What is Magic?

When only the two sun signs are disharmonious (with harmony between the two moon and rising signs), then there is likely to be disagreement with regard to life philosophies, and ultimate aims and goals.  Often the backgrounds and upbringings contrast; in any case the two parties have very different views of the world and their places in it, and they shape their lives toward different ends. There may be some possessive­ness, or a tendency for each to try to force the relationship to fit their own image of how it ought to be.  The resulting conflict of wills can make mutual commitment over the long haul a matter of concern, especially in the initial stages of the relationship.  In the case of Elvis and Priscilla Presley, “Elvis would ‘lock’ his women in.  It was rough for her because Elvis was a pretty jealous man, too, and with a woman as beautiful and fine as Cilla, you could see why. … Hence the double standard that developed in Elvis’s treatment of his wife.  (Elvis’s producer) wanted to cast Priscilla in movies.  She also had numerous other opportunities.  Nobody knows exactly what happened to these opportunities, but it is assumed that she disregarded them at Elvis’s command.”(7)  In counterbalance to this separative tendency on the ideological level, there is a strong emotional bond and usually a shared set of everyday interests and tastes.  Both like to do the same sorts of things, and they like to do them together. When only the sun signs are harmonious, it is everyday functioning that becomes a problem; when only the sun signs are disharmoni­ous, it is the overview, the question of where the relationship is heading in terms of each party’s indi­vidual aspirations, that is at issue.  Each must learn to let the other make their  own way in life, and respect the other person’s choices. 

When two people have their moons in harmonious signs (while the two sun and rising signs are dishar­monious), then their personalities and temperaments are in accord. Their reactions to things and feelings about life are similar, so they can be perfectly candid and reveal their deepest feelings to one another. There is a strong empathy and tenderness between them; rarely do they need to explain themselves or justify their actions to one other.  Each intuitively understands the other’s motivations and accepts them for what they are, rather like a mother accepts her children for what they are, unquestioningly.   And like a mother who knows her children will leave her when they grow up, these people are aware that their life paths diverge, and that each will want to make their own place in the world. There is a recognition that there are limits to what they will able to accomplish working together, that they can help each other best by providing moral support, and cheering the other on in their struggle with life’s vicissitudes. They know they always have someone who is receptive and kindly disposed towards them to whom they can return to unburden themselves and rest their spirits.  For example, after Jane Fonda’s separation from Ted Turner after eight years of marriage, she commented: “Ted is a soul mate. I care about him. He means the world to me. He taught me to be happy.” They separated, she said, “because we changed. I changed. … Are we happier by ourselves than we were together? It’s not clear.”(8) 

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The converse situation, when all three pairs of vital centers are in disharmonious signs, makes for rather intriguing relationships, on the principle that oppo­sites attract. People who are quite unlike us can provide us with a fascinating complement by helping us to recognize exactly where our strengths and limitations lie. They embolden us to exhibit different facets of ourselves, to try out different roles, to experiment. We can learn a great deal from these people, not only because they present us with an alternative point of view and way of doing things, but also because in the mirror of their reactions to us we see ourselves and our aspirations standing out in bold relief. There is a sense of newness and freshness that grows out of the continual awareness of differences – ­you never know what to expect next!  As an example, consider the first meeting of Isadora Duncan and Gordon Craig:  “Here stood before me brilliant youth, beauty, genius; and, all inflamed with sudden love, I flew into his arms with all the magnetic willingness of a temperament which had for two years lain dormant, but waiting to spring forth.  Here I found an answering temperament, worthy of my metal (sic).  In him I had met the flesh of my flesh, the blood of my blood.”(5)  This type of relationship, however, is generally better for romance than for marriage, since the fact that none of the pairs of vital centers is harmonious means that the paths in life diverge sharply, and so a frustrating gap between the two people can come into being.  At every turn there are differences of approach that must be reconciled; one or the other must always give way.  Hence an exceptional amount of inner adjust­ment is incumbent on both parties in order to make the relationship work.  Each must learn to recognize when the other is more in tune with the situation at hand, and forgo their own inclinations and impulses at such times.  By the same token, each must learn to sort out their own ideas and feelings to determine where they must “draw the line” and let their own desires prevail. These relationships both bestow and require a peculiar fluidity and ability to adapt.    

