In astrology, love compatibility analysis can be as simple or as complex as you choose to make it. One of the joys of astrology is how mastering one technique leads to another, and so it is with synastry too. Moving far beyond birth sign compatibility, one of the more advanced techniques astrologers can use to determine romantic compatibility is to use a composite chart.
A composite chart is created by calculating the mid points between each pair of planets in both partners’ charts. Astrologers will take your Moon position, for instance, and your lover’s Moon position, draw an imaginary line between them and mark the middle point on that line. That new point is now treated as the “composite Moon” and is believed to represent the relationship’s own Moon – effectively we are treating your relationship as a living entity in its own right. Repeat for all of the other planets and astrological points, and there you go – a whole new chart for your relationship. Astrology love compatibility is based on how the blended energies of each partner’s planetary positions affect the other partner, but I’m sure we all know people whose relationship “takes on a life of its own”.
This new composite chart can tell us all sorts of interesting things about your relationship. It will tell us how other people see your relationship (which is often very different to how you both see it). It can tell us how your relationship grows, and what limitations and responsibilities hold it back. It can also tell us about your shared goals and experiences, and about what you as a couple want and need. It will give us an overall flavour of your relationship, as if your partnership has a personality all of its own – which it does. This type of chart can be a powerful use for astrology – love compatibility is a vital issue in all of our lives, but for many people who are only used to sun sign horoscopes, astrological compatibility is a misunderstood and much maligned art.
A composite chart is perhaps at is most useful when you’re in an established relationship and want to improve how you work together as a team or as a family. In astrology, love compatibility can and does change as your relationship matures and as you discover more and more about each other. We often pull in opposing directions over issues like family finances or parenting, but understanding a relationship’s composite chart can help two partners find a middle way, a compromise, a common ground that they are both happy with.
There’s also a certain sense of karma about most composite charts. Although most astrologers believe in free will, it’s uncanny how often a couple’s composite chart reveals so much about how their relationship is “destined” to evolve. Because this chart is effectively imaginary, we don’t put much emphasis on the actual zodiac signs in its interpretation – astrologers will be more interested in which houses the planets fall in, and in how close the planets are to important angles in the chart. Composite charts are a fascinating and useful tool for anyone interested in relationship astrology; love compatibility takes on a whole new light when viewed through the lens of a relationship as an entity.
If you have a question about composite charts, or indeed any astrology compatibility question, don’t forget that you can ask our astrologer. We welcome questions of any kind, and we do our best to publish a representative selection of them. If you already know a little about astrology, love compatibility, birth sign compatibility and synastry, we highly recommend researching composite chart technique to give yourself a completely different angle on your relationship.