Aversion Calculator — Signs That Cannot See Each Other

What aversion means

Aversion, or aphairesis, is a Latin-Greek word for a turning away. In the Hellenistic system, planets see each other through rays. A ray only fires when the degrees line up inside an orb. If two signs sit square or opposite but the degrees do not meet, the ray never fires.

That pair is in aversion. The signs say conflict, but the planets refuse to look at one another. The theme is a kind of blind spot. Two parts of the chart pull against each other without ever speaking directly.

Aversion is not the same as a hard aspect. A square by degree is tension you can see. Aversion is tension you do not see, and it often shows up as an excuse or a gap in the story. You feel the friction without naming the source.

How we detect an aversion

Two tests, run on every pair of bodies. First, the sign relation. We take the two signs, count the whole-sign distance between them, and check if the relation is a square or an opposition. That is the hard-ray test on paper.

Second, the ray test. We look at the chart's own aspect list, which is built from Ptolemaic orbs. If the pair already forms a square or opposition by degree, there is a ray. We skip that pair. If the pair sits outside every orb, there is no ray. That is an aversion.

Only signs four or seven apart can produce an aversion here. Semisextiles and quincunxes never do, because those relations are not rays in the classical model at all. The word aversion is reserved for hard-by-sign relationships that fail to launch.

What the report returns

Every aversion pair in the chart, listed with these fields:

• The two bodies, their glyphs and their signs.
• The sign relation: square or opposition.
• Their exact degree separation along the ecliptic.
• The count of aversion pairs across the whole chart.

A worked example: five averse pairs

Take the London chart at 2000-01-01 17:30 UT, the one our probe measures. The Ascendant sits at 28.8 degrees in Cancer, and the Midheaven is at 3.3 degrees in Aries. That night chart holds five aversions, all of them sign-squares that miss their orbs.

First pair: Sun in Capricorn against Jupiter in Aries. Those signs square each other. The degrees, however, are too far apart for an exact square. The Sun and Jupiter simply do not see one another.

Second and third: Moon in Scorpio against Mars in Aquarius, and Moon in Scorpio against Neptune in Aquarius. Scorpio and Aquarius are two signs in hard relation. Both pairs miss the ray.

Fourth and fifth: Mars in Aquarius against Saturn in Taurus, and Saturn in Taurus against Neptune in Aquarius. Aquarius squares Taurus, and Saturn and Neptune sit just wide of their orb. The chart's fire-and-water square never fires at all.

Reading an aversion in real life

Start with the two planets. Their names give the theme. Sun-in-Capricorn is the will expressed through structure. Jupiter-in-Aries is growth through initiative. Aversion says these two forces live side by side but never trade a note.

Then note the signs. The sign-level square is a real friction. Cardinal and cardinal, or fixed and fixed, will always pull against each other on paper. Aversion just means the pull never surfaces cleanly.

Finally, look at the lords. Whichever planet rules the two signs has a way in. That ruler is the messenger. If it is well placed, the two sides can be introduced. If it is weak, the blind spot stays blind.

Aversion shows up in the story you do not tell. Two needs sit in the same life, and neither one gets a word in edgewise. The classical reading is patient here. It says the pair is only averted for now. A transit to either planet, or to the ruler of either sign, can turn the averse square back into an exact one and force the conversation.

What this tool does not claim

Aversion is a symbolic rule from a very old tradition, not a measured physical effect. There is no telescope that sees a ray fail to fire. What this tool does is honest arithmetic on sign positions and orbs.

We use the site-wide orb list. Different authors set different orbs, so a pair that reads as averse here may look like a wide square elsewhere. The count depends on the orbs you accept.

We only report square and opposition aversions. Some older authors use the term more loosely for any hard-by-sign relationship, or add positional squares that skip signs. We stick to the Ptolemaic core.

Because aversion is measured on the sign, not on the degree, it can be a little surprising at first. Two planets may look close in the wheel yet sit in signs that promise a hard ray. If the aspect list does not fire, the pair still belongs here.

Our method in one line

Positions come from sub-arcsecond astronomy (VSOP87/ELP via astronomy-engine), read through Porphyry quadrant houses (whole-sign available on every chart). Aversions are computed on the whole-sign frame and cross-checked against the site-wide aspect list. Every worked-example figure is reproduced by an automated probe. Reviewed by Dr. Amara Osei, Astronomy Reviewer.