posted November 26, 2004 01:45 AM              

THE SUN

The composite Sun, like the Sun in a natal chart, is the heart of the relationship and its primary drive and focus. The sign in which it falls will color the entire relationship, as many of the important events in the relationship will occur when transiting bodies are in this sign. If it is strong in its house position and supported by good aspects from other bodies, the relationship will have a solid center and will tend to sustain itself despite the buffets of adversity. If it is poorly aspected or in a difficult house position, the relationship will be easily damaged and difficult to repair as the natural cyclical transits will tend to reinforce negative qualities of the relationship rather than positive. The Sun's primary quality is restorative drive, the general impetus toward life and its sustenance, rather than any specific traits or areas of endeavor such as are represented by the planets. Therefore its placement will tell the overall thrust and style of the relationship and how well it bears up under fire, rather than give the details of just how it will do so. A badly placed Sun can mean a relationship that is almost certain to fail, because wounds to the partnership won't heal themselves. A very well-placed Sun can mean a relationship that sustains and resuscitates itself so well that it may even be difficult to get out of should either partner choose to do so (as might be the case if the planetary aspects were very difficult or if the two natal charts themselves were in great conflict). It is the driving engine of the relationship and everything else orbits around it and derives life from its energy.

The Composite Moon

The symbolism of the composite Moon in a relationship is that of reflection - not in the sense of intellectual deliberation or thoughtful rumination but much more literally, reflective like a mirror. Whereas the Sun represents the primal, outgoing energy in the relationship, the Moon shows how the relationship reacts to situations once they have been presented to it. When someone approaches you with an idea, do you react to it, criticize it, laugh at it or with it? Steal it? Ignore it? Expand upon it? Extending this logic, it, of course means how you feel about a situation, the process and style in which your emotions are stirred. The things to which you react include each other, so the position of the composite Moon will be critical to the emotional well-being and functionality of the relationship, independent of your individual natures. Thus, a well-placed and well-supported composite Moon can lend clarity and cooperation to the most confused and befuddled people who might never expect to get along; whereas an afflicted composite Moon can throw dissension and conflict into the lives of the most well-adjusted and easy-going persons who normally get along with everybody. This is, of course, because this reflective, emotional effect is largely subconscious, and because it does not emanate from either of you in the usual way, you are unfamiliar with its style and rhythms. This accounts for a lot of the "magic" - both good and bad - that is associated with relationships. On the positive side, it can mean a relationship that seems to heal one or both of you and just makes everything go right that didn't before. This is a marvelous feeling but one that can lead to a mistaken dependency on your partner as the source of the improvement when it is actually the relationship itself that should get the credit. On the opposite side it can lead to mutual blame for making things worse when the fault lies with neither of you but in the structure of the situation itself. The great advantage of having the details of the compositechart available to you is that you can better differentiate the strengths and weaknesses of the situation from those which may lie within yourselves. The former you will have to work around on the exterior, the latter you will have to work from within. In tandem with the Sun, the Moon and its position will make or break most relationships. If the Sun and Moon are well-placed and well- aspected, the relationship is anything from a good bet to a sure thing, regardless of the other positions and problems that need to be worked out. If the Sun and Moon are badly positioned or afflicted, it will be an uphill fight all the way, and one that either or both of you may choose to set aside unless you feel compelled to spend a great deal of time, energy, and emotion rising to the challenge. Life is about choices, and here especially the composite chart can help supply the data you need to aid you in your selection.

THE COMPOSITE MERCURY

Mercury in the composite chart represents the mutual meeting of minds, or lack of it, between you. It also represents your ability to communicate to others as a couple or as individuals. In the first instance, in which the position symbolizes the shore between two intellects, it will be important to know what kind of communication goes on: by style, substance, and action (sign, house, and aspect). A well-placed Mercury will mean that you can put clearly into words what you mean to say to each other, and such a position can be of great help in alleviating emotional problems that may not easily come to the surface. If you can both say how you feel, you've gone a long way towards being able to change. On the other hand, a badly placed Mercury can have the opposite effect, stirring up emotional problems where there were none by simply getting communications wires crossed. In a professional relationship this can mean all sorts of pointless starts and stops because of faulty information, particularly in an increasingly information-oriented society. The position of Mercury therefore becomes increasingly critical in relationships in general. Its placement also describes how you communicate as a duo with the public at large, so herein lies further opportunities for good or ill. Well-placed, it will mean that you may be able to get yourself across to the world at large through the relationship rather than on your own. Where there are difficulties here, it may be better to speak your own piece and not let the relationship represent you. Nevertheless, knowing the situation in advance can help enormously, as you won't have to learn the communications value of the relationship by trial and error or blame each other for problems that arise from what is essentially a third party with its own horoscope, the relationship itself. Rather, you can take advantage of the best that it offers and avoid what looks like trouble by one or both of you pulling back on your own to handle problems the relationship does not cope with well.

