Aspects are the most popular theme when dealing with Astrology. Of course we have already seen that it is important to check the Dignities and Receptions of the significators before we go hunting for an Aspect.
But what does the word “Aspect” mean anyway? It would be easier to grab its meaning with the Greek word for it, “Όψη” which in a free translation means “the face” or “the looks of something”. As the phrase suggests in order to Aspect, so to see the looks of someone, we must be able to… see him! For this reason in Horary we use only the Ptolemaic (major) aspects, which are formed between planets in signs that can actually “see” each other. The Aspects are important, as they show if the planets in question will have the opportunity to “meet” in order to give a fact. But, as said above, nobody acts if he doesn’t have the power or a motive to do so. It is then important to follow the right steps when dealing with a chart otherwise we’re bound to make a mistake. It is also important to keep an ephemeris close because planets are often going nuts and refuse to move the way they’re supposed to, destroying our well -designed plans for the Quesited.
The planets kindly accepted to tell their stories, for the benefit of the readers. Their real placements have been changed to protect their privacy -
except for the last case, as Saturn in the name of our old friendship, requested to unmask Venus and the evil game she played on him!
It was a nice spring morning, the birds were singing and Miss Moon woke up to find herself lost in Aries. She suddenly realized that she was most interested in Mr. Sun (in Sun’s exaltation) and she wouldn’t rest until she could find him. But, suppose he was in Taurus (in Moon’s exaltation), at the moment. Unfortunately she couldn’t “see” him and so there wasn’t an Aspect between them.
Miss Moon was really annoyed by this situation and so she took a look around the chart for some help. She found Mr. Jupiter in Cancer and asked him if he could find the Sun anywhere in the chart. Luckily Jupiter, being in Cancer was able to “see” both Aries and Taurus! So, Mr. Sun casted a sextile aspect to Jupiter and Miss Moon a square - because she was feeling a bit awkward! Mr. Jupiter, old and wise as he was, he knew that he had to collect their light in order to bring them together and that’s exactly what he did!
They called this happy occasion, Collection of Light: a heavy/slow planet collects by Aspect the light of two other planets and brings them together. If there wasn’t someone to help, Miss Moon would have to wait until she was old and grey or until she changed her sign (as she is quicker in motion than the Sun) and try to catch the Sun with a Conjunction – IF she didn’t bump onto another guy until then!
Of course she was more fortunate than Miss Venus. At least one of her stories didn’t have a happy ending: She was at 9 degrees Virgo and quickly heading for an aspect with Mr. Retrograde Mercury at 12 degrees. The poor girl hit a wall: Saturn was at 10 degrees Taurus and wouldn’t let her pass with a trine: he wore a t-shirt with the word “Prohibition” all over it! Later, while having a cup of tea with her friend the Moon, she discovered that she was really lucky to hit the wall (aka Saturn), as in reality Mercury’s only concern was to find an opportunity to take her to her fall.
Then, there was the unexpected success of Mr. Jupiter that brought Hope back to the creatures of the chart. Say he was at 8 Libra and really loved Miss Venus- despite her past with Mercury – being in Venus’ sign. She was crazy about him too, being at 10 Sagittarius (in Jupiter’s sign). The bad news was that they had missed their chance, as Venus was moving away from their Aspect. Miss Moon was determined to make this work and give them a new chance at happiness- ok the truth is that she wanted to keep Mercury for herself: she was at 7 Gemini. She picked up Jupiter’s light with a trine and directly transferred it to Venus with a sextile, bringing the loving couple together. This situation was named Translation of Light: a quick planet translates the light between two heavier planets.
Mercury on the other hand got really Frustrated –twice! The first time, he was trying to conjunct Miss Venus in Libra: Mercury at 15 degrees and Venus say, at 19.But Venus managed to perfect a conjunction to Mr. Saturn at 20 Libra, before Mercury could reach her and so he was left alone and really mad. The second time he was at 27 Cancer and Venus at 29. He kept repeating to himself “You can do it- you’ll get her this time!” Unfortunately, she changed sign and entered Leo before he could do anything about it. No wonder that every time he hears her name he automatically becomes irritated!
The last case is more curious then the one of Benjamin Button’s and will probably be the talk of the chart for months. The politically correct Mr. Saturn is currently located in Libra. He is so interested in Venus, that he actually turned retrograde for her sake, in order to Aspect her while she is in Gemini. However just about the time came for their aspect to perfect, Venus turned retrograde on him, without an explanation or an apology. Needless to say that he can’t believe this Refrenation!
I had to go through half a Via Combusta and back to persuade him to talk about it! Of course I was so mad that I couldn’t help myself and called Venus a “Peregrine malefic” right to her face. She called me an “ignorant human”. I lost control and rushed down upon her trying to grab her by the hair and turn her around. Luckily, the other guys got in the way and the fight was avoided.
Shadow play
I was still feeling very upset with that Saturn – Venus thing, so the Moon offered me a glass of water. She was in an airy sign and very eager to talk. When she finally decided to sit down for a minute I was ready to leave for home. Just before I reached the door she quickly mumbled:
-Antiscion! Antiscion!
-Hey, why are you calling me names behind my back?!
-It’s not a curse you fool, it’s a secret!
Of course she knew me better than I knew myself. Curiosity won and I turned back.
-What is that Antiscion thing? Does it hurt? Can you put it in your coffee? Is it something purple? Can we throw it at that nasty Venus?
She raised her eyebrows in a sign of sarcasm and suggested that I might have hit my head as a child and now nothing could be done for my situation. Then she opened a map with some drawings on it and asked me to take a look: a line connecting Cancer with Gemini, a line connecting Leo with Taurus, another connecting Virgo with Aries. The lines continued until the last one connected Capricorn with Sagittarius. Now I was in fact more puzzled then before so I asked her for further information: What was this strange system connecting signs some of which didn’t even want to look at each other until now?
She explained that Antiscion means “shadow”. So each degree has its shadow on a degree of a specific other sign. This correspondence between the degrees of specific couples of signs has as the starting point the Solstice axis: 0 Cancer and 0 Capricorn. For example a planet in Cancer will have its Antiscion placed in Gemini and vice versa, a planet in Leo to Taurus and so on.
-Yes, ok, I got it! But what is it used for? I asked.
- You should have realized by now that we the planets are naughty! We found a way to connect with each other sometimes, even when we cannot bodily aspect one another. This way is the Antiscion we are talking about. Be careful though, the only Aspects that count with this method are conjunctions or oppositions.
For example: Say our significators are Saturn and Venus and in order to have a positive answer for the Quesited, we need them to form an Aspect. But they can’t form an Aspect as the one is in Libra and the other in Pisces.
But, Saturn is at 15,15 degrees Libra: his Antiscion falls at 14.45 Pisces. Venus is at 13,45 degrees Pisces, so she’s heading for a conjunction by Antiscion to Saturn. We have a positive answer, sponsored by Antiscion! Never ignore those shadowy things! You’d be surprised of the things they’re capable of.
She suddenly looked at me with goggled eyes as she had reached 29.59 Libra and said:
-Oh, NO, not again!!! I’m falling!
She quickly apologized for leaving me in the middle of our conversation, but as Scorpio is a mute sign she had to be silenced too! I watched her going down and waved goodbye. I thought to myself that it doesn’t matter how often someone falls, it’s impossible to get used to it!
I closed the door behind me and walked home, persecuted by scary thoughts of Antiscion suddenly popping out of charts, poking my eye and damaging my judgments. The Moon was right. Sneaky little creatures!
