Separating aspects

CosmicBeing

Can someone explain this to me... I seem to not be grasping this fully. (Horary)....How does one know an aspect if separating?

Don't aspects separate anyway (sooner or later)?
 

Minderwiz

Can someone explain this to me... I seem to not be grasping this fully. (Horary)....How does one know an aspect if separating?

You're right to ask this question because it's not as simple as you might think.

You need to check whether the aspect has already perfected. If it has then the planets are separating, if it hasn't then they are still applying.

And it's the step of checking whether perfection has occurred which can give some difficulty because you can't always check from the chart.

Most beginners know the order of planets from fastest to slowest:

Moon, Mercury Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

So with Mercury at 5 degrees Cancer and Saturn at 6 degrees Cancer, the easy conclusion is that Mercury is applying to Saturn, whereas if Mercury is at 6 Cancer and Saturn at 5 Cancer, Mercury is separating from Saturn. Both conclusions following from Mercury being considerably faster than Saturn and so is in the process of overtaking it. The same argument holding for oppositions, squares, trines, and sextiles (or any and all of the minor aspects, if you use them.)

But the easy conclusion can be wrong. One of the topics that comes up regularly is Mercury Retrograde. So, taking the case of Mercury at 5 degrees Cancer and Saturn at 6 degrees Cancer, if Mercury is Retrograde, then it could very well be the case that Mercury is separating from Saturn (and if we reverse the positions, then Retrograde Mercury can be applying to Saturn when it's at 6 degrees and Saturn is at 5 degrees Cancer.) So always check whether either or both planets are Retrograde. Missing this step can lead to the wrong conclusion.

There are two further situations that are relevant, one of which I'll save for your second question.

Mercury might be much faster than Saturn on average, but, as I've reminded you above, it can be Retrograde. Becoming Retrograde from being Direct involves Mercury slowing down in terms of daily motion. Eventually it will come to a halt, or, technically, its Station Retrograde. As it slows down it will become slower than other planets. So you will find situations where Mercury is still Direct but actually slower than Saturn, because it's about to reach its Station Retrograde.

When it changes from Retrograde to Direct it doesn't move from Zero degrees a day to more than one degree a day thereafter. It gradually increases its speed. So again you will find that Saturn can be faster and apply to Mercury in a higher degree, perfect that aspect and separate, only to have Mercury begin to apply to Saturn, perfect that aspect and then move on.

So what you need is something to tell you the planet's speed at the time of your chart. Most software will give you that information, though as you get better, your'e likely to recognise situations where planets will slow to a station and then change direction. The retrograde cycle is related to their position relative to the Sun. If you haven't got software, then you can use an online ephemeris. They are a little more difficult as you have to check the speed by looking at their position at the start of the day and then at the end of the day to work out how fast they are going.


CosmicBeing said:
Don't aspects separate anyway (sooner or later)?

It depends what you mean by sooner or later. But it's perfectly possible for a planet to apply to another and not perfect the aspect, so it does not separated from that aspect.

Consider Mercury at 5 degrees Cancer and Saturn at 10 degrees Cancer. Mercury might be faster than Saturn at this point, so there is application at that point but if Mercury begins to slow to it's station, it might be slower that Saturn and at 9 degrees Cancer it might be retrograde. Even if Saturn itself is stationary, Mercury never perfects this aspect, instead it moves away from Saturn. Whilst it is separating in the sense of moving away from Saturn it is not separating from a conjunction because the conjunction never happens.

Yes at some future point in time, Mercury will apply again to Saturn and this time it will perfect the conjunction and move on. But the original conjunction did not occur.

Basic actions, look at the chart, check the speeds and if one planet is going to change direction, check to see when that occurs, and whether the applying aspect occurs or not.
 

CosmicBeing

going to have to let this digest....


I notice the chart is broken up into four sections by the ASC and Mc line...

I notice two of the quadrants (opposite of each other)..the planets are moving counterclockwise and the other two quardrants that are opposite of each other are moving clockwise.

Then the houses (1-12) are always going clockwise....

am I understanding the movement correctly?
 

Minderwiz

There are actually two types of planetary movements (three if you treat Retrograde as being a separate movement.

The first is called primary motion and is linked to the diurnal motion of the Earth, that is the revolution of the Earth on its axis. That motion causes planets to appear to rise ( that is pass the Ascendant), culminate (reach the MC), set (pass the Descendant) and finally anti-culminate (reach the IC). This process occurs daily. A chart is a snapshot of this motion at one point in time. Some software allows you to animate the chart and you can watch this happening. Primary motion is always clockwise, planet rising in the East and setting in the West.

The other type of motion is called Secondary Motion and is produced by the Earth's orbit around the Sun. This is what I think you are referring to. when you mention quadrants. It is anti-clockwise (counter clockwise in the USA) that is the planets move through the zodiac, though at different speeds. Which ever quadrant they are in, they still move through the zodiac from Aries to Pisces.

The direction of secondary motion is not constant though. When planets turn Retrograde they move in a clockwise direction like diurnal motion.

These periods can be from a couple of weeks like Mercury to many months like Pluto. However even allowing for Retrograde periods the general secondary motion of the planets is anti-clockwise.
 

CosmicBeing

Thank you for the response... definitely a lot to learn regarding astrology.

One chart i created for a person is a 'head scratcher'
 

CosmicBeing

The chart shows the different aspects....I added details to it... the details are waxing and waning aspects...

Could you explain those better to me... Is waxing and waning similar to separating and perfecting aspects?