Because the composite has all the same features as a birth chart, we need to approach its interpretation in more or less the same way. The composite chart has a core identity which signifies its “purpose” (the Sun) and a characteristic set of emotional responses and needs (the Moon). It has a mode of communication (Mercury) and a distinctive set of values and ideals (Venus). It has a mode of expressing energy and will (Mars). It has its own way of growing and expanding (Jupiter) and it has innate limitations and defence mechanisms (Saturn). It has a specific vulnerability to the collective due to patterns from the collective background of the relationship (Chiron). It reflects certain collective ideals which strive for change and progress (Uranus). It has innate aspirations which reflect certain collective fantasies (Neptune). It has a bottom-line survival instinct which can prove supportive to the relationship’s continuity but can also be destructive if the relationship is under threat (Pluto). It has an image or role to play in the eyes of society (MC), and it has a “personality” which will express itself in certain characteristic ways to the world outside (Ascendant). The signs in a composite chart describe the basic stuff or “temperament” of which the relationship is made; the planets describe the motivating energies; and the houses describe the spheres of life through which the planets express themselves. All this is basic astrology, and it is no less applicable to the composite than it is to the individual birth chart.


Composites have their own laws and energies, and these have nothing to do with whether we are “well matched” with someone. A composite in itself will not tell us about compatibility. That is what synastry is for. The composite won’t reveal whether the relationship is “good” or “bad” in terms of the chemistry between two people. The composite says to us, “If you choose to enter this relationship, here is its meaning and pattern of destiny. This is what it is made of and what it is for.” If we want to get a sense of whether or not that meaning and destiny are going to make us feel good, we have to compare the composite with our own chart.