What you’re looking at
Usually you’ll see one person’s chart as an inner wheel and the other person’s planets placed around the outside. The lines across the middle connect a planet from one chart to a planet from the other. Each line is an aspect, and the angle is what gives it its name. A list or a table of those aspects holds the same information and is often easier to read.
An order that works
- Start with the closest aspects. An orb is how far an aspect is from exact. An angle of 91 degrees is a very close square, and 96 degrees is a loose one. The closer it is, the more it’s said to count. Read the tightest three or four first.
- Then find the personal planets. Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus and Mars move quickly, so they describe you rather than your generation. Contacts between them matter more day to day than one involving Pluto and Neptune alone.
- Check the Moon and Venus. They tend to show how cared for you feel. See Moon trine Venus for what an easy version looks like, and Moon square Venus for a harder one.
- Check Saturn. Saturn contacts often show where a relationship gets serious or heavy. Saturn conjunct Venus and Saturn square Mars are two common ones.
- Then step back and look for repeats. One aspect is a detail. Three that say the same thing are a theme.
Reading both directions
Synastry aspects have two sides. If your Venus squares their Mars, that isn’t the same as your Mars squaring their Venus. In the first, you’re the one whose affection meets their drive. It’s worth reading each aspect from both chairs: what does this feel like to me, and what might it feel like to them?
Mistakes people make
Counting trines and squares like a scoreboard is the most common. A pair with nothing but easy aspects can feel pleasant and flat, and a little friction often gives people something to work with. The second is treating one scary-sounding aspect as a verdict. No single line decides anything.
The third is reading a chart in place of talking to the person. If you see a square between your Moon and their Sun, you still don’t know how they handle a hard conversation. You can only find out by having one.
Where the app helps
MatchMachine does this sorting for you. It ranks your aspects from strongest to weakest, groups them into five areas, and marks each area as Harmonious, Challenging or Dynamic, with a plain description of each aspect. If a birth time is missing, the chart changes in ways explained in why Rising needs a birth time.