Aspects
Sextile
Direct answer
Sextile is a 60-degree aspect that shows opportunity, cooperation, helpful exchange, and talents that grow when acted upon.
A Sextile is a useful opportunity that usually needs participation.
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At a glance
- In astrology
- The sextile is a major soft aspect and often links compatible elements such as fire with air or earth with water.
- Found in
- Aspects
- Related
- Birth Chart, Zodiac, Transit
A Sextile is a useful opportunity that usually needs participation.
A structural orientation; exact placements depend on the chart or technique being discussed.
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What sets Sextile apart
The sextile is the weakest of the four classical aspects, the one made by signs two apart, such as Aries and Gemini. Because it joins signs of the same polarity (fire with air, earth with water) it is read as friendly, but Ptolemy ranks it below the trine. In Whole Sign terms a planet is in sextile to anything in the Third or Eleventh House counted from it, which makes it an aspect of opening rather than of ease.
- Angle: 60 degrees, one sixth of the circle
- Signs apart: two, so each sign has two sextile signs
- House counts: the Third and Eleventh from a given house
- Usual orb: about 4 to 6 degrees in modern use
- Sign pairing: fire with air, earth with water
Often mistaken for something else: The trine is also friendly but joins signs of the same element at 120 degrees, so the two planets already speak one language. The sextile joins different elements that must meet in the middle.
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The sextile in the traditional sources
The sextile joins signs two apart, a sixth of the circle. Firmicus Maternus calls it the hexagon, and he gives the third house, which stands in sextile to the Ascendant, a weak aspect to the life. Abu Ma'shar rates it a half-friendship, and he counts it by whole signs, the third and the eleventh from the planet.
- Distance: 60 degrees, a sixth of the circle. Ptolemy counts it as two signs; Abu Ma'shar counts it by whole signs, the third and eleventh signs.
- Rating (Abu Ma'shar): half-friendship.
- Nature (Ptolemy): harmonious, because it joins signs of the same sex.
- Side (as Dykes records it): the third sign is the left, or sinister, aspect, and the eleventh sign is the right, or dexter.
- Origin in the Thema Mundi (Firmicus and Bonatti, as Dykes reports it): the domiciles of Venus and the luminaries.
Which signs are in sextile
By whole signs, with no orb to measure, each sign makes a sextile to the following:
- Aries: Aquarius and Gemini
- Taurus: Pisces and Cancer
- Gemini: Aries and Leo
- Cancer: Taurus and Virgo
- Leo: Gemini and Libra
- Virgo: Cancer and Scorpio
- Libra: Leo and Sagittarius
- Scorpio: Virgo and Capricorn
- Sagittarius: Libra and Aquarius
- Capricorn: Scorpio and Pisces
- Aquarius: Sagittarius and Aries
- Pisces: Capricorn and Taurus
Dorotheus does not name the sextile among the aspects he uses, working with the opposition, the quartile and the trine. Ptolemy gives it a place in the four aspects because it is a simple fraction, and counts it as harmonious with the trine because both join signs of the same sex.
The story behind Sextile
Traditional aspect doctrine treated the sextile as supportive, though usually less powerful than the trine.
The spiritual meaning of Sextile
Spiritually, Sextile asks which open door deserves a deliberate step.
Why Sextile matters
Sextile matters because it shows where two planets can help each other without the total ease of a trine.
Sextile in practice: an example
Mercury sextile Mars can bring decisive speech, quick learning, persuasive argument, or skill with strategy.
Where readings of Sextile go wrong
It is a mistake to wait for a sextile to do everything by itself. Its promise often opens only when used.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Aspects
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Related terms
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Common questions
What is a sextile?
Sextile is a 60-degree aspect that shows opportunity, cooperation, helpful exchange, and talents that grow when acted upon.
Where does a sextile come from?
Traditional aspect doctrine treated the sextile as supportive, though usually less powerful than the trine.
What does a sextile mean in astrology?
The sextile is a major soft aspect and often links compatible elements such as fire with air or earth with water.
What does a sextile look like in a birth chart?
Mercury sextile Mars can bring decisive speech, quick learning, persuasive argument, or skill with strategy.
What does a sextile mean spiritually?
Spiritually, Sextile asks which open door deserves a deliberate step.
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