Astrology
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A Conjunction In Astrology Tells You How 2 Planets Blend Their Energies

It can be smooth sailing or bring the pressure.

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The study of astrology examines the planetary influences on your life as an individual, society and earthly happenings, and how people relate to each other. If you’ve compared birth charts with your besties or — admit it, every potential love interest ever — you’ve likely heard of aspects, which in short detail how the planets are interacting with each other. One of the main aspects astrologers look at is called a conjunction, which on a surface level often gets an immediate thumbs-up as a “good” aspect (especially when you’re prematurely stalking your relationship compatibility) because this means the planets in question are in the same sign. But before you get too excited to see two planets chilling side by side, you’ll want to familiarize yourself with what this aspect actually entails. So, what is a conjunction in astrology? Is this a good thing?

First, there are a few places all aspects can be found in astrology to help you understand WTF is going on. There are unique aspects within a person’s natal chart, which explain you, your personality, and your fate, but there are also various aspects formed in the sky on the daily, which is where horoscopes come from. And of course, there are the aspects happening between two people when you compare charts for compatibility. A conjunction means something different when looked at through each of these lenses, so Elite Daily got the deets from professional astrologers below.

What Are Aspects In Astrology?

According to professional astrologer Dalanah of the Moon Matters podcast, there are really four main parts of astrology. You have your zodiac signs, planets, houses, and then aspects. Technically speaking, aspects are those lines and angles formed between planets, which provide key details to refine astrology even further. They tell you how the planets vibe together and how easily they work with each other’s energies. “You can think of them as conversations between two planets or placements,” Dalanah tells Elite Daily. “Depending on the type of aspect that we’re looking at or analyzing, we can see different relationships or attitudes occurring between the placements that are involved ... I like to say that aspects have all the tea.”

The five major aspects astrologers look at are conjunctions, trines, sextiles, oppositions, and squares. Dalanah breaks these aspects into two categories: harmonic and dynamic. “Harmonic [aspects] are the ones that are flowy, those are trines and sextiles,” she explains. “The dynamic aspects, which are squares and oppositions, are the ones that bring action.” Neither is necessarily good or bad, she notes, but harmonic aspects are a little easier to deal with because the planets are getting along in a happy conversation. “Actually having too many harmonic aspects in a chart can make your life a little too easy, a little too charmed,” she says, “and then you never learn any lessons.” Dynamic aspects cause more friction, but they encourage growth.

OK, but what about conjunctions? If that means planets are in the same sign, doesn’t that automatically make it a harmonic aspect? Not exactly. “I like to say conjunctions are neither harmonic or dynamic,” Dalanah explains. “It depends on what planets are involved.” Astrologers divide planets into two categories: benefic and malefic. Again, this doesn’t mean good or bad, but more so that benefic planets bring a softer, less challenging energy than malefics. Basically, a conjunction between two benefics, two malefics, or one of each will all feel different.

What Is A Conjunction In Astrology?

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A conjunction is formed when planets meet up in the same sign — to the exact degree, if you’re being precise. “A conjunction means that two planets are right on top of each other,” Dalanah offers. “The energy is very blended and it’s very strong because you can think of it like two people sitting right next to each other having a conversation.”

Again, that conversation isn’t always an easy one as it depends on who is doing to talking. You need to understand the themes of the planets involved in order to understand the meshing of their energies in a conjunction. For example, when you have two benefic planets like Jupiter (ruling expansion and success) and the moon (ruling emotions) in a conjunction, there’s a lot of nice, flowy goodness happening. But if you have a malefic like Mars (all about action) joining the chat with Mercury (about communication), “you could be really good at standing up for yourself that day or you could be irritated and snippy,” Dalanah explains. “The aspects are just the energy, how you use it is still situational to your life.”

Conjunctions Happening In The Sky

Remember that detail about where horoscopes come from? That’s basically astrologers analyzing the aspects between planets in real time or in the coming weeks. “That will explain what events are going on globally or culturally,” Alice Bell, British Vogue astrologer and host of Astrology and You podcast, tells Elite Daily. Or you can see how your mood might be for the day by looking at the aspects the moon (ruling emotions) is making to other planets.

