Category Archives: Love & Relationships

Sexual Tension and a Bit of Drama

hawk flies free . . .

Even though the Sun and Mercury are now in placid Taurus, unstable reactive energies continue to dominate this week, promising sexual tension, melodrama, and overindulging in what isn’t good for us. Or is it?

As I write, the Moon is gliding through the last degrees of Scorpio, and we’re still trying to determine what manifested out of Sunday’s Full Moon. It has been uncomfortable for me, and I sense that many of you share that watching-and-waiting feeling. I think we’ll have an answer by the end of today.

Mars in Cancer trines Uranus in Pisces today as well, and the Scorpio Moon completed a grand trine in the water signs yesterday. Among other things, you might have noticed a spontaneous outflow of feelings, in yourself or in others. Miracles can happen when you take a chance and tell another person what’s in your heart.

Enjoy it while you can, because the cardinal T-square between Venus, Mars, and Jupiter midweek could make you squirm. It’s interesting to note that all three of these planets are in the signs of their detriment or fall. In other words, they aren’t expressing their best qualities. Venus, the planet of love, desire, and harmonious relationships, is in demanding, me-first Aries. Mars, normally the initiator and macho guy, is in nurturing, tender Cancer, where he can get resentful and passive-aggressive. Normally ebullient Jupiter is in Capricorn, which puts a chill on his warmth and generosity.

All types of relationships may suffer under these astrological conditions, but especially ones in which sexual intimacy is an issue. If you try to get what you want through manipulation, it likely will backfire. And with Jupiter involved in this three-way, it’s likely to backfire in a big way. However, I think it’s more likely that this energy will manifest as overindulgence of some kind, be it sex, alcohol, or, most likely, comfort food. Running for chocolate or diving into a bag of chips may be your fix of choice for emotional discomfort, and you won’t stop at just one.

The best way to handle these situations is to state your needs and desires very clearly and let the other person respond as he or she wishes. Of course, we’d like the same honesty and directness that we’re putting out, but it doesn’t always happen, for one reason or another. The best you can do is to take responsibility for yourself. That said, the nature of this week’s convoluted energies may make it hard to do so in a way that makes everyone feel OK.

The Moon enters Capricorn, the sign of her detriment, on Friday, and she hooks up with Jupiter on Saturday night. Moon-Jupiter conjunctions are usually upbeat occasions, but I think there will be a lot of commiseration going on, probably over events earlier in the week. It may be hard to tap into how you really feel, but try. It’s the only way to make a heart connection.

On Sunday, the Moon opposes Mars and squares Venus. If the tension you felt early in the week didn’t find a release, it could happen at this time. Once again, keep in mind that others may not want what you want, and that’s OK for now. Conflict is not always a bad thing and is necessary for growth. If nothing else, events this week may help you understand your own wants and needs better, which is a needed precursor to getting them met.

Let me just add the usual caveat that I’m describing broad planetary energies. How they apply to you depends on where they fall in your chart. If you’d like to know that, Neith and I both do transit reports.

I’d just like to add a note to thank you all for dropping by. Neith just installed Site Meter, and it’s been great fun to see where you are located. We have readers from all over Europe, as well as Canada, Australia, Brazil, India, Singapore, and, of course, all across the United States.

Love and blessings,
Aquarius, dreads emotional conflict :-)Pat

This is one of Neith’s photos of the emerging spring growth. That speck at the top is a hawk. 

Leo and Gemini couple – What Happened?

  This request came from a Gemini woman about a relationship with a Leo man whom she met some time back online. Their initial meeting in person went very well, but things went flat after that.

They have good synastry between their charts, with both Moons in Aries and excellent Sun to Moon exchanges with her Gemini Sun sextile his Aries Moon and his Leo Sun trine her Aries Moon – all comfortable fire and air signs.

In fact, the overall compatibility between the two charts is strong with several intra-aspects (where the same planets aspect each other from both charts). There are Venus/Sun and Venus/Neptune aspects for fun and romance, along with Mars/Uranus and Mars/Pluto aspects for really great chemistry. The Saturn/Mercury intra-aspect is a little more challenging, because on some level, communications feel blocked and there may be a sense of not feeling understood by each other.

Another positive factor is having the harmonious aspect between their Ascendants. She has Pisces rising, and he has Capricorn on the Ascendant. This indicates that they have similar ideas about what a good partnership is all about. His Venus/Saturn/Jupiter stellium in Libra falls in her seventh house conjunct her Saturn/Jupiter – a lot of Saturn for durability, balanced with Jupiter’s optimism.

The difficulties may arise because of issues hinted at in the natal charts. His Sun in Leo is the apex of a T-square with Uranus in Scorpio opposing Chiron in Taurus. Uranus/Sun aspects make for a very independent personality, and whenever I see Chiron aspecting the Sun I suspect self-image problems – an uncomfortable pattern to learn to work with.

Also, his Moon in Aries opposite his Venus/Saturn/Jupiter stellium in Libra indicates a tendency toward emotional ups and downs and difficulty assessing how he feels about his partners. Her Saturn/Jupiter conjunction in Libra squares her Venus in Cancer. This parallel between their charts offers an avenue to understanding, but when Saturn aspects such as these are present,  it can take time to develop a level of trust.

They both have Saturn in Libra, so relationships are a serious business and, as I’ve noted before, this inclines a person either to avoid commitments or to embrace them completely. These two have a lot going for them from an astrological perspective. I wish them well.

