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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
