posted September 07, 2008 02:04 PM            

The art and science of synastry is dedicated to the analysis and comprehension of relational dynamics between any two or more people. These dynamics can be best understood when interpreted within the context of the natural astrological anchor points for earthly existence: the Angles.

The Angles are what give shape and focus to the Soul's particular expression for any given lifetime as it is these four points that tie the Soul to a location within the matrix of Earth and Sky, thus mooring it in a tangible form we call Body. Although they do not define the structure of the Soul itself, they do lay out the boundaries of the playing field upon which it may undertake its activities. Like the fence around a playground, they both limit the Soul's freedoms and enhance them by making clear what the options are. The Body itself is not so much a container for the Soul as is often thought but, rather, the temporary form it takes for a particular manifestation; metaphorically speaking, one might say that Body is the solid form of Personal Existence and Soul the liquid. One might also think of the Soul as a vast underground root system that sends up singular plants above ground as individuated extensions of itself. Each plant is a Body but by virtue of its connection to the root system each plant is also the Soul. It is not so correct, therefore, to say that one "has" a body or "has" a soul as to say that one "is" Body and "is" Soul. We are both simultaneously. The Angles define for us the perimeters of being Body.

Each Angle presides over one of the four Fields of Life: Self, Other, Private, and Public. These four fields represent the existential imperatives that we cannot escape, that we require in order to be human: the Self deals with matters of Identity and Assertion, the fundamental drive to exist in individuated form; Other deals with matters of Relationship and Surrender, the necessity of communion with like beings; Private deals with matters of Family and Grounding, the structures through which we maintain our rooting in the Soul; Public deals with matters of Society and Aspiration, the structures through which the Soul expresses its intentions. The whole natal chart can be used to study any one of these four fields by viewing the Angles as further defining four subcategories within each field. Relationships, therefore, presided over by the Field of Other, must be examined in terms of how they establish and maintain interaction between these four areas in each person's chart to determine the fundamental outlines of the relationship.

A synastric chart comparison involving the Ascendant, for example, indicates how the relationship impacts one's sense of self and, vice-versa, how one's sense of self impacts the relationship. Each Angle impacted also influences all of the other Angles. In the example just given, how one's sense of Self (Ascendant) is impacted determines what one projects onto the Other (Descendant), how the relationship integrates with one's Family (Nadir), and how it expresses itself in Society (Midheaven). Every Angle also presides over a hemisphere of the chart, lending its meaning to the affairs of that division. The Eastern Hemisphere, Houses 10th to 12th and 1st to 3rd, is ruled by the Ascendant and focuses on matters of the Self. In these areas of life we rely primarily on our own initiative and resources. The Western Hemisphere, Houses 4th to 9th, is ruled by the Descendant and focuses on matters of Other. In these areas of life we are more highly influenced by the initiative and resources of others. The Northern Hemisphere, Houses 1st to 6th, is ruled by the Nadir and focuses on Private matters. In these areas of life we tend to carry out our affairs in the Private arena. The Southern Hemisphere, Houses 7th to 12th, is ruled by the Midheaven and focuses on Public matters. In these areas of life we tend to carry out our affairs on the Public stage.

The overlapping hemispheres create four quadrants that blend the meanings of the angles, each quadrant being then associated with one of the seasons (for a clearer understanding of the relationship between the Zodiac and the seasons read my article, "Whose Zodiac Is It Anyway?"). The First Quadrant (Spring), Houses 1st to 3rd, deal with matters of the Private Self. This is the most personal of the quadrants, where we stand alone on behalf of our own needs. The Second Quadrant (Summer), Houses 4th to 6th, deal with matters of the Private Other. Here we learn the relationship skills that prepare us for the world at large. The Third Quadrant (Autumn), Houses 7th to 9th, deal with matters of the Public Other. In this area we apply our relationship skills out in the social realm. The Fourth Quadrant (Winter), Houses 10th to 12th, deal with matters of the Public Self. Having established our entrance into society, we once again learn to stand alone but this time on behalf of our community. The quadrants, like the seasons, are further broken down into their Cardinal (Initiatory), Fixed (Productive), and Mutable (Transformative) expressions, each of the qualities being assigned in order to one of the three houses occupying the quadrant. The Cardinal Houses express the angular meanings in their purest forms, just as the start of each season most clearly contrasts with the one that came before. The Fixed Houses express the angular meanings in their matured forms, the product of our actions early in the season now revealed at the season's height. The Mutable Houses express the angular meanings in their changing forms as the current season gradually gives way to the next, requiring preparation and adaptation. In the fashion just detailed, the meanings of the angles are applied to every part of the chart. The whole horoscope can thus be utilized in synastric analysis to determine the impact two individuals have on the full range of the other's Bodily experiences at the most practical of levels. Some relationships, however, seem to take us beyond the province of the Body, to the deeper, more mysterious realm of the Soul.

