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Astrology and Relationships,
page 2


Relationship Pages: 1 2 3 4

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WHEN STARS COLLIDE - Paul Westran, $29.95

Contents:

Foreword
Introduction
Acknowledgements

Part 1: The changing horoscope:
1. Cosmic Thingummys
2. Relationship astrology or synastry
3. Dynamic astrology
4. Relationship planets in signs
5. Symbols & aspects in astrology

Part 2: The Relationships:
6. George Sand
7. Grace Kelly
8. Elizabeth Taylor
9. Royal relationships
10. Love vibrations
11. Poet & muse
12. With The Beatles
13. Geldof Yates & Hutchence
14. Selected relationships

Part 3: Conclusions:
15. Reflections on synastry
16. I could go on ...

Appendices:
The 1300 relationships:
A. Research method & background arguments
B. The ephemeris
C. Birth data

Bibliography
References & notes

Comment:

From the Introduction:

To show how astrology in its dynamic form plays a role in relationships, this book uses 'secondary progressed charts'. Basically, planets in the natal chart play a role in whom we attract & who we are attracted to, and planets in the secondary progressed chart, which is concerned with inner psychological change, show us when these attractions will happen. Here are a couple of examples:

When the late Paula Yates began a relationship with the punk rocker Bob Geldof in 1977 the Sun's position in her secondary progressed horoscope was 119 degrees 0 minutes of arc from Venus' position in Bob's secondary progressed chart. When they married in 1986 this distance was 119 degrees & 25 minutes, when they separated in 1995, the distance was 119 degrees 0 minutes once again. These two 'virtual' planets never quite reached the angle of 120 degrees, a very important angle in astrology, but were at their closest when the couple married in 1986. When Paula left Bob she entered a relationship with Australian rock star Michael Hutchence. When this relationship began, Michael's 'progressed' Venus position was 118 degrees away from Paula's 'progressed' Sun position & was closing in rapidly towards 120 degrees, much more rapidly than the 18 year journey of Paula & Bob's progressing Sun & Venus.

When Diana Spencer's relationship with Prince Charles began in 1980, the Sun's position in her secondary progressed chart was 118 degrees away from the Venus position in Prince Charles' secondary progressed chart. By 1995 these two symbolic planetary positions had moved through four degrees, and were just over 122 degrees apart when they divorced. In 1987 this 120 degree angle became exact. Curiously, in 1986 Camilla Parker-Bowles' progressing Venus was 117.5 degrees away from Charles' progressing Sun. By 1997, the year Charles hosted her fiftieth birthday party, this angle had closed in to be exactly 120 degrees. (pg. ix)

This book is an astrological simplification. Such simplifications are an excellent way of distinguishing forest from trees. You are most likely to meet a significant other when your progressed Sun or Venus is coming into trine with their progressed Sun/Venus. In astrological shorthand, these are progressed-to-progressed aspects. Westram uses Sun, Venus & Mars; conjunctions, squares, trines & oppositions. He notably ignores the moon.

Westram makes this out to be original. So far as his detail is concerned, it is. So far as the basic observation, it's not. Back in the 1980's, Doc & I were best friends. Ultimately we each got ourselves a girl. V for me, K for him. Eventually the two women met and to our surprise, got on quite well (normally friends of friends don't care for each other). When I was asked why, I noticed that V was 30-some days older than K, and that they had met as 30-somethings. They met when V's chart progressed on top of K's natal, which was the same time that K's converse chart progressed on top of V's natal. Their charts had become one, in other words. (This often happens to those born a few days or weeks apart.) And then I was asked, does this have special meaning, and if so, what? And I thought about that for many, many days, before realizing that a relationship based on transient factors was itself of transient nature. And so it came to pass that as the years passed the two women gradually drifted apart.

In a larger sense, all relations are transient, so the techniques in this book are a good way to gauge how long a relationship may last. Westram shows the results of his work as a grid, or matrix. For any given couple, there are factors A through E down the side, and 1 through 9 across the top. He gives dozens of these grids. The key to reading them is on pgs 28-9. It goes like this:

Cary Grant's natal chart is the innermost chart wheel & corresponds with row B in the matrix. This is followed by Dyan Cannon's natal chart in the inner middle wheel, which corresponds with row E. The next wheel, the outer middle wheel, is Cary's progressed chart and corresponds to Row D, while the outermost chart wheel (and Row C) is Dyan Cannon's progressed chart. (pg. 29)
I found A-E confusing. Why not "His natal", "Her natal", His prog", "Her prog"? The columns across were a bit easier: 3 is Sun, 4 is Moon, 5 is Mercury, 6 is Venus, 7 is Mars. Column 1 is "day", which means nothing. Column 2 is sidereal time, which is unnecessary. Column 8 are years, but not necessarily the birth years. The final column, 9, has the first names. In the example, columns 8 & 9, lines B & D associate Cary Grant with the years 1904 & 1962, while Dyan Cannon's columns 8 & 9 are associated with the years/rows 1937 & 1962. If this was intended to be used, it could have been better designed. Instead Westram bold faces the cells he wants us to look at, which saves us much of the bother.

The author also plots the angular separation, over time, of the two connecting bodies. This looks like a graph with a "V" on it, the point of the V usually at or near the bottom zero (0) line of the graph. Westram's 2 degree orb then boxes this. The results are beginning & ending dates for the relationship. It seems you only need one planet in his chart, and one planet in her chart, coming into progressed aspect, for a relationship to happen.

O Books, 452 pages.


