May 29, 2023 (contact@AstroButterfly.com)

Aspects are never random; they form in a particular order.

The trine follows the square. The trine is not just a random occurrence; the trine is the result of integrating the tension of the square.

What used to be difficult at the time of the square is now easy. We’ve now mastered the lesson of the square and turned it into a skill or a talent.

But the trine can be “too much of a good thing”. After the trine, we find ourselves in search of a new challenge. Furthermore, here comes the next aspect, the opposition.

Not only do aspects follow a natural sequence, but they also happen at clearly defined moments in time.

Let’s say you have a Venus-Jupiter sextile in your chart. This sextile aspect tells something not only about the nature of the aspect (friendly) but also about the timing of the aspect.

A sextile only happens after conjunction (the beginning of a planetary cycle), so a sextile is more mature than the conjunction, just because the 2 planets in sextile had more time to hang around each other.

Opening Vs Closing Aspects

To make things even more interesting, we have so-called “opening” sextiles and “closing” sextiles. An opening sextile happens very early in the cycle, whereas the closing sextile happens at the very end of the cycle.

Recognizing this natural order of aspects, understanding their cyclicity, will help us make sense of the aspects in our natal chart in a unique and very detailed way.

While both the opening and the closing sextile symbolize opportunities, the opening sextile will have a slightly different quality compared to the closing sextile.

The opening sextile represents new, fresh opportunities that help us move outside of the inertia of the conjunction. The opening sextile has a 3rd house energy, while the closing sextile has an 11th house energy.

Both the opening and the closing sextile share the friendly, 3rd/11th house energy, but if the opening sextile is more about opportunities we bring in by learning new skills, the closing sextile is more about what we do with others, the opportunities that emerge when we build something in a group or community.

There are similar subtle differences between the opening and the closing trine, the opening and closing quincunx, and the opening and closing semi-sextile.

If this topic drew your interest, we invite you to join our upcoming webinar “Aspects And The Hero’s Journey”.

In the “Aspects And The Hero’s Journey” webinar we will cover:

• What aspects are and how they show up in our lives as thought patterns, behaviors, and external circumstances
• An overview of the main astrological aspects: conjunction, semi-sextile, sextile, square, trine, quincunx and the opposition through the lens of the Hero’s Journey
• The subtle difference between sextile vs. trine, square vs. opposition, using Mars and Neptune as an example
• The difference between opening and closing aspects
• Q&A and chart examples

The webinar happens on Tuesday, May 30th, at 12:00 EDT (24 hours from now). You can join live, or watch the recording:

>>Aspects And The Hero’s Journey<<

The Astro Butterfly School