Using the Composite and Davison Charts to Better Understand the Timing of Relationships
Are all relationships written in the stars? Do we choose our relationships or are they pre-determined? Will my partner come to me or do I have to go out to try to meet them?
As much as I wish I knew for sure, I don't have the definitive answers to these age old questions that I have been asked in different ways many times! These have always intrigued me and I've made considerable effort in attempting to find clues through the various charts, some of the most important being the composite and davison charts. The composite is taken by taking the midpoint degree between your planets and the planets of the other person. For example, if your sun is at 20 degrees gemini and your friend's sun is at 20 degrees leo, your composite sun will be 20 degrees cancer. This is because there are 60 degrees between 20 gemini and 20 leo, so we would count 30 degrees from 20 gemini to arrive at 20 cancer. The Davison chart is the exact day and time that occurs between your birth time and the birth time of the other person. I use the Composite and Davison equally when examining the psychological dynamics and trends affecting the relationship of the two people at any given point in time. These charts can be constructed for any relationship, such as parent-child, siblings, cousins, friends, spouses, lovers, co-workers, acquaintances, business partners, teacher-student, supervisor-employee and many more. The type of aspect would be modified based on the type of relationship it is, along with the background of each person.
My experience thus far suggests that important relationships are pre-determined, including the beginning and ending of the relationship. When you meet someone of significance to you, there are always eclipses to important points in the composite or davison charts, and the transits the chart is receiving will reveal something about the circumstances the two people meet under. The energies affecting the pair can be seen through the transits to the chart over the course of their relationship. The most critical points in a composite or davison chart are those relating to the angles, the angular houses, particularly the 1st-7th houses, their rulers, dispositors and planets placed in them along with the personal planets, particularly the sun and moon, the vertex and the nodes.
Marriage is a fixed karma, meaning that it was decided before incarnation on the earth. The person(s) you will marry and the marriage dates have already been set, and so have the separation and divorce dates. It is my strong conviction that you do not have to go out and try to find someone to marry, for that person will find you at the right time; the time you both agreed upon for your paths to cross. All relationships have a start and end, and there is little that can be done to change the timing. Each relationship is for a reason, a season or a lifetime, with most of them falling into the first two categories. The relationship will likely start to feel stagnant and possibly toxic once the soul contract has ended yet you are both in each other's lives physically or mentally. I will include some examples to illustrate these concepts, so you can see how the composite and davison charts are integral to understanding the timing in relationships. The first example is a male-female platonic relationship which began in October 2019 and ended on July 18th 2022:
Eclipses operate one year retroactively and up to five years past the date at which they occur. The aspects I primarily consider are conjunctions and oppositions, though squares can also be effective. Easy aspects such as the sextile and trine don't tend to work, nor do the minor easy or hard aspects. Many times people see some of the effects of the eclipses within months of the exact date, or within a year. Keep in mind that it is a sensitized degree and can be triggered by transits for up to 5 years.
There was an eclipse on June 5th 2020 at 15 degrees sagittarius. The composite chart shows taurus as the ascendant, which means venus is the ruler of the chart. Venus is at 10 degrees gemini, so it was influenced by opposition by this eclipse. The dispositor of venus, mercury at 21 degrees cancer was also affected by the eclipses on July 12th 2018 at 20 degrees cancer and January 10th 2020 at 20 degrees cancer. The davison chart has venus in the 7th house at 10 degrees sagittarius which is affected by the June 5th 2020 eclipse. The davison chart ruler is mercury at 17 degrees capricorn which was affected by the eclipses July 18th 2018 and January 10th 2020 and also by the eclipses on January 5th 2019 at 15 degrees capricorn and July 5th 2020 at 13 degrees capricorn. There was an eclipse on November 30th 2020 at 8 degrees gemini which was only 2 degrees away from the ascendant of the davison chart. There was an eclipse on December 26th 2019 at 4 degrees capricorn which was exact on the sun-saturn conjunction in the davison chart. The composite chart has the sun at 4 degrees cancer and saturn at 4 degrees capricorn so both are impacted by this eclipse too. There was an eclipse on July 16th 2019 at 24 degrees capricorn which is 2 degrees away from the composite moon at 26 degrees capricorn.