When the two sun signs are harmonious, while the two moon and rising signs are disharmonious, then there is a basic similarity of outlook on life, or a sense that the two lives are heading in the same direction. These people can come back together again after years of separation and pick right up where they left off, because the essential thing is the long view:  life in its more ultimate or long-range aspects.  Friendship, therefore, seems to be the most pronounced feature of the relationship.  However, there are numerous areas of more superficial division:  the two personalities are quite distinct, and opinions are apt to differ on how things are to be done in actual practice.  Nonetheless each is willing to free the other to go their own way and do what they feel they must do to fulfill themselves.   Whether they cherish or obey is moot, but they certainly honor one another.  An example consider  John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy:  “The marriage had become, by now, little more than a matter of mutual convenience – a union of two mercurial, strong-willed, stubborn people who, like so many children of the rich, were rather used to getting their own way, and were not happy when they didn’t.  Any romantic love that might have once existed between them had long since evaporated.  …  And so a perfectly sensible business deal was struck during those first White House months.  She would supply the elegance, the charm, the class that he wanted.  And he, in turn would let her do pretty much whatever else she chose.”(6)

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The converse situation, when all three pairs of vital centers are in disharmonious signs, makes for rather intriguing relationships, on the principle that oppo­sites attract. People who are quite unlike us can provide us with a fascinating complement by helping us to recognize exactly where our strengths and limitations lie. They embolden us to exhibit different facets of ourselves, to try out different roles, to experiment. We can learn a great deal from these people, not only because they present us with an alternative point of view and way of doing things, but also because in the mirror of their reactions to us we see ourselves and our aspirations standing out in bold relief. There is a sense of newness and freshness that grows out of the continual awareness of differences – ­you never know what to expect next!  As an example, consider the first meeting of Isadora Duncan and Gordon Craig:  “Here stood before me brilliant youth, beauty, genius; and, all inflamed with sudden love, I flew into his arms with all the magnetic willingness of a temperament which had for two years lain dormant, but waiting to spring forth.  Here I found an answering temperament, worthy of my metal (sic).  In him I had met the flesh of my flesh, the blood of my blood.”(5)  This type of relationship, however, is generally better for romance than for marriage, since the fact that none of the pairs of vital centers is harmonious means that the paths in life diverge sharply, and so a frustrating gap between the two people can come into being.  At every turn there are differences of approach that must be reconciled; one or the other must always give way.  Hence an exceptional amount of inner adjust­ment is incumbent on both parties in order to make the relationship work.  Each must learn to recognize when the other is more in tune with the situation at hand, and forgo their own inclinations and impulses at such times.  By the same token, each must learn to sort out their own ideas and feelings to determine where they must “draw the line” and let their own desires prevail. These relationships both bestow and require a peculiar fluidity and ability to adapt.    

When the two sun signs are harmonious, while the two moon and rising signs are disharmonious, then there is a basic similarity of outlook on life, or a sense that the two lives are heading in the same direction. These people can come back together again after years of separation and pick right up where they left off, because the essential thing is the long view:  life in its more ultimate or long-range aspects.  Friendship, therefore, seems to be the most pronounced feature of the relationship.  However, there are numerous areas of more superficial division:  the two personalities are quite distinct, and opinions are apt to differ on how things are to be done in actual practice.  Nonetheless each is willing to free the other to go their own way and do what they feel they must do to fulfill themselves.   Whether they cherish or obey is moot, but they certainly honor one another.  An example consider  John F. and Jacqueline Kennedy:  “The marriage had become, by now, little more than a matter of mutual convenience – a union of two mercurial, strong-willed, stubborn people who, like so many children of the rich, were rather used to getting their own way, and were not happy when they didn’t.  Any romantic love that might have once existed between them had long since evaporated.  …  And so a perfectly sensible business deal was struck during those first White House months.  She would supply the elegance, the charm, the class that he wanted.  And he, in turn would let her do pretty much whatever else she chose.”(6)

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When a pair of vital centers lies in disharmonious signs, then there is a point of conscious difference in the relationship that can become a matter of concern or even conflict.  Contrasts always impose themselves upon the awareness more forcefully than similarities do, so the attention tends to go to them. When the two sun signs are in disharmonious signs, there is a clash of wills.  The two parties often find it difficult to unite their goals and aims in life. When the two moon signs are disharmonious, there is a polarity in the feelings which often shows up as a lack of emotional warmth or sympathy.   When the two rising signs are disharmonious, there is a conflict in the way in which the two people express themselves, and a tendency for communications between them to break down. 

Ptolemy’s technique illustrates an important principle of astrological interpretation, which Dr. Marc Edmund Jones termed “Negative Indication”(3):  if all but one criteria in a well-defined set are present in a natal horoscope (e.g. planets in earth-air-water but not fire; planets in succedent and cadent houses but not angular; etc.), then the emphasis goes to the absent criteria, but with a twist of the symbolism – like a parody of what it should mean –  as if in overcompensation for a felt psychological lack or need.   In the present case, if only one pair of the vital centers is disharmonious, then the attention in the relationship tends to dwell upon the disharmony, like an itch that can’t quite be reached and scratched, often at the expense of the enjoyment of other areas in which there is a natural accord.  Instead of focusing on where there is agreement – which is what happens when only one pair of vital centers is harmonious – the focus tends to dwell upon areas of disagreement.  That is to say, relationships in which only one pair of vital centers is in harmonious signs tend to be smoother, less fractious than relationships in which two pairs of vital centers are in harmonious signs. 

