Tom Jones & Madonna's - Io Relationship Composite

THE SUN
The composite Sun, like the Sun in a natal chart, is the heart of the relationship and its primary drive and focus. The sign in which it falls will color the entire relationship, as many of the important events in the relationship will occur when transiting bodies are in this sign. If it is strong in its house position and supported by good aspects from other bodies, the relationship will have a solid center and will tend to sustain itself despite the buffets of adversity. If it is poorly aspected or in a difficult house position, the relationship will be easily damaged and difficult to repair as the natural cyclical transits will tend to reinforce negative qualities of the relationship rather than positive. The Sun's primary quality is restorative drive, the general impetus toward life and its sustenance, rather than any specific traits or areas of endeavor such as are represented by the planets. Therefore its placement will tell the overall thrust and style of the relationship and how well it bears up under fire, rather than give the details of just how it will do so. A badly placed Sun can mean a relationship that is almost certain to fail, because wounds to the partnership won't heal themselves. A very well-placed Sun can mean a relationship that sustains and resuscitates itself so well that it may even be difficult to get out of should either partner choose to do so (as might be the case if the planetary aspects were very difficult or if the two natal charts themselves were in great conflict). It is the driving engine of the relationship and everything else orbits around it and derives life from its energy.


SUN in CANCER
Composite sun in Cancer underpins this relationship with a great deal of intensity which can mean great heights of passion in a love relationship or great commitment and brotherhood in other kinds. It definitely takes itself very seriously and that is both its joy and its risk. If things are going well, fine; when they're not, they can be destructive to both partners. This is a very good kind of relationship to be able to stand back from and, as it were, dip into as long as it proceeds well. If problems arise, be ready to step outside the persona of the relationship and become individuals again where reason can prevail (unless both have sun in Cancer, in which case this strategy may be impossible). This also tends to be an exclusive kind of relationship that knowingly or unknowingly emotionally shuts others out. Just remember that there is an uncompromising joy in making the two of you the entire world. When you wall others out, you wall yourself in. Just make sure each have an escape route: the safety of knowing the route is there makes your ability to enjoy the intensity of exclusivity all the greater.


The Composite Moon
The symbolism of the composite Moon in a relationship is that of reflection - not in the sense of intellectual deliberation or thoughtful rumination but much more literally, reflective like a mirror. Whereas the Sun represents the primal, outgoing energy in the relationship, the Moon shows how the relationship reacts to situations once they have been presented to it. When someone approaches you with an idea, do you react to it, criticize it, laugh at it or with it? Steal it? Ignore it? Expand upon it? Extending this logic, it, of course means how you feel about a situation, the process and style in which your emotions are stirred. The things to which you react include each other, so the position of the composite Moon will be critical to the emotional well-being and functionality of the relationship, independent of your individual natures. Thus, a well-placed and well-supported composite Moon can lend clarity and cooperation to the most confused and befuddled people who might never expect to get along; whereas an afflicted composite Moon can throw dissension and conflict into the lives of the most well-adjusted and easy-going persons who normally get along with everybody. This is, of course, because this reflective, emotional effect is largely subconscious, and because it does not emanate from either of you in the usual way, you are unfamiliar with its style and rhythms. This accounts for a lot of the "magic" - both good and bad - that is associated with relationships. On the positive side, it can mean a relationship that seems to heal one or both of you and just makes everything go right that didn't before. This is a marvelous feeling but one that can lead to a mistaken dependency on your partner as the source of the improvement when it is actually the relationship itself that should get the credit. On the opposite side it can lead to mutual blame for making things worse when the fault lies with neither of you but in the structure of the situation itself. The great advantage of having the details of the composite chart available to you is that you can better differentiate the strengths and weaknesses of the situation from those which may lie within yourselves. The former you will have to work around on the exterior, the latter you will have to work from within. In tandem with the Sun, the Moon and its position will make or break most relationships. If the Sun and Moon are well-placed and well- aspected, the relationship is anything from a good bet to a sure thing, regardless of the other positions and problems that need to be worked out. If the Sun and Moon are badly positioned or afflicted, it will be an uphill fight all the way, and one that either or both of you may choose to set aside unless you feel compelled to spend a great deal of time, energy, and emotion rising to the challenge. Life is about choices, and here especially the composite chart can help supply the data you need to aid you in your selection.


MOON in LEO
It can be easy to have a good time with this relationship, both alone with each other and in the company of others. Your initial style, when given the choice, is fun-loving and inclusive and is inclined to be entertaining shedding light and warmth on your surroundings. Thus, you may find yourselves in social demand as other gravitate to you for cheer and a good time. In general, this is a prescription for happiness, although others may impinge on your privacy, and thus your communication with each other. Reserve some special time together to sort out exactly how it is you feel about each other and the given situation and you will be able to maneuver more effectively without needlessly dispersing your energy. The problem here can be that there might be a tendency to be too all-encompassing and take in more emotional space than you can easily process, thus hampering your ability to understand and control what you are experiencing. In short, don't bite off more than you can chew and you won't get indigestion. With that caveat, almost anything you choose to let yourself get into will turn toward the positive and will reflect well on yourselves and those around you. It is a relationship you can both come to for a fresh, positive and more childlike view of your existence.


THE COMPOSITE MERCURY
Mercury in the composite chart represents the mutual meeting of minds, or lack of it, between you. It also represents your ability to communicate to others as a couple or as individuals. In the first instance, in which the position symbolizes the shore between two intellects, it will be important to know what kind of communication goes on: by style, substance, and action (sign, house, and aspect). A well-placed Mercury will mean that you can put clearly into words what you mean to say to each other, and such a position can be of great help in alleviating emotional problems that may not easily come to the surface. If you can both say how you feel, you've gone a long way towards being able to change. On the other hand, a badly placed Mercury can have the opposite effect, stirring up emotional problems where there were none by simply getting communications wires crossed. In a professional relationship this can mean all sorts of pointless starts and stops because of faulty information, particularly in an increasingly information-oriented society. The position of Mercury therefore becomes increasingly critical in relationships in general. Its placement also describes how you communicate as a duo with the public at large, so herein lies further opportunities for good or ill. Well-placed, it will mean that you may be able to get yourself across to the world at large through the relationship rather than on your own. Where there are difficulties here, it may be better to speak your own piece and not let the relationship represent you. Nevertheless, knowing the situation in advance can help enormously, as you won't have to learn the communications value of the relationship by trial and error or blame each other for problems that arise from what is essentially a third party with its own horoscope, the relationship itself. Rather, you can take advantage of the best that it offers and avoid what looks like trouble by one or both of you pulling back on your own to handle problems the relationship does not cope with well.


