0° · neutral · 1st harmonic
fusion · intensity · focus · blending · amplification
The aspect
A conjunction occurs when two planets occupy the same degree, and it is the most powerful aspect in astrology because the two bodies stop operating separately. They fuse. Whatever they each govern becomes a single function that cannot easily be told apart, which is why conjunctions are experienced as personality rather than as a dynamic between two parts of a person.
Its nature depends entirely on which planets are involved. Venus conjunct Jupiter is expansive and fortunate; Mars conjunct Saturn is drive meeting restriction, which produces either exceptional discipline or chronic frustration depending on how it has been handled. The aspect itself is neutral; it simply amplifies and combines.
The characteristic difficulty is blindness. Because the two planets are inseparable, a person rarely experiences the conjunction as anything unusual: it is simply how things are. Someone with Mercury conjunct Pluto does not think of themselves as having an intense mind, because they have never had any other kind. Conjunctions are frequently the last thing anyone recognises in their own chart and the first thing others notice.
A conjunction involving the Sun is a special case, traditionally called combustion when a planet is very close to it. The planet's function is absorbed into the identity and can be difficult to exercise independently.
How it feels
A conjunction does not feel like a tension between two things, which is why it is easy to miss. It feels like a single trait, held with total conviction and rarely questioned. People generally discover their conjunctions by being told about them, and often resist the description at first because the aspect describes something so close it has never been visible as a separate feature.
Working with it
The useful work with a conjunction is separation: learning to tell which planet is speaking. Someone with Venus conjunct Neptune can ask, in a given moment, whether this is genuine attraction or idealisation, and the question alone creates a gap that did not exist before. You are not trying to break the fusion, which is not possible. You are trying to become able to name its parts.