- Read both natal charts before comparing them.
- Separate chemistry from capacity and compatibility.
- Use exact aspects and two-way patterns.
Begin with two complete people
Synastry does not replace either natal chart. First understand how each person handles emotion, communication, affection, desire, boundaries, and commitment within their own chart.
An interchart contact activates existing patterns. The same Saturn aspect can feel grounding to one person and restrictive to another depending on natal condition and lived experience.
Prioritize exact personal contacts
Start with close aspects involving the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, ascendant, and chart rulers. Then add Saturn for structure, Jupiter for expansion, and outer planets where contacts are close or angular.
Do not count every wide aspect equally. Record the orb, direction, and which person carries each planet.
Add house overlays and repetition
House overlays show where one person's planets become consequential in the other's chart. They require accurate birth times, particularly near cusps.
Repeated themes matter. If communication appears through Mercury aspects, third-house overlays, and chart-ruler contacts, it deserves more weight than an isolated minor contact.
Return to behavior
Chemistry, familiarity, and intensity do not establish safety or long-term compatibility. Evaluate consent, values, reliability, communication, repair, and the ability to tolerate difference.
Use synastry to name a relationship process, not to excuse harm, guarantee an outcome, or label two people as destined.