Zodiac Compatibility

Zodiac compatibility, also called synastry, works by laying one person's chart over another's and reading the angles between their planets. When your Venus sits in a flowing angle to their Mars, attraction comes easily. When your Moon clashes with their Sun, you feel each other strongly, and not always gently.

Sun sign matching is where most people start, and it only tells you a fraction of the story. Two Scorpios can be wildly different partners depending on where their Moon and Venus fall. That is why we compare five planets for each of you, not one sign against another.

Every position is calculated precisely from astronomical data for each birth date. The comparison rests on where the planets actually were when each of you was born, so the result is specific to the two of you and nobody else with the same signs.

Harmony measures how easily two charts flow together. It grows from conjunctions, trines and sextiles, the angles that make two people feel familiar and comfortable. High harmony is the couple who can sit in a car for three hours and call it a lovely afternoon.

Spark measures charge. It grows from squares and oppositions, the angles that create friction, attraction and the urge to keep talking at one in the morning. High spark is chemistry, debate and the occasional slammed door.

Neither is better. Most lasting relationships have both: enough harmony to rest in, enough spark to stay interested. That is why we show them side by side instead of folding them into one score. A single number would hide the difference between feeling easy and feeling electric, and that difference is the most useful thing to know.

We group the planetary contacts into four parts of a relationship, each with its own harmony bar and spark bar.

• Core: your Sun and Moon against theirs. This is the basic sense of whether you get each other and want the same kind of life.
• Emotional: your Moon and Venus against theirs. This is how you comfort each other, what feels like care, and how quickly you make up.
• Attraction: your Venus and Mars against theirs. This is desire, flirting, pursuit and physical chemistry.
• Everyday: your Mercury and Sun against theirs. This is conversation, planning, humour and how you handle the shopping list.

Under each area you get a sentence naming the tightest contact, such as your Venus trine their Mars, so you can see exactly where the result comes from.

Your result is one word that sums up the balance of harmony and spark across all four areas.

• Easy: lots of harmony, little friction. You understand each other quickly and conflict blows over fast. Keep it lively by trying new things together.
• Electric: strong spark with real harmony underneath. Intense, magnetic and rarely boring. You challenge each other, and you also know how to come back together.
• Grounded: solid harmony and a calm rhythm. This is a dependable, low-drama bond that builds steadily, the kind friends quietly envy.
• Stormy: spark leads and harmony is lighter. The attraction is real and so is the friction. This works best when you name what you need out loud.
• Slow burn: fewer tight contacts either way. This connection reveals itself over time rather than at first sight, and it often deepens the longer you know each other.

We use our own proprietary structure built on the classic aspects of synastry. For each of you we calculate the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars, then check every cross-chart pair for a conjunction, sextile, square, trine or opposition.

Conjunctions, trines and sextiles add to harmony. Squares and oppositions add to spark. Tighter aspects count for more, and the Sun and Moon get a slightly wider allowance because they carry the most weight in any chart.

You only need two birth dates. Because the Moon moves quickly, a moon contact that sits right at the edge of its range is marked as uncertain when no birth time is given, so you always know which links are rock solid. For the deeper detail on either person, run each birth date through the birth chart calculator and you will see the rising sign and houses as well.

By sun sign alone, signs of the same element tend to click: fire with fire, earth with earth, air with air, water with water. Fire and air feed each other, and earth and water steady each other. Signs directly opposite each other, such as Aries and Libra, often attract strongly because each has what the other lacks.

Within the elements there are classic pairings people ask about most. Taurus and Virgo build a calm, practical life together. Leo and Sagittarius keep each other laughing and moving. Gemini and Aquarius never run out of things to talk about. Cancer and Pisces understand each other without needing to explain. And the fire and air pairs, such as Aries with Gemini, or earth and water pairs, such as Capricorn with Scorpio, are often just as strong.

Sun signs are only the opening line. A pair of "incompatible" sun signs can have a beautiful Moon and Venus connection, and a "perfect" match can have little going on underneath. That is exactly why this test reads five planets for each person. Put in both dates and you will see where your connection really lives, area by area.