Exploring the First Meeting Chart

by Frank C. Clifford

In my experience, a horoscope cast for the first time two people meet/connect is more important than a wedding chart, a midpoint chart (such as the Davison or composite), or any other horoscope cast for a pivotal moment in two people’s lives together. This “First Meeting” chart shows:

• The pair’s initial intentions and recent histories;
• What each can bring to the relationship;
• The opportunities and challenges of the match;
• The main essence, themes, and “creations” of the relationship — should the pair wish to develop it.

Regular readers of The Mountain Astrologer will know that I’ve presented a couple of First Meeting charts in my regular “Moments in Time” column (including an analysis of when John Lennon first met Paul McCartney — for the June/July 2016 issue).

We can draw up this type of chart for the start of a friendship, a personal or professional partnership, or even for when we get a pet.1 Such a chart can be activated by transit or any kind of direction or progression. In fact, I’ve found that this chart responds much better to forecasting methods than any of the midpoint-constructed relationship charts. Perhaps that’s because it’s a real moment in time (unlike the composite) and a moment that was experienced energetically by both parties (unlike the Davison).

I’ve also found (in retrospect) that key names (of people, places, etc.) in the relationship show up as aptly placed asteroids, and there are also some interesting connections between Local Space lines (rather than astrocartography) and places of importance to both parties. I shall share these in my two case studies later.

The Moment

So, when is the moment? Is it when a couple meets in person? That used to be the most common scenario. These days, people often chat first by phone or connect online via dating apps and through text, and the first meeting moment can be easier to research. And some people never meet in the flesh — they just have relationships remotely.

With connections that are made online first, there are a few charts to consider. The moment of the first interaction is a moment we want to consider astrologically. And most online contact begins with a message, which means, in principle, that there are two charts to decide on: one horoscope for person A for the moment they send the first message to B; and one horoscope for person B for the moment they receive the message from A (thanks to phone alerts, these charts could be moments apart). I would probably consider the reply from B to be the first chart of interaction because a connection has been made. (Otherwise, it could just be one of fifty swipes on a dating app, and I think a chart warrants more of an engagement and a two-way connection!)

Then, the first visual encounter online or in person would constitute another chart, and is worthy of study and comparison. Unless the relationship remains a virtual one or there’s an extended period online before meeting, I’m more inclined to prioritise the first face-to-face meeting in person because there’s a further exchange — an interaction of physical energy, the first handshake, greeting hug or kiss.

If you’re unsure of the exact time of the meeting, calculate a chart based on a guesstimate (“evening”), and start to look at how the degrees of the four angles hook into the natal charts of the pair, children, pets, as well as transits/directions. We’ll see some examples later.

In this article, I’m going to describe the key areas of the chart to consider and show two First Meeting case studies that have known, reliable times.

What to Consider

1. The Major Themes

So, how do we approach a First Meeting chart? As with any chart, I would focus on:

• The Sun and Moon (by sign, house, major aspects);
• The four angles and planets within 8–10° of the angles;
• A sign or house emphasis;A major configuration like a t-s
• quare (and its apex planet);
• Any dominant or missing elements and modes.

The Sun complex (its sign, house, and aspects by conjunction, square, or opposition) shows the main purpose and focus of the union. It usually describes the person around whom the relationship revolves (in terms of work, routine, or money). Not always signifying the most dominant personality, the Sun nevertheless depicts the person who commands the most attention, time, or focus.

The Moon complex reflects the emotional environment created and sought by the pair, as well as the primary needs, emotional pulse, underlying or unexpressed emotions, and trust/security issues. It usually describes the supporter/nurturer in the relationship.

Sometimes relationships are pretty balanced in terms of who brings the solar and lunar energies to the union (we’ll see that in example B later), so another way to work out “who’s who” is to look at the Ascendant–Descendant (ASC–DSC) axis. The Ascendant shows who participates most in the world, or whose friendships/social circle dominate, or who offers the most obvious social image (the “face” of the couple). Some relationships have the feeling of “Chris and Alex” in that order, while some are more “Alex turned up and brought Chris along.” Like the Moon, the Descendant shows who tends to provide the supportive, reflective energy.

