As Within, So Without:

Your Challenge in Relationships

by Marcia Sacks

In February 2000, my husband and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. I often joke that if I had
known as much astrology then as I know now, I never would have married anyone. Theres no chart perfect
enough and no compatibility smooth enough to please the astrologers eye. Ive come to understand after
more than 20 years of reading horoscopes that no one is attracted to perfection. Were much more likely to
be drawn to our most challenging life issues. The astrological maxim states, "As above, so below," but even
more primary in relationships is its continuation, "as within, so without." This means that, whatever your
hardest aspect or toughest planetary pattern, your significant other will bring it home to you.

One of the first principles of natal horoscope interpretation I learned is that "we always go toward our
squares." The chart shows, through the planets involved in hard aspect, where we will focus our lifes
energy. Over the years, I have found this to be true as I have watched the horoscopes of friends and clients
the writer with Mercury square Saturn, the spiritual seeker with Neptune on an angle, the computer engineer
with the strong Uranus squares, and the kindergarten teacher with Saturn in the 5th house of children with
hard aspects to a line-up of personal planets.

Its much the same in relationships. Find the worst aspect in your own chart. Fall in love with someone.
Then check that persons chart. Youll see that your beloveds worst aspect is the perfect match for your
own. Or try this: List the TV and movie actors you find yourself compelled to watch, the ones who you "just
know" are your soul mates. Find their birth data even just the day and year. Do they mirror your pattern?
Or does the character they play symbolically fit the pattern? For example, if you believe that you could help
Star Treks Mr. Spock to find his feminine side or that the love of a good woman could be the key to android
Commander Datas emotion chip, youre probably an Aquarius stellium ("Im here to help") with a tough
Saturn ("Hes not cold, hes just misunderstood").

But why? Why arent we attracted to the most perfectly loving, devoted, and harmonious mate? Anyone
who has studied horoscopes of family and friends should know that theres plenty of variety but no
perfection. "Almost everything that happens in this life is a result of energies activating from the past,"
explains my guru, Goswami Kriyananda.1 One of the key points Ive learned in my 25 years of study with
Kriyananda is that, according to the law of karma, who we are today is a creation of our own will in actions,
words, and strong intentions from the past. Therefore, each individual is still subject to the forces put into
play in previous lifetimes. In our present life, these manifest as strong inclinations and natural preferences.
In karmic astrology, these proclivities are symbolized by the planets in house, sign, and aspect. The karmic
forces magnetize us to people who match up with our planetary patterns, so that the past is played out again
and again.

The law of karma suggests that, as incarnating souls, we choose our parents,2 and they are the first in our
lives to play out these patterns. Their modeled behaviors and our responses can either help us to grow or
embed us deeper into our emotional comfort zone. The good news is: Once the patterns are understood, we
can begin to make a positive and creative impact on our future, using these same natal planetary forces.

Like Kriyananda, I combine Western astrology with the meditation techniques of the Kriya Yoga lineage,
Patanjalis Ashtanga yoga, and the philosophy of the ancient Hindu spiritual texts. Because we believe that
"the everyday life is the spiritual life," our most important lessons and personal work are found in our
everyday lives. In this article, I will demonstrate two ways to look at the natal horoscope, using the chart of
Elizabeth Taylor, to examine shared aspects in her marriages, and the charts of President and Mrs. Clinton,
to consider elemental imbalances. Finally, Ill invite you to use the yoga technique of reflection for greater
understanding of your relationships, and I will provide some planet-related suggestions for improved
partnerships, based on my experience as a practicing astrologer.

When Partners Share Corresponding Aspects

Synastry has many components, such as basic attraction (the physical characteristics we look for in others)
and essential compatibility, like communication styles and similar values and interests. I believe that one of
the main factors that hook us into long-term relationships is similar hard aspects. We are magnetized to
others who play out our aspects on lifes stage. The drama is performed again and again with people of
comparable personality and behavior type, until we find balance and insight.

Sometimes the patterns are subtle and harder to recognize, but in much-married Elizabeth Taylors
horoscope (click here for chart), the patterns are obvious. Her natal chart has two distinctive line-ups: The
first is Sun, Mercury, and Mars in Pisces opposed Neptune in Virgo; the second is Venus conjunct Uranus in
Aries.

Wherever Neptune is located in our horoscope is where we have our biggest blind spot. With Sun and Mars
involved, we know that Elizabeth Taylors blind spot was with the men in her life the tendency to project
her ideal image onto another person, along with a denial of the severity and consequences of Neptune issues
like addiction, and a Piscean bond of boundless empathy (which is called "codependence" when it is out of
balance).

