Sextile

Origin and history

The sextile, called hexagon in Greek, is one of the five major aspects formalised by Claudius Ptolemy in the Tetrabiblos in the 2nd century CE. The geometric basis is the inscription of a regular hexagon in the zodiacal circle, dividing it into six equal arcs of 60 degrees each. Astrologically, the sextile connects signs of compatible but different elements: fire signs sextile air signs, supporting each other through warmth and idea; earth signs sextile water signs, supporting each other through form and feeling. Aries sextiles Gemini and Aquarius, all three signs of action and ideation; Taurus sextiles Cancer and Pisces, all three signs of nourishment and feeling.

In Hellenistic astrology, the sextile was classified as a harmonious or soft aspect, alongside the trine, but considered weaker and more conditional. The classical view was that the sextile required active engagement to bring out its benefits, where the trine flowed automatically. This nuance has been preserved in modern astrology: the sextile is often described as opportunity, the door that is open but must be walked through, in contrast to the trine's automatic gift. The sextile is also the aspect of the second decan of the natural sequence, the supportive relationship that arises between every planet and its near neighbours.

Meaning and dynamics

A sextile in your natal chart describes two principles that work well together when you choose to engage them. Sun sextile Mercury, when it occurs, gives a natural alignment between identity and articulation, between will and word. Moon sextile Venus produces emotional warmth that finds easy expression in beauty and care. Mars sextile Jupiter gives optimistic action and the natural ability to take risks that pay off. Sextiles to the Ascendant and Midheaven describe supportive currents in self-presentation and vocation.

The shadow of the sextile is its conditionality: if you do not reach for the gift, the gift does not arrive. A person with many sextiles may have natural opportunities that pass them by because they do not act on them. Sextiles also tend to fade into the background in a chart full of more dramatic squares and oppositions, so part of working with them is consciously remembering that they are there. The orb of a sextile is generally tighter than that of a trine or square, so partile sextiles within 1 to 2 degrees are noticeably stronger than wide ones. The fire-air sextiles tend to express through ideas and movement; the earth-water sextiles tend to express through form and feeling.

In practice

Transit sextiles produce moments of opportunity that ask to be taken. Transiting Jupiter sextile natal Sun, occurring approximately every two to three years, traditionally marks a season in which an offered chance can be accepted to expand. Transiting Saturn sextile natal Sun marks a phase in which committed work can be done quietly and successfully. The waxing sextile and waning sextile of any planetary cycle are productive supportive phases between the more dramatic conjunction, square, and opposition phases.

In synastry, sextiles between two charts produce relationships with natural friendship and easy cooperation. Your Sun sextile your partner's Moon produces a comfortable, mutually supportive bond; your Mercury sextile their Mercury produces good communication. Composite sextiles describe the supportive structure of the relationship itself, the areas where the partnership flows when both partners stay engaged. Sextiles to outer planets, particularly Uranus sextile a personal planet, can describe a creative latency that responds well to direct engagement. Use your natal chart to find your own sextiles, and the daily horoscope for current ones.

Symbolic depth

In the cyclical view of astrology, the sextiles mark the early action and late integration phases of any planetary cycle. The waxing sextile, after the conjunction, is the phase of first expression of the new cycle; the waning sextile, after the opposition, is the phase of skilful refinement. The Saturn-Pluto cycle and other long cycles use these sextile phases as periods of constructive work between the more dramatic square and opposition phases. The sextile is therefore the aspect of cooperative work, of the gift that comes through engagement.

Symbolically the sextile is the hexagon, the natural geometry of the honeycomb, the snowflake, and many crystalline structures. In sacred geometry, the hexagon is the figure of efficient cooperation, the most efficient packing of equal cells. Jung's observation that the unconscious tends to produce mandalas with hexagonal or six-fold structures in moments of integration speaks to the sextile's harmonising function. In the tarot, the principle of the sextile is reflected in the supporting cards of the minor arcana, the Pages, Knights, and Queens that bring opportunity to those who engage with them. Working with sextiles means accepting that some gifts require a hand outstretched. Continue through the glossary.

Also known as

• Hexagon (Greek)
• 60-degree aspect
• Soft aspect
• Opportunity aspect
• Sextil (German)