SUPER SOULMATES; an introduction to synastry

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

I've been struggling with how to approach my interest in astrology here, since I'm fairly certain 98% of the few of you who come here regularly would be hard pressed to find a way to give less of a shit about it. The fact does remain, however, that it's become a large part of my life and I keep WANTING to talk about it, so what's a girl to do?

Approach with humor, of course! Before anyone decides they're feeling ranty and judgemental, I'm fully aware that astrology is not law and I use it mainly as a tool to foresee influence. That being said, please have patience with the following light hearted, slightly tongue in cheek look at astrological synastry.

Does anyone else remember 90's flower child Shannon Hoon, deceased frontman of the band Blind Melon? Perhaps this will jog your memories:

"It's not saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaane"

I recently discovered that, strangely, randomly, and at least according to the cosmic universe, Mr. Hoon and I would have made a pretty formidable pair. I've honestly never seen a chart more compatible with my own before seeing his today. Considering my past choices of partners, it would figure he'd have died young from a drug overdose, right? Synastry-wise, I'm going to examine all of the ways that Shannon Hoon and I would have, astrologically at least, been SUPER SOULMATES.

The planets and houses that are looked at most in synastry (the astrology of compatibility) are each of a pair's Ascendant (the public self), Sun (overall being), Moon (emotions), Mercury (communication), Venus (love), Mars (sexuality), north node (life's path), and the 7th house, aka the Descendant (ideals & relationships). In general, the closer the planets are to each other by sign, the more favorable the aspect. This isn't always the case, but getting into it right now would be horrendously boring and if you've actually made it this far, I don't want to lose you. For the same reason, I'm going to be focusing primarily on conjunctions here (planets within 5 or 6 degrees of each other), as Shannon Hoon and I have many. Moving on!

Lovahs?

Shannon (Solar Libra, Lunar Cancer) and I (Solar Aries, Lunar Capricorn) are both, to our misfortune, Sun square Moon individuals, basically meaning that our emotions are constantly at odds with how we choose to act. While this is a difficult aspect to deal with natally (aka: individually), in synastry sharing difficult aspects like this can bring two people together in a kind of "us vs. them" way that only strengthens their bond. Of course it also means we could get each other into a lot of trouble, but Shannon and I are/were both primarily cardinal people- getting ourselves in to and out of trouble made/makes us feel sexy.

Shannon's Mars in Sagittarius is right on my descendant, and (conveniently) my Mars in Libra is right on his. What this essentially means is that, at least in the raw, sexual sense, Shannon and I would have had all the exact right moves for each other. While favorable overall, there's also the distinct risk of sexual obsession with this aspect, but at least in Shannon and I's case it would have gone both ways, right? The idea of locking myself in a room with a Mars in Sag individual for a week or so and letting off some serious steam is probably the most appealing thing I can imagine (especially going into my last trimester, rendering me hornier than probably ever before. Yes, I said it.)

Even more amazingly, my sun in Aries is conjunct both his Ascendant AND north node. These are two of the most powerful synastry aspects in existence, the combination of the TWO is sort of unbelievable, and I've never seen a chart before Shannon's that I have them with. In the case of the sun & ascendant, the pair in question constantly reinforce each other's personal view of the world, creating a significantly deep spiritual link between them. Imagine a person who you could constantly count on to make you feel less crazy and like you actually belong on the earth; that's what I'm talking about. Sun conjunct north node denotes a relationship that is constantly, and more often than not positively, moving forward. These two people could help each other to grow and accomplish their dreams much, much faster than they could on their own or with another, not as well aspected, partner.

On the flip side, Shannon's *moon* is conjunct *my* north node, another powerful influence in synastry usually seen by astrologers as a "fated" aspect. Davey and I have this aspect, actually, and it helps us out tons considering (like Shannon) his moon in moody, over-emotional Cancer is opposite mine in icy, reserved Capricorn, which would normally cause too much drama to be worth it. While sun conjunct north node concerns itself mainly with the mutual progression of each other's goals, dreams, and self esteem, the connection between north node and the moon is distinctly emotional and remarkably deep. It creates an emotional bond so strong that it's capable of overcoming most of the bullshit and tribulation that cause other relationships to go up in flames, especially if the two are well aspected in other areas as well. The idea of having this many sun/moon/north node conjunctions with another human being sort of blows my mind; I can't even imagine what it would be like, to be honest.

Needless to say, at least astrologically, Shannon Hoon and I's yings and yangs all fit into each other perfectly. Which is always good to know, considering he's long gone. Luckily for me, Davey reminds me of Shannon Hoon anyway, so I'm not too far off... fundamentally.


Absence of shirt? Check!
Guitar? Check!
Ornamented hemp necklace? Check!
Weepy Cancer moon? Check!
Winner? ME!