When Elizabeth Taylor married her first husband, hotel heir Nicky Hilton, she was an 18-year-old virgin,
cocooned from practical matters by her parents and the "princess" lifestyle of a movie star in the studio
system. She was totally unaware that she was entering a physically and emotionally abusive relationship
with an alcoholic, heroin addict, and compulsive gambler.

Her second husband, Michael Wilding, had Venus and Sun in Leo opposed Uranus, to match Taylors
Venus-Uranus conjunction, plus a wide, out-of-sign Sun conjunct Neptune. Venus- Uranus individuals are
internally restless and easily bored in relationships, so they subconsciously choose fascinating but
inappropriate partners. Wilding was charming, 20 years her senior, and a classic Shakespearean actor from
England. He was not an alcoholic, but he did have a secret: He had epilepsy, a seizure disorder, which was
unknown to his movie fans. Taylors pursuit of Wilding had romantic drama, but she became bored with him
after they married. Not long thereafter, Taylor took up with Michael Todd, and the divorce and marriage
routine took place again.

Michael Todd is an astrologers nightmare. He was born at home. Neither the time nor the date were
recorded. His familys best estimate, according to his biography, was that he was born within a couple of
days of June 22, 1907. Even with that scarce information, you still can look in the ephemeris and see that
Todd would fit both the Uranus and Neptune patterns with Mars conjunct Uranus in Capricorn opposing
Jupiter conjunct Neptune in Cancer that week. Todds death in a plane crash, after only 15 months of
marriage, leaving Elizabeth Taylor with a new baby, symbolically fits her Venus-Uranus (unexpected
relationship separations) aspect.

Taylor had socialized with married couple Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher during her Michael Wilding
and Michael Todd days. Eddie Fisher has Venus conjunct Neptune in the late degrees of Leo squaring Mars
in early Gemini. The symbols suggest that Fisher could easily fall for the illusion of a damsel-in-distress
(Venus conjunct Neptune), played by the widowed Taylor, saved by the knight-in-shining-armor (Mars).
Fishers aspects correspond to Taylors Sun-Mars conjunction opposed Neptune, signifying that each met
the others criteria for the perfect fantasy partner. Taylor and Fisher started their adulterous romance secretly
(Neptune), which eventually led to the scandalous Fisher-Reynolds divorce and the Fisher-Taylor marriage.

The scenario reversed and duplicated itself when the then-married Taylor met Richard Burton on the set of
the epic movie Cleopatra. Burton was a heavy drinker, whom Taylor married, divorced, remarried, and
divorced again. He had his Neptune pattern with the Sun conjunct Saturn in Scorpio square Neptune in Leo.
The smoldering passion these two actors brought to Cleopatra, their first movie together with its themes of
love addiction, infidelity, and betrayal of ideals was symbolically more romantic and appealing than the
screaming drunks they later mirrored in Edward Albees Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf.

John Warners official Senate biography gives his birth date but never mentions his marriage to Taylor. He
also has the signature Sun opposed Neptune in his chart. Taylors last husband Larry Fortensky (they were
wed in 1991 and divorced in 1997) was a truck driver and recovering alcoholic whom she met while they
were both in treatment at the Betty Ford Clinic. Even without knowing his birth data, we see Taylors
Neptune pattern at work.

The point is not that Elizabeth Taylors husbands acted out her horoscope (which they did), but that the
problems were hers to begin with. She herself spent 35 years addicted to painkillers, sleeping pills, and
booze, besides struggling with the ups and downs of an eating disorder. Only later in her life did she appear
to have insight into her mistakes. Even with the wisdom she gained from the addiction recovery program
she attended, the forces within her played out. The program recommends that newly recovering addicts
refrain from forming new relationships for a year, but Taylor was married to Fortensky within nine months
(Venus-Uranus in Aries again).

Learning from Experience (or Not)

Why did Taylor continue to make the same mistakes? Why does it take so long to gain experience in
relationships? Does having astrological advice help? Not always. One client told me ten years into our
relationship that her husband had a drinking problem and she thought he might be an alcoholic. Her tightest
natal aspect is Sun square Neptune. Recently, shes been working on a project with a talented local artist.
Shes been warned by his family and friends that hes temperamental, a womanizer, and has a problem with
alcohol. She tells me they just dont understand him like she does, and she thinks shes in love. Ive told her
both subtly and straight out that theres a problem here, and I strongly recommended that she attend Al-
Anon meetings (the twelve-step group for the family and friends of alcoholics). She nods in agreement, then
continues on about what a fascinating person this guy is and wants me to look at his chart again so she can
change herself to please him.