Looking at the transits in October 2019, uranus was around 5 degrees taurus, which is exact on the ascendant of the composite chart and making an opposition to the vertex in the davison and composite charts. They met on a dating app (uranus represents technology), though the woman was not attracted to him she agreed to meet because of his very kind messages to her. Often uranus in connection with the asc-dsc axis denotes that the partners are extremely different. The davison chart shows sun in conjunction with uranus and the composite chart shows sun opposition to uranus. In this case, they seemed to be from two different worlds. They were from different racial backgrounds, opposite ends of socioeconomic status, family background and upbringing was significantly different and generally had very different experiences growing up which could be why their perspectives were often at odds with each other.
Transiting pluto around 20 degrees capricorn made a conjunction to mercury the chart ruler in the davison chart. It would also be moving to an exact conjunction with the moon in the composite chart during the course of the relationship. At the start, they did not notice the impact of pluto and the moon being conjunct as it was still too far an orb, but when pluto started to approach within 2-3 degrees, it started to be felt on both sides. For example, an underlying resentment towards each other, the man believing the relationship was unfair and he was being taken advantage of, the woman believing the man was not sincere and lied when it was convenient for him (lying or vagueness can also be seen in the mercury-neptune conjunction in the davison). The woman felt uncomfortable and questioned his motives. None of these feelings were ever shared in an open communication but rather repressed. The negative feelings continued to fester, yet they were both still meeting and keeping the conversation on mundane topics. Transiting saturn was making a 1 degree conjunction to the 9th house cusp in the composite chart and a conjunction to mercury in the davison chart. The relationship did have underlying themes of censorship, in that both people held many things back instead of speaking to each other freely (saturn conjunct mercury). One person was afraid the other did not understand, or would reject their philosophical beliefs (saturn on 9th house cusp). The exact sun-saturn conjunction in the davison and exact sun-saturn opposition in the composite made both more likely to apply a critical eye to each other and the shortcomings of the relationship, and they could be judgmental or overly serious together when it was not necessary. The relationship lacked normal affection such as hugging and there was always an emotional distance. They were meant to meet as shown by the vertex closely conjunct the descendant in the composite, and both felt there was important growth that occurred as a result of the friendship.
The friendship started platonic and remained platonic to the end, with no mutual romantic or sexual feelings. There was a feeling of attraction on the man's part (which can be seen by the venus-mars conjunction in the composite chart, venus conjunct the descendant in the davison chart and the stellium of planets in the 8th house in the davison chart) but due to factors such as appearance, intelligence, job and financial status, family background and others, the woman did not feel that he was desirable as she was objectively higher than him on these measures. This is one of the reasons why you can not infer if another person is attracted to you solely by looking at the composite and synastry. External factors need to be considered to see whether the two people are matched more evenly such that they would feel the other is on "their level" in an overall sense.
On July 18th 2022, the sun was at 26 degrees cancer which made an exact trine to the eclipse on May 16th 2022 at 25 degrees scorpio, transiting mercury was also triggering it at 28 degrees cancer. In the davison chart, jupiter rules the 7th house and is at 27 degrees taurus in the 12th house meaning that the eclipse in May 2022 as well as November 19th 2021 at 27 taurus impacted it. The 7th house ruler in the 12th house is one of the more difficult placements for any personal relationship. The pair had minimal communication following an argument in May 2021, did not speak at all between July and October, and did not physically meet again until November 2021. They did not have contact January and February 2022. As pluto made an exact conjunction with the moon, the negative feelings came bubbling to the surface and could not be ignored anymore. The moon is in detriment in capricorn because the formal, businesslike nature of the sign does not mesh well with the subjective and changeable nature of feelings. Capricorn moons tend to repress their emotions and can be reluctant to let themselves feel their feelings as they arise. In this case, the sun triggered the eclipses and brought hidden feelings to light. The man snapped at the woman during a meeting in early July 2022 when transiting pluto was making an exact conjunction to their moon, and that was the final straw where she told him it was too hurtful to continue the relationship with his current feelings towards her and he had to think about whether he can manage those feelings more effectively. On July 18th, with transiting mars close to the ascendant and closely opposing pluto (being more assertive and direct in communication), he told her that it is best they go their separate ways. On April 30th 2022 there was an eclipse at 10 degrees taurus, which was closely opposing their composite pluto at 11 degrees scorpio in the 7th house. Their vertex at 2 degrees scorpio in this chart is the exact degree eclipsed on October 25th 2022 and this eclipse also impacts their descendant at 5 degrees scorpio. Most interesting is that on July 16th 2019 with the eclipse at 24 degrees capricorn, their composite moon was eclipsed. This eclipse sensitized the composite moon so that when pluto made the exact conjunction to their moon it caused the breakup of the friendship almost exactly 3 years to the day of this eclipse!
