Aspect Patterns
How to read special aspect patterns — Grand Trine, Grand Cross, and more — and how HOSHIDOU displays them on your charts.
A special aspect pattern (aspect configuration) is a placement where three or more planets combine to form a single coherent geometric figure. These figures reveal structure and themes across the chart that you would miss by reading individual aspects one line at a time.
HOSHIDOU automatically detects aspect patterns from the natal chart and several other charts, listing them in a panel beside the wheel.
Where they appear
The aspect-pattern list appears on the following charts. When no pattern is detected, the list is hidden.
- Single Wheel (natal) - shown in the panel to the right of the chart.
- Derived single charts - supported on single-wheel charts such as progressed, solar return, lunar return, solar arc, and draconic.
- Composite chart - patterns are also detected on the relationship chart built from two people’s midpoints.
On progressed and transit charts the heading switches to “Aspect Patterns (Progressed)” or “Aspect Patterns (Transit)” so you always know which chart a figure belongs to.
Reading the list
Each entry in the list is made up of these parts:
- Pattern name - the name of the detected figure, such as “Grand Trine” or “T-Square”.
- Parenthetical qualifier - a short note in parentheses that characterizes the figure. A Grand Trine shows its shared element (fire, earth, air, water); a T-Square or Grand Cross shows its modality (cardinal, fixed, mutable); a Stellium shows the sign or house where the planets cluster (e.g. House 5).
- Strong - configurations that come through especially strongly — such as a Stellium of four or more planets — are tagged “Strong”.
- Member planets - the planets that form the figure, listed by glyph and name. In a T-Square, Yod, or Kite, the apex — where the tension or adjustment concentrates — is marked with ”*”.
Hover over (or tap) the pattern name to see a tooltip with its interpretation (reading). For figures with an apex, the tooltip footer also names the focal planet as “Apex: ___”. For the aspects themselves, see Aspects.
The six aspect patterns
HOSHIDOU detects the following six special aspect patterns.
| Pattern | Geometry | Keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Stellium | Three or more planets in one sign or house | concentration, emphasis |
| Grand Trine | An equilateral triangle of 120° trines | harmony, talent |
| T-Square | An opposition plus two squares to an apex | tension, drive |
| Grand Cross | Two oppositions crossing at right angles | fourfold tension, resilience |
| Yod | A sextile plus two quincunxes to a common planet | destiny, adjustment |
| Kite | A Grand Trine plus a fourth “tail” planet | outlet for talent |
Stellium
Three or more planets clustered in one sign or one house. The affairs of that sign or house draw an outsized share of the chart’s energy and attention — gifts and challenges alike concentrate there, and a cluster of four or more burns even brighter.
Grand Trine
Three planets linked by mutual 120° trines, forming an equilateral triangle — usually all in one element (fire, earth, air, water). That element’s gifts flow almost effortlessly. The ease is a blessing, but its very smoothness can tempt complacency.
T-Square
An opposition (180°) whose two ends both square (90°) a third planet — the apex. Tension funnels into that apex: it is the figure’s pressure point, and equally the engine that pushes the life forward.
Grand Cross
Two oppositions crossing at right angles, joined by four squares — a T-Square extended into a full cross, the most demanding figure. It carries strong tension pulling in four directions, but once mastered it grants exceptional stamina and resolve.
Yod
Two planets in a sextile (60°) base both reaching a common third planet by quincunx (150°). Known as the “Finger of God,” it lends the apex’s theme a fated quality — something the life keeps adjusting toward across the years.
Kite
A Grand Trine plus a fourth planet (the tail) that opposes one vertex and sextiles the other two. The triangle’s harmony gains a direction and an outlet, so talent that merely flowed can now crystallise into concrete action.
Overlapping figures (aggregation rule)
Aspect patterns can contain one another. HOSHIDOU tidies up the overlaps so the list stays readable.
- A T-Square contained in a Grand Cross is not shown. A Grand Cross is geometrically four overlapping T-Squares, so any T-Square whose planets fall entirely within the cross’s four is dropped as a duplicate. A T-Square that shares only part of a cross (for example one that pulls in an outside planet) survives as its own figure.
- A Kite is listed alongside its Grand Trine. A Kite embeds a Grand Trine, but the triangle’s harmony and the Kite’s sense of direction read differently, so both are shown on purpose.
Orbs and settings
Each figure is detected when its constituent aspects fall within their allowed orb. You can change which bodies are displayed and adjust orb values from Points & Aspects Settings. Changing these settings can change which patterns are detected.