But who am I to judge relationships and the needs they fulfill? Ive learned over the years that were drawn
to others because of what we need to learn. I believe that "soul mates" are people who get together to share
important information about what theyve learned in life. If someone falls into your patterns, that does not
make the person bad, or even wrong. Your significant other is not your enemy. These people are your
teachers. Parents often have kids that mirror their patterns, and aware parents know they have something to
offer their children from their own experience. Conjunctions, squares, and oppositions are not problems, per
se. They are energy. The people we are involved with in close relationships can teach us how to use our
energy differently.

Elements and Qualities: Power Partnerships Find the Balance

Strong aspect alignment is not the only factor in the relationship challenge. More subtle patterns magnetize
people to each other. Dominance and lack in element and quality (modalities) are the first things I look at in
synastry. We are attracted to people who share our element and quality dominance, but we are unconsciously
drawn to others who have strengths that match what we lack.
These people bring what we need into our lives. Unfortunately, these are also the people we are least likely
to understand. To observe this in a basic way in your own horoscope, simply count the planets in each
element and quality (no angles, nodes, or asteroids).3

Some horoscopes are more balanced in element and quality; other charts are more extreme. For example,
President and Mrs. Clinton share a strong fire element and fixed quality, indicating their passion,
persistence, and determination. However, Bill Clintons horoscope has no planets in water signs (click here
for chart). People who lack water in their charts have difficulty understanding and expressing emotion.
Hillary Clinton has three planets in her Sun sign, Scorpio, plus the Moon in Pisces, which tells us that she is
intuitive, sensitive, and empathic beneath her businesslike facade (click here for chart). Hillary becomes the
partner who acts out and manifests emotionality on behalf of both partners. I suspect that their personal
dynamic is quite different from anything they might reveal in public.

Hillary has no planets in earth signs. The Presidents Moon in Taurus is his only earth element and must
provide grounding for them both. Bill dominates in the air element (with Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Neptune
in Libra, plus Uranus in Gemini), so he is an excellent speechmaker and debater. (According to Hillary
Clintons biography on the Lois Rodden AstroDatabank Web site: "She told friends that no other man met
her standards of likeability and intellectual power.")

Hillary also lacks the cardinal quality of initiative, having only Neptune in Libra. Bill has four cardinal
planets (the stellium in Libra). When Hillary met her future husband, she was an activist and political
strategist in her own right with a strong desire to make her mark on the world,4 but Bill had the cardinal
force of leadership, ambition, and activation, with the goal of becoming President of the United States. Bill
lacks mutability, which he gains through Hillary (Moon in Pisces, Jupiter in Sagittarius, Uranus and
Ascendant in Gemini). The partnership benefits of her mutability are shown in part as she adapts to his
goals: moving with him to Arkansas early in his political career and sublimating her own career goals (until
her New York Senate race) to become a more traditional First Lady. These differences in pattern of element
and quality give rise to their tremendous strength as a couple, demonstrated by their determination to
achieve the presidency.

From Without to Within

The value of examining the most challenging aspects and imbalances in our horoscopes is not merely to
improve our astrological skills of analysis or interpretation. The primary purpose for learning about "as
within, so without" is to move from observation of external relationships and horoscope patterns to healing
and rebalancing on the internal level. The following suggestions will help you to take stock of your outer
and inner life and know where to begin to make changes so that you can create more harmonious
partnerships in the future.

Reflect
Examine the possibility that your most challenging aspect or planetary pattern has been played out with
parents, siblings, friends, and romantic interests. One important part of learning something new is reflection,
a way of gently but persistently thinking about a topic during a specific amount of quiet time. Ask yourself
questions like:

Who outside myself most exemplifies this aspect?

What is the nature of my relationship with this person now? What was it like in the past? Am I growing
and evolving in this relationship?

Why are we together?

 Can I see how my choices and behaviors affect (or have affected) these relationships?

What do I really want from a relationship? What does my horoscope say about that?

Fix Yourself First

Just as there is variety but no perfection in horoscopes, there can be love and companionship but no happily-
ever-after in relationships. However, even folks with very difficult horoscopes can have healthy, successful
relationships if they can accept that relationships require work. I think of it like gardening: You need seeds,
soil, nourishment, water, and maintenance to grow something of beauty.