From the foregoing it might appear that the ideal relationship occurs when the two sun signs, moon signs, and rising signs are all harmonious, but this is not necessarily the case.  If that were true then Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky would be the ideal couple, since they have all three pairs of vital centers in identical signs (Leo suns, Taurus moons, and Libra ascendants)!  Too much harmony in a relationship can produce a static or stagnant situa­tion.  Have you ever met someone and recognized in him or her some quality or trait remarkably similar to one of your own?  You immediately understand that part of the person, but at the same time you are left with an unsettled feeling, or an unresolved question, like a gear that encounters another cog where it should have meshed with a space.  Similarities tend to reinforce themselves on one level, rather than move to new levels.  Relationships mature through a continual giving way or relinquishing of individual desires in order to maintain a greater unity.  Few of us are strong enough to give up our desires by ourselves; we need other people whose desires conflict with ours to give us a reason to change and mature.  Relationships, like pearls, seem to require a certain amount of irritation in order to grow.   But when all three pairs of vital centers are in harmonious signs, this irritation – and with it something very vital – is largely missing.  The relationship may seem somewhat nebulous or insub­stantial since there aren’t any solid differences to grab onto or push against.  Instead of being a challenge, the relationship may become a competition, or a game of one-upmanship.  For example, in the words of one of the Fitzgerald’s biographers, “Both Scott and Zelda had entered a new period in their lives: both drinking heavily, and seemingly to dare each other to ever more reckless and outrageous acts. … They both dived into the Mediterranean from a great height, and drove their car too fast along winding roads. Once, after a fight with Scott, Zelda threw herself under the wheels of their car and dared him to run over her - and he even started to move the car.”(4)  When all three vital centers are harmonious, each party tends to confirm him or herself all the more in their own individual resolve, rather than join with the other to move to some new level of realization. The focus of attention, therefore, has to be kept outside of the relationship itself if it is to lead anywhere.  Some outside objective or goal to which both parties are dedicated should always be kept in view.  These people have many common interests: the more they can concentrate on the final result rather than on who is going to have the privilege of accomplishing it, the more will the harmony between them pay off in a smooth efficiency and ability to avoid getting side-tracked.

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(How to Compare Horoscopes)                      

                     People have been having problems with their relation­ships for as long as they have been having relation­ships. Even Adam and Eve, under the most ideal conditions imaginable, failed to make a decent go of it. It’s not surprising, therefore, that synastry-the astrology of relationships – has always been one of the most popular branches of the stellar art. In the second century A.D. Claudius Ptolemy wrote: “Concord be­tween two persons is produced by an harmonious figuration of the stars, indicative of the matter where­by good will is constituted, in the nativity of either person.  Love and hatred are discernible, as well from the concord and discord of the luminaries, as from the ascendants of both nativities.”(1)                   Ptolemy’s method was to compare the suns, moons, and ascendants in the two horoscopes because these are the points where the natives are in closest touch with the world outside of themselves. All of the other planets, cusps, parts, etc., are derivative from these three, both in terms of their mathematical motion, and in the psychological sense of being more conditioned or subject to karma.   It is in the three vital centers that one looks for the natives’ free will – the ability to recognize and discard choices that have outlived their usefulness, and go on to make new ones. This is why a comparison of the harmonies and disharmonies between the vital centers in two horoscopes is so revealing of the internal adjustments two people have to make when they join together in a relationship. 

                Note that this technique doesn’t provide the entire story by any means – the cross-aspects between planets in the two horoscopes describe the situation in greater detail.(2)  However comparison of the vital centers is a good place to begin.  In what follows, marriage will be given primary attention, but the same technique can be used to evaluate any relationship between two people. 

               Two centers are harmonious if they are either both in masculine signs, or if they are both in feminine signs.  If one is in a masculine sign and the other is in a feminine sign, then they are disharmonious.  A single sign is harmonious with itself, so two centers that lie in the same sign are in harmony with each other.  For example, Leo is harmonious with Gemini, since both are masculine; and Capricorn is harmonious with Cancer, since both are feminine.  But Leo is dishar­monious with Capricorn, since the former is mascu­line and the latter is feminine. The procedure is to compare separately the two sun signs, then the two moon signs, and then the two rising signs, to ascertain which of these pairs of vital centers are harmonious or disharmonious.

              All of the signs of the same gender are taken to be harmonious with one another because in this context “harmony” means similarity, or likeness. When a pair of vital centers lies in harmonious signs, then those centers operate in much the same way. The two parties to the relationship can always rely upon one another in that respect, or take that facet of the relationship completely for granted.  If the two sun signs are harmonious, then each person respects the other’s views on life and living, and they can help one another to follow out the dictates of their individual consciences and destinies.   If the two moons lie in harmonious signs, then there is a feeling of good will that underpins the relationship; both parties have a genu­ine liking for each other, and truly wish one another the best.  If the two rising signs are harmonious, then there is a commonality of everyday interests and habits that bind the two people together; they fulfill each other’s images of what they are seeking in a partner. 

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