What Are "Orbs"?

ReincarnatedRainbow

ReincarnatedRainbow

Well-known member
I bought a poorly written astrology book by a woman who writes as if her readers are expert astrologers already. She said something about how orbs close the gap between degree aspects, and that some people use larger orbs and others use smaller orbs..But she never bothered to explain what an orb even is.
 
Moog

Moog

Well-known member
Orbs are essentially how much leeway you allow for an aspect to be effective.

Example: A conjunction between planets may be counted as an effective conjunction within 0 to 8 degrees from perfection but beyond that it is not considered a conjunction.

There are lots of different opinions about orb allowances.
 
Moog

Moog

Well-known member
ReincarnatedRainbow said:
Ah..I see. Why are they called orbs?
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It was thought that a planet had a kind of sphere of energy or influence around it. And when that sphere or 'orb' of influence contacts another planet it is 'within' its orb, and subject to its influences.

The Latin orbis literally means 'circle' or 'sphere', defining a planetary orb as that area of heaven which immediately surrounds it - "vast and full orbed, and then all of a sudden not there at all" - was how Pliny spoke of the Moon.[16] Some authors referred to a planet's orb as the force of its body, perceiving it as a kind of highly charged aura, invisible to the eye, but steeped in the influence of the planet.
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http://www.skyscript.co.uk/aspects.html#ado
 
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Kaiousei no Senshi

Kaiousei no Senshi

Premium Member
It's best to think of orbs as the light the planets and stars generate. We know that light from a lightbulb projects itself equally in all directions, and the same is true for the light generated by the planets. The lights of these bodies intermingling with one another is what generates us our aspects. The apparent size and luminosity of the object gives us their orb and is the reason why the Sun and Moon have larger orbs than the other planets.

In modern times it's more common to see astrologers give certain aspects orbs. They'll allow 8 degrees for conjunctions and oppositions, 6 for squares and trines; a sort of mix and match system which implies that it's the aspects themselves that hold the power of influence. Traditionally, that power has always lied within the planets and there is no hard and fast rule about how many degrees certain aspects make, but it's calculated by the two planets in question. A Sun/Jupiter aspect would have a much larger orb allowance than Mercury/Jupiter because the Sun's light and body are so much greater than Mercury's, so it stretches further.
 
QuaternityEagle

QuaternityEagle

Well-known member
I really like this website for understanding orbs.

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

A lot of good stuff has been writing here... so my two cents is: orbs also are in nut-shell: how much light is shared between two planets, and the kind of light, based on their angles to each other in the sky, also then indicates how strong or bright that light shines, based on the amount of the orb. Also known as the "orb of influence."

It's traditional from what I gather, but to me the logic prevails to this day. Orbs also, I guess, as I have noticed with myself, that you get more intuitive about when reading charts. Its where the mathematics become really important but you ask yourself then the feasibility or quality, character, nature, of what the math is showing you. As was already written, you know it does depend on planets, aspects, so much really.
 
ReincarnatedRainbow

ReincarnatedRainbow

Well-known member
Kaiousei no Senshi said:
It's best to think of orbs as the light the planets and stars generate. We know that light from a lightbulb projects itself equally in all directions, and the same is true for the light generated by the planets. The lights of these bodies intermingling with one another is what generates us our aspects. The apparent size and luminosity of the object gives us their orb and is the reason why the Sun and Moon have larger orbs than the other planets.

In modern times it's more common to see astrologers give certain aspects orbs. They'll allow 8 degrees for conjunctions and oppositions, 6 for squares and trines; a sort of mix and match system which implies that it's the aspects themselves that hold the power of influence. Traditionally, that power has always lied within the planets and there is no hard and fast rule about how many degrees certain aspects make, but it's calculated by the two planets in question. A Sun/Jupiter aspect would have a much larger orb allowance than Mercury/Jupiter because the Sun's light and body are so much greater than Mercury's, so it stretches further.
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Thank you! You gave a very detailed explanation, but you didn't make my head turn like it usually does when a teacher gives details in the hopes of getting their lesson through to a student. I have a tendency to shake my head "yes!" at the first introductory sentence to any lesson, then get completely lost when the second and third sentences pop up.
 
ReincarnatedRainbow

ReincarnatedRainbow

Well-known member
QuaternityEagle said:
I really like this website for understanding orbs.

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

A lot of good stuff has been writing here... so my two cents is: orbs also are in nut-shell: how much light is shared between two planets, and the kind of light, based on their angles to each other in the sky, also then indicates how strong or bright that light shines, based on the amount of the orb. Also known as the "orb of influence."

It's traditional from what I gather, but to me the logic prevails to this day. Orbs also, I guess, as I have noticed with myself, that you get more intuitive about when reading charts. Its where the mathematics become really important but you ask yourself then the feasibility or quality, character, nature, of what the math is showing you. As was already written, you know it does depend on planets, aspects, so much really.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the author did say that as you begin to interpret charts, you start to get an intuitive "feel" for what the planets are trying to say. I understand how intuition can speak to you, but what I don't get is how so many different, sometimes opposing, answers can be derived from the same natal chart. I think that may be one of the reasons why skeptics turn their heads at astrology.
 
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