What was apparent to me when hearing this story from the woman was that even if he refrained from saying hurtful things, he knew at some level that he still felt too negatively towards her from the accumulation of stress from past interactions, making it very difficult to continue. Though he claimed the outburst was due to other factors in his life, she knew from other comments that he made that it was just an outburst based on how he was feeling all along but had kept inside. She never wanted to have an open conversation with him about the real dynamics of their relationship because she knew the relationship could not survive. It was in reality neither his choice nor hers to end the relationship, though they probably believed it was, but rather that the relationship had reached its pre-determined ending as seen by the transits and eclipses, and the two felt compelled to end the relationship. The karma is now over, the lessons given and (hopefully) learned by both over time. Since the purpose of the relationship is over, it makes no sense to continue. What was bearable and simmering beneath the surface had reached a boiling point and could no longer be tolerated.
The second example is a platonic relationship between a man and a woman. They met in person on May 23rd 2015 and their last contact was on Nov 7th 2021. During this time they saw each other biweekly for a book club they were both a part of, and after the group separated they continued to keep in touch fairly regularly. There were no major grievances during their time together. The friendship did not formally end though the two have not been in contact since November 2021 and neither feels any inclination to re-start the relationship.
The sun conjunct the nodal axis in both davison and composite and the nodes conjunct the IC-MC were reflective of the fated nature of the relationship, along with neptune conjunct the vertex in both charts. Transiting neptune at 9 degrees pisces closely opposed mars in the composite at 7 degrees virgo, mars is the ruler of the 10th house. Neptune represents spiritual experiences, yogis, mystics and philosophies, so it is no surprise their conversations were often on subjects like these. Looking at the eclipses around May 2015, we see that on September 27th 2015 there was an eclipse at 4 degrees aries. In the davison chart, the ruler of the chart is the moon and it is placed at 4 degrees aries. Mars is the dispositor of the moon placed at 21 degrees pisces. On September 13th 2015 there was an eclipse at 20 degrees virgo which tightly opposed mars. Further, in the composite, the chart ruler moon is at 24 degrees virgo so was impacted by this eclipse too. In the composite, the 7th house dispositor uranus is at 9 degrees scorpio and on April 29th 2014 there was an eclipse at 8 degrees taurus tightly opposing uranus. In the davison, the dispositor of the 7th house is the sun at 26 degrees aries which is conjunct the south node at 24 degrees aries and on April 15th 2014 there was an eclipse at 25 degrees libra tightly opposing the sun and south node. In the davison chart jupiter is placed in the 11th house at 2 degrees gemini, which represents friendships and groups. On May 25th 2013 there was an eclipse at 4 degrees sagittarius and on May 23rd 2015 when they met, the transiting sun at 2 degrees gemini triggered that eclipse and made an exact conjunction to their jupiter in the 11th house. Transiting saturn at 1 degree sagittarius was also a trigger for that eclipse.
Looking at the transits on May 23rd 2015, transiting uranus was at 18 degrees aries making an exact conjunction to both the davison and composite MC at 18 aries. The book club was advertised online, uranus represents technology. Similar to the last case when the relationship started with transiting uranus on an angle, the individuals were very different. Though from a similar racial background, they were born two generations apart and had grown up on different continents. The chart of the exact time they met also had uranus on the MC. Transiting mars and mercury at 8-12 degrees gemini made a conjunction to jupiter in the 11th house in both the composite and davison.