MERCURY in LEO
You may find that spacious and optimistic thinking is a notable trait of this relationship, a kind of infectious cheer that can carry others along with you. That's a pretty good characteristic, but you should be careful that your optimism is justified, particularly if you intend to bank on it later. That's even more important if you're going to be influencing others in the same direction. Whatever the situation, you will likely be able to put an upward-looking spin on your view of things, perhaps more so than you might do individually, so the relationship can make you feel up when you are down and let you share the brighter side of things, even when you think there isn't one. The only things you are likely to neglect in your communications skills are the nitty-gritty details; the little touches that make the deal airtight or give a conversation a specific personal touch. You may have to make a special effort to do that individually, should the details get lost in the shuffle when you are together with your sights set on broader, more general goals. Similarly, it can be easy to confuse others' goals and intentions with your own and thus make incorrect assumptions about what they are really trying to say. Make the effort to stand back and look at what you are saying as someone else would; this can be easily solved without losing the intellectual energy and drive of the relationship.


THE COMPOSITE VENUS
The planet Venus represents desire, attraction, what you physically and emotionally desire and as a composite position describes where your desires meet and either blend or conflict, or a bit of both. This is too often applied to love interests alone, although it covers them as well. It means everything you desire - money, position, beautiful things, property, friends, lovers, anything that you want and believe if you get it, will make you happy. It also has another side which is your ability to appear to provide just such fulfillment for others, thus symbolizing personal charm, beauty, attractiveness, wealth, and so on. It's the two-way wish fulfillment point where dreams are born. When this is viewed between two people as a composite point, it means how and whether you make each other's dreams, on a very basic level, come true. If badly placed, it can mean continual desire and constant disappointment. If strong by position, it will be a buttress to the relationship, as you know you will always get what you want when you come back to it. It is, of course, critical in telling how a sexual relationship will unfold and can spell repeated ecstasy or constant frustration, especially taken in tandem with composite Mars. It also represents how well the relationship as a whole will be able to realize its goals and desires, which will of course be directly connected with its ability to make itself desirable, both of which are described by this composite point. Thus, an afflicted composite Venus is a double indemnity, because it usually prevents either of you from getting what you want out of each other, and it means the relationship will not get what it wants, either. Conversely, a well-aspected composite Venus is like a gift from above, as it means mutual success and satisfaction all around. In judging the overall success of a relationship, this is indeed a very important position.


VENUS in CANCER
This is a very steamy position for Venus and will make you get very emotionally wrapped up in getting what you want and thus will heighten the level of everything from spiritual longing to physical lust. Realizing your desires, will provide tremendous interior release. Part of the reason for some delays or disappointments may be in a certain inability to communicate to others or each other exactly what it is you desire, thus making it difficult to bring to fulfillment. Together you have a high level of sensitivity that makes up-front dealing with desires painful, but if you don't express yourselves, no one is going to know how to give you what you want, so bite the bullet and say it out loud; you just might get it! Probably the best approach is to let it out completely or hide it so thoroughly that no one knows it's there and you get it by subterfuge. The middle ground, obvious but unexpressed desire, makes people uncomfortable and will seldom get you your way. This is because of its steam-pressure feeling, which lends a very dramatic sort of attraction to the relationship, somewhat similar to that found in soap operas: a seductive edge where there is little said, but much urgency and a great deal implied.


THE COMPOSITE MARS
Mars represents physical and emotional energy, and as such the ability and inclination to get things done, to fulfill desire by taking action. By itself it is really just raw energy, and its placement, particularly in relation to the other bodies in the chart, describes where and how well this energy will be directed. As a composite point, it describes how your two energy directions mesh and whether they will reinforce each other or simply get in each other's way. It will tell whether sparks will fly, igniting random and destructive brush fires, or whether a controlled fire will blossom that will become the engine to power and fulfill your desires under your own direction. Its relationship to Venus, particularly in sexual relationships, is critical, as it will describe whether it will fulfill or deny your sexual needs. In both male and female it describes sexual drive as well as assertiveness and ultimately, aggression. Thus, a well positioned composite Mars allows the two of you to unite your energies naturally toward whatever goal you choose, while a difficult placing will put your efforts constantly at odds, wasting your efforts in mutual conflict or confusion when you should be utilizing them otherwise. As with Venus, this can be the greatest natural blessing or a terrible stumbling block. A strong composite Mars can energize and focus two people who are otherwise at sixes and sevens with themselves, and a troublesome one can throw the most balanced performers into disarray as they wonder what hit them to throw them so off balance. Thus, it will be wise to understand this position well so as to know whether to ride it or back off. It will also portray the power potential of the relationship as it exists in the outside world. A strong Mars has the energy to carry others along with it, whereas a disabled one will tend to break down already functioning operations in the relationships' social surroundings. None of this suggests that a difficult Mars means you should forget about the relationship, however, as if one of you is simply put in charge in certain areas, mutually compartmentalizing the energy flow; the ill effect can be largely disenabled, albeit at the price of local inequality. It is something to be considered with care and attention, however, as herein lies much of your self-empowerment and control over your lives.


MARS in GEMINI
A lot of flexibility of action is available to you in this relationship, in which you can literally float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. What you miss in initial hitting power you make up for in your ability to accurately target your efforts when the situation changes. This can apply to emotional changes within the relationship, which you will be able to quickly adapt and also the way in which the partnership delivers the goods in projects and relationships involving others who may change their minds or be moving targets. Take care, however, not to get involved with more commitments than you can handle. Your energies can be spread too thinly and die out before you can bring any one of your intentions into reality. You are particularly suited for implementing communication, either as messengers between people or as support for getting communication projects accomplished. Don't try to be a heavy, as you are too light on your feet to play that role, but take advantage of your ability to manipulate information and situations to your own advantage and you will find the job gets done with ease. Where agility is needed, you will be in your glory, so stick to where your greatest talents and inclinations lie and you'll come out a winner.


