Thelemic astrology assumes you chose your birth chart—and your childhood parents, place, etc. You did this to channel the True Will in the unique way you intended before you came in. You selected the energies symbolized by your chart to master them and to live them to their highest potential.
Not every Thelemite can be an astrologer. However, every one of us can use the internet, books, and software to focus on one or two important things in our birth chart, such as our Lunar Nodes, Part of Fortune, Chiron, Sun, Moon, or Rising.
However, the present article is suitable for intermediate to advanced students of astrology. It is about aspects, the meaningful angular relationships (sacred geometry) that two bodies in a chart make to one another. More specifically it is about the waxing vs. waning aspects in your birth chart and the clues they give about your incarnational intent. Planetary rhythms reveal themselves in your chart. This is a music of the spheres you can dance to!
Planet "Speeds" List
The astrologer Dane Rudhyar (1895 – 1985) encourages us to view our astrological aspects as dynamic. These sacred angles between our planets are not static. Though frozen in our chart like a photograph taken at the moment of our birth, these angles were changing constantly both in quantity and quality. To understand the ever-changing nature of this planetary dance you have to watch the sky. Each planet is moving relative to Earth at a different speed. In combination, they create complex rhythms that serve as the matrix for spiritual evolution.
Here I’m giving you a list of the periodicity (“speed”) of various bodies from fastest to slowest. Although I didn’t include it, the Sun takes one year to travel around the zodiac. The numbers refer to how many years it takes for the body to orbit the Sun (or, in the Moon’s case, the Earth), which correlates well enough to returning to the same place in the zodiac. The fastest body, the Moon, takes only seventy-five thousanths of a year, or just over 27 days. By contrast, the Kuiper Belt Object Sedna takes 11,400 years to orbit the Sun. Yes, Sedna IS in our solar system! These vastly different speeds make a beautiful array of harmonics with one another.
How You Might Use This List
You might use the above list of orbital periods to help you interpret the aspects in your astrological birth chart. In particular, this list can help you understand if a given aspect is 1) waxing or waning and 2) applying or separating. This gives you more information about 1) the purpose you had for choosing a chart with that aspect and 2) the relative strength of that aspect.
Overall, these techniques give you more ways to understand more about your favorite square (or whatever)—namely where the relationship between any two birth planets had been and where it was going.
Why did you pick a chart in which those two planets were just at that particular moment in their relationship cycle? What did you mean to do with those energies? These are the sorts of details you can learn using these advanced techniques of interpreting aspects in terms of whether they are waxing or waning, and, to a lesser extent, whether they are separating or applying.
If you find it overwhelming to think about these details, don’t worry about it. Astrology is as simple or complicated as you want to make it. But if you feel up to it, you can use these techniques for discovering nuances about how best to use the energies symbolized in your birth chart. Ultimately the goal is to Know Thyself to the best of your ability.
Waxing Versus Waning Aspects
Other than conjunction (two bodies seen from Earth as if together) and opposition (two bodies seen from Earth as opposite one another in the sky), ALL THE OTHER ASPECTS (squares, trines, etc.) HAPPEN TWICE in a relationship cycle. That is, they happen once after conjunction (and before the opposition) and once before the next conjunction (and after the opposition).
It’s easier to understand with an example. Think about the aspects the Moon makes to Saturn as they both move through the sky. Watch the cycle in your mind’s eye beginning at a conjunction, (i.e., when they are together), in the middle as they become 180 degrees across from one another, and ending at the next conjunction. For simplicity, let’s imagine that Saturn’s apparent motion stays direct through the whole cycle.
The Moon, being the faster-moving planet, begins to break away from Saturn because the latter appears to be moving much more slowly. At some point, the Moon will be 90 degrees ahead of Saturn. This is the waxing square. Still later it will be 120 degrees ahead of Saturn. This is the waxing trine. Then, at some point, the Moon will oppose Saturn, at 180 degrees, ending the hemi-cycle.
From there on, the Moon will start to approach Saturn. In racing terms, the Moon will “lap” Saturn. For example, it will be approaching it from 120 degrees at some point. This is the waning trine. Later still it will be 90 degrees behind Saturn. At some point it will catch up, into a new conjunction. This ends one cycle of Moon and Saturn.
How to Interpret Waxing Aspects
Again, the waxing version of any aspect (square, trine etc.) is the one that happens after the two planets were conjunct but before they would become opposite each other.
How do you tell? If your astrology software doesn’t tell you:
- Look in an ephemeris and find the last conjunction between those two planets that occurred just prior to your birth date.
- Then check to see if there was an opposition between those planets after that last conjunction but before you were born. If not, your aspect is waxing. (If so, it’s waning.)
