Conjunctions divided by signs - less effective?

Hi there,

I would like to hear about your experience with conjunctions in synastry that are within reasonable orb, but divided by signs.

I guess the answer would refer to astrological issues in general, but it was triggered by a particular synastry I'm looking into at the moment... me and this other person seem to have a lot of conjunctions within 3-4 degrees orb, but on the edges of neighbouring signs. Like my DC is at 27 degrees Scorpio, his MC is at 2 degrees Sagittarius. And more.

Are those conjunctions less effective in your experience? I would guess so because even if these planets stand together, they operate on a different set of rules, no?

And how would that refer to critical degrees, is there a difference? Like for example my Eros is at 25 degrees Cancer, his Psyche is just a few seconds into Leo.

This really intrigues me.... please let me know what you think, thanks!

personally, i think the out of sign conjunctions are less effective. as you pointed out, the energies of the signs are different. i believe it also works the other way around. so if you're venus is at 2 leo, and his mars is at 23 leo, this is not a conjunction, but the energies involved blend in nicely, so you should still feel this 'aspect' even though the orb is way too wide to be considered one.

i apply the same rules for natal charts, btw.

I think you mean a dissociate conjunction i..e they are in different signs?? Remember that composites have a tight orb with aspects and no more than 0-4 degrees in my opinion. It the houses in the composite that have focus that are important.

bittermoon said:

personally, i think the out of sign conjunctions are less effective. as you pointed out, the energies of the signs are different. i believe it also works the other way around. so if you're venus is at 2 leo, and his mars is at 23 leo, this is not a conjunction, but the energies involved blend in nicely, so you should still feel this 'aspect' even though the orb is way too wide to be considered one.

i apply the same rules for natal charts, btw.

Click to expand...

No you are wrong. The energies do not not blend in at all. Venus at 2 Leo and Mars at 23 Leo have no aspect. That they are in the same signs makes little difference. It is the contact that is important between couples. It adds to the general fire element count in the individual charts that is all. Venus and Mars mean many things as does the sign of Leo and not just romance.

Ancient Western astrology (through the late Classical and very early Islamic transitional era) considered aspects by sign-so 2 planets in the same sign were considered to be in conjunction regardless of the number of degrees seperating them (and planets in different signs could not be in conjunction due to their being in different signs) This outlook is still followed in mainstream Vedic astrology up to the present time.

Aspect by degree, started in the West early too, but was never popular until around the 8th century (Islamic transitional era) By the 9th century all aspects were considered ONLY by degrees, although the "in sign" (degree-aspecting planets being required to be in aspecting signs) continued as a general rule (and this outlook has been carried on by Traditionalist Western astrology today), although as early as the 12th century, out of sign conjunctions were recognized by some practitioners (eg, Ibn Ezra)

Modernist Western astrology, of course, considers aspects by degree only, and whether they are in or out of aspecting signs, is not given any consideration.

My own outlook (for what it's worth)?
-I go by degree-aspects, but only if the aspecting planets are in aspecting signs (so here I follow the generally accepted outlook of Traditionalist Western astrology)
-I accept cross-sign conjunctions but I consider them less effective than if they occur within the same sign UNLESS the conjuncting planets are also in Parallel of declination, then I consider such conjunctions very significant regardless of whether or not the planets are in the same sign (my attitude regarding Parallels is more in line with Modernist astrology)
-I also accept aspect by sign IF the planet involved does NOT have any aspect by degree (here I am somewhat allied to Vedic and ancient Hellenist astrology)

Thanks for your insight