Introduction
You are about to read an analysis, factor by factor, of the composite chart of yourself and
another person. The
Partner Horoscope
is constructed by first casting complete and accurate natal horoscopes for each of you
separately. These are then combined mathematically into a third horoscope, which
describes your relationship. Any kind of human relationship may be described by a
composite chart.
The text used in this chart describes the basic potentials indicated by the positions and
combinations of every planet in the composite horoscope. It is aimed primarily at personal
friendships, but much of the text is also suitable for determining how you would get along
with another person in a business relationship. Obviously you can ignore or modify the
comments that do not pertain to your type of relationship. For example, in a business
relationship you would disregard any remarks on sexual compatibility.
You may come across apparent contradictions in the analysis, when one planetary
combination reveals a particular aspect of the relationship, while another shows something
quite different. These are examples, not of astrology going wrong, but of inherent
contradictions in the relationship, which are likely to produce tension. Sometimes your
relationship will exhibit one set of traits, sometimes the other. One situation that frequently
arises in a love relationship is that some aspects indicate great mutual attraction and
compatibility while other aspects suggest great difficulty. In this case, what usually
happens is that although there is a great attraction between two people, for some reason
the relationship does not work out very smoothly.
It should be pointed out that there is almost never a perfect composite chart, no matter how
good the relationship. Even the best relationship has problems. Do not read the difficult
aspects in your
Partner Horoscope
report as signs that your relationship is doomed. These aspects simply indicate hurdles that
must and very often can be overcome to make the relationship happy and rewarding for
both of you. If you were to cast composite charts for all of your major relationships, you
would probably find certain characteristics running through all of them. These are the
problems that you as an individual have to work out personally through your relationships.
They do not mean that you cannot have relationships at all. The most successful
relationships are not those in which there are no problems, but those in which the problems
are overcome.
Do not read each entry in the text as if it were the total truth for your situation. Each
paragraph is written to give general indications and suggestions about how you might
deal with each influence. Your
Partner Horoscope
cannot be a substitute for your own judgement.
Reading your
Partner Horoscope
report should help you to recognize and learn to deal with any problems that arise
between you. However, if you are having serious problems with a relationship, we do not
recommend that you use this text as a substitute for a personal consultation with an
astrologer or other counselor. The descriptions are not designed to deal with extreme
cases.
This horoscope, entitled 'Partner Horoscope', is also available under the title of 'Astrotext
Partner'. Apart from the title, the two horoscopes are identical.
Enjoy your
Partner Horoscope.
Composite Sun
The house position of the Sun (along with that of the Moon) tells a great deal about the
basic thrust of the relationship, what it exists for, and the major issues it will revolve
around. The aspects to the Sun refer to the most important energy patterns in the
horoscope, the kinds of behavior that will be most important between you.
A badly placed Sun with difficult aspects can be an important factor in making a
relationship difficult or even unbearable. It indicates that the basic energies of the
relationship are not being handled well and that something is fundamentally wrong
between you. On the other hand, a well-placed and well-aspected Sun will help a
relationship survive even in difficult times.
In any chart the Sun provides the energy for whatever entity the chart represents. In a
composite chart it shows what kinds of energies each of you contributes. If the proper
expression of this energy is blocked, the relationship will seem inhibiting and repressive to
each person's free self-expression. It will be an effort to maintain the relationship, and you
will not feel at ease with each other. If the Sun is well placed in the chart, the relationship
will be experienced as free and spontaneous self-expression, requiring little effort. Of
course, other factors can create difficulties, even when the Sun is well placed, but a good
Sun in a composite is very desirable.
Sun in the Fifth House
Sun in the fifth house of the composite chart is one of the best positions for a sexual
relationship, because the fifth is the house of love affairs, among other things. It is also the
house of creativity, children, self-expression, amusement, and good times in general, as
well as of speculation and gambling. The Sun in the fifth house gives a strong emphasis to
any of these elements.
In a personal relationship, a composite fifth-house Sun implies that your relationship will
give you good opportunities for self-expression, for being yourself and enjoying it. You
will like each other and enjoy being together. This is not truly a position of partnership,
but rather of being yourself with others. For this reason, although this position is good for
love affairs, it is not so good for marriage or any partnership that requires a greater
feeling of oneness between you. The Sun in this house is not harmful to marriage and
partnership, but by itself it does not produce staying power for the long haul. But if other
positions make up for this lack, it can be quite good for marriage, especially since it gives
a strong concern for children.
This is a good position for friendship because it indicates a light-hearted relationship in
which you genuinely enjoy each other's company. Also, you will learn to be yourselves
with others and discover more about how you affect others.
In a relationship with this placement, you must give each other room to be what you are.
Fortunately a fifth-house Sun relationship usually has this capacity. If you do not give each
other sufficient room, you both may feel that the other is placing clamps on your self-
expression. Neither of you can remake the other, so do not try. In any case you must
learn to let each other be and still stay together.
