The Yod
Think of a sense, hard to explain, that you are here to do something particular, even if you are not sure what. You keep circling it, adjusting, trying again. That is the feeling astrologers associate with a yod: a long finger pointing at one part of your chart.
A yod is three planets: two in a friendly sextile, and a third far across the chart, 150 degrees from each of them. Drawn on the wheel, it is a long, narrow triangle.
Yod. Two planets in sextile, both quincunx a third. The apex planet carries a sense of special task that asks for constant adjustment.
How to spot it
Look for a sextile (a short blue line) and a planet far across the chart, roughly opposite the sextile's midpoint. On this site's chart wheels the quincunx lines are not drawn, so check the distances by hand: about 150 degrees from each base planet to the apex, with a small orb.
The finger of God
Here is where the name comes from. Yod is a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, written as a small pointing stroke, and the pattern has been called the finger of God or the finger of fate since it was popularised in the twentieth century. The name sounds grand. Many astrologers prefer a humbler reading: a pattern of adjustment, where life keeps nudging you toward one particular task.
- Planets
- 3
- Built from
- 1 sextile, 2 quincunxs
- Usually in
- Mixed signs
Is there a pattern in your chart?
Grand trines, T-squares, stelliums: see which shapes your planets make.