THE COMPOSITE JUPITER
Jupiter in any chart represents the capacity for growth and expansion in relation to whatever it is connected. It means bigger, better, newer, faster, higher, and more developed. It is usually looked at only in the positive aspect, but it also has the potential to get out of hand if not checked and directed. The composite chart is the area that your mutual aspiration and inventiveness meet, a point where creativity is strong but which may or may not bring its potentials to fruition, depending upon its placement and how you handle it. Well-aspected it allows you to view realistically and act effectively upon what you determine together to make the relationship a spawning ground of limitless opportunity, more than either of you could manage separately. Debilitated, it can mean overblown expectations that come to nothing, biting off more than you can chew, situations that spiral out of control, and projects that perish under their own weight. But these ills aside, Jupiter usually does more good than harm and under most conditions it is the place to look for blessings. A solid composite Jupiter will mean that you can always look to the relationship to pull each of you up another step when you are stagnating and it will mean that others can look to the two of you for inspiration and new ideas. Where it is difficult, you will have to take the opportunity to restrain yourself now and again and develop only that which you think you can use at the time to avoid wasting your energies on unrealizable goals. It will show you where the big picture is and provide the kind of life overview which the relationship teaches that you might not have discovered on your own. It can be the force that carries you both away with each other and raises you to heights you didn't know you had. Its only danger is allowing the relationship to take over you as individuals. Use it as a resource for each of you to draw on, not the other way round, and it will always pay off for you.


JUPITER in LEO
Your developmental style is generous and outgoing; indeed, it will seem like you were born to produce on a large scale. This gives rise to grand schemes and all-encompassing plans that have the promise of new kingdoms to rule over and benefit from. If you keep a close watch on the resources you have to implement this sort of thing, you'll find you can cover a lot of territory and make great leaps emotionally and in your dealings with the world at large. Just be careful that you do not commit yourself to unrealistic ventures or leaps of personal lifestyle that are more than you can personally or financially handle. When you build, the foundation must be firm. Although you may envision the splendid exteriors of your castles in the air first, they are the last thing to go on and will only be sustained if you have built a careful structure to support them. Thus, the bottom line is thinking everything through and taking a tally of your materials before you mortgage yourself on the basis of the final result alone. Your best results will come from involving others to help out with the job, so that the burden for materializing your visions does not fall entirely on yourselves. When your style is all-inclusive, you've got to have somebody besides yourselves to include. When you point yourselves outward and share your visions; the returns will be powerful.


THE COMPOSITE SATURN
Saturn is usually considered the bugbear among planets and has an evil reputation that it only partially deserves. It is associated with restriction, contraction, dearth, debilitation, and a host of other adjectives that add up to not getting what you want. That is, however, only partly true. It might be better to say that it describes extreme delineation, concreteness, and finality - reality in the most concrete sense. Much of our lives are comprised of hopes, plans, desires, dreams, wishes, and expectation, and Saturn describes what actually becomes of them. So in such a goal-oriented, future-driven society as ours, what actually happens is all too often a disappointment, the result of failed unrealistic expectations. Thus, Saturn in the composite chart is where you both get down to brass tacks and determine (or have determined for you) what actually is to be. If this point is well-situated, it means that you can rely on each other and the relationship as something that delivers every time. It will lend solidity to the relationship and make it something you can lean on when either of you need to be backed up. It will also make the two of you a haven for others in distress. In a difficult position, it will mean that you tend to fail each other, to bring each other down, and to sap each other's energies physically or emotionally. In this situation it can highlight the insecurities of the relationship and mark for failure what might otherwise have succeeded. But in either situation, like any other planet, it will not touch every aspect of the relationship and so you are free to be selective if you know what areas it is either supporting or restricting. You want to know what the bottom line is everywhere, however; and that is what Saturn will tell you. But you don't have to invest in stocks you think are going to depreciate, either. If you recognize early what the downsides and the support pillars of the relationship are, you can use one to stand on while you either avoid or make repairs upon the other at your leisure. If you do not, ignorance is the ally of the dark side and it will have much greater power to pull you in and cripple you. Find your foundation stones early, so your house will not be built upon sand; and, in time, your temple will rise to the skies.


SATURN in AQUARIUS
When the chips are down, you will need to lean on a very broad base of experience that does not put all of your eggs in only one basket. If you try to live off one crop, so to speak, you will be subject to regular and quite difficult personal and emotional famines. When you diversify your personal holdings, both financially and emotionally, you will not only be more secure, you will also feel better off, as you will always have an extra card up your sleeve - one or more insurance policies to cover yourselves in an emergency or when times get lean. This does not apply just on the surface as a matter of personal convenience and safety, but in an internal sense as well, as the wider your experience and resources, the deeper you will experience life and each other and the more satisfying that experience will be. When you are supported by a broad network of friends, interests, and opportunities for growth, you will not only feel deeper personal enrichment but you will together return that very same benefit to those around you with whom you share mutual support. The more you give, the more you get, and the better the whole situation fares, as long as it is the giving that counts the most. It is then that your later rewards are maximized.


THE COMPOSITE URANUS
Uranus is one of the three relatively recently-discovered outer planets, and all three are marked with a reality common to new experience and endeavor. They are not fully explored and thus not very much under our control. Uranus has been known the longest, (since 1786), and is a bit more familiar. It is associated with sudden events, shocks, realizations, discoveries, and other highly delineated events that sheer off quickly and completely from their previous states or surroundings. For creatures of habit, such as most of us are, this is usually upsetting and generally bad news. But it does not have to be. Your ability to use Uranus instead of letting it abuse you, is directly related to how flexible and quick on your feet you are. It also is linked to how willing you are to accept and welcome change as part of the nature of things. If you accept it grudgingly, then Uranus will always be a symbol of malice; if you welcome it with open arms, it will be a deliverance and an inspiration. In the composite chart, Uranus is where the two of you are repeatedly forced to rise to this occasion, and its contacts will tell in what areas of life it usually manifests. Well situated, it is a mutual window onto the future, flooding you both with light and clueing you into what is coming next. In such a position, it will make the relationship an eye-opener, which you come back to time and again for more. It will also tend to put you both ahead of the game emotionally and socially placing you in a leadership position among others where future thinking is concerned. In a difficult place, it will mean that you bring to each other incidents and accidents in areas where you are the most entrenched and you force each other to come to grips with ideas with which you refuse to deal. This can be a source of great mutual blame: "You made me get into this. If it weren't for you, this never would have happened. . . " and so on. This is particularly the case in sexual affairs in a society that is at heart so sexually conservative (even backward) and yet ruthlessly courts danger by flaunting it everywhere as if it were an everyday affair. Perhaps the only way to deal with this planet is to expect the unexpected, thus robbing it of harm and providing it with a welcome. If you are ready to harness it - like a wild horse - you can ride it far. If you turn your back, it will surely trample you. Where this occurs in the composite chart, keep your eyes wide open, your stance wide, and your tolerance level on maximum.