Sun Trine Jupiter
Sun trine Jupiter in the composite chart gives your relationship a good start, and it will be a
favorable and positive experience for both of you. You will have whatever you feel you
really need in your life together. Even if you have nothing in a material sense, you will
believe that your life together is all that is necessary.
You will find that together you are able to express yourselves more adequately to the world
than you can as individuals. Your understanding of each other will constantly broaden,
giving you the wisdom and openness to deal creatively with any difficulties that arise in
your relationship. Communication between you will be open and free, and your
conversation will deal largely with matters that both of you believe in and consider
important. But even when you discuss important subjects, either together or with others,
there is no sense of weightiness or solemnity. You have a sense of cheerful optimism and a
feeling that together you can handle anything the world may throw at you. And the
chances are good that you can.
It is likely that you will travel together and perhaps go abroad or have connections with
foreign places and people. Even if you don't actually travel, you will certainly go places
together in your mind, exploring new ideas, new concepts, and new dimensions of living.
Sun Sextile Saturn
The sextile of composite Sun and Saturn gives a sober and rather restrained tone to your
relationship but at the same time makes it stable. Other relationships may be more
flamboyant and uninhibited, but with a Sun-Saturn sextile, yours will probably outlast them,
assuming there is a basic attraction between your personalities.
This relationship should give your life a sense of stability and positive structure, as well as
knowledge of where you stand with each other. If either of you is inclined to be impulsive
or to act rashly, this aspect indicates that you will have a positive restraining effect upon
each other. It will teach you a lot about yourselves and will have a great effect on the way
you think about things. But in this strength there is a possible danger. With this aspect you
can get so set in a rigid thought pattern that as a couple you do not grow at all. Don't
allow the structuring tendencies of Saturn to become rigid. If you can maintain some
degree of flexibility, this relationship should work out quite positively, even though it will be
comparatively quiet and restrained.
Composite Moon
The Moon, the natural complement to the Sun, represents the medium through which the
Sun's energy expresses itself. Whenever there is a manifestation of the Sun's energies, the
Moon's influence is also operative.
The Moon is the "planet" that most relates to emotions and feelings. Of course, it is not
really a planet but a satellite of the Earth. Nevertheless, it operates as a planet in the
horoscope.
In a composite chart, the Moon indicates how well the relationship acts as a medium of
emotional expression for the two of you. Can you be honest and open with each other
about your feelings? Can one of you reveal his or her feelings without being rejected by
the other? It is often difficult for others to deal with the lunar aspects of one's being,
because the level of intensity of feeling is so basic that they do not fit into the formalized
way that people usually relate to each other. Yet in a close relationship it is very important
to be able to deal with each other on this level. For this reason alone the position of the
Moon is very important for describing compatibility.
The Moon also represents basic structures within one's personality: habits, unconsciously
motivated behavior, and their sources - one's past, origins, family, and home life. If the
moon is well placed in the composite chart, the two of you will feel that you have
something in common. Even if your origins are quite different, you will feel that because of
your experiences you can understand each other better than most couples. A badly
placed Moon, however, can create a sense of alienation, of being different from each
other, that will make it difficult for you to get along.
The house position of the Moon in the composite chart shows the area in which you feel, or
ought to feel, that you have the most in common. If the Moon is badly placed in the chart,
its house position will show the area of greatest emotional stress.
The aspects to the Moon show the quality of the emotions that are experienced in the
relationship.
In contrast to the Sun, which shows what the relationship does, the Moon indicates the
subjective feelings of harmony and empathy that you have for each other, even in difficult
times.
Moon in the Twelfth House
The composite Moon in the twelfth house is a demanding position in that it requires the two
of you to do a great deal of work that most couples are unwilling to do. Any relationship
is helped by such work, but with this position it is absolutely necessary that you do it.
If left alone, the two of you would be very likely to keep your feelings hidden not only from
each other but also from yourselves. When you do this, the feelings become the source of
actions and behavior that neither of you understand but that are very detrimental to your
relationship. At the same time, you will tend to shy away from other people or at least to
keep your feelings hidden from others, perhaps because you fear that if they get too close
they will discover your secrets.
With this house position of the Moon, the greatest danger is emotional dishonesty at the
very least and sometimes open and outright dishonesty. Very often this happens because
you don't really know what is going on inside your relationship. There may be repressed
fears that you do not know how to face or that you can't face directly.
The need here is for both of you to plunge into the relationship, find out the truth of what is
going on, and face it squarely and honestly. Do not shrink from what you find, because
the consequences of not being honest with yourself and each other are far worse than
anything you may be hiding.
If you don't seek out the truth, your relationship will make you lesser people than you really
are and will give you the feeling that you have been defeated in life by forces you don't
understand. And when the repressed feelings finally do emerge, they will explode
destructively and perhaps violently. If, however, these feelings gradually emerge from an
honest search for understanding, the wisdom you gain will make you much wiser than
people who haven't had to face such a challenge.
Moon Trine Venus
The trine of composite Moon and composite Venus is an excellent indication of a
relationship based on love and affection. By itself, this aspect suggests that you are very
compatible emotionally and that your relationship will have a positive effect on both of
you. Not only will it be pleasant but it will also help each of you in your personal growth.