The key to optimal relationships is to fix yourself first. Here are some thoughts that might be helpful for
accomplishing this:

If the Sun is involved in your challenging conjunction, square, or opposition pattern, look at your
connection with your father and his behavior patterns, as demonstrated in his interactions with you and with
the world at large. Heal and understand the relationship with your father (psychologically, if real-world
resolution is not possible).

If the Moon is part of your pattern, pay attention to your relationship to your mother. Explore your prenatal
history, if possible; your birth myth (what your parents tell you about the day you were born); and your own
early childhood. Make sure your relationship with your mother is healed (internally, at least).

If Mercury is involved, understand that what you say, both internally and externally, is powerful and
creative. If you always think or say, "Women are no good" or "Men always leave me," you are asking for
what you dont want. Say what you do want, for example: "I deserve positive, healthy, loving relationships
in my life." Mercury is often the triggering agent of aspects. What you say to others, especially those closest
to you, sets off the planetary pattern. Think before you speak.

If Venus is a component, get in touch with your feminine side. Pay attention to your attitudes toward
women, and raise your consciousness about womens role in relationships. Bringing beauty into your
environment (via flowers, art, music) can be balancing to Venus. Observe what satisfies you about your own
relationships; find examples of relationships you admire, and contemplate how those are accomplished. The
ability to love unselfishly is the highest spiritual goal attainable.

If Mars is a factor, study the yoga principle of nonviolence. Apply this principle to your life. Nonviolence is
not just the obvious physically refraining from hitting someone but also includes avoiding verbal
harshness, sarcasm, and cruelty in speech. Ultimately, forgive and let go of past resentments, so that even
your mind can be released from violent thoughts. Consider the perspective of the theories of reincarnation
suggesting that people who might have been battlefield enemies in a past life may be a married couple
today.

If you are considering Jupiter as part of your challenge, first make sure that your personal finances are in
order. Happy Jupiter inharmoniously aspected can indicate impulse spending, misplaced generosity, and
expanding debt. Chronic money quarrels can ruin relationships. Second, question whether your desire for
freedom confounds your desire for commitment.

In hard aspect to personal planets, Saturn can bring low self-esteem, negative thinking, inability to nurture
oneself, or the fear of expressing love. These aspects can symbolize depression on both an emotional and
physiological level. Remember that relationships are not a cure for depression. Other people cannot
obliterate your feelings of loss, lack, and limitation. If you feed yourself positivity through affirmation and
imagery, if you pat yourself on the back and nurture yourself, you will begin to attract more positive,
supportive people in your life. Saturn solutions require work, and sometimes that work involves physical or
mental health practitioners. You are worth the effort.

With Uranus, find ways to honor your creativity and originality without being self-destructive. Let go of the
craving for chaos. Julia Cameron has a section on "crazymakers" in her book, The Artists Way, that is
recommended reading for people with strong but inharmonious Uranus aspects. According to Cameron,
crazymakers break deals, destroy schedules, expect special treatment, blame everyone except themselves,
and just generally create drama. "If you are involved in a tortured tango with a crazymaker, stop dancing to
his/her tune," says Cameron. "Pick up a book on codependency or get yourself to a twelve-step program for
relationship addiction."5

People with hard Neptune aspects project a strange glamour of perfection on the other; however, when their
object of affection turns into a real, live human being, they feel overwhelming disappointment. Figure out
fast that Earth is not the realm of perfection, and learn to accept people with all their flaws. Acknowledge
that first impressions, no matter how intuitive, will not give you the whole story. Theres always important
hidden information that you will only find out over time. If you are in a relationship with someone who has
a problem with alcohol, drugs, gambling, compulsive overeating, or is the adult child of alcoholic or
seriously dysfunctional parents or if you yourself struggle with any of these addictions twelve-step
programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Al-Anon, and Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACA) can help
you to begin the process of recovery.

With Pluto in the configuration, strive for self-control, not to control others. This is possible only when you
realize that you are not in charge and that others are not there to bend to your will. However, if you dont
claim your Pluto power, others will come into your life and beat you up with it. The obsessive nature of
Pluto in hard aspect makes you feel as powerless as a charmed snake when Mr. or Ms. "looks-so-good-but-
treats-me-so-bad" comes to town. Learn to say no.

Take Action
Whatever your aspects may be, get counseling or attend relationship workshops, if necessary. Consult a
professional astrologer to gain insights into yourself and your compatibility patterns. The best thing about
knowing astrology is the perspective you gain when your significant other hits that ouchy point. Thats your
point of awakened self-awareness. "Oh!" you say to yourself, "her Mars- Pluto is activating my Mars-Pluto
again. She wants to fight." Or, "Hes speaking from his Mercury- Saturns point of view, and its making my
inner childs Moon-Saturn feel bad, like when Mom used to yell at me."

