Aspects

An aspect is the angle between two points in a chart, measured in degrees around the wheel. It is the part of astrology that stops being a list and starts being a structure: signs and houses say where a planet is, and aspects say what it is entangled with.

Only certain angles count, and the ones that do are the simple divisions of the circle - a half, a third, a quarter, a sixth. Each carries a different quality of contact. Some make two planets cooperate so easily the person never notices the talent; others put them permanently at odds, which is uncomfortable and is also where most of the development happens. An aspect is never good or bad on its own.

Aspects also have orb - a tolerance, because exact angles are rare. The tighter the orb, the louder the aspect. Under about a degree, two planets stop reading as two things and start reading as one voice, which is usually the single most defining feature a chart has.