Astrology Class - Marriage, Astrology, Psychology, and Chart Contacts Pt. 1

by Robert Wilkinson

In our modern era, more people are marrying more times in a life than ever before in human history. How does astrology fit into the psychology of multiple marriages?

This brief look at today’s subject came about as a result of some comments I posted over at the KISS FB astrology group site. It began by someone asking how planets in our 7th house indicate marriage, if the 7th shows us subsequent marriages, does an empty 7th house indicate a deficiency in our marriage sector, and do we need to have planetary positions in each other’s 1st or 7th house for there to be the possibility of marriage.

First, I suppose we should begin with something I’ve told you many times before. If there is no friendship, there can be no lasting marriage. Planetary attractions do not override “real world” circumstances. It doesn’t matter if their Venus conjuncts your Sun, or their Jupiter is on your Moon, if two people are not loving, kind, friendly, respectful, and affectionate toward each other, at some point the lack of these will be a deal breaker.

I believe the only relationships that can last are those based in friendship that allows for autonomy combined with mutual attraction, respect, and genuine harmlessness. It's also useful to remember that we have many things to learn, and another person's responses can be unpredictable.

These can teach us patience and forgiveness. We all have a personality with its quirks, and none of us were raised by saints or sages. And ultimately, planets in our various houses show us our predispositions and lessons related to that planet in that house.

While our lessons in relationship are symbolized in our synastry contacts between the two charts, it’s still up to individual choice whether a planet will show a healthy function or an unhealthy dysfunction. And we don’t control that in others, since no one gets to violate another’s free will. Ultimately, we cannot “blame” a planet in a house for our response to that energy. We choose how to externalize that planetary energy.

Then there’s the issue of those who lack a planet in the 7th house. A lack of planets in the 7th does not mean our partnerships “are not vibrant.” That’s entirely up to us, whether we have the Moon or Jupiter or Saturn or Pluto in the 7th, or no planets at all.

We are not limited by our planets! We are the determiners of our fate, “the dispenser of glory or gloom unto ourselves,” in every life matter. This is beyond the mechanics of our birth chart. This is an eternal Truth.

I take the approach that while the 7th generally shows our inclination for partnership, I have found the advanced level of analysis works perfectly, with the 9th house being the specific nature of the 2nd marriage, the 11th the third, etc. There will always be some sort of 7th/ruler of the 7th active in every marriage, and an empty 7th means nothing of itself. An empty house can bring phenomenal varied and intense experiences that are plenty "vibrant."

While a planet in the 7th does often show a quality of the potential partner, it can come out in countless ways, whether by planet emphasis, sign emphasis, or dispositor emphasis. And when looking at the second marriage, I have found that it always involves the quality of planets in the 9th, the sign on the 9th, the ruler of the 9th, and other factors that are equally as strong as the 7th house indicators.

One person put forth that they observed similarities in how they met at least two of their partners that seemed to correspond to planets in their 7th. I noted that while we "may" meet people under somewhat similar conditions, it's just as easy to state that each is met under completely different conditions since there is no way that two circumstances are ever completely the same. And of course, it's always good to note the parallels in our lessons, since they show us what we've learned and what is still left to be learned.

Regarding the “necessity” for there to be planets in “the other’s” 1st and/or 7th house, I offered that I haven’t found that, other than my wives' Plutos were/are in my first, which is the only natal planetary contact in the 1/7 axis between me and any of them. I also offered that I believe a Transpersonal planet (Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, TransPluto) does not qualify as a specifier of individual partners here, since these planets are generational, and indicate that effect is “nothing personal.” Otherwise we’d be attracted to everyone (hundreds of millions!) with that position, which is clearly not the case in the real world.

Regarding my wives’ Plutos in my 1st, because I don't consider Pluto anything “personal,” I believe I represented that Divine Purification in whatever way their Dharma required, with no “personal” intention on my part. Though it may lurk behind and express through one of the "Sacred 7" in the world of human affairs, to me Pluto is an invisible hand of the Purifier/Transformer Lord of the Underworld.

Of course from one point of view, on a personal level some relationships are that way, or seem to be that way. These Divine energies will affect our personalities, but we’re constantly working through those energies in all our relationships, not just our marriage. That's why if there's a Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto contact between partners, it's more generational and archetypal than personal.

The outer “invisibles” symbolize Divine Force, the Eternal Triad of “God.” While these may affect us personally, these Divine Manifestations aren’t really personal in the sense of the 7 Sacred Planets. I believe that when one or more of our partner’s Transpersonal planets occupies one of our angles, they become a impersonal representation of that Divine energy working out in our lives.

I have Pluto rising. That has often made me a purifier of others with no conscious intention to be that. My Pluto may have some great aspects, but sometimes “the other” in my life have chosen the low road. I don't take it personally, even though they have certainly made a personal choice.

Pluto strips us down to the core, just as Uranus sends us out over the precipice, and Neptune dissolves us to the point of wondering if we'll get lost at sea. While these Transpersonal Divine energies do affect us, they also offer us the transformations of a lifetime and we can come out a more perfected form of Divine Expression as we interpret it in our own unique, collective, and economical style. Here I’ll briefly note that those with the Divine planets in angles often have that effect on others whether they mean to or not, but that’s another article for another time.

So please don’t get discouraged or fearful if you don’t have a planet in your 7th, or if your partner has one of their outer planets in your 1st, 7th, or any other sector. Any planetary contact between charts can manifest as a force for good if you choose, i.e., Saturn can be a drag on your line, or a path to authorship of your life. And, even though a Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto contact between charts can bring upheaval, chaos, or even a sense of the unreality of an experience, they also bring us face to face with our Eternal God-Self, which is always a good thing!

Then the conversation veered into more of the psychological issues in marriages. I offered that my studies in psychology have shown the truth that often the 2nd marriage is a compensation for what we did not get in the first, which usually seems to be a projection of images, conscious and unconscious, learned from our social matrix.

Since that’s an entire topic unto itself, we’ll pick up part 2 of this class tomorrow!

Copyright © 2015 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Carol]

Fabulous article Robert! Thank you! Looking forward to the compensation for what I did not get in the first marriage! And hopefully not a projection of images...lol. Looking forward to part 2. Blessings, Carol

[Ilse]

Inspiring article Robert!!!