The Midheaven (MC) can show the goals/missions of the pair and the reputation of the couple; the Ascendant shows the shared outlook and dominant image. Mercury reveals communication factors, dialogue issues, humour, and cerebral priorities. As the Moon and Mercury are both reflective of communication and interaction but in different ways, we can often deduce from the chart which of the two is dominant. This will tell us whether the relationship is dominated by lunar issues/themes or Mercurial ones.

These are the main areas of the horoscope that I’d consider. But what I wouldn’t do is to presume that every placement supersedes the placements in each person’s natal chart. The First Meeting chart is a moment in time showing the birth of a relationship. It’s not an individual set of motives (the natal chart), nor is it a melding of two energies into a third “construct” (the composite).

2. Degrees, Places, and Asteroid Names

What fascinates me is that the degrees of planets and angles in the First Meeting chart will show up in the horoscopes of any of the couple’s “creations” — from children to businesses, and even their pets. The degrees of the zodiac have a resonance and a quality about them, and these degrees recur in the charts of those who share that quality. And this quality is also re-membered when the degree is awakened by transiting planets, lunations, etc. (In other words, we might meet someone when their Venus directs/progresses to a sensitive degree in our own chart.)

I often look up asteroids that share a name or place that’s important to the couple. I’ll give some examples later. (There’s a searchable A to Z database of asteroids which currently exceeds 22,000 names in the Extended Chart Selection page on www.astro.com.) These personal-named asteroids (PNAs) will often be within a degree or two of the angles or planets of the First Meeting chart, adding weight to that name’s association with a specific area of the horoscope.

3. Event Triggers

I run a course at the London School of Astrology on all aspects of synastry and relationship analysis. In it, I reiterate the observation that people decide to begin significant relationships when there are transits or directions to natal Venus, the Descendant degree, or a natal planet in the 7th house. Sometimes there’s also an inner planet or angle that solar arc–directs into Libra or the zodiac sign of the 7th house. (There’s no guarantee that these transits or directions to our natal chart will result in a relationship, as we are usually in charge of making the choice to enter into one.)

The transiting or directed planet will go a long way in describing how the union and the person may influence or transform our life at that moment in time.

Analysis of Couple A

The couple that got me interested in exploring the First Meeting chart was my parents. My mother would often recount how she first met my father, and she knew the exact time she arrived for their first date in late June 1968.

1. The Major Themes

There’s a triple conjunction of Sun–Venus–Mars. Firstly, both my parents have Sun–Mars contacts in their natal charts, while my sister and I are both Sun–Venus conjunctions.

The planetary trio is in Cancer and congregated around the cusp of the 8th house (by Equal houses). At the time of the meeting, my father was in crisis (8th) — six months earlier, he had lost his common law wife to cancer and, because she had no will, he had been forced by her family to give up their residence (Cancer, 8th). My mother was enjoying the single life and had no plans to settle down — a heavy relationship with a possessive Cancerian man had recently ended with his death.

My father had just turned 50 and was developing his career as a newly qualified personal injury lawyer. He spent the next thirty years on a mission (Sun) to fight (Mars) insurance companies (8th) to get money (Venus) for clients who had been injured in accidents (Mars). The money he won for them would ensure that they and their families had greater security and protection (Cancer). Following my father’s death many years later, the pensions (8th house) he had set up for himself and my mother helped her financially — and they continue to support her to this day (Cancer).

Together (Libra MC, Descendant ruler Mercury in Gemini in the 7th), my parents formed a formidable team. Soon after the wedding in May 1969, my mother left her work to focus on the family home and later became the bookkeeper for my dad’s legal business. It was the beginning of a better life for both of them.

With Sagittarius rising and Jupiter and the Moon in the 9th, they decided to spend their spare time travelling around the world before, as my mum says, “we were too old to enjoy the experience.” Every year, as a family unit of four, we journeyed to some of the most interesting and exotic places in the world.

