very good points, never thought about them being receptive only. I do know that personally the aspects to my asc (mars/pluto tsquare) is defintly in effect. I still dont see how they can be reactive in some way to the vibrations yet not form aspects other then the conj. I also do not think the nodes are a very weak influence. I do not agree with alot of the fatal things with any of astrology, for i believe we are not tied to some destiny not of our making. i don't use the nodes because of the inconsistent interpretations.
honestly though, many astrologers use non physical points in aspects so why would you rule them out? They have proved true for me and people i know. I understand what you guys are saying with only a conj haveing any kind of influence. like i said tho how can it form any aspects if it is so weak? The only reason we use the aspects is because of the numbers of the degrees, separation of our 360 degree perspective. then again maybe it is SO weak that only the strongest influence(conj) applies but i don't believe this is the case. Again, in my own subjective experience this is not true, i feel the aspects of the asc and midheaven for sure(unless they are some other influence). the very fact that they can play a role being only a point makes me think they are very powerful.
As much as we would all love to be correct... astrology is very much based on each students own experience and own personal methods of interpretation. How can you be so sure you are correct? This is not a very absolute subject at all. It's so unpredictable and.. well... not absolute that it fails with the scientific method and is condemned as pseudoscience for a reason. No one really knows/has proven how astrology even works, how do we know what makes a point or planet valid or not? purley observation, which has proven true for many people to form aspects. so....???
Also i do agree it is silly to try and include the astroids and some other objects, they find more everyday. Pluto is jsut part of an astroid belt, there may be other bodies that influence us in ways we don't know. Amature astronomers find and name astroides all the time. this kind of knowlegde is very new, we are learning alot right now about the physical universe.
BTW astro.teacher, you classify a star as non-physical and having no light? You mean photons i suppose and as far as i know stars are the primary source of photons, and defintly physical. "Nonphysical points (whether thats a node, a star, or the Parts) have no aspects because they do not have light". if you are speaking of the metaphysical life force Light (maybe there is little or no difference, our chemical energy is based on the Sun's light after all) then i am not knowledgable enough to say much of anything yet. if that IS the case, however, you make a good point.