Saturn in the composite is in the 1st house of the davison at 9 degrees leo and saturn in the davison is at 8 degrees aquarius. The woman felt the man could be overly dutiful, conservative and serious, though on the positive did help her in practical ways when she requested. He felt it was his duty to help her with certain things and she felt a duty to be emotionally supportive of him even if it could feel draining at times (he struggled with personal issues much more after 2019). The man perceived the woman to be emotionally distant at first though this improved somewhat as they got to know each other. Nevertheless, there was an emotional distance that is characteristic of saturn in the 7th house that permeated the relationship and was hard to avoid. On May 23rd, the transiting moon and jupiter at 8-15 degrees leo formed a conjunction and opposition to their saturns in each chart. Both noticed the emotional distance growing around March 2020 when saturn made an exact conjunction to the descendant in the composite and davison. However, it was not until December 2020 when saturn entered aquarius and was in orb of making a conjunction to their saturn at 8 aquarius that the distance and doubts about each other really started to become a concern and the quality and quantity of conversation went down significantly. On November 7th 2021 when transiting saturn made an exact conjunction to their saturn for the second time (the first was in February 2021), this marked the end of the friendship for the foreseeable future. Transiting jupiter had just left the 7th house, (it was at 23 degrees aquarius) where it had been a protective influence from the full effects of saturn. Now that saturn was there alone, it can be harsher. There were likely too many grievances unlikely to be solved even if openly communicated, that each felt they were better off without the friendship at least for this point in time. Saturn in the 1st and 7th houses of any personal relationship are difficult to manage as it can make the relationship feel constricting, strained or lacking in affection. The sense of duty and responsibility is high but the enjoyment and spontaneity, the excitement may be harder to feel. Saturn in these houses can enhance any relationship that requires discipline and hard work for achievement, such as coaches and trainees or teachers and students. In this pair, they had sun conjunct venus in composite and moon conjunct venus in davison, both aspects that enhance caring, affection, nurturing and admiration to offset saturn's challenges. Saturn will retrograde back into their 7th house and it won't be until December 2022 when it permanently leaves.
Looking at the eclipses at the end of the friendship on Nov 7th 2021, there was an eclipse November 19th 2021 at 27 degrees taurus which made a conjunction to the 11th house cusp in both charts, and also made an out of sign conjunction to jupiter at 2 degrees gemini. The general orb for eclipses is 5 degrees though the closer it is to the exact degree the more powerful it becomes. On this day, the transiting north node was at 2 degrees gemini, making an exact conjunction to jupiter. The relationship began and ended with important aspects to jupiter. On May 26th 2021 there was an eclipse at 5 degrees sagittarius which influenced this jupiter as well. On December 4th 2021 there was an eclipse at 12 degrees sagittarius which made a conjunction to the neptune-vertex conjunction in each chart. On April 30th 2022 the eclipse was at 10 degrees taurus, making a tight opposition to uranus at 9 scorpio in the composite chart, uranus is the dispositor of the 7th house. On November 7th, transiting uranus at 12 degrees taurus was triggering this eclipse by a 2 degree conjunction. Uranus is in the 4th house, which many believe to be the house of endings of many kinds. In an individual's chart the 4th house is said to be reflective of the circumstances surrounding your passing from this realm to the next.
Transiting neptune at 20 degrees pisces was making an exact conjunction to mars at 21 degrees pisces in the davison chart, mars rules the 10th house. Another manifestation of neptune being in close contact with the 10th house is confusion over the purpose of what you are doing, it is possible you don't know what to do, or you may be lacking in motivation or energy. I often see neptune making close connections with an individual's MC around the time of career transitions. They may be lacking in career direction or have doubts as to their success potential if they embark on a new professional venture. In a composite chart, neptune contacting the 10th house can give confusion over the purpose of the relationship or an inability to see the other person clearly, or perhaps maintain proper boundaries. In this pair, the man had been out of work since the latter half of 2019 and did not know whether he would return to his profession (the same profession he held for over 20 years). The woman found herself having to provide much guidance and support to him through this time. Transiting neptune was going over a stellium of planets he had in pisces (including his chart ruler), so his lack of clarity and confusion had been there a long time and had started to affect other areas of his life.
On November 7th 2021, transiting pluto was making a close square to the sun and nodes in both charts, which probably intensified the personal doubts each had about each other, and made it harder to ignore things they had ignored for some time. It may have seemed the goodwill between them was fading. The woman felt that the man was not helping her in the same ways he used to, and that this was not due to lack of ability but rather lack of willingness to help. The man may have felt he no longer wanted to help her and resentful that she continued to make requests.