URANUS in CANCER
Self-discovery can be a particularly private affair in this relationship and may cause difficulty in communicating those special parts that either need attention or require a change of attitude, from one or the other, to meet your needs. This has an inner and outer manifestation. Within, you will likely build up pressure by resistance to change until it forces itself on you rather harshly, perhaps incurring emotional injury in the process. Thus it will be important to respect each other's ideas and personal needs, however odd or even offensive they might appear at first. They are there because they are part of you, and if you intend to respect each other you must respect each part, even the troublesome ones. Trouble is just truth looking for a way to find you. Outside, you may find yourself hiding what you have uncovered from others and thus deny yourselves the opportunity for self-review from an informative third point of view. It can be easy to believe you have come upon something universal that may really be only specific to yourselves and should not be applied to dealings with others, leaving you to become victims of uniformed presupposition and its concomitant perils. Embrace the new with a disinterested (not uninterested) eye, and when you can't do that, find someone who can broaden your horizons on the subject.


THE COMPOSITE NEPTUNE
The effects of Neptune, another outer planet and a recent discovery, are often largely out of our control both by our unfamiliarity with its effects and the apparent nature of the planet which represents the uncertain, dreams, illusions, ideals, mystery, and the higher unexplored (and perhaps unexplorable entirely) plane of the spiritual world. Its nature is so uncertain, it's not even known exactly when it was discovered; various claims exist from 1810 all the way up to 1846, and we may never know for sure. It may be viewed from afar with a certain amount of analysis, however. When we find an area of mystery, it is our natural instinct to provide something to fill that void. Nature abhors a vacuum and our minds rush in to fill it with every kind of speculation and fantasy, if only to have something to act on in the area. Whatever is actually there will turn up eventually. In the meantime we provide ourselves with an image which may be close enough to the truth to better help us function or may be off in fantasyland and fail us utterly if we are unwise enough to lean on it. We know only in hindsight. Thus, in a composite chart, this point becomes the place where dreams, fantasies, hopes and ideals meet or clash, and inspire us or drag us down in confusion and conflict. Too many wars and personal battles have been fought over it needlessly, because none of these things actually existed until later. That's the crux of it: don't fight over what isn't there, at least not yet. Well placed, this planet will help you aspire to higher, more selfless goals but even they can make you take them more seriously than they are. Badly positioned, it can lead to lies, deceit, and mistrust based on mutual misreading of the unknown and the foolish action taken upon it. In the end, it is a gentle, diaphanous planet that can never be forced. Dreams and fantasies belong to each of you individually; and when they are similar enough to share, whether emotionally, sexually, spiritually, or even financially, they can be the greatest of joys. If one of you tries to enforce any of it on the other, however, everything will turn distasteful and there will be no dreams left; the mist will be blown away and only a charred landscape will remain. Where this point occurs, go gently, expect nothing, and everything will be returned to you.


NEPTUNE in LIBRA
If there is any main, driving force in your hopes and dreams, it is that everything should be just right and everyone be happy with the way things turn out. It is a very unselfish drive and one which makes you strive very hard for the good of all and make every effort to make it come true. You are, in the nicest sense, idealists. The greatest challenge you face lifelong, therefore, is not formulating the best but coping with less than the best when it so often turns out that way. Life's like that, and some rejuvenate themselves to try some more, while others can become embittered and cynical by the experience and cease to believe in the power of hope and the ultimate impact of their ideals. Your inclination to keep moving will likely be indefatigable, and it is the direction that it takes that will determine your happiness. When all does not turn out right, reshape your expectations based on your original vision and proceed further. Avoid the temptation to lower your standards, as to do so will simply lower the ultimate quality of your life. In the end, you're only as good as what you can envision and strive for, and the individual results are less important than the lifelong effect you have on each other and those around you. Don't let adversity, when it comes, get the best of you: just regroup and find another way to manifest what you believe to be right. When you keep your eye on the horizon, the bumps in the road become just a rhythmic accompaniment to travel on life's highway.


THE COMPOSITE PLUTO
Of the three outer planets, Pluto is the most recently discovered (1930) and least subject to our control. As such, it is even considered the planet of power and control, ultimately because it so controls us in our attempt to overcome it. It is, of course, appropriately named after the ancient god of death, the thing which in the last analysis we cannot control; and at the most basic instinctual level, all the control we try to exercise in life is simply a ploy to cheat death a little longer. It is called the survival instinct. The point at which Pluto occurs in the composite chart is thus, at a deep level, where we meet in our ability to face death. But it doesn't manifest itself that way on the surface. Instead, it shows up as the methods we use to keep control in order to avoid the certainty of personal annihilation. Well placed, it will mean a partnership that simply doesn't worry about keeping in control of the situation, secure in the faith that things will take care of themselves and when it's time to go, you're in God's hands. In a bad place or aspect, it will mean continuous attempts to gain power over each other and the environment (according to aspect, sign, and house) and a penchant for compulsive behavior that easily gets out of control. Or, rather, it was never in control to begin with. In some instances, particularly sexual, this can be heightened to mystic proportions, and though it can be playing with fire it can also be very revelatory. Where prominently placed, for well or ill, it will give the relationship an aura of inescapability and predestination, something that sweeps over you both (like sex or death) and takes you out of yourselves. Similarly, you may find the relationship itself has something of this effect on others, giving you a greater power (a power which you must be careful not to abuse) over those around you. In the end, however, it is the willingness to relinquish control as well as take it that resolves problematic issues. In the meantime, the ability to step away from the relationship and out of its sway, at least in Pluto-affected areas, can be an important safety measure.