2. Degrees, Places, and Asteroid Names

Although I was born almost five years after my parents met, the degrees of my natal chart appear all over my parents’ meeting chart. I was the “good boy” who never rebelled, always encouraging everyone to talk things through. My chart has:

• The Sun–Venus at 23–24° Aries (on the meeting chart’s Saturn);
• The Moon at 2° Virgo (on the Jupiter);
• The Ascendant at 23–24° Gemini (on the Mercury);
• Neptune at 7° Sagittarius (on the chart’s Ascendant).

My older sister Helen was born three days after the Full Moon at 2° Virgo (on the chart’s Jupiter). It was my sister’s emotional dramas and relationship choices that impacted our family for years. She has:

• The Sun at 5° Pisces (square the ASC–DSC axis of the meeting chart);
• The Moon at 15° Libra (on the South Node);
• Mars at 22° Aries on her Descendant (conjunct Saturn).

And my sister’s daughter, who was an unexpected addition in 1994 and shifted the whole family dynamic, was born with the Sun at 25° Virgo (conjunct the chart’s Uranus).

For fourteen years, we had a beloved, regal, silver-streaked Persian cat (who looked like she’d been taken from the lap of a Bond villain). She was born with the Sun at 7–8° Leo (on the chart’s 9th-house Moon). From the moment of her arrival, our daily routines and holiday plans would revolve around her majesty.

The Local Space lines are fascinating. My parents discovered that their ancestry led back to the same area in southern Ireland, where the Sun–Venus–Mars lines in hereditary Cancer run through. (See Figure 1, **.) Neptune passes through both birth places in Italy of the two men with whom my sister and I had ill-suited but long-term relationships. The Moon in the 9th runs near Singapore, the place we visited most as a family. And the Mercury line is near where my Mexican spouse is from.

One asteroid for my name (and my father’s), Franke, is at 13° Aries (on the meeting chart’s North Node), and for my sister, asteroid Helena is at 0° Taurus — both asteroids are in the chart’s 5th house of children. My mother’s name, Rachel, is close to Rachele, which is at 24° Aries, arc minutes away from Saturn (my Saturn-rising mum was definitely Saturn in that relationship!)

3. Event Triggers

My mother met my very Plutonic father when solar arc (SA) Pluto in her 7th house opposed her natal Venus, and transiting (TR) Saturn opposed her natal Moon in Libra. My father, who was rebuilding his life, had TR Neptune on his Ascendant and TR Pluto on his MC.

My parents were together for almost 35 years, but here are a few major events. They moved into their first flat together in June 1970, during the meeting chart’s Mars return in Cancer and TR Uranus on the chart’s MC. They moved to a large home with garden in July 1973, when TR Jupiter (large) opposed the chart’s Leo Moon (home). When my father died in late January 2003, TR Mars was at 6° Sagittarius (on the chart’s Ascendant), Chiron at 10° Capricorn (opposite Venus), Saturn at 22° Gemini (conjunct 7th-ruler Mercury in the 7th), and Neptune at 10° Aquarius (opposite the chart’s Moon and SA Sun). It was also the chart’s Pluto square Pluto transit, and there were numerous solar arcs, too, including SA Descendant conjunct Venus in the 8th. My mother sold the family house later that year, when TR Saturn conjoined Sun–Venus in Cancer in the 8th.

Analysis of Couple B

Here’s an example of a married couple I know well. The woman moved to the UK, started work a few days later, and met her future husband the first day of that new job.

1. The Major Themes

The Sun is at 15° Aries (mid cardinal degrees are fully engaged/entrenched in conflict and making things happen). The Sun and Mercury are in Aries, and Mars is on the IC. Both partners are depicted by the Sun: They’re independent, proud, strong people with their own successful, entrepreneurial careers. Both are super busy, and their work demands that they make decisions quickly and lead the way. Watching them interact is always fascinating: They talk over each other, shout, argue, bully, and curse! They are excitable, combative — both have powerful personalities — and adept at dealing with family drama (Mars on a Leo IC). Life is never dull or quiet in their large house, known by friends as “Grand Central Station.”

