11/5/00

Someone wrote and asked me what a kite is; i'll answer it here in case anyone else is wondering.

A kite is a geometrical aspect pattern formed with a grand trine (three inter-locking trines forming one triangle, like 2 Aries, 5 Leo, and 4 Sag) plus one planet opposite one of the grand trine members which means that it is also sextile the other two parties (like 3 Aquarius). If you connect the dots, it looks like a kite. So it's a grand trine that's really going somewhere; it has a direction indicated by the fourth placement which motivates the potential stagnation of the grand trine.

Grand trines are of course really great, but they do require a fourth placement to truly manifest their power. By themselves, they tend to be lazy. If someone has a grand trine without another placement forming a kite, then transits, solar returns, or progressions could temporarily supply that fourth leg. The other way to form a kite of a grand trine is with conscious intention (this is one of my more unique ideas). In the above example, the fire trine person could look at their chart and find where 3-4 Gemini is (by house), 3-4 Libra is, or 3-4 Aquarius is. Then by consciously supplying any one of those energies, they are forging a kite out of the grand trine, viola!

In case anyone was also wondering what a grand sextile is: It's a string of four placements all sextile to the last placement (for ex., 10 Cancer, 13 Virgo, 12 Scorpio, 14 Capricorn). So there's one opposition, and two trines, and three sextiles within the whole pattern. A grand sextile is another magical planetary geometry, and the same ideas as above can be applied to completing a potential grand sextile. Having only three of the placements doesn't seem like much unless the fourth placement is somehow filled in.

Aloha,

Moses

11/6/00

Someone wrote and asked me about yods, which is a really fascinating question. The Magi Society, for example, loves them, along with many others. They say that yods are among the really magical planetary geometries, along with grand trines, kites, grand sextiles, and golden rectangles (a rectangle formed of sextiles and trines where the long sides are twice as long as the short; there's also two oppositions). And i agree, that yod's seem similar to grand trines in that they are positive and magical, but they still only have three points and it takes a fourth to really balance and direct it (i take my cue from Rudhyar there). Yods are fascinating to me b/c they are made up of two quincunxes and a sextile, and quincunxes are generally hard aspects. Yet somehow yods are magical, often called The Finger of God. I'm still trying to reconcile that. I think it's just the way it is.

My take on quincunxes is that they are pretty hard. They are hard because they symbolize major psychological adjustments or changes that must take place within us (in a natal chart), but which our habitual nature very much resists. They are deceptive b/c you do not feel the constant tension of a quincunx, unlike a square, yet they indicate very important and difficult changes that must take place within us. So a quincunx can sneak up on you better than a square can, sometimes blind-siding you.

When planets are in a yod, i would still analyze a potentially difficult quincunx within the yod, but know that there is probably more grace and fate to resolve the issue b/c of the yod pattern. For example, someone sent me an example of a yod that includes a Moon-Pluto quincunx, which is pretty juicy. In addition to saying that the yod pattern is pretty special, i'd also want to look at that Moon-Pluto adjustment on its own terms as a difficult, transformational aspect.

Another question was, what does it mean to have three yods? It's like this: when someone has a chart more full of yods, grand trines, kites, grand sextiles, and golden rectangles, they have a basically 'easy' energy, although yods can also show more dramatic spiritual lesson-learning. Such a person has a lot of grace, inner peace, and magic in their life, but not a lot of motivation or tendency to really accomplish a lot in the physical. When someone has more T-Squares and Grand Crosses, they are basically manifesters. They are internally in some stress, but that motivates them to do and accomplish a lot; such a person is more high-strung, but is also predisposed to be a powerful presence in the physical world. Of course, a mixture of both would lend both qualities. Also, the kite probably manifests energy in the physical outwardly more than the others because the grand trine is given a direction with a kite. And you could do the same basic analysis with aspects: trines and sextiles being the first type of person, and squares and oppositions being the other; conjunctions can go either way, depending on the planets involved.

The Magi Society, interestingly, says that T-Squares and such are swell for an individual, because that gives more power, etc. to an individual, but bad for electional astrology. They say for an individual, the more aspects the merrier.

A really cool thing to do with a yod is to look to the point that completes it, which is the point opposite the far planet, at the midpoint of the sextile-base. This is Rudhyar's stuff. Having a planet at such a place really balances and matures the yod, otherwise energy easily and lazily can just keep flowing towards the top of the yod without becoming really complete. This fourth point sort of resolves the triangle and grounds it. So a yod that also includes this fourth point is much more balanced and powerful. If you don't have a planet at this place, look at the sign and house of where it would be, and you can consciously supply this energy by filling in that sign-house combo. That's my stuff.

And the question of Magi's take on quincunxes is, i agree, a bit confusing. It seems like they consider quincunxes as positive aspects, except when Saturn makes a quincunx. But if Saturn is in a yod, i think it would be positive to them.


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