This is an excellent aspect for any relationship based on feeling, and for a love affair it is
superb. But that does not necessarily imply a short-term affair, for it can also mean a long-
lasting relationship. This aspect simply creates a strong and intense feeling of love
between the two of you. Needless to say, it is also an excellent aspect in the composite
chart of married people, indicating that the marriage will start out and continue as a love
relationship.
In a marriage, this aspect may create a strong desire for children, because the love
generated here includes a strong need to protect and nurture. Children satisfy a need
created by a strong Venus-Moon combination, which represents biological fertility.
On a very different level, this aspect can indicate that the relationship will be materially
prosperous, particularly if it involves investments and speculation.
This aspect is most desirable in the composite chart of any kind of relationship, but
particularly in a love partnership.
Moon Trine Uranus
The trine of the Moon and Uranus in the composite chart signifies that both of you must be
free in your emotional expression in order to bring out the best in this relationship. This
aspect demands that you allow new experiences and ways of feeling about each other to
affect your consciousness. Even the relationship itself may take on very unusual forms.
You should have the courage to deal with each other in different and exceptional ways.
Otherwise you will have wasted an opportunity for growth.
By the same token, this relationship is likely to have a strong consciousness-altering effect
upon both of you, changing your attitudes about your own and your partner's emotions.
Your world-views and philosophy of life may very well be changed.
Certain attributes of a conventional relationship, such as stability and predictability, may
not exist here. Yet despite the unpredictability, there will be much of value. And the more
freedom you allow each other within the structure of this relationship, the more you will get
out of it, to the point that whatever instability exists will not be of any importance to either
of you. In this relationship, freedom of self-expression is absolutely essential for both of
you and should be your first priority.
Composite Mercury
Mercury is the planet of mind and communication. In a relationship it signifies the quality
and manner of communication between the two of you. It also tells something about the
way you affect each other's thinking and how you think as a couple, collectively.
A well-placed Mercury in the chart indicates that you have some degree of intellectual
understanding and can communicate with each other. While it is desirable, especially in
an emotional relationship, that two people have an intuitive, unspoken understanding, it is
also highly desirable that you be able to talk easily with each other. Even in the most
compatible relationship, it is impossible for each partner to figure out what is on the other's
mind without some kind of verbal exchange.
Unfortunately, very often, especially in a love relationship, people think that if they truly
love each other, they should be able to feel what the other is thinking without having to say
anything. What happens if you do this, however, is that you act according to what you
guess about each other, and eventually you are dealing with your partner as if she were a
creation of your own mind. If there is no communication between you, all you have left is
the image created in your mind in the absence of real understanding. This is what a badly
placed Mercury often signifies.
Basically, Mercury signifies your ability to speak each other's language, to express your
thoughts in ways that the other can understand. This requires that your minds be attuned to
each other in some way, so that you can share ideas, concepts, and words. A well-placed
Mercury is a great benefit to any relationship.
Mercury in the Fifth House
Mercury in the fifth house of the composite chart indicates that as a couple you are
attracted to intellectual modes of recreation and self-expression. You enjoy talking to each
other, not just to communicate what must be said, but also because you really enjoy
talking. You both enjoy conversation with others and activities such as going to the theater
and concerts or just being together and reading good books.
The fifth house is also the house of children and their education. If you have children, you
will pay close attention to their education, making sure that they have all the right
opportunities and are surrounded by the proper influences. Just be sure that you do not
educate them intellectually to the point of neglecting their emotional growth. They must
learn to be complete individuals.
The fifth-house Mercury indicates that your attraction for each other is based at least partly
on your intellectual affinity. This position doesn't indicate whether your thinking is similar
at all levels, but at least you should enjoy intellectual compatibility. Since one requirement
of a successful personal relationship is that you communicate easily, you have an excellent
start.
Composite Venus
Venus is obviously important in any kind of relationship, because it rules both love and the
ability to form relationships, particularly those based on emotion. If Venus is badly placed,
you may have a long-term relationship, but it will not have much love. On the other hand,
if Venus is strong and well placed, but other relationship indications are not good, the two
of you may be drawn to each other very strongly even though you are not really
compatible. This creates a very stormy, short-lived relationship.
In its deepest meaning, Venus represents the principle in the universe that draws two
entities together by natural and spontaneous inner forces, much the way positive and
negative charges attract each other. No external compulsion is needed. But the power of
Venus attracts only if the two entities have fully defined themselves as individuals within the
universe. In human terms, this means that you have to be yourself in order to love someone
else. If you live according to other people's ideas of what you ought to be, without regard
for your own inner impulses, you will not really be a whole person enough to love another.
The position of Venus in the composite chart indicates how far this relationship will allow
both of you to express yourselves through love. It also describes what part of your
environment you most desire to bring into this experience. It is not necessary to have a
good Venus in order to make a relationship survive, but a good Venus will make the
relationship worth having.