PLUTO in LEO
There is a fundamental message that you share: you must make the world a better place to live in and get your message of how to do it across in a way that it will be heard. At its purest, this is a highly idealistic and laudable goal, but the methods of formulating and implementing it can be helpful and creative or negative and destructive, depending on how you handle it. Because the "must do" feeling is pervasive, it can be easy at times to believe it is your duty to enforce your opinion on others even when they don't want it, because you believe it is ultimately for their benefit. That, however, is not your decision or prerogative, and to do so is a fundamental violation not only of others but of your own contract with the Ultimate. The life and death issues you have to face (which are really just life and death, themselves) are individual to you and only you can meet them. If you can do that, it will be an achievement, so keep your own house in order and let others keep theirs. Where you can share these feelings, you will have great power and faith in each other and your personal destiny together. When you cannot, try to understand your differences, but above all, leave them be. Real change, such as it can happen to most of us (and that is less than we suppose), comes only from within and cannot be forced. The bottom-line issues and beliefs in life grow out of our own individual experiences, which by definition we can share only to a limited extent. Be content with that. There's more than a lifetime there for each of us to work on and where another welcomes it, share.


SCORPIO ASCENDANT
There is a certain hard-to-pinpoint intensity about this relationship that may have others attributing all kinds of qualities or motivations to the both of you, few of which have any basis in reality. Partially this is because you tend to go into a more private mode of communication, even when you are in a public situation, so you may seem to be hiding something. Nevertheless, there can be real advantage in seeming to hold cards you don't have, but just make sure no one calls your bluff! You have an increased propensity to explore what seem to be the deeper and darker issues of life, but try to take things with a grain of salt, as things may not be as serious or as important as they first seem to you. This inclination to be over-serious will be encouraged by others, who perceive it to be your natural lot, so don't be taken in, but break the ice with a good laugh when things get too heavy and move onto something else. Still waters run deep, but they can be easy to drown in if you don't come up for air! On the other hand, because of this same tendency, the relationship is likely to be able to withstand severe shocks because you take things seriously and prepare for contingencies before they have a chance to overcome you by coming upon you unaware.


SATURN in THIRD HOUSE
You will find that your relationship may be characterized by a certain brevity and precision of speech that will benefit you more in technical subjects and scientific matters than in personal life. Your inclination to omit needless words and go for delineation and accuracy will allow you to paint a very clear picture and avoid obfuscation. It is generally a good position for professionals of any sort, excepting politicians and some of the creative arts. In normal everyday life, however, it can mean some trouble in getting your point across if you're not understood completely the first time. In emotional matters, however, there is no such thing as perfect, and it can cause communication problems between you if you clam up after the first interchange and wonder why you're not being understood. Nevertheless, you're likely to get a great reputation as folks who don't beat around the bush when it comes to telling it like it is. There is a definite tendency to hang on to an idea once you have got your teeth into it, which can manifest itself as self-assurance or calcification, depending on whether you're defending an eternal truth or just clinging to the past. Balance clarity and conservatism of thought with a willingness to be open to new ideas at the same time.


SATURN trine URANUS
There is a bit of the scientist in this relationship and if you are professionally engaged in any area that requires rigor, precision, and a strong loyalty to the truth, you will be one up on the competition. Your ability to plan and organize both yourselves and the situation around you gives you strong management abilities, though more in managing things and situations rather than people close up. It can also be a very good aspect for teaching, as you will have a clear but patient way of presenting information so that students can assimilate it at the pace they each are capable of. It may cause a little stiffness and formality in a close personal relationship, since the inclination to place clear structure on something as loose and flowing as emotions can stifle freedom of expression, even though the best of intentions are involved. Make a conscious effort to let go of exact or critical thinking when you are in situations dealing mainly with feeling and you can overcome this, since it isn't a difficult aspect to begin with. It's just a question of knowing what fits where within the structure of the relationship. This aspect will go a long way to protecting you from prejudice or intolerance as well, either between each other or with outer situations, as any conservative tendencies are ameliorated by a deep concern for the truth, whatever its guise.


MARS in SEVENTH HOUSE
This is likely to be a high-energy relationship in which the majority of effort is put into building and sustaining the relationship itself. If you're not doing something to improve and further the situation with each other, you'll feel like you're wasting your time, which isn't necessarily the case. There are times when you can safely let things be and drift along in the confidence that everything is OK with each other, but it may be difficult to understand this at the time. The temptation to tend to each other whether you need to or not can lead you into mutual meddling that will not serve to bring you closer but can actually drive you apart. Above all, however, you will strive to maintain a relationship of equality, where your mutual input is balanced and one does not have undue advantage over the other. This will be best achieved by giving each other the best of opportunities rather than competing for position, which can happen all to easily. Where your energy goes into elevating each other, you will each get a better position in the long run and there will be less to argue about. Commitment is the bottom line, however, and as long as you don't hold back, this can be a powerhouse relationship, with one for all and all for one the galvanizing force that drives you ever onward to new growth and success.


MARS trine NEPTUNE
There is a distinctly idealistic and perhaps spiritual thrust to your relationship, but not one that is just some dreamland fantasy. Unlike those who only speculate on what ought to be done, you will be quietly and successfully pursuing it and making your dreams come true. You may not even think twice about it, because it's something that comes naturally to you when you are together, a sort of joint inner journey that you manage to manifest one step at a time in the material world. At a very basic level in a physical relationship this will enable you to enact your fantasies, romantic or sexual, with more success and less disappointment than is the norm, because you will not push it too far, too fast but let it develop at its own pace with your quiet but insistent pressure to move it along. In the professional world this can be advantageous or disadvantageous. It can be a help in some kinds of counseling to enable those around you to take a realistic and creative attitude toward their goals, and it will be a source of steady inspiration if you are in the creative arts. In more hard-nosed endeavors, however, even your steadiest flame of inspiration may seem a little flaky. Wherever you apply it, however, you may correctly feel you will have influence on those around you if you choose by letting out the secret of how dreams can become reality.


