The Mystery of Composites
Posted on June 30, 2010 by Alison Gunn
For a moment, Im going to be an
astrologer, and tell you about composite charts,
why theyre important, and what to loo !or when
you read one"
I dont now how into composites you already are, but be!ore we start,
I want to let you now that I dont use #a$ison charts, because they
are unnecessarily complicated" I! you want to rely on the best source
!or composite basics, de%nitely read &obert 'ands Planets in
Composite"
'and came up with the concept o! composites bac in the 1()0s,
during the height o! the *luto in +ibra transit, when society really
began to !ocus on relationships and what maes them wor or not"
,his is the wa$e 'and was riding at the time, and Id hate to thin that
his contribution to communication theory will someday be ignored or
!orgotten" ,his comment is !or those o! you who thin he is only an
astrologer" -o" 'es also a therapist who cares about his clients" ,hese
are e.cellent /ualities to bring to astrological analysis, it seems to me"
Heres the peculiarity about composites: they are made up of
raw numbers, nothing more. ,hey are the most theoretical chart
you will create, since they are not based on one place, or one birth
time, but on two places and two birth times 0or more1 although
composites really do start to brea down a!ter three peoples
in!ormation is logged2" 3o what do composites mean, i! they are not
4about5 something de%nite, but about a 4relationship,5 rather than two
indi$idual people6 7ell, thats what were here to discuss8 what
composites mean and the basics of what to look for when
reading one.
A frequent mistake people make when they rst look at
composites is to want the composite to somehow re!eal
information about both people as indi!iduals. ,hat is not what
the composite is intended !or, and so i! the composite is gi$ing you
di9culty, loo at the synastry instead, because thats where
in!ormation about the two people as indi$iduals will be re$ealed" A
composite is more subtle than synastry in that it re/uires you to learn
how to synthesise the in!ormation youre seeing" A composite sun in
the :th does not mean what sun in the :th means !or an indi$idual, nor
does it tell you that one person in the relationship 0the man, since in
7estern tradition the sun symbolises male energy2 is a labourer or a
;ar.ist or something1 thats not how this wors"
"he purpose of the composite is to tell you about how the two
people function together, what their relationship means to
them, and how their chemistry e#presses itself. ,he composite,
handled with delicacy, can tell you more about the mystery
surrounding a relationship than anything else, including what the two
are willing to tell you 0since most people ha$e limits on what theyre
willing to re$eal, e$en to me2" A composite sun in the <th, !or e.ample,
is much more demanding than composite sun in the 3rd or (th"
#epending on what you already now about astrology, you can begin
to guess why, but i! youre !eeling lost, any o! the water houses 0=, <,
122 are harder !or a relationship to e.press than are air houses or %re
houses" >arth houses 02, :, 102 can be, !or most married people, the
easiest energy to e.press, since most people want what earth houses
symbolise8 possessions, security, worldly success, etc" ?ou now what I
mean" @ig screen ,As" 3 cars in the garage"
'owe$er, water houses are complicated, as be%ts water in general, so
!or a relationship chart to contain planets in water houses usually
indicates to me that the two people ha$e come together, depending on
their maturity le$el and desire !or sel!Banalysis, to mae changes in
themsel$es and each other" 7ater houses are comple., so the changes
will be !elt rather than seen, !or a long time, be!ore they mani!est" ,he
composite will show you how the relationship wors, how it !unctions,
and what its 4!or"5
"wo people rarely come together to ha!e fun $although
composite sun in the %th would beg to di&er'. ;ost relationships
that lead to li!eBlong commitments 0or that last a li!etime2 get pretty
serious, and there are deeper reasons the people stay together that
transcend children, cars, commitments made in churches, or any o! the
ob$ious trappings o! materialism and conser$ati$ism"
(o when you rst look at a composite, take a look at three or
four basic things. ,he %rst things I chec are the location o! the sun,
and the rising sign" ,his helps me establish why the relationship e.ists
0the sun2 and its structure, what will eep it together 0the ascendent,
sign, degree, and cusps2"
3ometimes the sun is supported by the ascendent sign, and the Crulers
o! each are in aspect, a sign that there is a good chance the
relationship has e$ery chance o! sur$i$al" 3upporti$e inDuences mae
me thin things lie that 0%le this in the 4magical thining5 category,
and youll understand why composites spea to me2"
)e#t take a look at some details, like, where is *enus+ 7hat
sign is Aenus in6 #oes Aenus aspect ;ars6 #oes Aenus aspect the
;oon6 ,hese are good signs, e$en i! the aspects are tough" I dont
care" Any aspect is better than no aspect at all" ,ime and time again,
charts re$eal their wisdom to me, and e.perience con%rms my
suspicions, which hint that the male%cs the ancients bemoaned are
misunderstood"
@ut thats another subEect !or another day" For today, lets Eust mae
sure the basics o! the composite are co$ered8 Aenus, ;oon, 3un, all
speaing to one another and pre!erably in hospitable houses" ,he
houses these planets are located in will tell me a lot about the basic
nature o! the relationship, whether its going to last longBterm or not"
,hen you can start looing at the aspects, and here, Eust to gi$e a
glossy o$er$iew, the more oppositions you ha$e 0not s/uares,
oppositions2 the harder this relationship is going to be" ,hats because
two peoples energy is being synthesised in the composite, and the
more oppositions you ha$e, the greater the lielihood the two people
really Eust dont see eyeBtoBeye"
3/uares are diFerent, howe$er1 s/uares dont lead to breaups in the
way oppositions do" 3/uares lead to irritation and disagreements, but i!
you learn to $alue each others diFerences, you can stay together
longer with most s/uares than you can with oppositions"
"he ne#t most important thing to look for is the location of
(aturn.3aturns determined wor ethic energy can eep a relationship
together !ore$er, e$en when e$erything else loos blea" It can, sadly,
eep people together when they are absolutely miserable" It represents
what each person owes the other, and this could either be considered
their armic debt 0which I happen to thin you can see in the entire
chart, not Eust 3aturn or the -odes2 or their duty to one another in this
li!etime" 3aturn also represents how the two will wor together 0or not2
to eep the relationship going" 3o 3aturns location and aspects are
$ery important as a window into the longe$ity and strength o! the
relationship"
(o, to summarise: (un, ascendent, *enus, ,ars, ,oon,
(aturn. ,hose are your basics to loo !or" A!ter that, the ey to
understanding composites is to thin theoretically" #o not thin
literally" ?ou cannot see each person in the marriage in a composite" I!
you thin lie that, youll ne$er get this"
,hin in terms o! a Aenn diagram or chemistry" Its
what the two people create together that youll see
in the composite" ?ou now how when they say the
whole is greater than the sum o! its parts6 ,his is
what the composite symbolises, the energy that is
more than the indi$iduals on their own"
-oes a composite represent what happens when you lose your
indi!iduality and are subsumed by the needs of the
relationship+ .es. Im sorry to brea this to you, but most
relationships o! maturity and depth will re/uire you to mae a !air
amount o! sel!Bsacri%ce 0this is the theory behind why 3aturn is e.alted
in +ibra, because relationships are our ultimate teacher2" ,he goal is !or
you to become more than you were, so that doesnt seem lie a bad
trade" I! you e$er !eel lie you are becoming someone you dont want
to be, !or gods sae, get out" +i!e is way too short to put up with that
nonsense" ,here are !ar too many star%sh in the sea to li$e with the
wrong person !ore$er and e$er"
I! you ha$e any other /uestions, please do not hesitate to ask" ,his
is my area o! interest, and I now how complicated composites can be
to interpret"
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