The term soul mate can be and has been variously defined by different authors according to the dictates of the worldview to which they ascribe. From an experiential point of view, however, it grows out of a basic human condition that psychologist and author, Thomas Moore, describes thusly: "The soul wants union not only with other persons but also with another dimension altogether, one we can call eternal, immortal, mythic, or a host of other names." This "dimension" constitutes our experience of the Soul beyond the limitations of the Body, an expansion of our sense of personhood beyond the perimeters described by the angles. A soul mate, therefore, is any person, whether friend, family or lover, who can connect us to this dimension simply by virtue of being in relationship with them. The sense of depth and wholeness we feel emerges from the reunification of our experience of the individuated Body with that of the totality of the Soul. This reunification augments one's sense of the Self, causing us to feel larger or more expanded in the soul mate's presence. It deepens one's capacity for communion with an Other, teaching us the spiritual and ecstatic nature of complete surrender. We feel called to establish a Family with our soul mate or otherwise experience a realignment of our sense of Grounding. The soul mate relationship must express itself Socially, perhaps through marriage or other Public ceremony of commitment. The soul mate relationship enhances one's overall experience of being Body, enlivening every thread of "bodiliness" with the vibrancy of soulfulness.

When considering the question of soul mate contact and the astrological indicators involved, one must always turn first to the experience of the parties involved in the relationship. Astrological analysis of any kind reveals potential, what could exist if backed by will and intention. A horoscope, i.e., natal or other chart, is a map of various possibilities and likelihoods latent within any individual or event that are triggered by assorted pressures and actions generated both from within and without. At every stage, every fork in the road, there is choice involved. Whether we are fully conscious of the process or not, we are constantly making choices just about every minute of every day. Many choices are so informed by habit, routine, and solidified beliefs that we do not typically experience them as such, but choices are choices whether we recognize them or not. This horoscope, this map, can tell us what we have to work with but it cannot tell us essentially who we are. Each one of us is the only person with the power to give final definition to our own Life.

As is so often the case in many fields of study, some astrologers show an unfortunate tendency to confuse the map with the reality, trying to predetermine the outcome of a relationship with charts alone. Only the individuals involved in a relationship can determine their own final outcome; chart analysis exists merely to aid the will and intention of those individuals. Many chart comparisons may show potential for soul mate contact, therefore, but both (or all the) parties involved must willfully turn towards the other and activate that potential or the relationship will never survive (if it even gets off the ground in the first place). The answer to why we choose to activate some potential and not others is rooted in the mystery of the Soul itself and cannot be found in the stars, or at least, not solely in the stars.

Since by definition a soul mate is one who elicits another's experience of Body-Soul reunification, astrological indication of such in synastric analysis will focus on aspects that stimulate perimeter experience, i.e., increased sensitivity to the presence of Soul just beyond the perimeters of Body. Since it the angles that describe these perimeters, the first indicator to look for are strong angular aspects between the charts. Certainly, conjunctions of one party's planets to the other party's angles is a strong indicator of soul mate potential, especially within proscribed orbs of 1° - 3° for personal planets (Sun to Saturn) and 1° - 2° for transpersonal planets (Chiron to Pluto). Orbs for the luminaries can be extended to 5° although, of course, the tighter orb the more intense the stimulation.