MARS sextile PLUTO
Mars and Pluto together are a very powerful combination, one of raw energy and implacable force, which in some cases can be dangerous or destructive. Here you achieve a fairly even balance between the two which will give you the feeling that when you put out, you will achieve what you intend, a kind of faith that your shot will hit the mark. As any shooter or martial artist knows, that kind of feeling is half the technique. When you consider the deed already done before you start, the hesitation that can cripple the stroke never occurs. After that, it is a question of not seriously overestimating your powers of accomplishment, and here that, too, is nicely balanced, so you're not going after any Goliaths unless you at least have some nice, smooth stones. Your inclination and ability to wield power and unrelenting force is tempered by a respect for your surroundings and those who will be impacted by your actions. From an internal point of view, in a love relationship sexuality will have an important transforming role and can open up inner doors you didn't know were there. From a purely external view, together you are quite bound and determined to have your way, and because you are careful enough to be realistic about your abilities, you will likely get it.


URANUS in EIGHTH HOUSE
Your relationship in some ways may be compared to a volcano. It will lie quietly dormant for a long while, then without warning sudden eruptions from deep within will rock the calm, bringing things to the surface you had no idea were there. This will apply both physically, in terms of the resources that are available and that you depend on, and emotionally, where strong feelings surprise you with their unexpected intensity. Financially this can mean sudden windfalls and shortfalls, so it's a good idea to stay away from the edge or you might find yourself pushed over when you least expect it. Keep a buffer between yourselves and bankruptcy at all times. Emotionally, and especially sexually, going off the deep end can be an exciting and enlightening ride, so you actually have more to learn than fear in this department, though like being on a roller coaster, those sudden plunges may evoke an hysterical scream or two. Because this house has to do with endings, when things finish up they will do so in a hurry, so be prepared to change horses in mid-stream when necessary and always have an extra mount nearby. Nevertheless, this is an interesting place for Uranus and because it is difficult to get at here, you don't run the dangers associated with trying to tame or resist its sometimes petulant influences. You're along for the ride, so enjoy it and make the most of it.


SUN in EIGHTH HOUSE
This relationship can have a kind of magnetism that is quite tangible and palpable and can draw you into it even when there seems to be no exterior reason to pursue it. As a love relationship it will be very physical and will need to have that end enjoyed, developed, and varied in order to keep the relationship fresh. In more exterior affairs it may be very good for managing resources, particularly where other people's stakes are within your control and management. A special love and respect for what is old and time-tested, a reverence for antiquity and the greatness of the past and those who created it, may suffuse the relationship, giving you at times a sense of deja vu about each other and the situations you get yourselves into. At almost any level, the feeling will be that this is no lightweight affair, even if is not a permanent relationship. Something about it is very important to both of you and its function will be to pull you deeper into yourselves and your life experience than you might have ordinarily chosen to go alone. You will not be the same for this meeting, and you both will be the wiser (and hopefully the better and happier) for the understandings brought on by what may have been a chance encounter, but a fated one. The very feeling that there is more going on here than meets the eye will be an eye-opener itself, and this relationship can be the door into new worlds of inner exploration if you have the opportunity and patience to allow it to be.


SUN conjunct VENUS
You have a natural level of affection for one another that will make whatever you do together easier and more enjoyable. Whether it's love or business, there will always be a certain charm present, brought on by the fact that at some basic level, whatever else may be happening to the contrary, you just like being together. This will always help you get along in some fashion even in the worst of times. When things are good they will be really good. Because of this fundamentally right situation on the inside, people will find something about you that is easygoing and you will be able to get what you want out of social situations effectively. Partially that is because you have a pleasing approach, and partially it is because you instinctively know what you want and are in a much better position to recognize it and take advantage of it when it comes along. The only possible problem with such an aspect is that you might identify too closely with your desires and thus become excessively disappointed when you don't get what you want. It may also lead you to be nice to those you shouldn't be, thus opening yourselves up to exploitation or just simple time-wasting. All in all, however, this is a fine indicator for good friendship professionally and in a marriage, deep and abiding love.


SUN square NEPTUNE
You may feel you're walking on very soggy ground in this relationship, and indeed it can be quicksand if you do not watch your steps. Neptune in difficult aspect can bring confusion and deception, where fantasy and illusion lead to disappointment and even treachery. That is not quite as awful as it sounds, though its effects may be. It may not be intentional on the part of either of you. In this case, however, forewarned really is forearmed if you take action to be quite specific about your promises to each other and your expectations about the relationship. Go as far as writing it down or even making contracts, but don't terminate things if it doesn't turn out or you break the contracts. That's part of this aspect, but it is the sincere effort to correct the problem that this approach allows you to focus on until such a time as you've got some more experience with each other under your belts and know better what to expect. Failed expectations are your greatest enemy, particularly early in the relationship, so the more you can cut back on what you think you're going to get out of each other, the more likely you will be to actually achieve satisfaction together. It can be easy for this relationship to become a crutch for your individual lack of balance, and an unsuccessful one it would be. If you give each other enough room to express individuality, things can only be better when you are together again.


SUN trine ASCENDANT
This reinforcing aspect makes you look fine when you're feeling fine. What's on the inside and what's on the outside are compatible and in tune and you are likely to show it. You are also likely to have good coordination between your minds and bodies and more than a little stamina when you are working together. There is a natural flow of energy from inside to out that allows you to dovetail your operations with confidence and without having to take a second look. For a personal or professional situation, this is a fine, strong supportive aspect that will allow you to pick up and go whenever you want together and will go far to fan the flames of love and creativity. Because of the steady, confident qualities here, you find yourselves a step ahead of the game in the professional world, as you don't have to sort things out every time you make a move. You'll both just know which way to go and do it. The same will be true at the more intimate level where you will always know what move to make next without having to break the rhythm and ask. You are likely to find few inhibitions about each other, at least of the physical kind, and you will lead each other on to new experience with no worry of getting into trouble with each other along the way.


