Chart Synthesis ✦ Dawn Bodrogi ✦ The Inner Wheel
A Note
This piece was found in Dawn’s notebook after she passed away. It is published here as she left it — her own words, in her own hand.
— Paul
Before we get going on the minor aspects, let’s put things into perspective. These aspects were introduced by Johannes Kepler in the 16th century — along with all the non-Ptolemaic aspects defined by harmonics. These aspects evolve from the number by which we divide the circle. Did everyone run out and start using these aspects? No. We’ve only got to grips with the quincunx in recent times. Most people still have no clue what to do with a semi-sextile.
Do you consider a semi-square a major aspect? I do. Watch out if you have a planet at the midpoint of a square. That planet will make your square implode — creating two semi-squares from inside it. It’s as if the square swallowed a stick of dynamite, like in the cartoons.
— Dawn Bodrogi
I use sesquiquadrates too. They behave like a square, only more nervous — more likely to get set off at random. Unlike the square, which eventually brings solutions through practical experience, the semi-squares and sesquiquadrates often point to issues and problems that are usually irresolvable. We must learn to live with and cope with these. Where the cousins of the four are concerned, we may never find rest.
The only baseline we have is that everything in astrology is built on number. So we have to go back to number, and personal observation, to tell us what these aspects are about. Aspects to personal planets have more tangible effects. The further out the planets involved, the less likely these aspects manifest in real terms.
On the whole, I haven’t seen any of the aspects we’re discussing today manifest in a negative way. Each one seems to bestow its own type of gift. We run into problems only when there is an overabundance of them.
Quintiles: Dividing the Circle by Five
When we divide the circle by five, we get an aspect of 72 degrees. The five is the first number to step out of the materialistic box of the four — the first to transcend what creates material reality. The pentagram shows a four transcended by a fifth point above it, acting as a funnel through which concentrated higher energies can flow down into manifest reality. The five is considered creative and is associated with the Sun. Natally, quintiles indicate gifts — unusual talents or abilities that seem complete and god-sent. These are abilities we don’t have to struggle to perfect.
In synastry, quintiles can produce an almost other-worldly understanding of the way individual planets are operating. If my Saturn is quintile your Venus, you will have an innate compassion for my Saturn issues — I will instinctively know how to support your Venus. Relationships dominated by quintiles often possess an other-worldly quality. It is as if they don’t rely on the common things of this life to survive. Loves that continue long after the affair is over are often quintile loves.
Septiles: Dividing the Circle by Seven
The septile family are a curious lot. They have to do with Higher Mind entering the manifest reality of the four — essentially, higher guidance, connecting with the divine mind. Where the septiles are concerned, we have the ability to see beyond the mundane. They are less compassionate and more observant than the quintile series.
The septiles give us the ability to know what is the right move at any given time. We have an instinct for truth where the two planets are concerned — a hard time telling ourselves anything that isn’t absolutely honest. In this way, septiles can be a bit ruthless. They are where we know better, and we can’t turn away. Sometimes they can manifest as a get out of jail free card. But only when we are jailed unjustly by other elements.
Septiles between charts behave somewhat like high-powered lamps pointed at the planets. Those two planets will relate in a truthful way, and we won’t be able to hide.
Noviles: Dividing the Circle by Nine
Noviles divide the circle by nine and represent initiation. Where noviles are concerned, we will experience each planet in a new way — a revelation. The number nine represents completion and preparation for the new beginning. Noviles often take us by surprise, pushing us further up the ladder of our conscious evolution whether we like it or not. They are about wisdom and the responsibility of using that wisdom.
When a novile in a chart is activated by a transit, it’s like being shanghaied into a cult of knowledge. Life can change in surprising and unexpected ways — but these changes never occur without added responsibility.
When noviles are active between charts, we push one another forward. If there are a number of them, they can be either stimulating or annoying — depending on how much we like to be nagged in spiritual terms. With noviles dominant, we can feel as if we have a purpose together. We may find it easier to share our individual growth processes.
See also: The Meanings of Aspects: Trines
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When a novile is activated by a transit, it’s like being shanghaied into a cult of knowledge.
What’s the orb you use for septiles?
For the septile, we generally recommend a very tight orb of 2° for most natal points. If it involves the Sun, Moon, or a chart ruler, you can stretch it to 3°, but anything wider loses the specific “otherworldly” frequency that makes the septile so unique.