Venus in the Fourth House
The effects of Venus in the fourth house of the composite chart are felt in the most intimate
and inward areas of your relationship. On the psychological level you have a great
concern for beauty in your most personal surroundings, and this in turn is reflected in your
desire to make your home or other property that you own together as tasteful, beautiful,
and comfortable as possible. Even if you don't have much money, you will probably
succeed in creating an elegant home.
If you do not own a home together, the effects of the fourth-house Venus will be less
evident. But this is an angular house, so the planet that is in it has greater importance than
it would otherwise have. A fourth-house Venus simply indicates that in this relationship the
principles of love and beauty are strong and prominent, although they are expressed most
clearly in your intimate personal lives rather than in the lives you share with the outside
world. This placement is usually an excellent indication for an intimate love relationship.
Composite Mars
The basic principle of Mars is the ego-drive, the energy by which you sustain your sense of
being an individual, both toward the world and toward other people. You inevitably build
up your notions of yourself through the ways in which you interact with others. Without
some kind of active inner energy, you would not be able to withstand encounters with
others at all and would be forced to drop out of life altogether. And indeed this does
happen to some people.
In a relationship, people try to establish some kind of positive connection with each other,
but ego-drives often get in the way. If you have a sound sense of yourself, as signified by
a well-placed Mars, you will have little difficulty getting along with others. But if Mars is
badly placed, your sense of your own being is deficient, and you will get into conflicts that
make it impossible to relate to others. A conflict between two people arises whenever one
challenges a weakness in the other's sense of individuality - in other words, the ego.
In a composite chart, Mars signifies your ability to create an environment within the
relationship for both of you to express yourselves fully without threatening each other and
provoking destructive conflicts. Some - perhaps quite a lot of - conflict in a relationship is
inevitable, and conflict per se should not be suppressed. But your ego-drives must be
basically compatible within the relationship, or nothing can be accomplished.
In a sexual relationship, Mars also rules the sex drive. A successful sexual relationship
requires that both Venus, the ability to relate, and Mars, the ego-drive, be in good
condition. There is a large ego component in a successful sexual relationship. If the
relationship does not express each of you, it will not work. A poorly aspected Mars in a
composite signifies deficient ego-drives, which will affect your ability to get along with
each other, and in a sexual relationship, it will affect the quality of physical sex.
Mars in the Seventh House
Mars in the seventh house of the composite chart can indicate that the two of you have a
great sense of common purpose. On the other hand, it can mean a total conflict of
purpose to the point that you are clearly enemies rather than friends or lovers. Either you
will feel that your energies are infinitely better expressed by being together rather than
apart, or you will be in an extreme state of conflict with each other. Which way your
relationship will work depends to a great extent upon finding a way to express yourselves
together, discovering something that you can do together. The seventh is the house of
partners and of open enemies. Even at the very worst you will know exactly where you
stand with each other.
It is also possible, of course, for these two effects to occur together. This creates a love-
hate relationship in which your feelings toward each other oscillate rapidly between loving
and hating.
The presence of Mars in this house indicates that the ego-energies within this relationship
are very strong. In this situation it is not always easy for one of you to accede to the
other's wishes. Here the martyr game that characterizes so many relationships - with one
of you always conceding grudgingly to the other - will not work.
This position requires that the two of you be on an equal footing. Any attempt to place
yourself over your partner will make a very tense situation. Give each other plenty of room
to find fulfillment within the relationship and also to find something that you can work for
together. Then this position of Mars will be a help rather than a hindrance.
Mars Square Uranus
You have the square of Mars and Uranus in your composite chart. To a great extent the
virtues and flaws of any aspect in a composite chart depend upon your objectives. A
personal relationship with this aspect is most likely to be successful if you have few
expectations for it, because if it does not live up to what you expect, you may consider it a
failure. With the square of Mars and Uranus in your composite chart, the two of you are
especially impatient of objectives that "must" be attained. This relationship will take its
own course, and expectations will not rest easily on it.
This is not an especially good aspect if you are planning to be married or hope to
establish some other type of permanent bond. Nor is it very good for a business
relationship, for example, in which there are definite objectives to be gained. Such a
relationship is not impossible, but you must allow a great deal of room for the unexpected
and for sudden change. The more you restrict a relationship with this aspect, the more
likely it is to cause problems. Almost certainly there is something here that goes against
social convention. If that fact restricts either of you, it will be even more difficult.
On the positive side, one thing is certain. If you are looking for a stimulating relationship
that will bring something new into your world, this is it. Just give yourselves room to move.
Mars Conjunct Neptune
The conjunction of Mars and Neptune in a composite chart is not an easy aspect, for it
signifies the union of two planetary forces that are not readily combined. The problem is
that on the level of mundane reality, where most of us operate most of the time, Neptune is
confusing, weakening, and debilitating. Mars is the planet of one's own strength, and in a
composite chart it symbolizes the ability of the relationship to contribute to each person's
ego-expression. With these planets in conjunction, the two of you will find it difficult to
derive positive reinforcement from each other.