VENUS in EIGHTH HOUSE
A certain love of the mysterious characterizes this relationship, and there is nothing like a puzzle to catch your interest and set you on a chase to find out how it's all put together. It's not so much the solution that fuels your search, but a love of the way it's all put together and the very fact that it's a trip into the unknown. This has its ultimate expression in the most mysterious of all human experiences, sex and death, and so can produce a very intense love affair or a mystical journey into spiritual transformation and the life-death process. The usual fear or avoidance of such subjects can here become a fascination - indeed, love - that can lead to the deepest personal commitment, both to each other and to the voyage you have embarked upon together. Depending upon the rest of the chart, this may run from selfless devotion to self-obsessed compulsion, so go in with your eyes open. At the more external level, you may find talent for acquiring wealth through the gathering and exploitation of the resources of others, such as loans, investments, and credit. No matter how experienced, this position will guarantee a heightened sense of desire and the need to fulfill it on both your parts, not likely to be a lightweight situation if you choose to pursue it where it leads you all the way.


VENUS trine ASCENDANT
This is one of the best aspects to be found in a composite chart, especially one that is a marriage or a love affair. That is because your desires (Venus) and the way you appear (Ascendant) are in perfect tune, so you look as good as you could possibly desire. You like the way you look together, and the way you look together makes you like yourselves and each other. The mirror is your friend - a rarity, indeed. Moreover, it is likely you will find the same reaction from others around you, who find you both especially attractive when you are together, possibly because you fill in all the gaps in each other which would make you individually more criticized. If you have faults, you aren't likely to notice them, or if you do you will be forgiving in the extreme, even though you will both strive for self-improvement to make sure you live up to the image of each other that is in your hearts. Even if this is strictly a professional relationship, your ability to bring out the best in each other will be an enduring asset and will make your personal environment particularly enjoyable to be around. Any occupation where charm, diplomacy, and personal attractiveness is a major factor will favor the combination of the two of you, because your inner feelings of compatibility and mutual enjoyment will be contagious and carry others along with you.


JUPITER in EIGHTH HOUSE
An innate talent for unraveling conundrums and solving mysteries will make this a relationship on a fascinating journey - into the past, as well as into the future. Your personal growth together will be tied in with your ability to get to the roots of universal problems and to deduce how things got the way they are from the way they were. In a world given to facile and surface solutions, you will always want to go the extra mile to get to the heart of things, even if sometimes there is pain or controversial material along the way. Difficult truth will be preferable to (and more enjoyable than) easy fiction, though it may not be as quickly appreciated by those around you. This will apply on the personal as well as professional sides of your relationship. If a love union, sexuality will take on heightened meaning and will be indulged in not just for recreation but for revelation, for shining a light into your inner recesses to uncover feelings and drives previously unexplored. Externally, you will have an aura of intensity and depth that may seem a little fearsome at times, since you will insist on probing further when others have been satisfied with less. This makes you ideal for any undertaking that requires perseverance or understanding of hidden knowledge or resources, ranging from uncovering investment opportunities to sleuthing down political or social secrets that either need uncovering or knowledge of which can bring profit to you and your associates.


MOON in NINTH HOUSE
Your emotional reactions to each other and to others tend towards the expansive, positive, and creative. Your first response will be to develop new and bigger concepts that will include all of what you have experienced and some extra for what is yet to come. This makes you very adaptable and capable of taking on new emotional situations by enlarging your outlook to contain everything that the situation presents. This will give you the ability to theorize expansively and to determine a way to include every possibility that might arise. You will find you are very flexible and have little difficulty with whatever situation arises. When it comes to dealing with the details of what you have accepted in general, it may be another ball game. Emotional situations you encompass in theory may be more demanding when you get to it and their details may not be consistent with your previous, broader views. Many of such problems will be solved by your ability to take things yet one step further, to pursue the adventure of your lives and go on to the next evolution of experience where previous experience has not offered all you conceived. Emotional hope and new horizons will keep your eyes ever uplifted, so your potential is ultimately unlimited. As you have much to learn, you will also have much to teach and will find yourselves in that position of privilege among your peers. If there is a responsibility here, this is it. Do it well.


MOON conjunct MERCURY
You are very expressive together and share a quick wit that allows you to articulate your feelings well. The result of being together will be an expanded understanding of your emotional sides. You may find that you develop a passion for the insightful turn of phrase, leading to meaningful arguments for ideas you feel strongly about. This can be most useful in the professional world where language means so much but so few have a good mastery of it. When you get your point across and others don't, you're going to be the ones for the job. Perhaps just as useful, however, is your ability to put emotions clearly into verbal form so they don't get lost, repressed, or trodden on during the ups and downs of the relationship. You have a light quality about you, precisely because you have less excess emotional baggage weighing you down. If there is any problem with this position, it is that you will tend to say it all even when it is better to leave things unsaid. It sometimes pays to leave certain things a mystery.


MOON conjunct JUPITER
Great enthusiasm and a very high level of responsiveness will characterize your relationship and when you decide to jump in, you jump in with both feet. Professionally, it is a relationship that will produce and produce, and if this turns out to be a marriage it can also produce many children, which you will be able to handle well because you have a bottomless wellspring of emotion and care. A positive attitude and a quick recovery time mean that you will be a valuable resource for each other when one or the other runs out of steam and need a boost of energy. Somehow the chemistry will always get things going again. There will be little problem of repressing feelings until they magnify themselves beyond their real measure. Quite the opposite - every feeling will come bounding out, one on top of the other. If there could be any problem with such a position, it would be that you might need to slow down a bit for others less ebullient so that you don't overwhelm them. If there is a catch phrase that really describes this aspect of your relationship, it is "be fruitful and multiply. " Prosperity is a truly attainable goal for you, even in the worst of times. You will always put your best foot forward and your blessings will proliferate.


MERCURY in NINTH HOUSE
The inclination to plug into long-range concepts and communicate the scope of possibilities will be a hallmark of your relationship. Together you can enjoy exploring larger-than life concepts of religion, philosophy, and the structure of the universe that will not only provide stimulating thought, but open up new possibilities on the inside and the out. This is the house of travel and will find you to be travelers of the mind, whether you actually step out of the house or not (though you will, whenever possible). Where your bodies cannot go, your minds will carry you on wings of imagination, professional as well as personal. You prefer to see things in the overview and in the long run, you will be less likely to get tangled up in unexpected circumstances that will slow others down. You'll always have another game plan to turn to while others are trying to untangle theirs. If there is any drawback here, it can be losing sight of the details. It is easy to get caught up in the grandeur of the vision and miss some of the enjoyable and profitable details in the process. Zoom in on the immediate vicinity every now and then and you may be surprised at what you'll find - there are giant landscapes awaiting you in the smallest flower.


