What counts as a figure
An aspect pattern is a set of aspects that closes into a shape: three or four bodies whose angles to each other form a complete figure rather than a chain of unrelated contacts.
The distinction matters because a great deal of chart reading treats loose groupings as patterns. Three bodies roughly a third of the way round the wheel look like a grand trine on a drawn chart and frequently are not one, because at least one leg falls outside orb.
This calculator only reports a figure when every leg of it is genuinely inside orb. An empty result means the chart has no closed figure, which is the ordinary case rather than a failure to look.
The figures it searches for
| Figure | Built from | Read for |
|---|---|---|
| Grand trine | Three trines, usually one element | Ease that can become complacency |
| T-square | An opposition, both ends squared by a third | Pressure with a clear focal point |
| Grand cross | Two oppositions, square to each other | A four-way standoff, hard to move |
| Yod | A sextile, both ends quincunx a third | An apex that never quite fits |
| Kite | A grand trine with one corner opposed | A grand trine given an outlet |
| Mystic wedge | An opposition with a third body sextile to both | A way through the opposition |
The widest leg is the reading
A figure is only as strong as its loosest aspect. A grand trine with legs of half a degree, one degree and six degrees is held together by the six-degree leg, and it will behave far less like a grand trine than one with three tight legs.
The calculator prints the widest leg for every figure it finds, which is the single most useful number on the page. Patterns under two degrees across all legs are genuinely operative. Patterns held together by a wide leg are worth noting and not worth building a reading on.
The T-square, which most charts have
It is by far the commonest figure, and it is the one people are most often alarmed by. An opposition describes two things pulling against each other; a third body squaring both becomes the point where the tension has to be resolved.
That third body, the apex, is what the figure is about. Everything else in the description follows from what it is and where it sits. A T-square with Saturn at the apex behaves nothing like one with Jupiter there.
The empty leg, the point opposite the apex, is a separate tradition worth knowing about: some practitioners read it as the direction the tension resolves toward. It is not calculated here, because the technique is contested.
The grand trine, which is not simply good
Three bodies in trine, usually all in the same element, and it is conventionally read as talent that arrives without effort. The consistent complaint in the literature is the second half: talent that arrives without effort is often not developed.
A grand trine is a closed circuit. Nothing outside it pushes in, which is why the kite, the same figure with one corner opposed by a fourth body, is generally considered the more productive version. The opposition gives the circuit somewhere to discharge.
The yod, and why it is over-reported
Two bodies in sextile, both quincunx a third. It has a dramatic reputation, largely from the name, and it is reported far more often than it occurs.
The reason is orb. The quincunx is a minor aspect and traditionally takes an orb of two or three degrees. Tools that widen it to five or six produce yods in most charts, and a yod built on six-degree quincunxes is not a figure in any meaningful sense.
This calculator uses a three-degree orb on the quincunx, which is why it finds fewer yods than some tools and why the ones it finds are worth reading.
Which bodies are included
The search runs over the ten main bodies plus the ascendant and Midheaven when a birth time is supplied. Asteroids and Lilith are excluded deliberately.
The reason is combinatorial. Adding six more points to the search roughly doubles the number of figures found, and almost all of the additions are built on bodies most readings do not weight heavily. A page reporting nine patterns is less useful than one reporting two.
Without a birth time
The search still runs across the ten bodies, and most figures involve only planets. What disappears is any pattern with the ascendant or Midheaven as a corner, which is a meaningful subset since angular figures are the ones people notice.
The result says which mode it used rather than presenting the two as equivalent.
Common questions
Why does my chart show no patterns?
Because most charts contain no closed figure, which is the ordinary case. This calculator only reports one when every leg is genuinely inside orb, so an empty result means empty rather than unchecked.
What is the widest leg number for?
A figure is only as strong as its loosest aspect. Patterns under two degrees across all legs are genuinely operative; one held together by a six-degree leg is worth noting and not worth building a reading on.
Why do I have a yod here but not on another site?
Orb. The quincunx traditionally takes two or three degrees, and tools that widen it to six produce yods in most charts. This one uses three.
Is a T-square bad?
It is the commonest figure and describes pressure with a focal point rather than misfortune. What the figure is about is the apex body, and a Saturn apex behaves nothing like a Jupiter one.
Is a grand trine good?
It is conventionally read as talent arriving without effort, and the consistent complaint is that such talent often goes undeveloped. A kite, the same figure with one corner opposed, gives the circuit an outlet.
Why are asteroids excluded?
Adding six more points roughly doubles the number of figures found, almost all built on bodies most readings do not weight heavily. A page reporting nine patterns is less useful than one reporting two.