In the November 7th 2021 chart, transiting sun is at 15 degrees scorpio and mercury is at 2 degrees scorpio. On October 25th 2022 there is an eclipse at 2 degrees scorpio and on November 8th 2022 there is an eclipse at 16 degrees taurus. These eclipses appear to have been retroactively affecting the end of the relationship, particularly the November 8th 2022 one as the ending of the friendship occurred almost exactly a year before it. Recall that eclipses can affect events a year retroactively, and do not need a trigger from another transiting planet within this time period to do so.
It was a lovely friendship, filled with many good memories and meaningful conversations. Both benefitted tremendously from the association. However, there is a time for everything, including the beginning and ending of all types of relationships. Holding onto relationships mentally or physically past their natural expiration date can create bad karma which must be dealt with in another lifetime between the souls involved. Relationships should be productive; I don't mean that you will feel good all the time, but there is a part of you deep inside that knows when the end has come. The hard part can sometimes be learning to honour this inner voice of intuition and to stop forcing something that isn't meant to continue.
The third example is a friendship between a man and a woman. They first met on July 10th 2012 in the evening for a group dinner they both attended. They discovered they had a common interest and did keep in touch, meeting fairly often for almost 2 years, both one on one and in a small group he led. They were quite close for the duration of the friendship and there was much personal and spiritual growth that occurred for both of them. It had a very strong fated quality to it, as can be seen by the prominent vertex and nodal axis. For example, the vertex making an exact conjunction to the ascendant in the composite chart and the nodes conjunct within 5 degrees of the asc-dsc axis in the davison. In synastry, her vertex was conjunct his ascendant and his vertex was conjunct her ascendant within 1-2 degrees. In the davison the 7th house ruler mars is conjunct the north node. The connection had a compelling and unusually intense quality for a platonic friendship and demanded both of their attention at that time. However, a sharp differences in beliefs and values led to unmet expectations on both ends and their last date of contact was May 27th 2012. Saturn on angles in personal relationships is very difficult to manage for most people. It becomes worse when conjunct the south node and vertex as it indicates there is a past life imbalance to correct and that they have no choice but to engage with each other. Saturn-south node connections are from the past, more so when also conjunct the vertex, and it usually brings the feeling of one or more people that the other person always wants more from them then they can give. Having saturn on the ascendant in the composite chart made it harder to keep the relationship egalitarian; the man who was in his 60s wanted to assume a teaching/ authoritative position and the woman in her 20s did not want to assume the student position. The relationship did not end on good terms and they have not spoken since.
Looking at the eclipses around July 12th 2010 we see that there was an eclipse at 19 degrees cancer on July 11th 2010 which made a 1 degree square to the nodal axis in the davison and composite charts and also a 4 degree square to mars as the ruler of the 7th house at 15 degrees aries in the davison chart. When you meet someone near an eclipse, particularly the same day or within a few days before or after, it gives an electrical charge to the relationship, which can be unpredictable and out of the ordinary. On June 26th 2010 there was an eclipse a 4 degrees capricorn that made a conjunction to the composite moon at 1 degree capricorn and an exact conjunction to the 3rd house cusp at 4 degrees capricorn. The 3rd house is relevant as the focus of the friendship was on learning, reading and studying, and they went on numerous short trips around the city; the eclipse opposite the 9th house cusp brought in the influence of philosophical inquiry. The moon was conjunct the 9th house cusp by 1 degree in the davison chart, showing that the relationship thrived on philosophical discussion. They both participated in a small group he led discussing esoteric subjects. The eclipse on January 15th 2010 at 25 degrees capricorn made an exact square to the davison asc-dsc axis and a 2 degree square to the composite asc-dsc axis. It made a 1 degree square to saturn at 26 degrees libra, and saturn ruled the 3rd house. The eclipse at 29 degrees gemini on December 21st 2010 made a 4 degree conjunction to the moon in the davison chart and an out of sign 2 degree opposition to the moon at 1 degree capricorn in the composite chart. On February 9th 2009, there was an eclipse at 20 degrees leo, which made an exact opposition to venus, the davison chart ruler and a 1 degree conjunction to venus, the composite chart ruler.