THE COMPOSITE VENUS

The planet Venus represents desire, attraction, what you physically and emotionally desire and as a composite position describes where your desires meet and either blend or conflict, or a bit of both. This is too often applied to love interests alone, although it covers them as well. It means everything you desire - money, position, beautiful things, property, friends, lovers, anything that you want and believe if you get it, will make you happy. It also has another side which is your ability to appear to provide just such fulfillment for others, thus symbolizing personal charm, beauty, attractiveness, wealth, and so on. It's the two-way wish fulfillment point where dreams are born. When this is viewed between two people as a composite point, it means how and whether you make each other's dreams, on a very basic level, come true. If badly placed, it can mean continual desire and constant disappointment. If strong by position, it will be a buttress to the relationship, as you know you will always get what you want when you come back to it. It is, of course, critical in telling how a sexual relationship will unfold and can spell repeated ecstasy or constant frustration, especially taken in tandem with composite Mars. It also represents how well the relationship as a whole will be able to realize its goals and desires, which will of course be directly connected with its ability to make itself desirable, both of which are described by this composite point. Thus, an afflicted composite Venus is a double indemnity, because it usually prevents either of you from getting what you want out of each other, and it means the relationship will not get what it wants, either. Conversely, a well-aspected composite Venus is like a gift from above, as it means mutual success and satisfaction all around. In judging the overall success of a relationship, this is indeed a very important position.

THE COMPOSITE MARS

Mars represents physical and emotional energy, and as such the ability and inclination to get things done, to fulfill desire by taking action. By itself it is really just raw energy, and its placement, particularly in relation to the other bodies in the chart, describes where and how well this energy will be directed. As a composite point, it describes how your two energy directions mesh and whether they will reinforce each other or simply get in each other's way. It will tell whether sparks will fly, igniting random and destructive brush fires, or whether a controlled fire will blossom that will become the engine to power and fulfill your desires under your own direction. Its relationship to Venus, particularly in sexual relationships, is critical, as it will describe whether it will fulfill or deny your sexual needs. In both male and female it describes sexual drive as well as assertiveness and ultimately, aggression. Thus, a well positioned composite Mars allows the two of you to unite your energies naturally toward whatever goal you choose, while a difficult placing will put your efforts constantly at odds, wasting your efforts in mutual conflict or confusion when you should be utilizing them otherwise. As with Venus, this can be the greatest natural blessing or a terrible stumbling block. A strong composite Mars can energize and focus two people who are otherwise at sixes and sevens with themselves, and a troublesome one can throw the most balanced performers into disarray as they wonder what hit them to throw them so off balance. Thus, it will be wise to understand this position well so as to know whether to ride it or back off. It will also portray the power potential of the relationship as it exists in the outside world. A strong Mars has the energy to carry others along with it, whereas a disabled one will tend to break down already functioning operations in the relationships' social surroundings. None of this suggests that a difficult Mars means you should forget about the relationship, however, as if oe of you is simply put in charge in certain areas, mutually compartmentalizing the energy flow; the ill effect can be largely disenabled, albeit at the price of local inequality. It is something to be considered with care and attention, however, as herein lies much of your self-empowerment and control over your lives.

