When this Aries woman wrote me and gave me the birth data for all three people involved (relationships started when all were in their teens), it grabbed my attention. All of these people are now in their late thirties and she is feeling a strong need to untangle the threads binding them all together. The players are the Aries woman, her live in Capricorn partner and her first love, a Sagittarius man. Using the shorthand method, the harmonious aspects favor her Sagittarius love far more than her Capricorn partner. I decided to look at the natal charts of all three to see what jumped out.

Ms Aries has her Sun conjunct Chiron and the North Node in Aries – all indicators of the need to practice independence and being true to her most authentic Aries self. Then she has Uranus/South Node/Jupiter conjunct, all opposing her Aries stellium pulling her towards the Libra ideal of one-on-one partnerships. The opposition also suggests she is drawn to very independent, larger than life type people (her Sagittarius love fits that bill with Sun square Uranus/Pluto natally). However, she has Saturn/Venus in Aries conjunct her Descendant and that describes her Capricorn partner. Oh yes, her Rising is Libra . . . All these factors speak to me of someone whose greatest challenge from an astrological point of view is to integrate her need for independence with being a good partner.

When it comes to the Uranus opposition my experience has taught to do one’s best to integrate Uranus’s demand for freedom and independent action into one’s self. The priority here and for all of us really, is to work on the relationship with the person we see in the mirror first and foremost. There is a great deal of truth in the tired old adage about loving ourselves unconditionally before we can love others that way. Aries is all about self-respect and learning it’s OK to like yourself.

Her relationship with her Cappie man using the shorthand method has semi-sextiles and inconjuncts between the Luminaries and their Moons and Mercurys are square by sign. Taking a closer look at the synastry reveled Jupiter intra-aspects with Mercury and Venus lending a great deal of generosity, warmth and willingness to laugh together. Her Mars is square his Saturn creating a stabilizing, binding aspect between them; this aspect and the fact he fits the profile for her Venus/Saturn conjunction on the Descendant may account for the durability of this relationship. Unfortunately she did not have an accurate birth time for either man, making Lunar and Vertex aspects unreliable.

Now to take a look at the relationship with her Sagittarius love . . . the synastry here suggests why this one has lasted too. They have a Sun/Saturn intra-aspect giving it legs. Plus her Saturn/Venus is closely conjunct his North Node in Aries. This latter aspect may add to his desire to maintain a certain distance between them as North Node aspects in synastry can be uncomfortable for the North Node person. It draws and repels at the same time for some reason, possibly because we all tend to be reluctant to live out the qualities in our North Node and prefer the more familiar patterns found in the South Node.

After looking at the charts, my intuitive sense is if her Sagittarius lover would be willing to step up and truly be there for her, she would be happy to accept him into her life on a full time basis. But the T-square in his chart with the Sun at the apex and Uranus/Pluto opposing Chiron the bottom, show it’s very possible he has his own personal demons to wrestle before he can be a good partner. On the other hand, her Cappie man has Sun trine Uranus/Pluto and a possible Grand Trine in Earth if his Moon in Taurus is within in orb, which leads me to think he is a much more stable, well-grounded personality thus making him a better prospect for her.

Needless to say, I wish her well and send many blessings and kind thoughts . . . after all, Aries falls in my 5th House of children of my spirit.