posted August 30, 2003 08:25 AM         

I really can't say that I am into astrology professionally, but I have done quite some charts and there is one area I found to be most interesting ... love, or synastry.

Now, here is my question and although it is adressed to the advanced students of synastry or even the professionals, I think you all can help me: it is about the synastry chart itself. To be more specific, I don't know which chart to use, as it seems that different couples react in a different way to every chart! First I do both charts separately, just to see what every partner wants out of a relationship. Then I do a combined chart - you know: his Venus in my fifth house, squares my Sun etc. - to see how they match. A very experienced astrologer gave me the advice to do the equidistance chart (I hope I got that one right) and to interpret it separately. It is the chart where you find the mid-date of to persons, mid-time and mid-place of birth and do a new chart. This chart is supposed to work even if two people do not have a relationship yet and it is supposed to be very accurate. I have not found this to be true, but this may be just because I have been doing the synastry charts only 2 years, so I do not have much experience.
Then I found about the composite chart, even a little interpretation help and this chart seemed to make more sense. The composite chart is the mid-point of two charts and should work only with couples that are already together (define, please, being together!?).

So, what do you all think? Which chart worked best for you and which one could be described as the most precise one? Or should I dismiss the charts completely and try something different?

posted August 31, 2003 06:10 PM         

I only do the latter type myself, and find it very accurate.

posted August 31, 2003 07:32 PM         

To be honest, I have found that the simple chart works best. I have done over 50 charts of couples and most of the time the results were - more or less - correct. The composite chart is quite new to me and I do not know where to start with the analysis. The equidistant chart has a interpretation path of it's own, which I find very hard to understand (so I do not use it).

I guess that the composite or the equidistant chart could be proved correct when analyzing a couple that has been living or married for some amount of time. This has some difficulties; for example: my father was born in 1948 in February and his birth certificate states one DAY, but my grandmother claims she gave birth the day AFTER. So most of the people born before 1960 do not even have the correct day, not to mention the accurate time! And how to make a proper chart without the basics?

The 'classic' synastry chart has been most accurate, but puzzles me sometimes. I have done a chart for a couple who is happily married over 20 years (so it seems) and the only thing they have connecting them is a Venus/Saturn trine and a Jupiter/Sun square. I do not see how this can be enough. I have done a chart of two people who have the strongest aspects I have ever seen - and they never really 'connected'. While doing this second chart I did the composite chart and noticed that they have a Saturn/Venus conjunction. Although the only 'negative' aspect, this was obviously quite enough to destroy a potentially good relationship.

Could you please give me some advice what to look for in a couples chart? I have always used the Sun/Moon pattern; the Venus/Mars; the Mercury/Jupiter and the Saturn/Uranus - not to mention Asc and Mc. Is there something important I might be missing?

One more question: the orbs for an aspect is usually somewhere around 7 degrees. If a man has f.e. his Sum in Cancer, the 20th degree and a woman her Moon also in Cancer, but in the 5th degree, should I interpret it as an conjunction or dismiss it? I have found that planets in the same sign, tend to reflect the meaning of an conjunction, although sometimes more than 20 degrees apart. I know that this aspect would be stronger if closer, but even the furthest conjunction sometimes work. Trines, squares and other major aspects work only when close, as far as I could figure out.

posted September 01, 2003 10:56 AM         

When I get a reading request, I also look at the transits of the individuals involved. I often find that the question is prompted by a transit in one of the individuals cahrts, and has nothing to do with the realtionship chart.

LLLOG@yahoo.com

posted December 11, 2003 06:44 PM         

Synastry.

posted December 11, 2003 10:58 PM         

I'm not a professional astrologist but have been dabbling for about 25 years. The best proof of which works best is strictly through experience. I too wasn't aware of the composite until relatively recently.

I had a 15-year-long on/off "thing" with a guy I was convinced was my soulmate. I asked a couple of astrologer's to tell me what they saw and doing a regular comparison of angles & so forth, OH... it's an amazing relationship! You know, the planets seemed to complement each other so well, etc.

It's been a few years since that whole thing ended for good. When I started experimenting with the composite, I used THAT relationship as well as a few more, some good, some bad to see if the composite would be accurate OVERALL.

Know what I mean? Like you KNOW the answer already because you know how the relationship ended up and what was learned from it, etc. So it's testing the composite to see if it concurs.

And it did...

Frighteningly accurate...

I think as Lanny says that the transits are important too. But to see the relationship as if it were a 3rd entity is therapeutic in the sense that the couple can think of it as the "vehicle" that each is a co-driver and co-mechanic too. It allows them to get outside of themselves a little bit and helps them see, OH! THIS is what I need to do to contribute to this relationship to make this machine run smoothly.

That's my take...

with love & support,

.gloria

posted December 13, 2003 12:53 PM         

PLUS that one relationship will not be that relationship back to yourself or give you any hidden insights into your own personality, or relationships with work, family, friends. It's good to do an indepth reading first of the individual, and then with co-workers, family and friends before the love relationship one.

It's wrong to say you can give a relationship reading without an individual one, or without focusing on relationships going on now. How do you know that your client doesn't have two other relationships that are "the one" that they have forgotten about, or are idling by and want the newest hottest latest thing? It's up the astrologer to give some restraint, because no one has that much insight into their own personality.

The perfect relationship is there waiting for you in your head, just as soon as you tap into what you need which is about self analysis. But there is no way with astrology having everything to do with the "occult" and having an image of "magic" that anyone wants to wait that long. It's basic to give that restraint and do the invidual report first.

PLUS I have found that 99% of the time the hot new relationship is a coverup for other issues the client does not want to face, new job, house, car, finances, or old relationship which is idling.

I know because I've been there. It's impossible to distance the psychological aspect and the image of astrology from the actual science, but once that's done the reading can be very detached as it must be. That's my take.

Overall patterns must be recognized too right off, rather than individual aspects. The entire chart has to be viewed with birthtime, overall life stages and basic health has to be viewed.