Often this aspect creates a relationship in which you both feel inferior, unsuccessful, and
debilitated. You may feel that as individuals you are becoming weaker than you were
before. One of you may become so weak as to be totally dependent on the other. Your
feelings of hostility do not usually come out into the open but are expressed by making
your partner feel guilty or by depriving him or her of self-esteem.
On a higher plane, however, Neptune brings spiritual self-awareness. This planet is quite
destructive to ordinary awareness, but if the two of you can go beyond your attachment to
the everyday world and receive Neptune's message, you may discover a whole new way
of dealing with the world. This is the only way to handle this aspect. You must be in a
state of consciousness in which you can detach yourself from your ego-drives in dealing
with each other. This does not mean you should suppress your ego-drives; instead, they
should be truly unimportant. If you merely suppress them, you will act like a martyr all the
time. And martyred behavior is one of the subversive tactics of aggression that this aspect
sometimes signifies.
Mars Sextile Pluto
The sextile of composite Pluto and Mars gives the two of you the potential for transforming
yourselves through the relationship you create. You will arouse each other's sense of will
and purpose in a complementary rather than a competitive way, and this will allow you to
express your powers as individuals without getting in each other's way.
At the same time, you each will find that through interacting you will gain greater
understanding of how the other works, and this experience will enable you to change.
While this aspect furthers your individual ego-expression, it also allows you to cooperate in
gaining whatever you wish to gain together. You are able to work hard together, for you
call forth energies in each other that you may not have known you had. The two of you
will attack each problem and task competently, because you will thoroughly analyze its
nature before you begin. And you will bring all your creative energies to bear upon the
task as well.
The greatest task that you face together may be the creative transformation of yourselves.
But you will bring the same creative energies to this project that you bring to any other,
thereby ensuring that this relationship will be profitable to both of you in many ways.
Composite Jupiter
Jupiter in the composite chart signifies the areas that will provide a solid basis for growth
through the relationship. A strong Jupiter helps to ensure that whatever the course of the
relationship and whatever may happen to it, you both will be aware of how much you
have been helped by being together.
The house position of Jupiter designates what aspect of your relationship will be
emphasized as a growth area. The two of you will be able to depend on that area for
sustenance together, and unlike other aspects of your relationship, it will not be the cause
of conflict and difficulty.
Nevertheless, what Jupiter brings to a relationship should not be taken totally for granted.
There is always a danger that you may overextend yourselves in the area in which Jupiter
is significant, which can convert it into a source of difficulty. If the energy of Jupiter is
flowing easily, it is unlikely to cause trouble. But if the energy is flowing with difficulty,
there may be problems, usually brought on by doing something to excess. In any case,
Jupiter is not usually a major source of trouble in a chart and can usually be counted on to
bring benevolent results.
Jupiter in the Tenth House
Jupiter in the tenth house of the composite chart has a number of possible effects,
depending on the nature of your association.
In a personal relationship it indicates a strong concern with goals and status. The
relationship will revolve around some sense of purpose, which may range from very
mundane to very high-minded. In a marriage, for example, you both may have an
inordinate concern for getting ahead in society - in other words, social climbing. Or it can
indicate that the two of you will have a high social status without any effort on your part.
There will also be an emphasis on integrity and honesty. At least you will consider these
values important. However, in some charts there will be a more negative effect from
Jupiter, resulting in an attitude of haughtiness and arrogance toward others that will not
serve you well. It can also create an attitude of hypocrisy, a pretense that somehow you
are morally better than you really are. Jupiter makes you aware of moral issues even when
you cannot live up to its moral criteria.
In a professional relationship this placement of Jupiter can be a very strong indication of
success, particularly in fields pertaining to law, religion, philosophy, higher education, or
foreign interests. In almost any other field of endeavor this is also a good indication of
success. In addition, this placement indicates that the work you do together will be carried
out with a high degree of integrity and honesty, which will help immeasurably in your
eventual success. Your achievements will not be the result of accident or luck.
Note: Jupiter is technically near the end of house 9 and is therefore interpreted in house
10.
Jupiter Sextile Saturn
Jupiter sextile Saturn in the composite chart represents an excellent balance between
practical and idealistic concerns in your relationship. Your expectations of each other are
balanced and realistic, yet neither of you feels forced to compromise your goals in order to
get along with each other.
The same kind of balance is reflected in the way you approach long-range planning
together. Here again you set realistic goals and work patiently to attain them, moving
neither too quickly nor too slowly.
When you have problems with each other, you manage to avoid flying off the handle.
Unlike so many couples, you don't act hastily, which only makes things worse. Your
inclination is to wait patiently for the correct moment and then cool things off with
discussion and calmness.
As friends, you will find that your relationship brings out the strongest points in both of you.
The balance that this aspect represents enables you to make up for each other's excesses.
This is especially fortunate if either of you by yourself is very impulsive or inconsiderate. In
this relationship you will find yourself proceeding much more moderately, without feeling
held back by your partner.
Jupiter Square Ascendant
Normally, the square of composite Jupiter and Ascendant is a good aspect. It helps to
make a relationship work so that the two of you can further each other's chosen path in life
rather than get in the way of it. This is accomplished in two ways.