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PLANETS IN COMPOSITE: Analyzing Human Relationships - Robert Hand, $19.95
Contents: Foreword; Introduction; 1. Casting the chart; 2. Reading the chart; 3. Case studies; 4. Houses; 5. Sun; 6. Moon; 7. Mercury; 8. Venus; 9. Mars; 10. Jupiter; 11. Saturn; 12. Uranus; 13. Neptune; 14. Pluto; 15. Moon's nodes; Index.

Composites combine two individual charts to create a composite third chart, of the relationship itself. The technique is to reduce planetary positions to 360 degree notation, add a planet from one chart to the same planet from the other chart (eg, Sun + Sun; Mars + Mars), divide the result in half & convert to standard zodiacal notation. So, for example, if you combine an Aries Sun with a Gemini Sun, you get a Taurus Sun composite (the author cautions that signs have no value in a composite chart). The result gives the student a single chart to interpret, rather than two as in classic chart-to-chart synastries. Includes delineations of composite planets in each house & every major aspect - some 374 in all, plus 41 more of the Moon's nodes. An essential reference book. 366 pages including index. Whitford Press, paper.


PLANETS IN LOVE: Exploring Your Sexual Needs - John Townley, $19.95
Contents:

Foreword, by Amy Shapiro

1. Developmental stages
2. Planetary energies
3. The signs, houses & aspects
4. Case studies
5. Sun
6. Moon
7. Mercury
8. Venus
9. Mars
10. Jupiter
11. Saturn
12. Uranus
13. Neptune
14. Pluto
15. Ascendant

Appendix: The sado-masochism of the 1970's.
Index

Comment:

A look at your love life as represented by your natal chart. Delineations of planets & ascendant for every sign, house & planetary aspect, some 550 delineations written exclusively in terms of sexual behavior & relationships. The 10 planets are associated with five areas of human development: primal, physical, social, structural & spiritual. Case studies show how the natal horoscope reveals these possibilities. A coherent framework for understanding sexuality in the birthchart.

Whitford, 368 pages.


RELATIONSHIPS & LIFE CYCLES: Astrological Patterns of Personal Experience - Stephen Arroyo, $16.95
Relationship questions & life cycles are the two things most often asked of astrologers. This is an intelligent discussion of relationship issues between the author & his audience. In a readable format, it illuminates the practical problems common in relationship analysis & how to understand them. 225 pages including index. CRCS, paper.


SYNASTRY: Understanding Human Relations Through Astrology - Ronald Davison, $24.95
Contents:
Introduction; 1. Marriage & other relationships; 2. Marriage horoscopes; 3. General notes on comparison; 4. Various methods of chart comparison; 5. Sun sign compatibility; 6. Benefic & malefic planets; 7. Interaction between nativites: the planets; 8. Interaction between nativities: the houses; 9. The relationship horoscope; 10. Examples of horoscope comparison; 11. Conclusion; Glossary; Bibliography; Index.

Comment: This comprehensive guide includes not only male-female relationships, but also employer/employee, doctor/patient, student/teacher relationships as well. Topics include planetary cross aspects (eg, the man's Mars to the woman's Venus), house interchanges (her moon in his 8th), the Part of Marriage, the First Meeting horoscope, good days for weddings, & more. Among the case studies: The Duke & Dutchess of Windsor, the Manson Family, Freud, Adler & Jung, Hitler & Braun. This is the book that introduced the "Davison Relationship Chart," a chart drawn for the midpoint in space & time between the two charts. This technique is now included in most astrology programs.

333 pages including bibliography and index. Aurora Press, paper.


ASTROLOGY & DIFFICULT RELATIONSHIPS: Why are you in my life? - Beverly Flynn, $14.95
Contents: Introduction

1. Astrology & relating
2. Astrology basics
3. Categorizing difficult relationships
4. If the relationship is unbearable
5. Obstacles to relating
6. Will the relationship improve?
7. Walking in another's shoes
8. When should we take action?
9. How to analyze your difficult relationships
10. There is no such thing as a difficult relaationship

Sources

Comment: The introduction starts with a story of a woman who could not bear to visit her parents, so this is a book that deals with more than marriage problems. Skimming the book, she defines the nadir as representing foundations or roots (pg. 23). Among the signs, Sagittarus is defined as single minded, while Scorpio is a crisis or test (both from page 27). Clearly not your usual definitions.

She categorizes difficult relationships according to their planetary energy. So, significant contacts to your sun contributes to your sense of self-awareness. Lunar contacts imply that you are living in the past & may need to let go. Mars is about the elimination of unhealthy desires. Jupiter is teacher / pupil, Saturn is debt / debtor, Neptune is a reality check, Pluto is power, etc. Those who bring us contacts to the ascendant are here to help us with our life's mission. (Anytime I can see my old relationships in a book, I tend to like that book. I'm seeing that here.)

In chapter 4, unbearable relationships, Flynn shrewdly remarks that unbearable means pain, pain means lots of emotion, and lots of emotion is a characteristic trait of the three water signs. As these signs come with earthly opposites, she then proceeds to pair Cancer & Capricorn, Scorpio & Taurus, and Pisces & Virgo. She analyzes how these signs get into bad relationships & how they might refocus their energies to improve things. In the next chapter, Obstacles to Relating, she takes up problems with the air & fire signs. These people, she says, are cold & willful. Where earth & water will cling or be stubborn, thus keeping a bad relationship close at hand, fire & air will simply walk away, to repeat their blunders over & over again.

This book primarily focuses on signs, with planets as a secondary emphasis. It also includes Chiron, the four major asteroids, the Vertex, and the angles. The formulas for resolution in the last chapter are a bit starchy, but well-intended.

TLH Publishing Company, 173 pages.


Relationship Pages: 1 2 3 4



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Tel: 410-638-7761; Toll-free (orders only): 800-475-2272

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