Sometimes it’s hard to remember just how you felt about relationships before you got into astrology! Probably – like most of us – you suffered a lot of disappointment when friends and lovers behaved in a way that seemed alien to you and which you couldn’t understand.
Because it’s difficult to stand outside of ourselves and put ourselves in other people’s shoes, it’s common to assume that deep down everyone else is much the same as us, and that we all have fairly similar responses to love. So it’s a bit of a shock to discover, when we first start to study astrology, that in reality no two people are completely alike, and the diversity of the human animal is actually pretty huge.
Why Human Beings Are So Complex
Even just learning about star signs – how each sign has its own particular characteristics, strengths and weaknesses – helps us to begin to see more clearly where other people are coming from. Why, for example, earth signs always seem to have their feet on the ground, fire signs are, well, pretty fiery, and those born under a water sign tend to react with greater sensitivity than the more detached and logical air signs.
And then, as we find out more and more about the astrological archetypes, and learn that, in addition to our Sun Sign, we also need to consider the sign placement of nine other planets (including the Moon) as well as our Rising Sign – all of which represent different facets of our personality – the penny starts to drop as to why human beings are so complex!
A Blueprint of Our Life Potential
The birth chart, with its intricate mix of planets positioned in the various signs and ‘houses’ and at specific angular relationships to each other – always subtly different from person to person depending upon the cosmic geometry – can be considered as a blueprint of our life potential.
Deciphering the mathematical code on which this chart is based is the key to revealing the secrets of our horoscope – and the vital clues it gives us about our romantic destiny. Here numbers are of critical significance, the degree positions of our natal planets within the 360° of the Zodiac – and the angular spacing between them – indicating the manner in which they will tend to interact with each other and how they are likely to manifest in our life.
Understanding the Astrological Aspects
The main angles, or ‘aspects’ as they are called in astrology, to be considered in the interpretation of a birth chart include:-
• the conjunction – where two planets are arranged at approximately the same degree – which is based on the number one, the number of unity, and thus the most powerful aspect;
• the opposition – where two planets are arranged at approximately opposite degrees – which is based on the number two, the number of duality, and therefore the aspect of division;
• the trine – with a spacing of approximately 120° between two planets – which is based on the number three, the number of balance, and thus the most harmonizing aspect;
• the square – with a spacing of approximately 90° between two planets – which is based on the number four, the number of conflict, and therefore the most stressful aspect.
When more than one of these major aspects come together to form complex patterns, based either on triangular (easeful) or rectangular (challenging) patterns, things really start to get interesting! The Grand Trine for example, the T-Square, or that most feared, yet actually incredibly energizing configuration, the Grand Cross, all point to an especially fateful life blueprint.
Who Said Mathematics Can't Be Sexy?
Interpreting the birth chart is a matter of investigating its construction layer by layer, gradually solving the clues to an individual’s true identity and romantic potential – and how these differ from the next guy’s – until all the pieces of the cosmic puzzle finally fall into place. The end result can often be surprising – and well worth the effort involved.
The first thing we may note about someone’s Venus, for example, is that it falls in the steady, reliable and down-to-earth sign of Capricorn, which tells us they’re likely to be fairly dependable where love is concerned and approach relationships with a desire for financial and material security.
But then we see that it also forms a square (or stressful) aspect with Mars, the planet of desire, in passionate Aries. This suggests they’re likely to possess a strong sex drive – which might get in the way of their basic need for safety.
And there’s more: because this Venus-Mars square additionally forms a challenging T-Square configuration with Uranus, the planet of experimentation, it becomes increasingly clear that there’s a lot more to our friend’s Venus in Capricorn placement – and their romantic destiny – than might at first appear.
Getting your head around the cosmic geometry upon which this astrological detective work is based may at first seem a bit daunting. But mathematics doesn’t have to be scary – and can actually be quite sexy – now that computers do most of the hard work. The big pay-off is the fascinating insights you’ll gain into yourself, other people, and not least your love life. We guarantee you’ll never see relationships in quite the same way again!
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