← Encyclopedia of Astrology · lesson 99/235
Semi-sextile
A semi-sextile is two planets 30° apart — a twelfth of the circle, the twelfth harmonic. It normally joins neighbouring signs, which share nothing: not element, not modality, not polarity. Aries and Taurus, Leo and Virgo, Pisces and Aries sit side by side and yet go about life quite differently. Ptolemy did not recognise it; it was among the minor aspects Kepler brought into use in the early seventeenth century, and deVore notes that the quincunx is its "inversion", the same awkward relationship seen from the other side of the circle.
Its character is a nudge. The two planets are aware of each other in a low-key way, and the person feels a need to coordinate them rather than any strong pull or clash. Each sign grows out of the one before it, so a semi-sextile can show something being built on what came earlier — a resource put to use, a lesson carried forward.
Orb
Most astrologers keep minor aspects tight, often 1–2° for the semi-sextile. In the charts here it is given the same allowance as the major aspects, set by the two bodies — 8° for the Sun and Moon, 7° for the Ascendant and Midheaven, 6° for the other planets and the nodes, 2.5° for asteroids — so a semi-sextile wider than a couple of degrees is best read very lightly. Its strength is how tight it is against that allowance, 1 at exact and 0 at the edge. See orb.
Ease or tension
The semi-sextile counts as a light ease in the ease and tension chart — less than a third of a trine's weight. Some astrologers read it as mildly awkward rather than easy; either way it is quiet.
In a chart
Read it as a link between neighbouring houses or signs: Venus in Taurus semi-sextile Mercury in Gemini might show taste that finds words easily. It rarely carries a theme on its own, but it can join planets into larger figures and tip the balance where other factors agree.
In transit
A transiting semi-sextile is a small thing: a passing prompt, a minor change of arrangement. In the list of transits here, semi-sextiles and quincunxes are counted as minor and hidden by default; they can be switched on.
Kinds and conditions
- Applying or separating, like any aspect.
- An out-of-sign semi-sextile can fall within one sign (2° and 29° Leo are 27° apart) or across two signs that are not neighbours, which changes its feel.