When the outer planets make their presence known in synastry, what starts out as a sweet relationship can turn murky and challenging quickly. In the case of this Libra girl and Aries boy, they both came into this world with serious outer planet aspects natally. She has Pluto in Scorpio conjoining her Libra Sun and an out-of-sign Libra Moon-Sagittarius Neptune square to contend with, and he has his Aries Sun opposed by Pluto in Libra conjunct Saturn in Scorpio plus his Pisces Moon square to Neptune in Sagittarius. I’m going to call this a “karmic” relationship, not as in past lives but as in a relationship that forces us to learn more about ourselves.
I will start by looking at how the basic elements in their charts connect by sign, often a surprisingly accurate way to evaluate compatibility. Starting with the luminaries – his Aries Sun opposes her Libra Moon and her Libra Sun is inconjunct his Pisces Moon. Oppositions between the Sun and Moon in opposite sex couples usually works out quite well because it works with the natural polarity and our expectations of the differences between the sexes.
The Libra-Pisces inconjunct also occurs between the Moons. Libra and Pisces both prefer peace and harmony in their relationships and in their homes, so they usually work harder at getting along than more contentious combinations . . . like Capricorn and Leo.
Now the opposition between her Mercury in Scorpio and his Taurus Mercury could be more of a challenge, mostly due to the tendency of fixed sign Mercurys to take a position and not budge. However, since both Libra and Aries Sun folk do enjoy a good debate now and then, having opposite Mercurys may not be an issue. A couple of Mercury intra-aspects, one with Uranus and the other with Mars, suggest these two really do enjoy tossing ideas around together and find these exchanges very stimulating.
If attraction and passion was only based on Venus and Mars, then their chemistry would be OK but not fantastic. Her Capricorn Mars does make a lovely trine to his Venus in sensual Taurus but her Sagittarius Venus is a little free-wheeling and flirtatious for his slow to react Mars in Taurus. When it comes to working together as a team, their earth sign Mars do very, very well with a shared sense of timing and endurance.
Moving on to other elements in their synastry that both complicate matters and why they were attracted to one another initially. They have three powerful conjunctions between their charts: his Saturn-Pluto conjoins her Sun-Pluto; his Venus-Chiron conjoins her North Node/Descendant; his Neptune-South Node conjoins her Neptune. Most of the burden of these aspects falls on Libra girl who also had Saturn in Libra transiting over her Libra stuff for a couple of years. Yes, lots of hard, hard lessons learned through her relationships.
There is little doubt in my mind this has been a deeply transformative relationship for Libra girl as that is the nature of Pluto in synastry after all. Pluto has a way of binding us together whilst healing through pain. The bottom line with Pluto’s lessons is acceptance of who we are, warts and all, without judgment or expectations. Seems simple, doesn’t it? NOT!! This is a process, a long process requiring plenty of forgiveness and the willingness to keep chipping away. Fortunately Libra girl with her natal Sun-Pluto conjunction and other Scorpio planets has the means to do this.
Aspects to the Nodes in synastry often bring a sense of recognition when meeting one another AND the feeling we are obligated to help each other in some way. Having Neptune and Chiron present definitely complicates matters because Neptune brings boundary issues and denial on board whilst Chiron adds deep, un-healing wounds. Frankly I see this as a “no win” scenario. Most of us have enough difficulty dealing with our own problems without taking on someone else’s.
An important parallel between their charts is both have Moon square Neptune – a very idealistic aspect and one that makes it far too easy to absorb other people’s emotions. Aries boy’s situation is complicated by his Moon being in Neptune-ruled Pisces, and Libra girl’s by a twelfth house Sun, Pluto, Mercury and Saturn. The inclination towards self-sacrificing behaviors is very strong in these two which may be fine for the monastic life but very, very tricky to handle for a couple of artist/musicians.
The sweet aspects between their charts involve Jupiter. Her Jupiter is trine his Mercury and Venus whilst his Jupiter falls in her first house. Plus they have a Mars-Jupiter intra-aspect (same planets aspecting each other from both charts). Jupiter brings warmth, camaraderie and inspires generosity, all the best ingredients for friendship. We usually are genuinely delighted to see people with whom we share Jupiter aspects in synastry. The Mars-Jupiter aspects also heat up the chemistry between them.
Both will be heading into their Saturn Returns over the next year or so . . . always an important transition. Libra girl has a head start on this because Saturn in Libra has conjoined both her Sun and Moon. Saturn is often an effective antidote for too much Neptune because it forces us to deal with what is, not just live on hopes and dreams. Time to nurture herself and find less draining ways to help others. I’ve been there, done that and had to learn slowly and painfully about misplaced nurturance and rescue missions instead of honest, equitable partnerships. It can be done . . .
