Having trouble determining aspects

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

I'm new to astrology and am having some trouble determining the aspects in my natal chart. Because so many of my planets are bunched up in only a few houses, it seems as though most of them are either conjunct or totally unaspected...but it's difficult for me to tell; I understand how to determine aspects but mine looks very unlike most other charts I've seen.

I have already started a thread in another subforum where folks have been very helpful in providing some basic insight into my chart, but I would like to get a better understanding of the components myself so I can research the meaning of each aspect (or lack thereof) individually.

I can't attach thumbnails so here is the external link to my chart: http://oi47.tinypic.com/xefktu.jpg

[JUPITERASC]

Originally Posted by BadlyDrawnGirl

I'm new to astrology and am having some trouble determining the aspects in my natal chart. Because so many of my planets are bunched up in only a few houses, it seems as though most of them are either conjunct or totally unaspected...but it's difficult for me to tell; I understand how to determine aspects but mine looks very unlike most other charts I've seen.

I have already started a thread in another subforum where folks have been very helpful in providing some basic insight into my chart, but I would like to get a better understanding of the components myself so I can research the meaning of each aspect (or lack thereof) individually.

I can't attach thumbnails so here is the external link to my chart: http://oi47.tinypic.com/xefktu.jpg

Very briefly then BadlyDrawnGirl

You have Jupiter, Mercury, Sun and Venus all in Tropical Scorpio sextile aka 60º Mars in Tropical Capricorn. Each one of those is a separate sextile so that's already four sextiles

Mars sextile Jupiter
Mercury sextile Mars
Sun sextile Mars
Venus sextile Mars

Jupiter, Mercury, Sun and Venus are all in the same sign which means that these four planets are all conjunct by sign. Here's a link to a page where you can find “Aspect Meanings In Birth Charts” http://www.skyscript.co.uk/sunaspects.html

Saturn squares your ascendant by sign – that's because Saturn is in Libra and your ascendant is Cancer and those two signs are separated by 90º aka 'square'

Your natal Mars is in 120º aspect - aka trine – with your Tropical Virgo IC

Your natal Tropical Scorpio planets are in 120º aspect - aka trine – with your Pisces MC

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

That's a lot of them. Well...I breathed a sigh of relief when I read that "sextiles reveal the potential for intelligent use of the energies." Thank God lol. I feel like from what I've read so far I have so many dysfunctional components in my chart.

So okay does this look like a complete-ish list of aspects?

Mars opposite Ascendant
Saturn square Ascendant
Moon conjunct Uranus
Moon quindecile Chiron
Saturn conjunct Pluto
Saturn conjunct Neptune
Neptune conjunct Pluto
Mars sextile Jupiter
Mercury sextile Mars
Sun sextile Mars
Jupiter conjunct Mercury
Jupiter conjunct Sun
Jupiter conjunct Venus
Mercury conjunct Sun
Mercury conjunct Venus
Venus conjunct Sun
Mars trine Virgo IC
Sun trine Pisces MC
Mercury trine Pisces MC
Venus trine Pisces MC
Jupiter trine Pisces MC

One more question...one person said my Mars was semi-square Venus, but you say it's sextile (difference of 15 degrees) - one aspect seems favorable and one indicates tension...the pairing seems to concern one's integration of masculine and feminine energies, which is something I do deal with, so I would be curious as to which aspect is correct.

All this is making my head hurt...

[stainedBlue]

Originally Posted by BadlyDrawnGirl

One more question...one person said my Mars was semi-square Venus, but you say it's sextile (difference of 15 degrees) - one aspect seems favorable and one indicates tension...the pairing seems to concern one's integration of masculine and feminine energies, which is something I do deal with, so I would be curious as to which aspect is correct.

All this is making my head hurt...

I think JA is getting all the sextiles using aspects by sign. Your Scorpio planets are spaced two signs from your Capricorn Mars, which amounts to a sextile in spacing. By degrees, you have only two sextiles: Saturn sextile Neptune, and Pluto sextile Neptune. You're correct that you have Venus semi-square Mars, and you also have Sun semi-square Mars. There are quite a few conjunctions and semi-sextiles in your chart too.

Notice the aspect table in the bottom left portion of your chart. Where the columns intersect with the rows shows the aspect between the two given planets.

Here's a link that will help you figure out which aspects the symbols represent: http://www.astrograph.com/learning-a...gy/aspects.php

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

Originally Posted by stainedBlue

Notice the aspect table in the bottom left portion of your chart. Where the columns intersect with the rows shows the aspect between the two given planets.

Oh man, that helps a lot...thank you.

Originally Posted by stainedBlue

you also have Sun semi-square Mars.

That explains a lot actually...ugh.

[BadlyDrawnGirl]

I am assuming that the six-planet stellium (that's what it's called right?) in the 5th house is also significant, especially with both Mercury and Venus in Scorpio. (The Mercury placement seems to be associated with writing and the Venus with a high sex drive...I majored in journalism and my libido is, uh, insatiable lol).

So eerie.

[stainedBlue]

Originally Posted by BadlyDrawnGirl

I am assuming that the six-planet stellium (that's what it's called right?) in the 5th house is also significant, especially with both Mercury and Venus in Scorpio. (The Mercury placement seems to be associated with writing and the Venus with a high sex drive...I majored in journalism and my libido is, uh, insatiable lol).

So eerie.

Definitions of a stellium differ significantly according to who you talk to, though I've seen very few instances where anyone was willing to take into consideration conjunctions that cross a house cusp. At the very least, you have a stellium consisting of Jupiter, Mercury, Sun and Venus. Stelliums are significant configurations within a chart because there's a lot of emphasis placed on the house it's within. Your Venus conjunct Uranus and Sun conjunct Uranus are called dissociate aspects, because they aren't located in the same sign for the conjunction. Some people use dissociate aspects, others don't. It's really up to you to decide which way to go with it, though I will say that dissociate aspects are harder to interpret because of the different energies being introduced into the aspect.

Personally, I do use dissociate aspects, and I'm not averse to the idea of conjunctions crossing house cusps. Since stelliums are a concentration of energy putting a lot of emphasis on a particular house, there are even those that will consider your 6th house to have a stellium of Uranus, Moon and Neptune without need for conjunctions by degree between them, their presence in the same sign would be enough with that line of thought. This would seem to fall back on aspects by sign, aka whole sign aspects.

There are different schools of thought within astrology, so keep your mind open and know that you'll need to decide a lot for yourself. Utilize the information others have, but don't toe the line just because a majority of others think a certain way.

Some informative links:

http://www.mountainastrologer.com/st...ginners/7.html

http://www.skyscript.co.uk/aspects.html

http://www.librarising.com/astrology...gnaspects.html

http://www.skyscript.co.uk/aspects2.html

http://www.skyscript.co.uk/gl/dissociate.html

http://skywriter.wordpress.com/2010/...llium-creates/