Compatibility · sign against sign
Every pairing, and who says so
70 of 78 pairings are covered by the modern voices in this corpus. Not one is attested by a source older than 1929, because the classical texts do not do this at all.
They are all following the same rule
Sort the pairings by the angle between the two signs rather than by the signs themselves, and the published verdicts stop looking like judgments and start looking like a lookup table.
| separation | high | low | other | unanimous? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Semisextile 30° | 0 | 12 | — | yes |
| Sextile 60° | 12 | 0 | — | yes |
| Square 90° | 0 | 12 | — | yes |
| Trine 120° | 12 | 0 | — | yes |
| Quincunx 150° | 0 | 12 | — | yes |
| Opposition 180° | 5 | 0 | 1 | no |
No exceptions
Every sextile and every trine is rated high by every source that rates it. Every semisextile, square and quincunx is rated low. The only angle that varies at all is the opposition, and it varies between “high” and “mixed” rather than crossing to the other side.
So the whole genre is one rule with adjectives written over it. The rule is real and it is old — it is Ptolemy’s aspect doctrine, about the angles between planets in two actual charts. What is modern is pointing it at two birthdays, which is a thing no classical source ever does.
The grid
Read across and down. Each cell is the best-attested verdict, with the number of independent modern voices behind it.
| Sign | Ari | Tau | Gem | Can | Leo | Vir | Lib | Sco | Sag | Cap | Aqu | Pis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aries | high1 | low1 | high4 | low4 | high7 | low1 | high4 | low1 | high7 | low2 | high3 | low2 |
| Taurus | low1 | — | low2 | high4 | low2 | high3 | low2 | high2 | low4 | high3 | low2 | high4 |
| Gemini | high4 | low2 | — | low3 | high5 | low2 | high3 | low2 | high3 | low3 | high5 | low2 |
| Cancer | low4 | high4 | low3 | high1 | low3 | high4 | low4 | high5 | low5 | mixed4 | low4 | high7 |
| Leo | high7 | low2 | high5 | low3 | — | low1 | high5 | low3 | high6 | low2 | high3 | low2 |
| Virgo | low1 | high3 | low2 | high4 | low1 | — | low1 | high3 | low3 | high4 | low3 | high3 |
| Libra | high4 | low2 | high3 | low4 | high5 | low1 | — | low2 | high2 | low1 | high3 | low2 |
| Scorpio | low1 | high2 | low2 | high5 | low3 | high3 | low2 | — | low4 | high3 | low3 | high6 |
| Sagittarius | high7 | low4 | high3 | low5 | high6 | low3 | high2 | low4 | high1 | low4 | high4 | low4 |
| Capricorn | low2 | high3 | low3 | mixed4 | low2 | high4 | low1 | high3 | low4 | — | low3 | high5 |
| Aquarius | high3 | low2 | high5 | low4 | high3 | low3 | high3 | low3 | high4 | low3 | — | low3 |
| Pisces | low2 | high4 | low2 | high7 | low2 | high3 | low2 | high6 | low4 | high5 | low3 | high2 |
Where the modern sources disagree with each other
4 pairings carry more than one verdict. Every one of them is an opposition or close to it, which is the one angle the rule above does not fully settle.
- Taurus · Scorpio — high (2) against mixed (1)opposition · 180° apart — facing across the wheel · Horoscope.com editorial staff · ZodiacSign.com
- Gemini · Sagittarius — high (3) against moderate (2)opposition · 180° apart — facing across the wheel · ZodiacSign.com · The AstroTwins (Astrostyle) · Emma.ca editors
- Cancer · Capricorn — mixed (4) against high (2)opposition · 180° apart — facing across the wheel · The AstroTwins (Astrostyle) · Horoscope.com editorial staff · PureWow editorial staff · Jaime McLeod, Farmers' Almanac
- Libra · Sagittarius — high (2) against moderate (2)sextile · 60° apart — the classical harmonious angle · The AstroTwins (Astrostyle) · ZodiacSign.com
A score computed from the traits instead, and where it disagrees with all of this →