Looking at the transits we see that transiting pluto at 3 degrees capricorn was retrograding towards the composite moon at 1 degree capricorn on July 12th 2010 and would continue to eventually cross the 3rd house cusp. In the davison chart, pluto was applying to a sesquiquadrate with both venus and mercury at 20 degrees aquarius that would reach to being an exact aspect during the course of their relationship. Pluto gave the relationship an investigative quality, an eagerness to uncover secrets few knew about and access hidden realms of knowledge. Pluto making transits to the moon, mercury and venus meant for them that the conversation was easily able to move to deep levels very soon after they met, and it stayed that way. It felt just like carrying on from previous lives, as they both knew they had known each other before. Transiting neptune was making an exact conjunction to the composite jupiter in the 4th house, which enabled them to discuss foreign travels, pilgrimages, other cultures and spiritual texts, it facilitated a broadening of awareness of the larger world and how different cultures functioned. This tendency can also be seen by the square of transiting uranus which during the course of the relationship would make an exact square to the moon, a square to the 3rd-9th house axis and a conjunction-opposition to the 6th-12th house axis. Uranus makes a 3 degree opposition to uranus in the davison which is the 12th house dispositor (12th house ruler venus is in aquarius, the sign uranus rules). Transiting saturn makes a 2 degree conjunction to uranus. Transiting jupiter makes an exact opposition to the 12th house cusp on July 10th and would continue through the 6th house throwing its energy onto the 12th house until May 2011. In the davison chart, jupiter forms an exact square to the vertex showing that they were brought together for sharing knowledge and philosophical discussions. The 12th house represents esoteric information, the quest for enlightenment and discovery of the mysteries of the universe. Having these planetary transits greatly facilitates the sharing of mystical knowledge and practices. Neptune closely opposing the vertex along the 2nd-8th houses in the davison relates to the sharing of esoteric information and metaphysical wisdom. The mercury-pluto-uranus conjunction in the 11th house symbolizes that the pair was able to communicate with each other in a way that opened new doors for each of them and helped generate thinking processes that were out of the box. It was eye-opening and there was the feeling that deeper and deeper levels of awareness could be reached. Transiting mars was making a conjunction to the sun, the 1st house dispositor in the composite chart. Transiting venus was making a close conjunction to the 11th house cusp in davison and composite, the 11th being the house of friendships and groups, so it made sense they became friends originally through a group. Transiting moon and mercury were making an exact conjunction to the MC of the composite chart.
Looking at the eclipses around May 27th 2012, we see that there was an eclipse at 0 degrees gemini on May 20th 2012 which made a 2 degree conjunction to the vertex in the davison. The eclipse on June 4th 2012 at 14 degrees sagittarius made a close square to both the davison and composite suns at 15 degrees virgo and 17 degrees pisces. The eclipse on November 13th 2012 at 21 degrees scorpio made a 1 degree square to the venus-mercury conjunction at 20 degrees aquarius, venus being the chart ruler in the davison chart. This eclipse fell in the first house of the composite and made a close square to venus at 19 degrees leo, venus being the chart ruler. The eclipse on November 28th 2012 at 6 degrees gemini had been working retroactively to sensitize this degree and had been triggered by the transiting sun, mercury and south node at 5-6 degrees gemini on May 27th, the day the friendship ended.
