Minor Aspects in the Birth Chart

Happy Sunday, fam! Welcome back to the newest installment of the birth chart basics series.

This week we’re talking about a handful of minor aspects in the birth chart and how that energy could better serve our day-to-day presence. If you haven’t already, check out my blog post on the major aspects in the birth chart—learning the macro energies between planets in our chart will help aid our digestion of the minor energies layered between them. All installments of the birth chart basics series are linked at the end of this blog post if you feel called to learn the basics of the zodiac signs, nodes, planets, asteroids, houses, and more in your birth chart.

Minor aspects are lesser known aspects, but not necessarily unworthy or ineffective energetically for us. The actual energetic/personal effect of the minor aspect depends on the major aspects the given planets are also influenced by. The effect of a strong—major—aspect on a planet is likely to overshadow the effects of the minor aspect involved.

Think of it like this:

if you went outside on a sunny day but the wind was particularly strong, you would be very aware of that uncomfy breeze. If the same level of wind was blowing on a snowy or rainy day, your focus would be on the snow or the rain. The major aspects are the snow and the rain in this metaphor, the minor aspects are the wind.

Because they’re considered “minor” in comparison to our major aspects, these relationships can manifest as the subtle + nuanced + daily qualities of our identity—our blueprint of soul at a micro perspective. It’s possible that minor aspects feel significant to us once we recognize them because they serve as a reflection of deeper quirks + traits we see within ourselves daily but hesitate to reveal to others.

Birth charts are wildly layered—we’ve gone through 13 posts in this birth chart basics series and we have hardly scratched the surface of information that’s available to us in our chart. It may be my fixed-heavy chart speaking here, but I think that’s super exciting. The birth chart is a journey of self-inquiry and self-discovery and astrology is a vast + ever-evolving tool for our travels into the cosmos—and that same journey is reflected when we go within.

The minor aspects are a thin layer of meaning, an added level of flavor, in this infinitely customizable astrological layered dip. Who even has a bowl big enough for this appetizer? I definitely don’t, but I surely have the appetite to keep digging in. You’re still here after 13 birth chart basics installments, so I’m guessing that your appetite must be pretty big too.

If this is your first time visiting, thank you for joining the party! Venture back through the other 13 posts to keep learning more about your chart and follow me on instagram to join the Into-It community on this amateur astrological journey.

The minor aspect layer dip awaits, so grab a chip and let's get into-it.

Minor Aspects

Semi-Sextile: two planets that are 30 degrees apart.

Semi-Square: two planets that are 45 degrees apart.

Quintile: two planets that are 72 degrees apart.

Quincunx/Inconjunct: two planets that are 150 degrees apart.

Semi-Sextile

30 degrees apart

1 Zodiac Sign apart

The Neighbors

Semi-sextiles make two planets next door neighbors because they are in signs beside each other. This proximity of placement can be uncomfortable because consecutive signs in the Zodiac will always differ in their element and in their modality. This minor aspect, at times, could remain undisturbed if the neighboring planets stay in their lane—or yard, for the sake of this metaphor.

Consider how you could stay out of your neighbor’s business so long as that neighbor also stays out of yours and respects your space. It is through particularly unavoidable chaos or intentional charitable acts that you would be affected by your neighbor’s actions—they gotta mean it, and that makes it feel uncomfy + personal. Planetary neighbors are no different.

The minor aspect would be strenuous if one planet stirs up enough energy to rub up on the other planet’s space—placement. And also, one planet may have the cup of sugar the other was lacking.

Semi-Square

45 degrees apart

1 ½ Zodiac Signs apart

The Dusty Corners

Semi-squares are like wedges of jammed energy between two planets. The glyph for this aspect operates as a metaphor for a corner that often collects dust, an unavoidable crevice of unwanted collections that will externally call us to clean out + revisit the energy repeatedly trapped there.

The tension built up between the two planets is a nuisance and also a service. What we revisit eventually helps us learn more and build resilience over time. At first, we may be disarmed by that tension, but we will become masters of clearing the tension through our repetitive calling to address it.

Quintile

72 degrees apart

2 Zodiac Signs + 12 degrees apart

Parallel Admirers

Quintiles occur between two planets that are close enough to inspire and relate to each other, but far enough to not over-step boundaries or belittle the space of one another. This minor aspect breeds creative drive, as the qualities + placements of the two planets involved work together to promote our pursuit of mastering something.

We’ll feel called, if there are a lot of quintiles in the chart, to pursue a craft or talent which is supported by the given planetary placements. Ask yourself, what flavor does each planet have in their own placements? How does it taste? How do their flavor combos spice up our layered dip?

Quincunx/Inconjunct

150 degrees apart

5 Zodiac Signs apart

Differing Perspectives

Quincunx planets are working within opposing energy because their 5 sign separation can put them in different elements or modalities. This opposition is fruitful because the energy tells us where differing perspectives on an issue could help us think outside of the box in our solutions.

Contrasting energy is really just information to be investigated, ensuring we check out all sides of a pursuit or problem or feeling before we decide to act on or resolve them. Duality is complicated though, so we may naturally separate the opposing traits. This separation results in a spectrum of extremes that primates an “either-or” mentality + behavior.

Similar to the major aspect of an Opposition, the goal is to find the compromise between what these planets are asking of us. The default may be to see-saw between the two planets, but our mindfulness of that tendency will help us recognize when we’re teetering and ground ourselves where we have better footing.

To reiterate, “minor” does not necessarily mean harmless or ineffective energy. Our minor aspects can be great sources of information on our macro behaviors. While the majors can be those sexy show-stopping performances, like the premiers or grand finales of our larger character arcs, the minor aspects are the episodic or mundane plots that drive the plot forward and keep us present in our day-to-day living.

What we do on the daily is arguably valuable because the present moment is really all there is. This moment is where we rest, where we act, where we give, where we gain in order to pursue that linear idea of our “future.”

My favorite practice of daily presence is to spend time journaling. Self-inquiry is an invaluable tool for embodying what we’re reading in our charts. While the study of astrology is key to understanding + interpreting the data within our charts + the charts of others, it is the embodiment and the experiences of the things that make them most valuable for us.

Here are some minor-aspect themed journal activities to aid your practice of daily presence and astrological embodiment:

-Check out your minor aspects in your birth chart, list them out somewhere you can revisit them! No need to memorize it all down, just keep a key of your birth chart handy in a journal or hanging in a space you frequently use.

-For each minor aspect, label the ruling sign + the element + the modality of that planet in your chart, as well as its house placement + other major aspects. Compare the qualities of both planets in the minor aspect. Are they contrasting qualities? Are they harmonious? Are they downright strange as a flavor combo?

-Once you recognize the sign / house interactions within each minor aspect, ask yourself where you personally resonate with or recognize those relationships within your quirks, your hobbies, or your ‘hidden’ traits.

Drop me a DM on instagram or comment below about the minor aspects in your chart? You know I love some cosmic reality TV style drama.

Stay present, stay curious, and stay in your magic.