On the one hand, the two of you have some understanding of what you are doing with
your lives, at least as concerns each other. And in addition, you also know how to work
together so that you support and further each other's plans. Because of these factors, this
aspect is often a help in a business or professional relationship.
On the other hand, this aspect makes it easy for you to reinforce each other in your
intimate personal lives. You are emotionally supportive and try to help each other through
difficult times, including periods of emotional problems. You each have the capacity to
make your partner feel good about himself or herself.
However, problems can sometimes arise, and if they do, many of the good effects of the
Ascendant-Jupiter square are then reversed. Instead of supporting each other's egos and
aiding each other in your life courses, one of you takes advantage of the other, who may
have to play second fiddle to the first partner's ego-trip. In a normal chart, the negative
manifestations of this square are not too likely to occur. However, it is enough of a danger
to be worth mentioning.
Composite Saturn
Saturn is always a very complicated symbol. It has many meanings, some of which are
difficult to deal with. To begin with, it often represents those areas of the relationship that
are likely to be a source of insecurity. It is this attribute that can make Saturn very hard to
handle, because it signifies fears, which can generate a negative energy that makes the
worst come true. You must learn to relax about those areas of the relationship that are
most influenced by Saturn.
Saturn also refers to limitations on the relationship, which are often more apparent than
real. Saturn is an inhibitor, representing the aspects of reality that limit our efforts to
expand and grow. As a consequence, through the resistance of Saturn, everything in both
the material and psychological world is forced to assume a definite form. The position of
Saturn in the composite chart will tell a great deal about what areas of the relationship are
most likely to be structured and even rigidified, if the influence is unchecked.
Saturn is not always difficult, however. Very often it indicates a lasting relationship that
will endure. Much of the time you will respond to Saturn simply by accepting the reality it
imposes and not expecting that which is impossible. This prevents the frustrated idealism
that makes so many love relationships difficult. In such instances Saturn replaces
flamboyance with reliability.
At other times, however, Saturn's influence will make a relationship nearly impossible.
When this happens, it is a reality that must be accepted. Properly handled, the experience
of Saturn can be one of the most significant ways in which you learn how you will act in
certain situations together. But it must be acknowledged that this process is not always
particularly pleasant.
Saturn in the Eighth House
Saturn in the eighth house of the composite chart pertains both to joint property and
resources and to major personal transformations and regenerations.
To deal with the first area, the effects of Saturn in the eighth house can be similar to its
effects in the second, in that you may feel very insecure about the physical resources you
share. You may have fears of not having enough money, for example. And as in the
second house, this insecurity may actually cause the two of you to concentrate on money to
such an extent that you become wealthy. Insecurity is the real problem here, rather than
any lack of money. However, you might conceivably have trouble with other people's
money - banks, finance companies, and such. It would probably be well to avoid these if
you can.
Turning to the area of regeneration symbolized by the eighth house, Saturn here can
indicate that the two of you will resist the deep transformations that must take place in any
relationship. The eighth house is the house of death, both real and metaphorical; in other
words, it signifies very important and fundamental changes, such that your lives will not be
the same as they were before.
But the two of you are likely to be afraid of such changes and will try to build up structures
in your lives that will prevent change of any sort. It is not good to do this, however,
because the transformations of the eighth house are very difficult to resist, and resisting
them only makes them more catastrophic when they do occur. You should not face life
from a rigid position. Relax and let yourselves be open to any changes that may occur.
They will probably be for the better.
Composite Uranus
Uranus is the planet of the unconventional and the unusual, at least in its ordinary
manifestations. It can also reveal alternate views of reality that will help you to learn and
grow. Unfortunately, this usually happens by means of a surprising upset that seems to
completely invalidate your previous beliefs about life. Uranus is often regarded as the
planet of unpleasant surprises. The only way to deal with it positively is to maintain a very
open attitude and to structure your life as little as possible. Some structure is necessary, of
course. But Uranus demands that you maintain a very flexible attitude toward the world.
In a relationship it is important to let the areas most affected by Uranus be much freer than
you might otherwise allow. The aspects to Uranus in the composite chart usually indicate
the area of the relationship that you must release. Not that you will lose it, but you must let
it take its own course, with a minimum of expectations. Venus-Uranus aspects, in
particular, represent relationships that must not be restrained from following their own
course.
The house position indicates where Uranus is most effective, and that area must be treated
most gently. Any attempt to make a basically Uranian characteristic conform to rules or
expectations will only cause disturbances; the energy of Uranus under pressure becomes
rebellious, insisting on doing everything in exactly the opposite way from what people
want.
Uranus is simply an energy that insists on being given free rein. Your ability to handle it
depends upon how free you are.
Uranus in the Fourth House
Uranus in the fourth house of the composite chart signifies a relationship that has an
unusual home base. In a personal relationship, particularly a love relationship or
marriage, this can mean that the home itself is unusual. Or there may be something
unusual about the two of you living together. An unmarried couple living together might
have this placement of Uranus, but only if they themselves regard the situation as
unconventional or in defiance of morality. Other couples, for whom living together seems
the most natural and obvious move, would be less likely to have the fourth-house composite
Uranus. This placement means that you express your unconventionality through the home
you share.
