Though I have been a student of Vedic astrology for many years, I am above all a Western Tropical astrologer as I have gotten such good results from this system. Therefore I recommend tropical harmonics as they can be so very accurate.
I agree with Krewster that it is best to see the aspects in their natural state in the chart. I have my Solar Fire program set up with the various kinds of aspects in separate sections for example, I can bring up just the quintiles, then just the septiles and so on. Once this aspect flow is clear I then see how these aspects relate to the rest of the chart.
For example, if someone has a T square I see if they have a quintile aspect running off one of the planets, which will tend to give a creative outlet for the tension of that configuration; if they have septile running of one of the planets it will give a seeking for wisdom use of that tension ... and so on.
However, the harmonic chart itself can give a tremendous amount of detail of how that particular harmonic works for the person and this can be most interesting. In addition, the Year Age Harmonic will show how events are set in motion that year and therefore how they will use that harmonic. On my website I mention that when Prince Charles was five the 5th harmonic, described by the quintile patterns in his natal chart, was emphasised. This is the year he started his education through tutors. He showed no aptitude for learning, but did show an early aptitude for art and loved day dreaming, so this gave a propensity to using his quintile patterns in art and imagination. This greatly irritated his father, Prince Phillip, who often chastised him, both in private and in public (shown by Charles' 5th harmonic Sun-Uranus-Descendant conjunct his father's natal Mars).
His 14th harmonic was a further development of the fifth (1+4 = 5). At this time Prince Charles was attending Gordonstoun, a school near Elgin in Eastern Scotland which The Duke of Edinburgh had attended. This was a very rigorous school and Prince Charles hated it, however he found solace in art classes and developed considerable skill, he became particularly adept at pottery.
His strong quintile pattern of Ascendant-Venus-Jupiter and Sun-Descendant-Uranus has enabled him to be very creative; he has developed into a good artist. These two quintile patterns are connected through the decile i.e. half quintile, and show up on his fifth harmonic chart as Venus-Jupiter-Ascendant and Sun-Uranus-Descendant.
Learning how to work with harmonics is a specialised skill within astrology, but well worth the effort as it yields such accurate information.
Alice