The purpose of a waxing aspect is to give you the opportunity to develop yourself (the microcosm)—differentiation, individuation. You are primarily building up value—education, self-knowledge, resources, etc.
For example, a waxing square gives you the opportunity to build character and skill through resolving tension and conflict. Dane Rudhyar says, “It represents the need to clear the ground of all obsolete structures before the building operation of an integrated, harmonious way of life can begin in earnest.”
How to Interpret Waning Aspects
Again, the waning version of the aspect is the one that happens after the two planets were opposed and before they would become conjoined again.
The purpose of a waning aspect is to give you the opportunity to apply the energies externally (macrocosm) so you can help the whole (humanity, society, all beings)—evolution, integration, dissolution. You are primarily applying value (spending resources) toward a purpose.
For example, a waning square means the tension results from the need to create something. Dane Rudhyar says, “In the evolutionary series, the square follows and builds upon the trine—i.e. conscious mental awakening. It represents the stage at which concretization of the ideal or idea envisioned at the trine is necessary and possible.” In this case, you chose the waning square to put pressure on yourself to build something. (As always, you have to synthesize to see the bigger picture.)
Separating vs. Applying Aspects
Whereas waxing vs. waning tells you where a particular aspect occurs in the entire relationship cycle between the two planets, separating vs. applying tells you whether that particular aspect (for example, that waxing square) is forming or dissolving at the moment of your birth.
Every aspect that is not exact—regardless of whether it occurred during the waxing or the waning half of the cycle—is either separating or applying.
Applying means that the aspect is still forming, meaning it hasn’t hit exact yet. The faster moving planet is moving toward the slower moving one.
Separating means that the aspect was exact before the moment of your birth. The faster-moving planet is now moving away from the slower-moving one. The force or energy symbolized by the aspect represented is getting weaker now.
When both planets are direct (i.e. moving clockwise) in a birth chart:
- Find the spot in the chart where the faster moving planet would be if the aspect in question were exact.
- If the faster moving planet is behind (i.e. to the left of) that spot of exactness, the aspect is applying. It got to “exact” later, after the birth time.
- If the faster moving planet is ahead of that spot of exactness, the aspect is separating. It got to “exact” before the birth time.
If both planets are retrograde (i.e. moving counterclockwise), then the opposite rules apply. You’d still find the exact spot where the faster moving planet would have been. But you’d know it was applying if that faster moving planet were to the right of the spot of exactness–in other words, if it’s going to get there in the future. If not, it’s separating; it was already exact.
It’s probably best to consult an ephemeris in every case just to check yourself.
How to Interpret an Exact Aspect
Exact aspects are strongest. Finding one in your chart is like an exclamation mark. The energies of an exact aspect are very important to this incarnation. Try to figure out why.
How to Interpret a Separating Aspect
Separating aspects mean that the force of the aspect is now dissolving. Separating aspects tend to be weaker than applying or exact ones. Therefore, ponder what it means that even though you needed the energies of a particular planetary relationship, you didn’t prioritize it versus others. Why not?
How to Interpret an Applying Aspect
An applying aspect mean that strength is gathering. Interpret an applying aspect as strong and therefore important to pay attention to. You chose a strong version of that planetary relationship for some reason
An Example of Interpreting an Applying Aspect Vs. a Separating One
Imagine you had an applying waning square between Moon and Saturn that was three degrees from exact.
It would be stronger than if you had been born six hours later, when the same waning square between Moon and Saturn would be separating by three degrees. In this case, you should be saying, “Well, obviously this Moon Saturn waning square is important to my life. How so?”
To reiterate, as a Thelemite you assume that you chose a chart with these particular strong aspects because they were the most important aspects for doing the Universal Will as you intended. You really needed them to do what you came here to do. Then you can ask yourself why. What is the function of this incarnation in the large arc of lives you’ve taken and will take?
On a practical level, sorting out the strong from the weak aspects can help you decide what to focus on in your Know Thyself quest. You can’t study everything, so pick the most important things.
Resources
Books
Dane Rudhyar is the astrologer who best developed the dynamic approach to aspect interpretation. See his books, especially Astrological Aspects: A Process-Oriented Approach and The Lunation Cycle.
Articles
“Planetary Phases and Aspects” by Michael R. Meyer: https://khaldea.com/eon/eonintro.shtml
“Understanding planetary cycles: applying and separating aspects, part 2” by anonymous:
Erica Johnson is a Thelemic Astrologer. You can purchase a reading with her if you so desire: Birth Chart Astrology Reading for Spiritual Aspirants with Erica M Cornelius, PhD – Red Flame (corneliuspublications.com)