(Libra Rules!)posted by Neith . . .

Looking for a Sign of Love

Liza with a ZResearchers in the UK have just released the results of a study showing that facial features reveal whether someone you’re interested in just wants to have a good time or is looking for a long-term commitment.

“Lots of previous studies have shown that people can judge a lot about a person from their face, including things like health and even some personality traits like introversion,” says Dr. Ben Jones of the University of Aberdeen’s Face Research Lab. “But this really is the first study to show that people are also sensitive to subtle facial signals about the type of romantic relationships that others might enjoy.”

Well, Dr. Jones, a good astrologer could have told you that and a lot more! And we wouldn’t have drawn the same old gender-based conclusion that women look for a lasting relationship, while men just want a good roll in the hay (they actually pay people money for this?).

Your physical appearance is reflected in your birth chart, especially your Ascendant, also called your Rising sign, which can literally represent the face you present to the world. Does that mean that all Rising Leos look alike? Of course not. The interplay between your Sun, Moon, Rising sign, and planets near the Ascendant is complex and very individual. But there are detectable patterns.

I have a friend with a lot of Aries in her chart. Her profile almost resembles a sheep, with a straight, barely protruding nose. I met another Aries at a party once and immediately pegged him as a Ram. He had two spots on either side of his broad forehead where you could almost see the horns sprouting.

You can tell a Scorpio or Rising Scorpio by the eyes. They’re unusual in some way, whether by the size or color or by the intensity of their gaze. Pisces or Rising Pisces often has large eyes and “fish lips.” My all-time favorite example is Liza Minnelli (born March 12, 1946).

According to the University of Aberdeen study, men with more “masculine” looks are out for a good time, while those who are more feminine are more likely to want some type of commitment. They qualify that this applies to young people, implying that at some point, facial features are no longer a consideration. That certainly was true for Charlton Heston, the quintessential Hollywood manly man. As Neith explained in her recent post, his birth chart strongly indicated a preference for commitment.

A research project called Astrofaces is attempting to draw correlations between people’s Sun, Moon, and Rising signs and their facial features. Frankly, I put more stock in this research than in an academic study that attempts to quantify dating behavior and reinforces outdated notions that men want sex while women want love.

= tall, dark and gorgeousPat

Don’t know your Moon or Rising sign? Get Pat’s Bare Essentials Sun-Moon-Rising report!

Patrick Swayze & Lisa Niemi – Enduring Love

swayzes  When I read in the news that Patrick Swayze had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier this year, I was saddened. He has long been a favorite of mine as an actor and as an example of a Hollywood celebrity whose marriage works.

He and Lisa Niemi met when she was 15 and he was 19, and they were married in June 1975. That will be 34 years this coming June – great by any standards and extraordinary by film industry standards.

Of course, being an astrologer, the first thing I did was track down their birth data and look at the synastry between their charts.  ::grin:: 

Patrick has both Sun and Moon in Leo, with Virgo rising and Saturn conjunct Neptune in Libra in the first house. I’ve observed that Saturn in Libra people either spend as little time as possible married or are faithfully married forever. Patrick falls in the latter category and describes himself as loyal almost to a fault. Lisa’s Sun is in Gemini with the Moon likely in Sagittarius. I don’t know for sure, because I couldn’t find a birth time for her.

A look at the personal planets by sign shows solid compatibility between them. His Leo Sun is harmoniously trine her Sagittarius Moon, and her Gemini Sun forms a friendly sextile to his Moon in Leo. Having the luminaries in compatible elements, in this case fire and air, is an excellent basis for understanding. They both have the Moon in a fire signs giving them an intuitive understanding of the other on the emotional level.

His Mercury in Leo (widely conjunct his Sun) is sextile her Mercury in Gemini (closely conjunct her Sun) making communications a snap! Because they both have Sun conjunct Mercury, there is a strong parallel working here, too. They have great chemistry, too, indicated by the harmonious trine between her Venus in Cancer and his Mars in Scorpio.

In synastry, Saturn is the planet we look to for determining durability in relationships. Patrick and Lisa have a set of Sun/Saturn aspects demonstrating how this works. Her Sun is trine his Saturn and his Sun is square her Saturn. They chose to marry (Saturn likes signed documents) rather than live together, and it obviously works for them. A couple more Saturn aspects in their synastry: her Saturn in Scorpio is conjunct his Mars in Scorpio and his Saturn in Libra is square her Venus in Cancer. These aspects both fall in the stabilizing category and show up with great frequency between couples in enduring marriages.

Jupiter graces this pair with a sense of fun and optimism shown by a matched set of Mars/Jupiter squares (a little over the top but who cares) and a powerful conjunction between her Jupiter/Pluto and his Sun/South Node/Pluto in Leo. The second synastry aspect was the first one that caught my eye. There is another nodal aspect – her Mars is conjunct his North Node – yes, her planets conjunct both ends of his nodal axis! Aspects to the lunar nodes in synastry indicate karmic forces at work.

In many ways, these two support and encourage each other (the Saturn and Jupiter aspects) and have a wonderful sounding board in one another (Sun/Mercury aspects). Here is an instance where the astrology of the relationship clearly supports the reality. I wish them well in their current battle with Patrick’s cancer.

(Libra Rules!)posted by Neith . . .

Importance of Birth Time in Compatibility Reports