Transpersonal conjunctions indicate the capacity for exciting the Soul of the other party but do not, by themselves, necessarily indicate a personal relationship. Party A's Neptune conjunct Party B's Nadir, for example, may indicate a composer whose music has the power to inspire deep feelings of longing for home and family in the listener. There will need to be other, more intimate indicators in the charts for this to take on the personal dimensions of a soul mate relationship. Squares and tightly orbed sesquiquadrates and semisquares will also indicate significant soul mate potential, as will just about any luminary aspects to the angles irregardless of type. Strong contact between the angles of the charts will be also denote soul mate prospects at play but tend to remain dormant until and unless they are activated by Transits and/or Secondary Progressions. If the angle Ruler of one chart tightly conjuncts or squares the angle of another in this situation then the need for such activation is significantly reduced. If two angle Rulers are in mutual reception then the meaning of those angles become interlocked whether the angles themselves make any contact at all.

Stelliums of one party's planets in the other party's Angular Houses can function just like a planetary conjunction to the Angle itself although it may manifest as an imbalance in the relationship that must first be worked through before the full potential of the soul mate connection can be realized. Remember that these are real human beings we are discussing and that any stimulation of the Body-Soul perimeters will resonate throughout one's total experience. The conjunction of Party A's Venus to Party B's Ascendant may most strongly manifest in Party B's increased sense of personal beauty in Party A's presence but all the other angles, or Fields of Life, will experience the outgrowth of this sense as well.

The second set of indicators that one looks for are aspects to the other party's nodes (both lunar and planetary), by the planets first of all then by the angles and lastly the first party's lunar nodes. Although the lunar nodes have been used in Western Astrology for centuries, their interpretation as an axis of karmic intent was only found in Indian Vedic astrology until the late 1800's when certain prominent astrologers, influenced by Theosophy, introduced it to the West.

The lunar nodes are derived by the intersection of the plane of the ecliptic (the path of the Sun) with the orbit of the Moon; in other words, they pinpoint where the Moon and Sun would have to be located to line up with the Earth in such way as to create lunar and solar eclipses. What some students of astrology are not aware of is that all of the planets have nodes because one can determine where their orbits intersect with the plane of the ecliptic just as one can do with the Moon. Some astrological software programs like Solar Fire, v. 5, include the planetary nodes in their computations. What all of the nodes show us is the development of the Soul over time within its current cycle of experience so that the South (Lunar) or Descending (Planetary) Nodes reveal the Soul's evolution up to the beginning of this lifetime and the North (Lunar) or Ascending (Planetary) Nodes reveal the intent the Soul has for its direction in the future.

The Moon represents the emotional center of one's personality, its instincts, habits, and unquestioned existential assumptions; the raw, unformed ego-state of personality that serves as one's initial selfhood until (and unless) one can grow into one's individuated Sun self. This is the realm of reaction and untested, visceral perceptions of reality. Its nodes generate emotional impressions of where the Soul has been and where it is going.

Aspects between one partner's planets and the other's South Lunar Node stir up distant memories of feelings and instinct past, indicating either an actual karmic connection from a previous lifetime or something terribly reminiscent of one. The hard aspects especially produce patterns of energy and curiosity between two people, as do conjunctions by the Luminaries, by excitement-producing Mars and Uranus, and by the ultimate indicator of karmic obligation, Saturn. Aspects to the partner's North Node are not so easily felt, representing what could be should the two decide to join forces over a considerable period of time.

My uses of the planetary nodes have been inspired and influenced by the brilliant pioneering work of eminent astrologer, Jeffrey Wolf Green. Strong aspects, especially tight conjunctions, oppositions, and squares, of one partner's planets and/or angles to the Descending Nodes of the other's personal planets (Mercury, Venus, and Mars) are significant indicators of soul mate connection and likely involvement in previous lifetimes. The actual pre-incarnate contact between the two parties strengthens the experience of soulfulness in the relationship exactly because the source of that contact lies outside one's current bodily perimeters. This works in much the same way that meeting an old and close high school friend after an absence of some twenty or thirty years evokes not only the feelings and memories associated with those years together but also an enhanced sense of life's meaning in general through comparison of where we were then and where we are now. These contacts put us in touch with a deeper dimension of life than we could experience within either of those points in time by themselves. The reason we use only the nodes of the innermost planets is because those of the planets from Jupiter on out move too slowly to be of much use in analysis of personal relationships. Contacts to those nodes do indicate prior life overlap but more in the impersonal sense of membership in the same tribe, village, society, or era.

