In my chart I have mercury (aquarius) trine moon (Libra), then my moon trines jupiter (taurus), jupiter trines mercury (aquarius).
Mercury in Aquarius trine Moon in Libra - These planets trine each other by sign as well as by aspect (there are
three signs in each of the four elemental categories--fire, air, earth, and water).
Moon in Libra trine Jupiter in Taurus - These planets trine each other by aspect but not by sign; this is what is known as a disassociate aspect.
How does Aquarius, Libra and Taurus trine if they're in two different elements?
Aquarius and Libra trine each other because they share the same element (air), yet Taurus (earth) can only trine Capricorn and Virgo without forming a disassociate aspect.
I can somewhat understand Libra and Taurus, because they both share Venus, but why do Mercury and Jupiter trine if one's in a earth element and the other in air?
Although Libra and Taurus share the common planetary Venus, these signs do not trine each other; Libra is of the element of air and Taurus is of the element of Earth.
Let's examine the aspects relationships between other signs that share a common traditional ruler:
- Mercury - Gemini (air) and Virgo (earth)
- Venus - Taurus (earth) and Libra (air)
- Mars - Aries (fire) and Scorpio (water)
- Jupiter - Sagittarius (fire) and Pisces (water)
- Saturn - Capricorn (earth) and Aquarius (air)
Gemini and Virgo share the same modality; they are both mutable signs. Therefore, they form a square aspect.
As you have observed, Taurus and Libra share a planetary ruler, yet they share neither the same gender (Taurus is a feminine sign while Libra is a masculine sign), element (Taurus is an earth sign while Libra is an air sign), nor modality (Taurus is a fixed sign while Libra is a cardinal sign). They form a quincunx or inconjunct aspect.
Aries and Scorpio, like Taurus and Libra share a planetary ruler, yet they share neither the same gender (Aries is a masculine sign while Scorpio is a feminine sign), element (Aries is a fire sign while Scorpio is a water sign), nor modality (Aries is a cardinal sign while Scorpio is a fixed sign). They form a quincunx or inconjunct aspect.
Sagittarius and Pisces, like Gemini and Virgo, share the same modality; they are both mutable signs. Therefore, they form a square aspect.
Capricorn and Aquarius, like Taurus/Libra and Aries/Scorpio, share a planetary ruler, yet they share neither the same gender (Capricorn is feminine while Aquarius is masculine), element (Capricorn is an earth sign while Aquarius is a masculine sign), nor modality (Capricorn is a cardinal sign while Aquarius is a fixed sign). However, they are right next to each other on the zodiacal wheel, and if you go back one more sign from Capricorn to Sagittarius; they form a semi-sextile.
There's a lovely diagram on
Skyscript that illustrates this, yet I cannot seem to find it
Arian Maverick