THE COMPOSITE JUPITER

Jupiter in any chart represents the capacity for growth and expansion in relation to whatever it is connected. It means bigger, better, newer, faster, higher, and more developed. It is usually looked at only in the positive aspect, but it also has the potential to get out of hand if not checked and directed. The composite chart is the area that your mutual aspiration and inventiveness meet, a point where creativity is strong but which may or may not bring its potentials to fruition, depending upon its placement and how you handle it. Well-aspected it allows you to view realistically and act effectively upon what you determine together to make the relationship a spawning ground of limitless opportunity, more than either of you could manage separately. Debilitated, it can mean overblown expectations that come to nothing, biting off more than you can chew, situations that spiral out of control, and projects that perish under their own weight. But these ills aside, Jupiter usually does more good than harm and under most conditions it is the place to look for blessings. A solid composite Jupiter will mean that you can always look to the relationship to pull each of you up another step when you are stagnating and it will mean that others can look to the two of you for inspiration and new ideas. Where it is difficult, you will have to take the opportunity to restrain yourself now and again and develop only that which you think you can use at the time to avoid wasting your energies on unrealizable goals. It will show you where the big picture is and provide the kind of life overview which the relationship teaches that you might not have discovered on your own. It can be the force that carries you both away with each other and raises you to heights you didn't know you had. Its only danger is allowing the relationship to take over you as individuals. Use it as a resource for each of you to draw on, not the other way round, and it will always pay off for you.

THE COMPOSITE SATURN

Saturn is usually considered the bugbear among planets and has an evil reputation that it only partially deserves. It is associated with restriction, contraction, dearth, debilitation, and a host of other adjectives that add up to not getting what you want. That is, however, only partly true. It might be better to say that it describes extreme delineation, concreteness, and finality - reality in the most concrete sense. Much of our lives are comprised of hopes, plans, desires, dreams, wishes, and expectation, and Saturn describes what actually becomes of them. So in such a goal-oriented, future-driven society as ours, what actually happens is all too often a disappointment, the result of failed unrealistic expectations. Thus, Saturn in the composite chart is where you both get down to brass tacks and determine (or have determined for you) what actually is to be. If this point is well-situated, it means that you can rely on each other and the relationship as something that delivers every time. It will lend solidity to the relationship and make it something you can lean on when either of you need to be backed up. It will also make the two of you a haven for others in distress. In a difficult position, it will mean that you tend to fail each other, to bring each other down, and to sap each other's energies physically or emotionally. In this situation it can highlight the insecurities of the relationship and mark for failure what might otherwise have succeeded. But in either situation, like any other planet, it will not touch every aspect of the relationship and so you are free to be selective if you know what areas it is either supporting or restricting. You want to know what the bottom line is everywhere, however; and that is what Saturn will tell you. But you don't have to invest in stocks you think are going to depreciate, either. If you recognize early what the downsides and the support pillars of the relationship are, you can use one to stand on while you either avoid or make repairs upon the other at your leisre. If you do not, ignorance is the ally of the dark side and it will have much greater power to pull you in and cripple you. Find your foundation stones early, so your house will not be built upon sand; and, in time, your temple will rise to the skies.

THE COMPOSITE URANUS

Uranus is one of the three relatively recently-discovered outer planets, and all three are marked with a reality common to new experience and endeavor. They are not fully explored and thus not very much under our control. Uranus has been known the longest, (since 1786), and is a bit more familiar. It is associated with sudden events, shocks, realizations, discoveries, and other highly delineated events that sheer off quickly and completely from their previous states or surroundings. For creatures of habit, such as most of us are, this is usually upsetting and generally bad news. But it does not have to be. Your ability to use Uranus instead of letting it abuse you, is directly related to how flexible and quick on your feet you are. It also is linked to how willing you are to accept and welcome change as part of the nature of things. If you accept it grudgingly, then Uranus will always be a symbol of malice; if you welcome it with open arms, it will be a deliverance and an inspiration. In the composite chart, Uranus is where the two of you are repeatedly forced to rise to this occasion, and its contacts will tell in what areas of life it usually manifests. Well situated, it is a mutual window onto the future, flooding you both with light and clueing you into what is coming next. In such a position, it will make the relationship an eye-opener, which you come back to time and again for more. It will also tend to put you both ahead of the game emotionally and socially placing you in a leadership position among others where future thinking is concerned. In a difficult place, it will mean that you bring to each other incidents and accidents in areas where you are the most entrenched and you force each other to come to grips with ideas with which you refuse to deal. This can be a source of great mutual blame: "You made me get into this. If it weren't for you, this never would have happened. . . " and so on. This is particularly the case in sexual affairs in a society that is at heart so sexually conservative (even backwrd) and yet ruthlessly courts danger by flaunting it everywhere as if it were an everyday affair. Perhaps the only way to deal with this planet is to expect the unexpected, thus robbing it of harm and providing it with a welcome. If you are ready to harness it - like a wild horse - you can ride it far. If you turn your back, it will surely trample you. Where this occurs in the composite chart, keep your eyes wide open, your stance wide, and your tolerance level on maximum.