Angular contacts to the nodes describe a potential (and potentially powerful) karmic connection between two individuals but they must be activated by strong transits and/or progressions (preferably some of each) or they will lay dormant and never generate even a single spark of interest. Even then the relationship must typically be held together by other chart factors for this contact to fully manifest. Contact by aspect between the two sets of lunar nodes are much like the angular contacts, also requiring activation, but the involvement, while still karmic, tends to be more impersonal in nature, an indicator of two people working together on a common project. By itself this does not indicate soul mate contact although it may reinforce other chart factors that do. So far in my experience, I have not been able to ascribe much significance to contact between planetary nodes; perhaps in time.

All contact between planets and nodes or between the nodes themselves can have their particular meanings for their particular relationships better highlighted by locating their place within the quadrants and houses of the other party, thus clarifying their relationship to the angles. If Party B's South Lunar Node is in their natal Second House, for example, it is in a fixed relationship to the Ascendant, emerging from this Soul's struggle to establish a permanent sense of identity that will not fade or change with time. If Party A's Saturn conjuncts Party B's South Node, Party A unwittingly takes on the responsibility for helping Party B in this task whether it is good for either of them or not. If Party A's Saturn is natally in their own Eleventh House, where it is in fixed relationship to their own Midheaven, Party A's concern for maintaining a solid reputation among all of his/her social contacts gets tested whenever Party B is feeling insecure about their identity and acts out that insecurity in public.

The astrologer conducting the analysis must determine for him/herself the degree and intensity to which the angles and nodes are being excited; the rule of thumb is that the higher the level of excitation the greater the potential for soul mate contact between the parties concerned.

Significant synastric planetary aspect sets (planetary pairings) include the Luminaries, i.e., the Sun and Moon, Venus and Pluto, Venus and Saturn, Moon and Pluto, Moon and Saturn, and, on occasion, Sun and Pluto, and Moon and Neptune. Conjunctions between the luminaries are especially significant, most particularly if in tight orb (3° or less) and if involving one partner’s Moon and the other’s Sun. Although some astrologers recommend that the latter works best if between the male partner’s Sun and the female partner’s Moon, I have not found in actual experience that this seems to matter all that much (besides the fact that this seems to assume a heterosexual bias unfair to those of alternative preference).

Perhaps the transitional nature of gender roles in modern society has softened the need for rigid sex typing in relationships or perhaps relationship has always operated according to its own set of rules apart from the society as a whole. I do not know. What I am certain of is that the union of the two primary principles of human existence makes for a powerful draw if the two people involved choose to make use of its potential.

Despite the ramblings of sun-sign astrology, however, the Moon is the more important factor of the two in terms of relationship ties in that it represents the need and capacity for nurturing, security, instinct, and bonding. The Sun is more individualistic and self-determining, attracted to the Moon primarily because it sees there its own reflected light. Sun -- Sun contacts indicate the potential of the relationship to enhance or frustrate one’s capacity for joy and passion while Moon -- Moon contacts indicate how the relationship addresses common needs for emotional fulfillment. Contact between Sun and Moon, therefore, combine possibilities for joy and fulfillment, stimulating one’s complete range of experience in the Body and its perimeter contact with the Soul much in the way that water, by filling a balloon, makes the separating membrane more sensitive to what lies beyond.

Saturn has long been designated as the planet to represent the human experience of the Body’s perimeters. As the outermost of the original seven planets in pre-modern astrology/astronomy it symbolized the very nature of limitation and mortality, its circuit corresponding to the boundary between Life and Death, between the human and the divine, between Body and Soul. Contact, therefore, between one party’s personal planets and the other party’s Saturn indicates a capacity for the relationship to use the realm of the intimate to get in touch with the soulful beyond. Make no mistake, Saturn also presides over such matters as discipline and hard work, commitment and the building of solid foundations, all aspects of life having to do with the bottom line, the undeniable basic realities of this world that must be attended to for survival’s sake.