MERCURY conjunct JUPITER
This relationship will bring to you both a sense of ever-expanding intellectual awareness and it is likely to be an adventure to get together and discuss things, as one thing always leads to another and before you know it you're breaking new ground and have another totally new angle on whatever subject it is you've gotten into. No communication problems here, at least as far as getting things out in the open is concerned. Not all communication is verbal however, and some non-verbal emotional needs may get overlooked or lost in the shuffle because of the high value placed on articulation and intellectual communication. Professionally this can be a very inventive combination. Anywhere you have to get things into words and across to a customer or colleague you can bet that you will have the upper hand and have tangible benefits from being together. The only place this will put you at a disadvantage is where verbal restraint is required and where a few well-chosen words have to suffice. You have so much to say and so many ways to say it that it will be difficult to compress your thoughts and distill them into a single, succinct expression of intent. But where elaboration and extemporization are required, you will be in your element and can cook up an intellectual feast starting with a minimum of ingredients and serve it up with flare.


PLUTO in NINTH HOUSE
Issues surrounding fundamental philosophical issues can be a major focus of power and perhaps dispute here. There will be little doubt that the two of you can blow away anyone who crosses you on general religious, political, or philosophical issues, not necessarily because you are correct in your opinions, but because you feel it is an important area that requires defending at whatever cost. The implication is, of course, that you may be taking this area too seriously and that practical considerations should be more closely considered than more general ones. Nevertheless, despite this being the actual case, the theory of what goes on can be quite as important to you as its practice and to the degree you care intensely about it you will be able to use it to dominate the ideas of others, and by proxy their actions as well. Although this sort of intellectual dominance can serve you well, it can also cause you to overlook the perhaps equally valid concepts of others, and should you use this talent against each other it might prove quite well to you that beliefs you consider crucial to your existence may be easily sacrificed in the interest of winning an argument with someone close enough to have your number. Here you may find the lesson that actions speak louder than words has real appeal, particularly when the most forceful words can bring you only a stalemate. Test your assertions with real world applications, and disputes will be settled.


PLUTO square ASCENDANT
It can be very easy to get into conflicts of personal power and dominance in this relationship, which can be quite destructive to one or both of you, and it may be quite difficult to prevent yourselves from getting into such entanglements. There is an unrealistic fear that one of you is going to have to be top dog, so you might as well get it over with and decide who's boss. Unless one of you is extraordinarily pliable, it just won't happen that way and a continual competition will ensue which leaves neither the total victor and both emotionally wounded and paranoid. Although there is not a sure way of avoiding some of this, you may find it can work out if you divide up territory so that both of you get to be rulers - or you can take turns calling the shots if you can settle on a mutually acceptable timetable. In a sexual relationship, you can even work this as fantasy role-playing where you get the best of both worlds from it and it doesn't creep into serious confrontation in your everyday life. In any case, over time you will learn to spot and check this trend with increasing accuracy and effectiveness once you have learned how counterproductive it can be.


NEPTUNE in ELEVENTH HOUSE
You are likely to put a high price and priority on friendship and the perfection of how it is expressed between each other and among your most special friends in the world at large. If it's good, it's got to be really good or it's not worth getting involved with. To a certain extent, this approach has validity and can produce results from applying a demanding set of standards upon you and yours around you. However, there is a great chance that you will not be able to live up to what you expect of what affection and closeness is about and therefore be less able to enjoy and benefit from what is actually available to you in the real world. So don't ask for so much! Easy solution. Well, that's difficult because you want absolute perfection for each other and it's hard to settle for second best. The fact is, you will need to keep your high standards and mix them with a reality factor that allows you to keep the best of what you produce without condemning yourselves for what you have not been able to achieve. You will be able to reach heights of unity and expression, but there will always be a firmament up above. It would be a dull world if you could get it all in a single sweep. Therefore look to what you can achieve and save a little for the next time around. Judgment Day will come soon enough, or perhaps never. In the meantime, you have each other.


NEPTUNE sextile PLUTO
This is a rare aspect, happening only twice in five hundred years. It's most recent occurrence is happening as this is being written, in the early 1990's, and applies to those born then or on opposite sides of it. Perhaps it is too soon to tell, but some educated speculation is worth while. Neptune is associated with aspirations and ideals, currently in conjunction with Uranus (shock, sudden change) which will also be making the sextile with Pluto (force, transformation) or close to it. It is, in short, a watershed period when a radical new arrangement of world order is being inexorably forced into being. Thus, this is a generational aspect, something you share in common with billions of others of your generation. Although in the sky it will have passed on, you will have it for life, which means it will be your inescapable task to be implementors of the new planetary culture born at this time. Therefore, where this is tied in to the rest of your chart by aspect and house, these will be the areas where you have to take your place in this order, to make your own personal contribution to what is perhaps the greatest transformation the human world has ever known. Heavy? Yes, but no different from everyone else your age. Do it well, knowing that you are the founding ancestors of an age undreamed of in human history. Your great-grandchildren will be looking back on you, hopefully with pride.


NORTH NODE in ELEVENTH HOUSE
Where the Moon's north and south node lie, there you will find much of the purpose and lesson to be learned by coming together, since that will be where commitments most easily build up and where seemingly accidental but perhaps fated events take place that make your relationship unique. As they fall in the eleventh and fifth houses, this means that much of the focus of what you do will be involved in the development of close personal friendships and creative and spontaneous activities. Basically, you are together to explore matters of the heart, even if this should be only a professional or business relationship. The more you learn about what it takes to develop trust and intimacy, the more productive your lives together will be, as your key to productivity is how good you feel about your situation. If things are going well, they tend to get better, and if there is trouble it tends to increase. Thus, the ability to develop a positive attitude is critical to your success and a major lesson of your being together. Once you've got yourselves loosened up and pointed in the right direction, getting there is no problem, so once you know you're seriously underway, you can sit back and enjoy your ride together, secure in the protection of a nurturing relationship.