What this aspect is
A hundred and twenty degrees, a third of the circle. The planets stand in the same element and act by a similar logic, so they support each other at no cost. The orb is wide: up to 12 degrees for the Sun, 8 for the Moon, 5 between the other bodies.
In the natal chart
A trine is what a person can do from the start and therefore does not count as a skill. Its downside is that what comes easily rarely gets developed: a strong side stays for years at the level where it began. In consultation the trines usually have to be pointed out, unlike the difficult aspects: nobody asks about them.
In transits
A transiting trine gives a background on which matters in the theme of the two planets go more smoothly, which is exactly why it is easy to miss. The practical value of a trine from a slow planet is that it holds for months: long undertakings make sense under it, not one-day ones.
Common reading mistakes
The trine gets filed under strengths and left there. In reality what is easy is seldom developed, and for years the trine keeps working at the same level. The second mistake is expecting events from it: a trine gives a background and availability, not a push, which is why it shows up in a biography less clearly than a square.
Major aspects
Orb by body
- Sun 12°
- Moon 8°
- Mercury 5°
- Venus 5°
- Mars 5°
- Jupiter 5°
- Saturn 5°
- Uranus 5°
- Neptune 5°
- Pluto 5°
The orb of a pair is the smaller of the two numbers. A Sun conjunct Pluto counts up to 5 degrees, because that is Pluto's figure, even though the Sun's is 12.