Synastric aspects to Saturn can indicate the potential for a relationship to achieve a lasting structure. As an indicator of soul mate connection, however, one is primarily concerned with how it stimulates an awakened consciousness of depths ranging outside of one’s normal terrestrial experience. The feminine (i.e., receptive) planets of the Moon and Venus are especially open and sensitive to utilizing Saturnine aspects in a fashion conducive to the creation of soul mate relationships, although the Saturn partner must be careful not to crush this potential with an excess of bluntness or cold facts."

Aspects between the Sun and Saturn may indicate a karmic connection but not necessarily of the soul mate variety. Pluto is the planet that symbolizes the realm of the Soul itself and of that Soul’s long evolutionary journey through multiple lifetimes. Contacts between Venus and Pluto can ignite fierce passions and obsessions because they seek, through the medium of relationship, to strip away pretense and all other barriers to living life as fully in tune with the Soul as possible. Understand here that Soul" is not a nebulous, passionless abstraction but rather the seat of all our fundamental desires and fears, our essential purpose for existence and the will to survive.

Moon-Pluto contacts can likewise elicit fierce emotional struggles and loyalties, often simultaneously. Occasionally Sun-Pluto contacts between charts can act as supporting factors to soul mate relationships by evoking a great sense of power within the coupling although this aspect should not be used alone as an adequate indicator of soul mate potential. It does not carry the necessary personal focus for such. In the same fashion Moon-Neptune contacts can sometimes act as supporting aspects by virtue of arousing an emotional connection to the formless realms beyond the limits of bodily experience. Whether this leads to a sense of deep communion or an orientation towards relational addiction (and many other manifestations of this planetary combination) is largely up to the people involved.

Again, as with the nodes, studying the quadrants and houses in which these aspects take place will add depth and specificity of meaning as they are related back to the angular perimeters between our experience of ourselves as Body or Soul. Consider, also, whether any of these planetary aspects involve angular rulers as that will increase the stimulation to the angles and, once again, promote potential for soul mate contact.

In Part I of this article, I have outlined a rudimentary introduction to the process for determining soul mate contact between two individuals based solely on synastric comparison of the natal charts. It takes time to work with this material to see for yourself how accurately it can reveal the potential for powerful and meaningful relationships that have the capacity to elicit deeper feelings and sensations than any other.

There is no such thing, however, as simply proclaiming person A and B to be soul mates and persons C and D to be otherwise because, in the end, all natal charts reveal are possibilities. We walk around and interact with people almost every day with whom we share at least some of the necessary elements to create a soul mate relationship. To understand why some potential gets activated and some does not we need to better comprehend the contribution of timing to the mix.

posted September 07, 2008 02:06 PM            

The birth of a child, our first kiss, a new job promotion, and the day of the wedding: all real life matters that involve timing, whether of the variety that requires prior planning or of the unscheduled type whose effects we must measure later. Timing has remained a central preoccupation of astrology since its inception; it was, after all, born out of a desire to make better use of the natural cycles for agricultural purposes (in accordance with the regular rhythmic movements of the stars and planets throughout the solar year). Our calendrical system and clocks are based on the heavens. A year is the time it takes for the Earth to orbit once around the sun and a day the time it takes for the Earth to make one complete rotation on its axis. The month was originally based on the orbit of the moon about the Earth and a week of seven days was designated so that each day was named after the planet that presided over it (some of these names have been replaced by Germanic gods -- such as Venus’s day of Friday named in English after her Germanic counterpart, Freya -- and some remain close to their Roman roots such as Saturn’s namesake, Saturday). These systems were developed in companionship with astrology to better structure human society and actions in precise coordination with the movements and meanings of the stars.

