The more one studies relationships, the more it becomes apparent that people are multifaceted. They have different layers of interaction with each other. Where two people might get along nicely on one level, they might be totally dysfunctional on another.
While we would like life to be simple, it almost always never is. Compatibility is like this. We can oversimplify for the sake of lazy thinking, or we can delve a little deeper to see what really makes people get along harmoniously with each other.
In astrology, there are many different ways to compare charts. All of these ways involve the comparison of two or more charts, but this is where the similarities end. For the most part, the two methods that have emerged today, are Comparison Charting and Composite Charting.
The simpler of the two is the composite chart, however, this is by no mean more accurate. In fact, there are some definite problems with the composite chart that make its results quite suspect when compared to the true nature of human behavior.
To make a composite chart, two birth charts are averaged to create a third. In other words, the planet positions in each chart are averaged to find a halfway median point between them. So too, are the houses, so that the composite chart has houses that are also the average of halfway between the two charts.
In other words, a person with Aries rising and a person with Gemini rising would be represented in a composite chart with a Taurus rising sign (halfway between Aries and Gemini). As far as planets are concerned a person with their moon in capricorn and another person with their moon in pisces would be represented in a composite chart by a moon in aquarius.
The theory is that there is a give and take in relationships such that no individual can be entirely their own self all the time, but instead, yields to the other in order to make a relationship work. The problem is, that while this is to some extent true, it is not true enough to be accurate. People never yield to the same degree.
Partnerships are rarely fifty percent give and fifty percent take. Relationships are hardly ever so perfectly balanced except in the idealized minds of us all who would like them to be that way. Thus, in the example we used of a capricorn moon in one person and a pisces moon in the other, the assumption that a fifty percent give and take could describe the relationship is terribly off the mark, particularly when we compare the recalcitrant, and sometimes unwillingness of capricorn to yield emotionally to the compassionate pisces moon that gives in constantly for the sake of peace and expressing its own compassion. In reality, the center between these two placements (Aquarius) could hardly describe the relationship, since the capricorn moon individual would almost always have their way.
This intrinsic problem with the composite chart as a way of describing relationships is entirely mitigated when we look at true chart compatibility through full comparisons of two birth charts. Instead of averaging the planets, this method respects the wishes of each person to be the energies they were born with. Thus, we study how well the differences are understood and what methods the individuals can apply to better integrate with each other.
In this way, we look for the strengths in the different chart placements and try to help the people concerned use these to find better compatibility with each other. Comparison charting does not make a third chart from the two it studies, but instead, analyzes the aspects and relationships between each set of differences to reach better understanding. While this is more complicated than the composite chart, it is also more thorough and takes into account the different layers in people, seeing them as multifaceted beings, making it by far the much better method to get a more sincere picture of a relationship.
In the example we used, applying the Chart Comparison method, we would compare the capricorn moon to the pisces moon, and attempt to find the positive qualities in both that would compliment each other. In this instance, the Capricorn Moon individual would be an emotional under-reactor, supplying a sense of earthly stability and reality to the boundless imagination and often fearful emotional qualities of the Pisces Moon individual. At the same time, the Pisces Moon helps to bring a sense of creativity and insight to the otherwise stoic Capricorn emotions.
When charts are studied in this way, it becomes possible to teach people how to find their strengths and help each other by using them correctly.
