Shares — our measurement for every day of 1950–2010 from the NASA ephemeris, with the same orbs as in the chart calculation.
What a sextile means
What sets a sextile apart from a trine is that it doesn’t switch on by itself: the opportunity is there, but whether to use it is up to the person. That’s why tradition considers it weaker than a trine: it asks you to take a step towards it.
How to read a sextile in your chart
The meaning of an aspect comes from the two planets. In the calculation each planet has one side noticeable in a person: Sun — self-regard; Moon — mood; Mercury — thoughts and words; Venus — likes and taste; Mars — anger and drive; Jupiter — reach and generosity; Saturn — self-control and sense of duty; Uranus — an urge for change; Neptune — dreaminess; Pluto — a need for control.
On the chart screen a sextile reads like this: “in you one nudges the other along, you only have to start.” Not about you — if the two sides aren’t connected at all.
For example: Moon (mood) and Mercury (thoughts and words) in sextile: once you start talking about a feeling, it becomes clearer.
The smaller the orb — the distance to the exact angle — the stronger the aspect by tradition; on the chart screen the aspects go from the most exact.
When a sextile marks the year, not the person
The slow planets stay in the same aspect for months and years, and such an aspect is found in most people born in the same half-year. On the chart screen the aspects of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto with each other are marked as generational, without an interpretation of character, and for the rest it says how many peers have them.
- Neptune — Pluto — in 9 out of 10 peers · generational aspectbefore 1950 — July 2000, with breaks
- Uranus — Pluto — in 8 out of 10 peers · generational aspectMarch 1992 — January 2001, with breaks
- Uranus — Neptune — in 8 out of 10 peers · generational aspectSeptember 1964 — July 1969, with breaks
- Saturn — Uranus — in 7 out of 10 peersOctober 1978 — August 1980, with breaks; June 1995 — April 1997, with breaks
- Saturn — Pluto — in 6 out of 10 peersOctober 1952 — October 1953, with breaks; July 1976 — July 1977; February 1989 — December 1990, with breaks
- Saturn — Neptune — in 6 out of 10 peersJanuary 1959 — November 1960, with breaks; November 1981 — September 1983, with breaks; April 1995 — January 1997, with breaks
“In 9 out of 10” — how many of those born within half a year before and after a person with this aspect also have it. Dates — when the angle held within the orb, 1950–2010.
How to check it on yourself
Each statement below may turn out to be false about you — that’s how it’s written. The aspects of your chart are on the chart screen: each has its orb there. Write your answer down before you compare it with the interpretation.
If your chart has a sextile of two personal planets — the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus or Mars — with an orb of up to 3°
What should match. Recall three activities where you switch on one of these sides. In at least two, the other joins in by itself, without separate effort.
When it’s not about you. The other joined in once out of three or never — this sextile is silent in you.
If your chart has more than one aspect of this kind
What should match. Take the most exact one (the smallest orb) and the widest one. For a week, note which of the two pairs of sides made itself felt more. By tradition — the exact one.
When it’s not about you. More often the wide one was more noticeable — ordering by orb doesn’t work for you, and it’s worth reading aspects without looking at the orb.
All five aspects — on the general page. How we check the rest — the site’s method.