When considering the place of timing in relationships we are looking to uncover the factors capable of activating the potential evident between any two individuals’ charts. You might think of a forest fire here, preceded by conditions of, say, drought and its resultant dryness, abundance of fuel (timber) and oxygen, just awaiting the introduction of the final element, heat, in the form of a heat wave or careless match perhaps, to set the whole region ablaze. Of course, a sudden rainstorm that interrupts the drought and stops the fire before it even gets started is also a matter of timing. These simple metaphors only just begin to touch on the complexity of human relationships where we typically find multiple timing factors pulling the nascent partnership in different directions at the same time.

We know from our experience that all matters of timing break down ultimately into one of two different types: subjective and objective. These terms are, albeit, a bit simplistic for describing the range of factors involved but they will, for our purposes here, suffice. Subjective timing refers to the personal developmental aspect, i.e., what we encounter in life merely because we are ready or primed to do so.

Each individual enters this world with an innate timetable of personal growth hardwired into us. It may be encoded genetically or that may be only part of the story, our science is still too young to tell us for sure, but either way it reveals through the medium of time the intent our Soul has for expressing itself on this occasion of bodily existence. To explain what I mean I refer to the early novels of author, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., and to one of his favorite creations, the alien race of the Tralfalmadorians. Appearing in several of Vonnegut’s works of fiction such as Slaughterhouse Five and The Sirens of Titan, the Tralfalmadorians are a race of beings that see and move about in four dimensions just as easily as humans see and move about in three. We are all familiar with the three spatial dimensions of length, width and breadth but physicist Albert Einstein posited that the fourth dimension might be time. It is common to think of space and time as being two entirely separate things but what the eminent scientist was suggesting is that time may be actually be an extension of space, another way that space "behave" besides the three ways we know so well.

Using this concept, Vonnegut created an alien species that look at humans, for example, and see multi-legged creatures existing simultaneously from birth to death in all their many manifestations throughout a given lifetime. How they appear as a child, what they look and act like as a teen, the person they become when they get married or first parent a child, and on through the many phases of a lifetime until the moment that they leave this earth for points beyond -- all captured at a single glance. Tralfalmadorians see time, or, perhaps more accurately, they see in time. If Dr. Einstein is right, if time is just another extension of space, are we then fated from birth? Do we meet our death at the same second that we take our first breath? For Vonnegut’s aliens this is pretty much the way it is and they accordingly practice a philosophy of life detached from concern about events that, as far as they are concerned, have already happened, are going to happen, and are even now happening concurrently. The author’s point, however, is to contrast the very strangeness of the Tralfalmadorians’ experience to the way that humans must live, to underscore the impossibility of the same kind of detachment for a race who cannot see in time and must therefore make choices with unknown consequences. When I said earlier, therefore, that we are born with an innate timetable of personal growth hardwired into us.

I did not mean to say that our paths are fated but rather that we come here with plans and purposes already laid out, and that if we could see as the Tralfalmadorians do we would see our entire lifetime of purpose at a single glance. It is this lifetime of purpose that astrologers analyze when we study somebody’s secondary progressions.

The astrological technique of erecting and interpreting secondary progressed charts is an old one, reflecting an ancient realization that birth is only the beginning of the journey -- not its destination. The methodology for creating such a horoscope is fairly simple and is embodied in the phrase, "a year for a day". Take a look at an ephemeris for the period immediately following an individual’s entrance into this world and progress the planets forward exactly one day for every year of life. For example, if you are 22.5 years old you will note by sign and degree where the planets were located 22.5 days following the moment of your birth and that is where they will be located in your progressed chart.

If you want to make a rough estimate of where the progressed sun should be at any given time without using an ephemeris you can approximate its movement to a degree a day. If you are 30 years old, therefore, you can add 30 degrees to your sun’s natal position to get a general idea of its progressed position. For accuracy it should be noted that the sun moves at different speeds at different times of the year so only an ephemeris, or an astrological software program, can help you to determine its actual location. What the secondary progressions reveal to us are the unfolding story of one’s birth, the internal storyline of our one’s entire stay on the planet for any given lifetime. We are highly impressionable during our first three to four months of life and absorb everything around us like sponges in a remarkably accelerated fashion never equaled again. During that period we formulate the basic ideas of reality that we spend the rest of our lives working out in actual experience. As we grow older that first year our sense of time and capacity to learn slow till we settle on a time schedule that associates the two primary solar cycles we’ve become familiar with, the day and the year. By then the fundamental template for the current lifetime has been formed at the deepest and most hidden levels of the individual’s mind. The brain has received the primary programming out of which all other life experience will derive. The secondary progressed chart, therefore, helps us to access this meta-program so that we might better understand our own role in creating the events we are currently experiencing. We do so not in isolation but, rather, in tandem with events impressed upon us by objective reality, which exists apart from our own designs or desires, an act of co-creation that emphasizes our choices and that has no predestined outcome.

