Hmm, very interesting. Minderwiz's and Astraea's viewpoints differ a bit (not trying to pick a fight between you, LOL). I do realize that different practictioners can hold differing but equally valid viewpoints.
So, in trying to boil this down to its absolute essence, what I'm gathering is the following for Astraea's viewpoint (for the moment not distinguishing between trine and sextile on the one hand or between square and opposition on the other):
If the question is will X happen:
Trine/sextile: Yes, and the route will be smooth/positive outcome.
Square/opposition: Yes, and the route will be difficult/negative outcome.
No aspect: Will not happen.
I think this formulation would still hold true for Astraea's example of "Will I be
happily married," as the "difficult/negative outcome" would clearly suggest a "No" to that literal question.
Minderwiz I think sees the square/opposition as
usually meaning "Will not happen," although there may be times when it can mean "Yes and the route will be difficult."
In either case, I imagine a lot would depend on what else is going on in the chart.
What if it were a fundamentally different kind of question? If instead of asking "Will X happen," we ask "Will X condition continue," it seems to me the trine/sextile and square/opposition results are the same, however we might amend "No aspect" to mean "No change" rather than "Will not happen."
Minderwiz points out that for finding objects, a square/opposition will mean no, the object won't be found. Astraea, I'd be interested to know if you would agree, or if, applying your principle, a square might mean it will be found but with difficulty, and an opposition would mean, say, it will be found, but found broken?
Minderwiz, for the "lost object" kind of question, I'd be interested in knowing, if a square/opposition means "not found," how you would you interpret no aspect?
I tried applying Astraea's principle to Minderwiz's morbid example
, and this is what I got:
"Will I be executed tomorrow?"
Trine/sextile: Yes, and it will be an easy death
Square/opposition: Yes, and it will be a painful death
No aspect: No execution.
Astraea, I like your descriptions of the differentiations between the various aspects and I'm saving them for further reference.
I did actually intend to post another attempt (I was going to say "another stab" but thought better of it) at a horary chart, but re-reading this thread and gathering/organizing information from it took up half the day, and I did have to do other things like exercising and making dinner, so I didn't get to it. But I do expect to, either one evening this week or next weekend. Minderwiz, should I post it to this thread, or would you prefer, as suggested early in this thread, that I post a new thread entitled "DIY Horary - (Question)"?