On May 27th 2012, transiting saturn at 23 degrees libra was making a close conjunction to the saturn-vertex-south node-ascendant conjunction in the composite chart which brought out the innate difficulty of this configuration and made their differences of opinion too much to handle. Neither was able to see the validity in the other's arguments towards the end, and the relationship was not strong enough to withstand the pressure. Transiting saturn had previously made an opposition to the 7th house ruler mars in both davison and composite within the first year of them knowing each other and added discipline and a sense of responsibility to the relationship. It gave them both the impression it was a very serious relationship with much learning. The first serious argument came in early November 2011 where the woman felt the man was aggressive and insulting towards her, and did not view her as an equal with knowledge to share with him. He demanded she attend a group meeting when the next day she had an important exam and when she declined he said she was not putting in enough spiritual effort. He felt he was justified and never apologized because in his view, he was making sacrifices to teach her and she was not appreciative of his time and efforts. She did not want him to teach her but preferred they both could just have open discussions on topics of mutual interest. This was one of the major differences that led the breakdown of the relationship as they saw their purpose in each other's lives differently. They continued to meet though the woman never forgot how she felt about this, she did not think his arguments were valid and she felt he lacked compassion in his delivery. As a result, she never felt the same trust or good feelings towards him. At this time, saturn was at 23 degrees libra in forward motion. They had their second major difficulty February-March 2012, where due to the strain that had been developing, he asked her to stop attending the group meetings. They had a tension filled meeting in early March which ended up being their last in person discussion. By this time saturn had fully passed over the problematic saturn-south node-vertex-ascendant conjunction and was again in the process of retrograding back towards it. They did not email each other again until May 2012 when the relationship permanently ended. At this time saturn was in retrograde motion at 23 degrees libra, the same degree as when they had their first serious argument last November. Planets aspecting the 7th house ruler, dispositor or in the 7th house will influence the qualities of the relationship. Mars being the 7th house ruler was closely conjunct saturn (saturn being very weak in aries, its sign of fall), which is difficult for personal relationships because saturn can be demanding and rigid, without enough affection or lighthearted humour to ease the pressure. Mars conjunct saturn as an aspect in itself can feel stop and go; it is like you take 1 step forward and 2 steps back. When one person wants to start something, the other can try to stop it and it can be frustrating when you feel the other person does not support what you are hoping to do, without what you believe to be a valid reason. The mars-saturn conjunction in the davison mirrors the mars-saturn conjunction in the sky on July 12th 2010 when they met. The chart set for the time you meet is reflective of the energy that will affect the progression of the relationship. Saturn that day was at 29 degrees virgo; planets at the 29th degree are overdeveloped in their energy and the energy of the sign they are in, and for saturn in virgo can manifest as overly criticial, detail oriented and perfectionistic.
Transiting jupiter was in their 7th house during the arguments in November 2011 and February-March 2012 which added a protective buffer in which they still held hope the friendship could improve. However, by May 2012 transiting jupiter had left the 7th house and moved into the 8th house. Jupiter at 26 degrees taurus was forming a close square to the vertex in the davison at 28 degrees taurus. This may have been a signal that the purpose of why they came together is now complete. Neptune is in the first house of the composite chart at 25 degrees scorpio, and many times when neptune is angular in a relationship chart, the people don't see each other for who they really are but rather who they wish them to be. It is possible that the opposition transit from jupiter to neptune allowed them to see more of who the other person really was, without the idealistic tint of neptune.
After jupiter left the 7th house, the malefic nature of transiting saturn was still making a conjunction to the burdensome stellium near the ascendant. The natural energy of having saturn near the ascendant favours teaching but this can only work if one person wants to teach and the other wants to learn, and there will always be some degree of inequality in this type of relationship. This fundamental difference between what they expected from each other led to the downfall as the woman felt uncomfortable with his idea that he was doing her a favour and her intuition was telling her that he did not truly see what she brought to the relationship. This teacher-student feeling may have also been because he had his educational training as a high school teacher (though he did not work in the field for the majority of his working years), and the huge age gap between them. The man expected her to prove to him as to why he should continue to invest in her, at one point asking her to answer his questions about his teachings and her understanding of them in writing. In contrast, she never saw it as him investing in her but that they were investing their time and energy in each other. They both lost hope that things could improve by the end of May, exchanged harsh words via email on the 27th and never spoke again.
