Astrology and relationships

We can look at astrology and relationships using two main techniques. These are ‘synastry’ and ‘composite charts’. In this post, I’m going to take a brief look at synastry.

Synastry looks at how two peoples’ horoscopes interact. In particular, how the planets in one person’s horoscope connects (by aspect) with planets in the other person’s horoscope. Which planets are connecting? What sort of aspect are they connecting by? How might these interactions then manifest in the relationship?

For instance, Mars in Person A’s horoscope (or ‘chart’) might be at the same zodiac degree as Venus in Person B’s chart. Or Saturn in Person B’s chart aspects Person A’s Sun. And so on.

The planets that connect (by aspect) between the two charts tell us about the flavour of the relationship. Is it harmonious? Conflicted? A bit of both?

The kind of aspect will also indicate the nature of the planetary connections. ‘Soft’ aspects such as the sextile (about 60°) and trine (about 120°), indicate a harmonious planetary combination. ‘Hard’ aspects such as the conjunction (about 0°), square (about 90°) or opposition (about 180°) indicate forceful or ‘loud’ planetary connections. This might indicate tension, conflict and challenges between the two people.

So how does this synastry stuff play-out in real life?

There’s the context of romantic relationships. Let’s say you’ve just met someone, and there’s an immediate attraction; a ‘chemistry’. In such cases, it’s often going to be Venus and/or Mars in your horoscope connecting by hard aspect to the Venus and/or Mars in other person’s horoscope.

Let’s demonstrate this with an example: Barack and Michelle Obama.

Below on the inner circle is Barack Obama’s horoscope. He was born August 4th, 1961, at Honolulu, Hawaii, at 7:24pm according to astrodatabank.com. This data is from his verified Birth Certificate.

On the outer circle below are Michelle Obama’s planetary positions. She was born January 17th, 1964, in Chicago, Illinois. We don’t know her birth time. So here, I’ve set a noon birth time. This will give reasonably accurate planetary positions, except for the Moon. The Moon moves quickly, so an accurate birth time would be needed to give a useful Moon position.

I’m not going to cover all the synastry between these two people. Otherwise there would be just too many arrows and lines! But I’ll elaborate on a few key connections, so that you’ll have a better understanding about astrology and relationships, and particularly synastry.

Firstly, the Venus-Mars connection. Barack’s Venus is at 1°47′ Cancer. Michelle’s Mars is at 3°31 Aquarius. The aspect between these two (shown by the blue arrows) is a quincunx (or ‘inconjunct’), an aspect of about 150°. This is not one of the regular aspects (conjunction, sextile, square, trine, opposition). Instead it’s a minor or secondary aspect. Well, to me at least. Some astrologers would disagree.

It is nevertheless indicates a connection, a spark of romantic attraction between these two. A stronger bond is indicated between Barack’s Venus at 1°47′ Cancer and Michelle’s Venus at 00°46′ Pisces (red arrows, above). This is a trine aspect (about 120°), indicating harmony, and mutual understanding around Venus-related stuff. Like taste, values, love. Both are in water signs, indicating a common emotional (water) approach to this area of their lives.

Michelle’s Jupiter at 12°36 Aries is in trine aspect to Barack’s Sun at 12°32 Leo (purple arrows). Barack’s ego, sense of self (Sun) here receives encouragement, optimism and support (Jupiter) from Michelle.

But it is Barack’s Saturn 25°19 Capricorn that is conjunct Michelle’s Sun at 26°39 Capricorn (short orange arrows). This is quite different. Saturn is the regulator, and can seem restrictive. To Michelle’s Sun, it indicates Barack can appear to be the disciplinarian, or someone who ‘contains’ Michelle’s self-expression. At least from Michelle’s perspective.

One other aspect of note is the trine aspect between Michelle’s Mars at 3°31 Aquarius and Barack’s Moo at 3°21 Gemini. Michelle’s assertiveness (Mars) has a connection to Barack’s emotions (Moon) and vice versa. Positively, Michelle might ‘galvanise’ Barack to speak (Gemini) with passion and emotional force.

There are plenty of other connections between Barack and Michelle Obama. As I mentioned, I’ve only covered a few key signatures. Understanding synastry is a helpful part of astrology and relationships. And this covers not just ‘romantic’, but businesses, friendship and other kinds of relationship. Synastry gives a detailed picture of the energies involved, and how they might express. Becoming aware of these is a way to work towards better understanding interactions. And from that we might improve the quality of how we interact with someone else.

Astrology and relationships: summary

Relationships is a fascinating field of astrological study. And although I’ve only just scratched the surface, I hope you’ll see that it can be a valuable tool. Knowing the interplay of energies between two people can really assist to understand, and improve, the interactions. It can also explain, in part, why you like someone people and dislike others. And why with some people you feel ‘right at home’ from the moment you met them. Or the nature of your attraction to them.

Conversely, synastry can help us understand why some people we find instantly difficult and challenging. And it can illuminate a possible source of relationship conflict.