Each planet has an energy or function that is specific to it and that we can connect with psychologically, emotionally, physically or spiritually. We live in a solar system that contains 8 planets, (other than the earth we live on), the Sun and Moon, which are the vital forces of our consciousness, and a few other bodies and significant phenomena. Each of us is subject to the effects of all of these energies, and each of us responds to them in our own unique way.
The planets are forever moving and combining with each other to produce the more complicated energies that we deal with on a day to day basis. All of astrology (and each of the aspects) is based on the 360 degrees of the circle that forms the zodiac. Everything is mathematically connected to everything else. Every time two planets combine to dissect the circle in an exact way, an
aspect is formed.
For every fraction of 360 that exists, there is also an aspect and its corresponding meaning. Some of these aspects are very obscure and some of them are very powerful. For example, dividing the circle in two produces the opposition, which occurs when two planets are 180 degrees apart from each other. Dividing the circle in three produces the trine, in which the planets are 120 degrees away from each other. (Descriptions will follow).
Aspects can be categorized as major and minor, as well as hard and easy. These are two completely different things. The major aspects are those derived from the dissection of the circle by 1, 2 3 or 4 only. Thus, the conjunction (0 degrees), opposition (180 degrees), square (90 degrees) and trine (120 degrees) are the only major aspects there are, according to classical astrology. That is, the major aspects are the ones that were used by the ancients when they looked at the sky, saw the planets (only out to Saturn), and had to calculate the relationships between the planets using the naked eye. Only with the advent of telescopes and more advanced methods for calculating the planetary positions did the minor aspects begin to take on significance. The minor aspects are numerous, but there is a group of them that is widely used: these are the semisextile (30 degrees), the semisquare (45 degrees), the sextile (60 degrees), the sesquisquare or sesquiquadrate (135 degrees) and the inconjunct or quincunx (150 degrees).
The minor aspects produce either harmonious or disturbing vibrations that contribute to the environment of any given experience. The major aspects describe the experience in a much more fundamental way. An opposition is a relationship and a square is a conflict, for example.
The Hard aspects are the ones that create power and dynamic change. The hard aspects are the conjunction (0 degrees), the square (90 degrees) and the opposition (180 degrees) classically, and in my opinion, the inconjunct (150 degrees) should be included in this group. The easy aspects are not as dynamic as the hard ones at all, but they do make things noticeably easier and harmonious. The easy aspects are the sextile (60 degrees) and the trine (120 degrees).