THE COMPOSITE NEPTUNE

The effects of Neptune, another outer planet and a recent discovery, are often largely out of our control both by our unfamiliarity with its effects and the apparent nature of the planet which represents the uncertain, dreams, illusions, ideals, mystery, and the higher unexplored (and perhaps unexplorable entirely) plane of the spiritual world. Its nature is so uncertain, it's not even known exactly when it was discovered; various claims exist from 1810 all the way up to 1846, and we may never know for sure. It may be viewed from afar with a certain amount of analysis, however. When we find an area of mystery, it is our natural instinct to provide something to fill that void. Nature abhors a vacuum and our minds rush in to fill it with every kind of speculation and fantasy, if only to have something to act on in the area. Whatever is actually there will turn up eventually. In the meantime we provide ourselves with an image which may be close enough to the truth to better help us function or may be off in fantasyland and fail us utterly if we are unwise enough to lean on it. We know only in hindsight. Thus, in a composite chart, this point becomes the place where dreams, fantasies, hopes and ideals meet or clash, and inspire us or drag us down in confusion and conflict. Too many wars and personal battles have been fought over it needlessly, because none of these things actually existed until later. That's the crux of it: don't fight over what isn't there, at least not yet. Well placed, this planet will help you aspire to higher, more selfless goals but even they can make you take them more seriously than they are. Badly positioned, it can lead to lies, deceit, and mistrust based on mutual misreading of the unknown and the foolish action taken upon it. In the end, it is a gentle, diaphanous planet that can never be forced. Dreams and fantasies belong to each of you individually; and when they are similar enough to share, whether emotionally, sexually, spiritually, or even financially, they can be the greatest of jos. If one of you tries to enforce any of it on the other, however, everything will turn distasteful and there will be no dreams left; the mist will be blown away and only a charred landscape will remain. Where this point occurs, go gently, expect nothing, and everything will be returned to you.

THE COMPOSITE PLUTO

Of the three outer planets, Pluto is the most recently discovered (1930) and least subject to our control. As such, it is even considered the planet of power and control, ultimately because it so controls us in our attempt to overcome it. It is, of course, appropriately named after the ancient god of death, the thing which in the last analysis we cannot control; and at the most basic instinctual level, all the control we try to exercise in life is simply a ploy to cheat death a little longer. It is called the survival instinct. The point at which Pluto occurs in the composite chart is thus, at a deep level, where we meet in our ability to face death. But it doesn't manifest itself that way on the surface. Instead, it shows up as the methods we use to keep control in order to avoid the certainty of personal annihilation. Well placed, it will mean a partnership that simply doesn't worry about keeping in control of the situation, secure in the faith that things will take care of themselves and when it's time to go, you're in God's hands. In a bad place or aspect, it will mean continuous attempts to gain power over each other and the environment (according to aspect, sign, and house) and a penchant for compulsive behavior that easily gets out of control. Or, rather, it was never in control to begin with. In some instances, particularly sexual, this can be heightened to mystic proportions, and though it can be playing with fire it can also be very revelatory. Where prominently placed, for well or ill, it will give the relationship an aura of inescapability and predestination, something that sweeps over you both (like sex or death) and takes you out of yourselves. Similarly, you may find the relationship itself has something of this effect on others, giving you a greater power (a power which you must be careful not to abuse) over those around you. In the end, however, it is the willingness to relinquish control as well as take it that resolves problematic issues. In the meantime, the ability to step away from the relatonship and out of its sway, at least in Pluto-affected areas, can be an important safety measure.
http://www.awakeningsastrology.com/Samples/IoDavison.htm

posted November 26, 2004 02:44 AM              

"Eighth House: Major Transformations."