What does a Square Mean in my Astrological Chart?

Sometimes we are our own worst enemy. A square in your astrological chart reflects this tendency to oppose yourself, and to sometimes oppose your best interests. Yet within a square there is more free will than in an opposition aspect. But still we ask ourselves: why would I sabotage myself or why am I often of two minds on a subject? Why do I tear myself up over decisions because a part of me thinks or feels one way, and a part of me thinks or feels another way?


A square is an internal opposition. Although it’s slightly easier than an opposition aspect because it originates from within, rather than outside, it’s still a hard one. Psychologists would refer to this as a complex—an internal wound that isn’t rational, but reflects an internal division.

The good news is that as we bring awareness to the meaning of the planets on each end of the “square” aspect, we realize that although the planets are “squaring off” to each other, we can mediate between them. The ego’s organizing power, as represented by the Sun, can give each of these internal squared off planets, like people, a chance to voice its opinion, and to express itself. Then there can be the possibility of mediation instead of self-sabotage. Sometimes there can be a middle road taken, and sometimes, one has to honor one side for the moment, promising that the other side will soon have its needs met.

In evolutionary astrology, we also see this happening when the planet that rules the South Node also is square to itself in the chart. For example, if the South Node is in Scorpio, and it squares Pluto, then you may have the tendency to be your own worst enemy at times. You do the thing you know you should not do…or you do it maybe “just a little.”

Squares to the planets are especially important if it is a square to your Sun or Moon. This changes the quality of your basic “identity ego basis” which is held by the Sun, or it effects and alters the nature of your emotional lunar Moon. Squares to the Sun and Moon however fuel and motivate us---and it is out of this tension of the square that we become motivated to achieve, to heal, and to grow to be all we can be.


Most famous people would not be famous if they didn’t have the tension of at least one square in their chart. Most of us have several squares; and the more squares we have, the deeper the motivation. The famous doctor, Albert Schweitzer was one of these people with squares, with motivation and energy to achieve. So it is comforting to know that when we see the nature of the wound, the square, then we are in a position to listen to the conflicting needs expressed, and to act to mediate and heal. Not so bad after all! And all that energy that is generated by the tension—if you use it well, it will serve you and become an integral part of who you are.
Elizabeth Spring © www.elizabethspring.com