Guides
Two charts looking at each other, or one chart belonging to nobody
Two different ways of looking at a relationship. What each one answers, how they differ, and which one we print.
Synastry: two charts laid over each other
Synastry invents no new chart. It takes the two birth charts exactly as they are and lays one over the other to see what angles the planets of one make to the planets of the other.
There are still two people in the drawing, and that is precisely what is being looked at: what happens when those two particular configurations meet. Every planet keeps its owner.
Composite: a third map
The composite is built from midpoints: the midpoint of the two Suns is the composite Sun, and so on throughout. The result is a chart that belongs to no person and to no real instant. It is a mathematical object standing for the relationship as if the relationship were an entity of its own.
There is a variant, the Davison, which averages time and place instead of positions: it casts the chart of the moment halfway between the two births, at the geographic point halfway between them. That one does correspond to a real moment, though to a moment when nobody was born.
What each one answers
Synastry answers how you affect each other. It is what gets used to talk about attraction, friction, and which areas of one life the other person touches.
The composite answers what this thing we have made is, treating the relationship as a subject with a character of its own. They are different questions and they do not compete: plenty of people who work with both start from the synastry.
What we print
We print synastry, in two formats. The synastry chart is one wheel with the aspects between your planets. The couple's triptych is three panels: each person's birth chart, and the synastry in the middle.
We do not offer composite or Davison. The reason is honesty rather than technical difficulty: a composite printed without explaining where its positions come from looks like somebody's birth chart, and it is not one. If you specifically want it, write to us and we will talk.
What you need to order the synastry
Date, time and place of birth for both. The time contributes most, because without it each person's ascendant and houses stop being reliable, and a good part of reading a synastry runs through them.
You will see the preview built from your real data before paying, and every order arrives with its certificate.
Can you make a composite chart?
Not in the catalogue today. Write to us if it is exactly what you want: we would rather say so than print a drawing that could be mistaken for a birth chart.
Does it work for friends or family?
Yes. Synastry crosses two charts without assuming anything about the kind of bond. For groups of three to six there is the family chart.
Do we need both birth times?
It helps a great deal and it is not essential. If one is missing, that person's ascendant and houses are marked as unreliable and the rest of the crossing stands.