It may also be that your home life is unpredictable and unstable, that whenever you come
together, you don't know what to expect. This situation can make the two of you very
uneasy, to say the least, for the fourth house represents that aspect of your lives that is the
basis for everything else. It is the reliable center from which you go out to face the world
and to which you return to find rest. If there is no rest for you there, your relationship can
be very unpleasant.
Before setting up housekeeping together, you must first determine which effect is operating
in your case. If it is the second effect, perhaps you should reconsider. Your relationship
can continue, but keep your homes separate.
In other kinds of relationships, this placement simply means that you continually challenge
some inner aspect of each other. This can make for a valuable learning experience, or it
can simply make you very uneasy with each other.
Uranus Square Neptune
The square of composite Uranus and Neptune occurs in the charts of the children of the
early 1950s, who as young adults brought the drug culture to its climax, before it
subsided. The problem signified by drugs and the drug culture is the problem of the nature
of reality. One of the key phrases for Uranus-Neptune is revolutionary idealism, which is
not content to merely exist but tries to impose itself upon the world and become part of the
way you live.
Your relationship may have a radical feeling of disorientation. Ideally, the two of you
should know yourselves and each other, but instead you feel totally lost about almost
everything, including yourselves. This aspect will make it more difficult for you to find
yourselves, unless you can learn to be hard-headed realists.
The only problem with your ideals is that even if realized, they might serve no useful
purpose. You may be using these ideals as devices for escaping a reality that is not truly
adverse but that you will not deal with. Perhaps you are afraid that the truth is too strong
for you and that if forced to face it you will lose something that is very important to you.
That, however, is more fear than truth. If you can learn to live together in the real world,
you will be better able to make it all work.
Composite Neptune
Neptune in the composite chart is an energy that most people find quite difficult to handle.
It has two quite separate areas of meaning that are ultimately connected, although they do
not seem related on the surface.
First of all, Neptune is related to disappointment, delusion, deceit, falsehood, and the
gradual disappearance of things. Yet it also represents whatever you idealize, legitimately
and otherwise - that which is spiritual and mystical, which is actually at the root of love in
its most spiritual sense, even more than Venus. It is the two-sidedness of Neptune that is so
difficult to deal with.
To a considerable extent, all true love is based on your idealization of some aspect of the
other person. That is one side of Neptune. But you must also keep in mind the reality of
the situation and not make that person into something she is not. The nature of Neptune is
such that you often go too far and turn the other person into a myth; when you discover the
truth, bitter disappointment sets in. Yet if the Neptune energy were not working to some
extent, you would not have been attracted to that person in the first place.
In a relationship, some things cannot be spelled out in words. It is necessary for two
people to have some inner understanding of each other, or you will never be able to
communicate very well. Neptune rules this kind of sensitivity within a relationship also. But
again, its twofold nature can cause you to overdo your sensitivity, to the point where you
make up things that aren't there or exaggerate the significance of what is.
How can you keep a balance? The answer lies in an aspect of Neptune that provides the
key to really understanding it. Neptune is a totally selfless energy, not readily harnessed to
the demands of the human ego. If you have a strong ego-wish that something be a certain
way, Neptune's involvement becomes dangerous. The more your ego needs to enforce a
situation, the more Neptune will delude you about it. Your own wishes seem to create a
barrier to your seeing clearly, because you are too involved in the situation. Neptune often
makes the two of you think that what you want is already so, even when it isn't.
However, if you can learn to accept the situation as it is, Neptune will help you to learn
even more. If you can hold your ideals and still be able to deal with reality, Neptune may
even help you realize your ideals.
Neptune in the chart tells about those areas of the relationship that are idealized, maybe
dangerously so. It tells about the depth of spiritual communication and about the extent to
which all communication is disrupted by your illusions about each other.
Neptune in the Seventh House
With Neptune in the seventh house of the composite chart, the two of you will have to be
very careful that you understand the true nature of this relationship, particularly if it is a
partnership, such as a marriage or a business partnership. This placement can make such
a relationship seem quite different from what it is in reality.
Neptune tends to subvert one of the most important aspects of the seventh house, namely,
one-to-one relationships between equals. With Neptune in this house, regardless of the
type of relationship, you often get the "savior-victim" pattern, as one astrologer refers to it.
One of you looks for someone to rescue you from your problems, while the other looks for
someone to save. In reality you both are in equally bad shape, because neither of you
can relate on an equal, face-to-face level.
Typical of this syndrome is the "selfless" wife caring for her indigent, alcoholic husband,
apparently giving no thought to herself. You can be sure that both are really getting what
they want from this situation, because neither has to take the responsibility of handling a
normal relationship, which is what they truly need.
Neptune in the seventh house can also simply indicate a relationship in which each of you
is dealing with the other not as a real person, but as an ideal image derived from inside
yourself rather than from the actual experience of the other person. Such a relationship is
bound to end in a major disappointment when one discovers that the other is not the ideal
that was sought.