At a moment like this, use whatever techniques are effective for you to facilitate change: taking deep
breaths, shifting your viewpoint, rewriting the script, changing your response, setting boundaries, not
responding with verbal violence, asking for what you want, silently chanting your mantra, or repeating your
affirmations.

Face your challenges, reclaim your hard aspects, honor and respect all elements and qualities, and remember
that you can create positive, healthy, loving relationships in your life. In You Can Heal Your Life, Louise
Hay offers a superb vision in the following affirmation:

"Deep at the center of my being, there is an infinite well of love

I now allow this love to flow to the surface.

It fills my heart, my body, my mind, my consciousness,

my very being, and radiates out from me in all directions

and returns to me multiplied.

The more love I use and give, the more I have to give.

The supply is endless ....

I only attract loving people in my world,

for they are a mirror of what I am."(6)

Chart Data and Sources

Elizabeth Taylor, February 27, 1932; 2:00 a.m. UT; Golders Green, England (51N34, 0W12); A: from
mothers memory, as reported in her biography, My Daughter Elizabeth. (Other sources list birth time as
2:30 a.m.; Lois Roddens AstroDatabank uses 2:15 a.m. as a compromise between the two previous times.)

Accurate birth times are unavailable for all but one of Elizabeth Taylors husbands. Birth dates are as
follows:

Michael Wilding, July 23, 1912; as given in Donald Spoto, A Passion for Life: The Biography of Elizabeth
Taylor, New York: HarperCollins, 1995.

Michael Todd, estimated as June 22, 1907; from Michael Todd, Jr., and Susan McCarthy Todd, A Valuable
Property: The Life Story of Michael Todd, New York: Arbor House, 1983.

Eddie Fisher, August 10, 1928; 7:42 a.m. EDT; Philadelphia, PA (39N57, 75W09); AA: birth certificate.

Richard Burton, November 10, 1925; 3:00 p.m. GMT; Pontrhydyfen, Wales (52N17, 03W51); DD:
conflicting birth times, according to Lois Roddens AstroDatabank.

John Warner, February 18, 1927; from official Senate biography: http://www.senate.gov/~warner/ bio.htm

Bill Clinton, August 19, 1946; 8:51 a.m. CST; Hope, AR (33N40, 93W36); A: from mothers memory.

Hillary Clinton, October 26, 1947; 8:00 p.m. CST; Chicago, IL (41N52, 87W39); DD: conflicting birth
times. (Both her quoted birth time of 8:00 p.m. and the early morning birth time mentioned in a Chicago
Sun-Times article would still have the Moon in Pisces for the purposes of adding up planetary elements and
qualities.)

References and Notes

1. Goswami Kriyananda, The Laws of Karma, Temple of Kriya Yoga, 1995, p. 4. Goswami Kriyananda is
both a flame carrier in the Kriya Yoga lineage and a master astrologer in the Western tradition. He has been
teaching and counseling for more than 40 years. He is the founder and spiritual preceptor of the Temple of
Kriya Yoga in Chicago (Temple of Kriya Yoga, 2414 N. Kedzie, Chicago, IL 60647; phone 773-342-4600;
http://www.yogakriya.org).

2. See Kriyananda, The Laws of Karma, pp. 8-11, for a detailed description of the souls incarnation
process.
3. There are many systems for weighting the values of the planets when adding up the elements and
qualities. The Ascendant and Midheaven are often included. For the purposes of this article, the simplest
system is preferred.

4. Roger Morris, Partners in Power: The Clintons and Their America, New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1996,
pp. 140-141.

5. Julia Cameron, The Artists Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity, New York: Jeremy P.
Tarcher/Perigee Books, 1992, p. 49.

6. Louise Hay, You Can Heal Your Life, Santa Monica, CA: Hay House, 1984, pp. 106-107.

2000 Marcia Sacks - all rights reserved

Marcia Sacks is a professional astrologer with more than 25 years of experience, specializing in karmic
astrology. She is a disciple of Goswami Kriyananda at the Temple of Kriya Yoga in Chicago and was
ordained Swami K. Adinadananda in 1979 after seminary graduation. She teaches meditation and astrology
in the northwest suburbs of Chicago and is available for consultation. For more information, call (847) 882-
3315, e-mail: mmsacks@mediaone.net or contact her on the Web at http://people.ce.mediaone.net/mmsacks