Understanding Synastry Can Tell You Everything About Your Astrological Compatibility

If you're curious about your compatibility with another person and you want to consult your birth chart for this purpose, what you're doing is called synastry. By comparing your natal chart with another person, you can potentially discover not only where your compatibilities lie, but also what areas you'll need to work on. You might even find out you're not compatible at all, and won't that save you a lot of heartache?

To understand synastry, you must first know a little something about reading birth charts. Your natal chart is where you're going to find which traits link you two together, and which ones just might tear you two apart. Interpreting a birth chart isn't always easy for those just beginning to dive into astrology. Once you spend some time getting to know your own chart, however, it can become easier to understand your partner's information.

There are certain parts of the charts you'll want to look at, but you're definitely going to want to keep your eyes out for things like overlapping lines. Here are the aspects that are most important to your reading.

To begin, you can take a look at your sun signs and moon signs to determine how well they play along with each other. Understanding this can help when it comes time to take a deeper dive into the aspects of your chart for synastry. When you're ready to analyze the aspects, you're going to want to look at these five things — the trine, conjunction, sextile, opposition, and square.

A trine happens when two planets are 120 degrees apart. A conjunction is when you both have planets in the same sign, and a sextile happens when two planets are within a 60-degree angle of one another. An opposition happens when a zodiac sign or planet is on the opposite side of the chart, and a square is when two planets are 90 degrees from each other.

You'll find the most positive aspects of relationship potential in trine and sextile. On the opposite end, you can determine where your difficulties in a relationship may lie — and where you'll need the most work — in opposition and square. Conjunctions can go either way, as it all depends on the planets that are in conjunction and their aspects.

Trines and sextiles are harmonious, and in synastry readings, it means that the two of you will get along well together. However, too much harmony can lead to boredom. If you don't want every day to feel exactly the same, you'll need to work on spicing things up.

Conjunctions can create harmony or disharmony — two planets that don't pair well in conjunction can mean future problems. When opposition comes into play, you're looking at someone who could be your exact opposite. Think of them as a magnet — you're easily attracted to one another, but there's also a tendency for your deep connection to cause drama. A square in your synastry can cause a power struggle when you both want to be in charge.

The closeness of certain planets and signs can play a significant role as well. Water signs are emotional, air signs are open communicators, earth signs focus on belongings and monetary items, and fire signs tend to be short-tempered and confident. Adding in planetary meanings, like the expansive Jupiter, emotional moon, creative and masculine sun, and destructive Pluto — just to name a few — can ramp up passion, love, drama, or anger. Look closely at each sign and planet, no matter where they land on your charts.