The Quincunx

How does everyone feel about the quincunx in synastry?

I was in a r/ship for 5 years with a guy and when i checked our charts, quite a few aspects between us were quincunx and after reading up about this aspect i begin to see why i was left feeling *confused* about him. It felt like we just didn't get each other a lot of the time..there was always something missing

Anyone?

From a traditional point of view, the 150 degree or 6th/8th type of relationship is not an aspect. That doesn't mean that nothing goes on, though. It was taken as an indication that two areas of life are not connected or don't see each other because their rulers don't see each other. The Greeks used the term 'Aversion', in the sense of looking away or looking in another direction. That would lead to confusion or a lack of 'togetherness'

I've not used that relationship in synastry but I don't see why it should not have the same meaning. I can't be sure because the casting of composite charts is a modern device and I've not come across even a comparison of charts to consider mutual compatibility in traditional writers. That's not to say they don't exist, it's more an indication of my lack of knowledge.

Thanks David!

The two signs my sun is in quincunx with, are the ones where i have the least understanding of...i have discussed this with a few others too who find the same energy with this aspect

strangebrew said:

Thanks David!

The two signs my sun is in quincunx with, are the ones where i have the least understanding of...i have discussed this with a few others too who find the same energy with this aspect

Click to expand...

If anything it's a lack of energy. A failure to react or take into consideration. The word 'aspect' comes from the Latin for viewing or seeing something. Things that you can see you can address. Things that you don't see don't get addressed. You don't put energy into them because you are simply unaware. That doesn't mean that they don't matter. If you're standing on the tracks and are unaware of the train coming, that doesn't mean you won't get run over. What you fail to address can matter just as much as what you do address.

Yes that makes total sense David...thanks!!

The idea that two planets can't "see" each other when quincunx (or semi-sextile, for that matter) has intrigued me since I first encountered it. It makes me think of "blind spots" in the chart regarding the affairs of the planets and the houses they occupy. In practice, I've never found them to carry much weight (or frankly, any weight unless appended to a more potent configuration). But I'm also not sure about "Yods" or "kites" either, although I used to know an astrologer with multiple interlacing Yods who was one of the most internally conflicted people I've ever known. About the only time they seem to emerge from the background is when there are no other more significant aspects present in the chart (a rare occurrence to be sure).

Since the ancients didn't consider a conjunction to be an "aspect" either, it looks like another potential "blind spot" because - depending on the relative strength of the participants - one planet could modulate the identity of the other to the point of near-invisibility (certainly indicated in the case of "combustion.") These are controversial concepts for modern psychological astrologers and their rather Shakespearean mindset that every planet has an equally important part to play on the "stage" of the birth chart, like interchangeable Lego blocks in the architecture of the psyche.