When I first started out learning astrology, I was always told the squares were conflict, the sextile was a learning aspect, the trine was harmonious, and the opposition was at odds with one another. One thing I never learned was why. Why was a square a conflicting aspect? Why was the opposition always bad? Why is the sextile a learning aspect? I think the aspects are best looked at in relation to each other. Just like how synthesis tells us the entire story of the chart, the aspects are best understood when taking all of them into account.
Which is why I call the sextile aspect the bridge between worlds. Unlike the opposition, the sextile shows us how we can bridge the gap between elements and what we can learn from trying to understand one another. The elements that are opposite one another, such as earth and water, are also always sextile one another. They show us what we have to gain by trying to understand an element that is so different from our own.
For example, dreamy Pisces needs to learn to keep a planner (guilty), and disciplined Capricorn needs to learn to loosen up a little bit (also guilty). By carrying both of these things in us at once, we are reminded that we are multifaceted and still have much to learn about ourselves and the world around us.
By allowing Pisces to see the benefits of being more practical from its sextile to Capricorn, it can better understand and synthesize with its opposite sign, Virgo. Similarly, when Capricorn sees how much of the world there is and leans into being more easygoing from its sextile to Pisces, it can better understand and relate to its opposite sign, Cancer.
The same goes for the elements of air and fire. Aries can learn a lot about others from its sextile to Gemini and Aquarius, and Libra can learn a lot from Leo and Sagittarius. The sextile shows us how to bridge that gap.
Or, you could just cut it down to basics and say that air fuels fire. Water exists deep within the ground. It all works together, and that is how astrological synthesis is formed.
The sextile provides understanding in ways that the opposition, or polarity of the signs, planets, and elements, cannot. But it also teaches us a very important part of the aspect story: through strife there can be love. Through misunderstandings, there is hope. There is always a workaround.Our problems may always plague us, but sometimes there is an unlikely solution.
If this article changed your perspective or gave you a little bit of hope, please share so it could help someone else. Thanks for reading. :)
Best wishes!
Abby
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