At the final ending, transiting uranus at 7 degrees aries made a semisquare to the chart ruler venus in the davison and it made a sesquiquadrate to the chart ruler venus in the composite. Neither of them expected it to end in the sudden way that it did, with an outburst of anger. What I believe was happening was that a repression of feelings could only stay bottled in for so long, until there is a trigger to explode. I find that hard aspects between uranus and mars tend to cause angry and explosive outbursts in transit, and in this case transiting uranus at 7 degrees aries was making a 2 degree opposition to mars at 9 degrees libra, mars is the 7th house ruler in the composite chart. Uranus making hard aspects to the 7th house is usually a separative factor. Independence and truth telling become more important than compromise and diplomacy. To add to the strain facing the 7th house, transiting pluto at 9 degrees capricorn was making an exact square to mars causing power and control struggles. Transiting mars at 13 degrees virgo made a close conjunction to the composite sun and a close opposition to the davison sun. Mars making hard aspects in transit usually amplify aggressiveness, especially when it aspects the sun because they are two fiery planets. The woman felt the man was wanting too much control over her beliefs, values and behaviour and abusing his power as leader of the group to exclude her, causing a disconnection with the other members. She felt she tried to be diplomatic and end things amicably but in her view he continued insulting her and did not seem to care how she felt. This feeling she had of being dominated was accentuated because in synastry his pluto was very close to her ascendant and on the day and time they met, 7pm on July 12th 2010, pluto was in the first house. The man felt he was entitled to tell her what to do because he saw himself as responsible for teaching her and he viewed her disobedience as disrespectful and a flaw in her character. He viewed himself as her guru or spiritual guide, though she did not feel he was advanced enough to take on such a role. She also questioned other activities he engaged in and did not see them as fitting with the values he was preaching. These differences caused an uncomfortable atmosphere that left both of them upset and disappointed. Transiting uranus was also within a 4 degree orb of conjunction to saturn in the davison chart, and hard aspects from uranus, neptune and pluto to saturn bring major tests and obstacles as well as a general sense of heaviness and overwhelm.
There was an eclipse at 25 degrees libra on April 15th 2014 which occurred on their composite and davison ascendants. In the Fall of that year, he visited a fair where she had a booth set up. The woman believes that he knew she would be there and that is why he came. They did not speak or make direct eye contact though she feels he knows she saw him. Sometimes eclipses to the relationship charts activate greater frequency or intensity of thoughts about the other person even though they are no longer physically in your life. Of course transits and eclipses can pass by with no thoughts of the other person but I have noticed that if you do find yourself thinking about someone from the past more than usual, it is usually due to activity in the relationship charts.
The relationship had its karmic tests, nevertheless it was a psychologically important relationship for them both. It is a relationship where the intensity and depth to an unusually high degree is something neither will forget.
The planetary transits and eclipses show the timing of the script that has already been written for the unfolding of two people's time together, just as a natal chart and the transits and eclipses to it show the person's karmic unfolding over the years. Every chapter is necessary to be lived, there is no way to skip ahead. Every relationship at some point will face several difficult transits and transitional eclipses and this energy can not be avoided. Eclipses are neither good or bad, they just signal significant changes to the area of the chart they fall in. Transits can more accurately be categorized as harmonious or challenging depending on the nature of the planet and whether it is a hard or easy aspect. For example, squares and oppositions from pluto, uranus, saturn and neptune are harder to deal with as compared with a trine or sextile from these planets or from jupiter. Squares and oppositions will bring a more forceful and dramatic change of circumstances, where as the easier aspects bring change in a more gradual way. Uranus making a hard aspect to factors connected with the 1st and 7th houses (ruler, dispositor, asc-dsc degrees, planets in the houses) for people in a relationship is frequently a separative influence and can give you the push to obtain a divorce or separation or breakup in some other form. However, I have seen it in cases where friends have a change of heart and develop romantic feelings for each other and sometimes it can signal the start of a relationship as well. In either case, it will bring a dramatic change to the relationship, which can appear suddenly and unexpectedly.
With that being said, I don't think it is possible to tell just by looking at eclipses and transits in advance if the relationship will end either temporarily or permanently. You can see that at particular times it is under immense pressure but factors such as the feasibility of separation based on cultural and individual expectations and the intensity of the karmic tie play a role in whether it will continue too. Sometimes one person wants to stay together but one person doesn't, and the relationship eventually fails. Or sometimes they take a break during their challenging periods and resume when the planetary picture is easier to deal with. Sometimes they stay together but lead separate lives mentally and emotionally. On the other hand as evidenced by these case studies, for a relationship to begin or end, there must be both significant transits and eclipses to the 1st-7th houses, the angles, and planets in the composite and davison. This perspective brings self-compassion in that you do not blame yourself or others if relationships end despite your best efforts to save them. You don't wonder what you could have said or done differently, or replay the same conversations and incidents in your mind. The timing of relationships is not in our control, even if society conditions us that it is. You cannot fight against destiny, which besides love, is one of the strongest forces in the universe. When you let go of what has already served its purpose by forgiving yourself and the other person for the way things unfolded, you make room in your heart for new connections that will allow you to learn the lessons your soul came here to learn.