I was asked a great question on the Facebook page the other day:

How many Venus aspects are there in the average chart?

Not only is it a great question, but it’s a question there’s no easy answer for…in fact there is no answer. Why? Because there’s no such thing as an average chart.

Planets aspecting each other, influence the others behaviour. They talk to each other. Sometimes it’s the occasional contact, like an email, sometimes it’s a whisper, sometimes it’s like you’re in boot camp. It depends on the planets involved and the aspect. In most charts there’ll be one planet that seems to want to talk to the others. Regardless of how this planet is placed in your chart, it’s going to be important. In some cases there’s a number of planets in this boat.

For example, in my chart, the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto all talk to each other- and to the Ascendant. Most also aspect the Midheaven- that’s a lot of aspects!

When you have this many aspects happening, how do you possibly even start to think about prioritizing them?

Here’s what I do…

What’s in scope?

• Outer planets: Pluto, Uranus, Neptune
• Personal planets: The Sun, the Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars
• Inter Personal planets: Saturn and Jupiter
• I like to keep things simple so don’t include the asteroids- even though Chiron, sitting between the Sun and the Moon, also touches pretty well every thing in my chart.
• I only include in sign aspects. Eg I have the Moon at 27 Pisces and Saturn at 1 Aries- just 4 degrees apart. A conjunction? Not in my eyes- conjunctions must be in the same sign, trines the same element, sextiles the same polarity, squares the same modality, and oppositions in opposite signs. I know that some astrologers will disagree- that’s ok.

Orbs

I use:

• 8 deg for a conjunction or opposition (go out to 10 deg if the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Midheaven are involved eg Moon opposition Pluto)
• 6 deg for a square or a trine. I’d go out as far as 8 deg on the square only if the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Midheaven are involved.
• 3 deg for sextiles and inconjunct (or quincunx). I’m really only interested in the quincunx when it’s outer-personal planets, or inter personal planets- personal planets.

Order of Influence

When personal planets talk, it’s like a gathering of friends. Sometimes there are disagreements, but there’s not usually anything life changing going on.

When outer planets are involved, it’s more like the big boss is coming for a visit- these guys have the ability to influence big time- which is why I use the following order to prioritise.

1. Outer Planets- Personal Planets

Look first at the aspects being made by Pluto, Neptune and Uranus to the personal planets.

More than one?

Look at the difficult aspects first: opposition, square, conjunction, inconjunct involving these guys, Don’t forget to check out any aspects made by the outers to the Midheaven or Ascendant. Rank them in terms of orb. Now check out the easy aspects. In my chart, this looks like:

• Pluto inconjunct Venus (orb 0)
• Pluto opposite the Sun (orb 1)
• Pluto opposite the Ascendant  (orb 3)
• Pluto square the Midheaven (orb 4)
• Pluto opposite the Moon (orb 8)
• Uranus opposite the Sun (orb 2)
• Uranus opposite the Ascendant (orb 4)
• Uranus opposite the Moon (orb 5)
• Uranus square the Midheaven (orb 7)
• Neptune trine the Moon (orb 3)
• Neptune trine the Sun (orb 4)
• Neptune trine the Ascendant (orb 8)

2. Inter Personal Planets- Personal Planets

Look first at difficult aspects with Saturn, then with Jupiter.

Now look at the easier aspects.

In my case this would be:

• Saturn inconjunct Mars (orb 2)
• Jupiter square Venus (orb 6)
• Jupiter trine the Moon (orb 3deg)
• Jupiter trine the Sun (orb 4deg)

The trine between Jupiter and the Ascendant is too wide (at 8) to be included.

3. Outer Planets- Inter Personal Planets

Again, difficult aspects first, then the easy ones…

• Jupiter trine Neptune (orb 0)
• Jupiter sextile Uranus (orb 2)

The sextile between Jupiter and Pluto (at 5) is too wide to be included.

4. Personal Planets- Personal Planets

Rank them in terms of conjunction, square, opposition… then trine and sextile.

• The Sun conjunct Ascendant (orb 4)
• The Sun conjunct the Moon (orb 7)
• The Sun square the Midheaven (orb 5)
• Mercury conjunct the Ascendant (orb 10)
• Mercury trine Mars (orb 3)

The conjunction between the Moon and the Ascendant is too wide (11) to be included)

5. Outer Planets- Outer Planets

Why isn’t this further up the list?

Quite simply because everyone from your generation will have the same aspects- the aspects themselves aren’t personal to you- although the house position is.

• Pluto conjunct Uranus (orb 3)
• Uranus trine Neptune (orb 3)
• Pluto trine Neptune (orb 5)

Put it together

• Which is the planet most active, or talkative in your chart?
• Are the aspects it makes challenging, or relatively harmonious?
• Don’t over look those that don’t make many aspects- these need more attention that you would think…especially if the aspects they do make are challenging. As an example, although Saturn and Venus aren’t prominent in my chart, they are problematic for me. You know what they say about needing to worry about the quiet ones… Also, those planets that don’t regularly converse with others are more sensitive to outer planet transits.
• Are there any unaspected planets in your chart? What do they mean? Well…that’s a subject for a whole different post.
• Be careful not to confuse planetary talkative-ness with planetary strength and dignity. If you’re interested in that, check out this post and this post.

In my case:

Pluto makes 7 aspects

Uranus makes 7 aspects

The Sun makes 7 aspects

Neptune makes 6 aspects

The Moon makes 5 aspects

Jupiter makes 5 aspects

Venus makes 2 aspects- both difficult

Mercury makes 2 aspects

Mars makes just 1 aspect

Saturn makes just 1 aspect

What’s your most “talkative” planet?

We’ll be learning more about planets and aspects in Unit 2 of my course- starting October 22. If you already have a good understanding of house systems and sun signs, why not join us? Spaces are limited.