Objective reality takes place outside of any individual’s complete personal control although people groups of various sizes and compositions (local communities, voluntary associations, movements, political parties, religious groups, companies, nations, societies, etc.) can have a very great influence upon that reality and certain individuals, by having impact on those groups, can do the same. Levels of influence vary greatly so that while a political leader may have powerful sway over the country they rule they may have little to no effect whatsoever over the evolution of the species.

The observation and analysis in astrology of transits, the continuing movements of the planets in relation to each other and to any particular chart of choosing, tell us from a planetary perspective what is going on in objective reality and the impact it is likely to have. In the field of synastry, the transits can tell us when opportunities might arise to meet others, what kind of relationship issues we may need to address or the conditions under which certain types of relationships might be formed or perpetuated with greater or lesser success. The degree to which individuals simply react mindlessly to transits or, on the contrary, proactively use them to further their goals indicates the individual’s extent of self-direction. This is a good determination to make from the start for any form of astrological counseling since the whole purpose of what we do is to train our clients to become ever more self-directed. The precise manner in which we respond to these transits will in large part be shaped by whatever we are ready to experience as indicated by the secondary progressions. They act as a filter for the experiences that the transits impress upon us from the outside.
When looking for astrological indicators of soul mate contact, therefore, we must take factors of timing into account.

Look now to the progressed chart and compare it to its natal corollary. What do you see? The faster moving planets, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, and perhaps Mars, will all have noticeably progressed in location from their natal positions. The Moon, especially, makes one complete circuit of the chart approximately every 27.5 years or about 13 degrees a year. Depending on the age of the chart subject, the progressed Moon may have already completed a circuit or two and be on its second or third way around.

The progressed lunar cycles are central in all matters of timing but especially so matters of human relations. They outline the emotional conditions and developing ego-state of an individual for the period of time in question, central determinants in assessing a person’s capacity for a given relationship. If, for example, the progressed Moon is in hard aspect to progressed or natal Saturn, the person may be feeling lonely and isolated, or even depressed. A person in such a state is more likely to miss new relationship opportunities due to the preoccupation with self that such a condition engenders, or simply because they want to be alone.

posted June 01, 2011 01:34 AM            

My South Node Leo is in my 9th House which is in Leo and my potential lover's 5th House in Leo, Jupiter Leo Retrograde is positioned in my 9th House.

My potential lover's North Node is in his 1st House North Node Taurus Retrograde and Ascending Taurus falls in my 6th House which resides Saturn Taurus 15 degrees Retrograde ~Avatar~.

Also his South Node Scorpio, Descendant Scorpio and Neptune in Scorpio is in his 7th House which also falls in my 12th House where Venus, Mars 15 degrees Retrograde ~Avatar~, and Jupiter all in Scorpio are placed.

Lastly, my Ascendant Sagittarius and Neptune Sagittarius is in my 1st House and it falls in my lover's 8th House where his Moon in Sagittarius is placed. My Descendant in Gemini is in my 7th and my lover's 2nd House Gemini and 3rd House Gemini is placed in my 7th House.

I hope I am describing our placements correctly, I'm learning astrology, so I may not be describing clearly these placements. So can you tell me if we are soul mates? All through our charts the signs in the house correlate with each other. Say for instance my 8th House has Cancer in it, well his 4th House has IC Cancer positioned
in my 8th House. So I'm wondering if any of this is possible.

Thank you for you insights.

Oracle
Capricorn Sun
So these placements mean we are soul mates?