These types of conjunctions affect everyone as whole with the same base energy of the planets and sign involved. For example, looking at the fast-moving inner planets, like the moon, will tell you what’s going on today as a collective. But aspects with bigger, slower moving outer planets, like Saturn, will signify some longer-term shifts around the world. “With aspects it’s really interesting because you can look back in history and see when these same aspects have been repeated between planets and similar history has happened,” Bell notes, pointing out the conjunction between Saturn and Pluto that happened at the beginning of lockdown in January 2020. “Both [Saturn and Pluto] are so difficult and represent a lot of transformation and death and restriction, and you’re putting that together [in a conjunction] ... That sets off a year to couple-year period of things being a bit more difficult,” she continues. Astrologers also point to the three Jupiter-Pluto conjunctions through the rest of 2020 as a telltale of the hardships that year.

Looking back through history, as Bell mentions, these same themes seem to come back around when certain planets meet up in a conjunction. For example, the 1910s saw major shifts and world events similar to that of 2020 — all occurring in times of conjunctions between Saturn (restriction, structure, time), Pluto (karma, death, transformation) and Jupiter (global connections, expander). Some astrologers note the 1915 Saturn-Pluto conjunction as a catalyst of tension leading up to the first World War, and the 1918 Jupiter-Pluto conjunction (a conjunction many link to pandemics in general) as the spark of the Spanish Flu.

Of course, you can have some really nice conjunctions happening, too. It’s all a matter of merging those energies.

Conjunctions In A Natal Chart

When you look at your personal birth chart, you might have more than one planet in a certain sign, which means you have conjunctions happening in your natal chart. Say you have your sun and your moon conjunct in the sign of Cancer (your sun and moon are in Cancer). “A conjunction is basically the meanings of each planet are blended,” Bell tells Elite Daily, “so sometimes it’s difficult to see what in your personality is from this planet and then what’s from [the other] planet.” Taking the Cancer example, you would notice those Cancer traits, but it’s harder to pin down whether they’re coming from your sun or your moon. What’s more is that you could have three or more planets in one sign, which is what’s called a stellium. “A stellium is kind of like a one-off aspect, it’s when all those energies of all the planets are jumbled together,” Bell explains — like a super, mega conjunction.

Of course, it then depends on which planets you have together. For example, if you have your Venus (love and beauty) conjunct your Jupiter (expansion), “that’s the most amazing conjunction you can have because those are both such positive, growth-oriented, optimistic-type planets,” Bell offers. On the flip side, you could have something like malefic Mars and Saturn conjunct. “That’s going to be a really rough conjunction to have in your chart where it’s like you’re constantly really critical of yourself,” she continues. Or maybe you have your Saturn conjunct your moon, so the energy of constriction is living with the energy of emotion. That could look like trouble navigating, expressing, or identifying your emotions. However, remember that just because it’s not an easy aspect, doesn’t mean it’s bad. It’s an opportunity for learning and growing.

Conjunctions In Synastry

Synastry, or the comparison of two charts, is most often looked at to compare romantic compatibility (but is also a great tool for friends, family, bosses, and coworkers). Feeling bummed that your crush has a certifiably incompatible Venus placement to yours? There is still hope — thanks to aspects. “Aspects are extremely crucial to synastry, and that’s because they hold all those details that can make something seem really good,” Dalanah tells Elite Daily. These are the details that can override a seemingly incompatible chart matchup. “When we look at aspects in synastry, we’re really looking at the conversations that my planets and placements are having with your planets and placements,” she explains. Just because the signs aren’t an ideal matchup doesn’t mean they aren’t having harmonious, easy “conversations.”

With conjunctions, remember it can really go any way as far as the aspect being helpful, easy, or a point of tension. Say you have a conjunction between your Venus and their Moon (or vice versa). According to Dalanah, this would be “nice and flowy.” The rapport would be really good here. “Our emotions flow together and we’re really able to talk about those things, and you would feel comfortable,” she explains. A conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn between two people’s charts, on the other hand, would be a bit more uncomfortable — as things are where Saturn is involved. “It can mean you both have very different ways of operating,” Dalanah offers. Jupiter wants to expand while Saturn needs to constrict. “So you have one person’s sense of expansion being or trying to be restricted by the other person,” Dalanah explains, though this isn’t always a bad thing, depending on the rest of both charts.

Conjunctions are those weird aspects that you can’t really pin down unless you know — and are familiar with — the planets involved. They can be really smooth-sailing aspects or bring on the pressure, but the key takeaway is that neither is bad or good. You can be pushed to grow from challenging aspects, or enjoy a chill flow of energy.

Experts:

Dalanah, professional astrologer and host of Moon Matters astrology podcast

Alice Bell, British Vogue astrologer and host of Astrology and You Podcast