With the Moon rising, family and food are ever present. The pair is flexible enough (Gemini) to adapt when friends and family arrive without notice and suddenly there are a dozen more mouths to feed that evening. With the Moon opposite Jupiter in Sagittarius, it’s the sort of household where diets are abandoned (Saturn in Pisces squares this opposition) upon entry, and vices are encouraged in order for all to feel welcomed and chill out (Venus in Pisces is also at the apex). It’s difficult not to overdo it (Jupiter) and easy to forget Saturn (in Pisces!) when you’re encouraged to kick off your shoes (Pisces) and have fun.

The angular opposition of the Moon in Gemini and Jupiter in Sagittarius also reflects the multinational, multicultural flavour of the couple, their friends, their foods, and lifestyles. Lots of languages are spoken, and friendships are paramount (Aquarius MC). The Ascendant and Moon are in Gemini, and the couple own and rent out numerous properties. They also work in commerce and technology. Daily life is spent busily juggling diverse projects. Both partners share the First Meeting chart’s mutability and lack of the earth element.

The first year of their relationship featured much conflict (Aries, Mars) around commitment (mutability), and their cultural differences divided them and their families (Moon opposite Jupiter).

But the birth of their first child changed much of that. With Mars in Leo on the IC, the foundation of the relationship is the love of their creative children, who are adored, sometimes spoiled, and often pushed to be as dynamic as their parents.

2. Degrees, Places, and Asteroid Names

The two children have horoscopes that link strongly to the First Meeting chart. The elder has the Moon at 17° Aries, and the younger has the Sun at 15° Libra (opposite Saturn at 16° Aries) — all of which aspect the meeting chart’s Aries Sun.

The chart’s Local Space Saturn (in Pisces) line runs through the husband’s birthplace (where he and his family fled persecution), while Local Space Moon in Gemini and Jupiter in Sagittarius run together through the wife’s dual-cultural birthplace.

The wife’s personal-named asteroid is at 9° Aquarius (on the meeting chart’s MC), and the husband’s is at 16° Pisces, close to Saturn and square Jupiter, linking her to the MC goals and him to Saturn and Jupiter.

3. Event Triggers

Their long relationship has had many events that have been reflected in the First Meeting chart. Weeks before they met, there had been a Full Moon on the wife’s Descendant, followed by Saturn transiting there, and the husband was having his Saturn return and a number of solar arcs linking to his Moon and Venus.

I hope that these two examples have begun to show how vivid the First Meeting chart can be –— reflecting the essence of the relationship, its opportunities and challenges, and so very much more. Have fun exploring your own and others’.

Note:
1. Others could include the First Meeting chart of a mother and child, which is usually the child’s own birth chart — and, of course, that chart is a set of transits in the birth mother’s own life. We might also want to consider the first meeting between siblings, which might be very similar to the birth chart of the younger sibling. And for this article, I’m considering charts for no more than two people.

Images:
Charts provided by the author; chart data are confidential but accurate as reported by the couples.
First meeting, restaurant: Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay
Couple cooking: Image by Werner Heiber from Pixabay
Elderly couple by the lake: Image by pasja1000 from Pixabay
Couple B: Image by Prettysleepy from Pixabay

First published in: The Mountain Astrologer, Aug/Sep 2021.

Author:
Frank Clifford was honoured with The Charles Harvey Award for “exceptional service to astrology” in 2012, a writing award from ISAR in 2016, and a Regulus Award nomination in 2018. He began writing regularly for TMA one Jupiter cycle ago and has guest-edited a number of issues. His books include the interpretation manual, Getting to the Heart of Your Chart, and a guide to forecasting, The Solar Arc Handbook. Frank teaches astrology and palmistry online and in person, and his courses are also available in Chinese, Japanese, and Turkish. To sign up for free videos, articles, news, and live Q&As, please visit https://www.londonschoolofastrology.com

© 2021/22 - Frank C. Clifford

Taken from this issue:
This article was published in The Mountain Astrologer, Aug/Sep 2021 and can be purchased here.

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