Yet a seventh-house Neptune can indicate a relationship that really does have powerful
spiritual bonds, in which the two of you have a deep intuitive understanding of each other.
But this requires understanding and accepting the truth about yourselves and each other.
Composite Pluto
Pluto is the planet of death and regeneration. In a composite chart it represents those
energies that cause a relationship to go through periods of heavy change. When Pluto is
operative, something goes out of existence and a new order comes into being. Its action is
absolutely essential to prevent the stagnation that occurs when an old way of life has
outlived its purpose. The old must be cleared away to make room for the new state of
being that will follow. When dealing with Pluto, you must let go of whatever is going
through the Plutonian crisis. If you try to hold on to something that is properly dead, you
will not succeed in saving it. You will only make the situation worse.
Pluto operates with such tremendous power that it may be divorced from its "death and
regeneration" aspect and be experienced purely as power. The power results from the
inevitability of Pluto's transforming quality. The transformations ruled by Pluto are those
that arise from the very nature of what is transformed. Its effect is as much an integral part
of an entity as an object's weight, size, and color. Every living thing contains the set of
circumstances that will eventually bring about all its fundamental changes, including its
death. The power of Pluto comes from within.
In a relationship, Pluto is very often experienced as power conflicts between the two of
you. In a sexual relationship it also gives special power and impact to your emotions and
makes every happening very dramatic and important. This heaviness is one of the more
difficult attributes of the planet, because it can warp your perspective completely.
The house position of Pluto indicates the area of the relationship in which there is most
likely to be a conflict of power, either between the two of you or with the outside world. It
also indicates which area of the relationship is most likely to be transformed through your
being together and as a result which area is most likely to produce crises.
The aspects to Pluto indicate whether this energy will be experienced as difficult or easy
and what other energy patterns it will be linked with.
Pluto in the Fifth House
Composite Pluto in the fifth house has its most intense expression in a personal relationship
or love affair that involves deep feelings. The fifth is the house of self-expression, the house
of your own being. Pluto here indicates that in this relationship it is unusually important for
both of you to be able to express yourselves fully. You each have a powerful drive for self-
expression.
In a love affair this placement can signify extremely powerful emotions that make you feel
that this relationship is extraordinary. However, it must be pointed out that by itself Pluto
does not specify which feelings are so strong. If your love is strong, Pluto in the fifth will
intensify that, but if the forces of discord are strong, Pluto will intensify them also.
Whatever the dominant emotions are, they will be experienced strongly.
In a sexual relationship, physical sex will assume a greater than usual importance and will
be experienced as an escape from the everyday world. But that is a fairly heavy burden
to place upon sex, and unless the relationship is working on a physical level, you are likely
to have severe difficulties. Pluto in the fifth house does not indicate a platonic relationship.
The relationship itself may be viewed, at least subconsciously, as a vehicle for self-
regeneration, for making a new person out of yourself. This too places a heavy burden on
a relationship, but it may very well fulfill that purpose.
Technical details
The Composite horoscope is a symbolic chart, derived mathematically and never represented by a
real planetary configuration on the sky. For all planetary pairs, for example both Suns in the natal
charts of the partners, the Composite Sun is determined as the mid-point in between. Also the MC
(Medium Coeli or cusp of the 10th house) is determined by this mid-point technique. So far all
astrologers proceed the same way to get a Composite.
For finding the Ascendant and the other house cusps in a chart two different techniques are used.
One school of thought, also adhered to by Liz Greene and other staff members at Astrodienst,
computes the Ascendant and the other house cusps with the same mid-point technique. In the very
rare case of an Ascendant falling into the west half of the chart, which is the wrong side, the
Ascendant is corrected by 180 degrees, so that it comes to lie in the east half where is must
naturally be.
The other wide spread school of thought uses a table of houses for the Ascendant. First a fictious
birth time is derived from the mid-point MC, then for this time the Ascendant and other house cusps
are read from the table. Because house table entries vary by geographical latitude, the latitude of a
reference place is used here. The geographical longitude (east/west location) of the reference
place is not taken into account, so that Naples, Italy and New York, NY result in the same
Composite chart, because both cities are near 40 degrees northern latitude. The technique is called
reference-place technique.
In his book 'Planets in Composite' Robert Hand describes both methods; we have decided to use
the mid-point method with the Partner Horoscope, because the Relationship Horoscope by Liz
Greene also uses this technique and many readers might be unnecessarily confused if we offered
two kinds of partner horoscopes containing different Composite ascendants.
Mercury and Venus can sometimes have an unnatural position in the Composite Chart. In nature,
Mercury is never more than 30 degrees from the Sun, Venus never more than 45 degrees. In the
Composite, however, each of the two planets can also be in opposition to the Sun. In such cases,
some Astrologers mirror the planet into the opposite sign. Robert Hand takes into consideration
both possible positions. Our Astrodienst reports follow the method of Liz Greene, who does not do
such a mirroring.
|
