – orb -2.56

Mercury square Ascendant – orb -7.50

The Ascendant is not merely about the physical appearance. It is the tangible self. Part of that is physical appearance, but it is not everything.

Midheaven is quite often square to the ascendant. I would ignore that.

I would ignore pluto, because I am a traditionalist. =)

The Sun, Mars and Mercury will operate differently depending on how they are related to the planet who owns your rising sign. But to get a very rough starting point idea, the Sun will contribute some authority/confidence/ and interest in self-realization. Sun and Mars together will allow you to be commanding, self-determining, and a leader not a follower. Mercury squaring your ascendant will make you have some childlike faults and can cause you to have a somewhat impractical intellectual process. (Mercury’s orb is quite large, so it won’t be too strong an influence).

These are just starting points, but they should make some initial sense to you and ring some bells. To go further with this you need to read the whole chart as an integrated unit. You can’t really do more than make educated guesses without that.

Duration of Mars Transits

Do Mars transits to natal planets or points in chart usually last for 5 days within 1 degree? And is this when Mars energy is really felt? how this differs when Mars is in “retrograde”? is Mars usually slower in motion when in “retrograde”? why and how for this?

Mars moves at different speeds all the time, almost all the planets do. The Sun and Moon are the most constant. Therefore the duration of a Mars transit will always be different. If for example Mars pulls to Station and then retrograde over your chart point, the duration of that transit will be far greater than if he is just whipping by it in the middle of one retrograde to the next at full speed.

Mars travels at various speeds while in Retrograde. But a planet’s fastest speed is when moving forward. This is simply do to the ruberbanding effect of relative orbits. You could look it up in an astronomy textbook or website.

Transits are felt to build up and intensify as they “apply” which means as they come together / move closer in degree.

Planets are STRONGER when they move just a little under their top speed in either direction (forward or retrograde). This is an elaborate topic, you could start by looking up “Cesta Bala” (Strength of Motion) under the heading of “Shad Bala” (The Six Strengths of a Planet), but you will need a stiff black coffee, because it is extremely technical and arithmetical stuff.

Practically speaking Stations and slow motion are very important in transits – for exactly the reason you hint at in your question – it causes the planet to influence the particular points in chart for longer durations of time.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com