Birth Chart Compatibility
& Synastry Reading

A Vedic Astrology Self-Awareness Approach to Birth Chart Compatibility

Improving the quality of your most intimate relationships might be the most difficult thing that you ever do. Why? Because improving the quality of your relationships requires that you open up to experiencing some of the most challenging aspects of yourself (and that you relate to a partner who may not ready/willing to be vulnerable when you are).

Your most intimate relationships are subject to the anxieties and compulsions of your instinctive self. In fact, your instinctive self affects your capacity for connection in all of your relationships (not just romantic relationships).

You may very well recognize your past relationship mistakes and try to actively and consciously avoid them. Similarly, you may very well recognize the importance of (and try to create/strengthen) such factors as commitment, communication, trust, emotional intelligence, paying attention to each other, eye contact, etc.. However, trying to actively make yourself do any of these things is rarely successful. Our instinctive self is often much too strong—it arrives on the scene before we get there, so to speak—and we’re left regretting our actions again. We might even blame the other person (or look for more relationship advice) instead of develop self awareness and finally look at our own (habitual) selves and self-sabotaging behaviors in relationships.

The importance of self awareness in relationships is profound. In times of relationship conflict, if the instinctive self arrives before our conscious self (like it usually does), the constructiveness of our conversation (and the life of our relationship) is determined by our automatic thoughts, feelings, and behaviors (e.g., compulsions, anxieties, triggers, desires, etc.).

But change doesn’t require magic. It requires awareness of our situation and of our instinctive, habitual, “pre-reflective” self. Our habitual self will continue to run our lives—for better or for worse—unless we become more aware of it. Becoming aware of it doesn’t mean destroying it, but rather being open to it and being able to sit with it without running to a destructive habit (to avoid the discomfort of looking at aspects of ourselves we’d rather repress). The more we become aware of our habitual self, the less we remain imprisoned by it, and the more we are able to follow our inspirations with the fear, doubt, insecurity, and self-sabotaging behavior.

A birth chart compatibility reading should tell you if this habitual, instinctive self is “compatible” (however this is defined).

Birth Chart Compatibility:
A Self Awareness Approach

In traditional Vedic astrology, astrological compatibility analysis— called kundli milan [kuṇḍlī milān], which means something like “horoscope matching”—emphasizes two factors: ashta kuta [aṣṭa kūta] and kuja dosha [kuja doṣa]. Ashta kuta is based on the position of moon in what are called “lunar mansions” nakshatra [nakṣatra] (sometimes called a or “birth star”), which is something like a zodiac based on 27/28 signs established around prominent stars. Kuja dosha is based on the position of Mars relative to other chart elements.

This traditional relationship astrology analysis is generally sought for a straightforward prediction about the longevity of a prospective relationship. In other words, the question being asked is essentially, “will this relationship last [forever]?” Perhaps implied in this question is another question: “will we be happy?” Always implied is the question, “will I be happy?” And the question almost never implied is, “what can I change about myself to deepen my own capacity for happiness in relationships?” Or, similarly, “what am I already doing to get in the way of my own happiness? How am I sabotaging myself in my relationships?”

Contemporary approaches to relationship compatibility continue to focus on the life of the relationship rather than the life of each individual. Balrāj emphasizes the life of the individual; he emphasizes self-awareness and mutual understanding. He wants you to learn how to be more self aware in your relationship. You cannot control your partner’s will (and you cannot control how much self awareness they have in relationships); the good news is that developing self awareness is something that is entirely in your control.

In addition to using traditional moon-based chart interpretations, Balrāj’s psycho-spiritual approach adds other (overlooked) classical Vedic astrology compatibility methods and a unique evaluations of compatibility based on comparing each partner’s entire chart (and not just the position of the Moon and Mars). This latter approach—which includes both a “synastry chart” and a “composite chart”—provides rich insight into the psycho-spiritual dynamics of a relationship. A synastry chart is made by overlaying the natal chart of each partner onto one another and reading this combined chart as a single chart. A composite chart is something like a merging of the two charts; it involves creating a new chart based on the mid-points between each partner’s individual planets. For example, the mid-point between one partner’s Sun and the other partner’s Sun is the composite Sun. (This is done for each planet until a new chart is created.)

What makes Balrāj’s approach to interpreting the synastry and composite charts unique is in his interpretation: he interprets these charts using traditional Vedic and psycho-spiritual principles of interpretation. Balrāj uses a phenomenological/existential spiritual approach and emphasizes inner clarity, self-awareness, and freedom (and not solving the ego’s problems). In fact, because of how he interprets synastry charts and natal charts, his method could readily be called a kind a “psycho-spiritual Vedic synastry” and/or a “psycho-spiritual Vedic composite chart”. This type of reading is not at all similar to generic horoscope compatibility predictions based on zodiac sign (e.g., sun sign, moon sign, rising sign, water sign, air sign, earth sign, fire sign), dates of birth, etc.. It is also quite different than simple “love compatibility” or specific types of compatibility: physical compatibility, financial compatibility, spiritual compatibility, intellectual compatibility, etc.

Compatibility analyses based on these additional methods could provide enough information to warrant its own reading, but no such reading could replace the insights gained using a self-awareness approach. It’s easier to continue to avoid ourselves and instead attempt to fix something outside of ourselves, like a relationship or our partner (whom we might feel is a person lacking self awareness).

Most importantly, however, while it may not seem like it, your individual fulfillment exceeds the success/failure of any one of your relationships. A healthy relationship requires a kind of openness and vulnerability. Conflict in our most intimate relationships often reveals parts of ourselves we spend much of our time and resources trying to avoid. These are the very parts of ourselves that are affecting every area of life: our deepest fulfillment is hidden in our shadow. We will address each individual’s capacities, challenges, and their paths to freedom, fulfillment, and meaningful living. These readings are, first and foremost, about inner clarity—self-awareness—and then (and only then) they are about relationship awareness. This approach to astrological relationship compatibility emphasizes the way(s) in which each partner’s own individual struggles affect their relationship. This approach acknowledges the in-finite importance of individuality. And it is only after each partner is aware of their own unconscious dynamics that Balrāj can discuss the unconscious dynamics and vulnerabilities of their relationship (because each partner is able to see how, where, and in what ways each partner can get more out of all of their relationships).

Instead of offering standard, generic advice, Balrāj offers a short conversational hypnosis session to help clients address their struggles at a deep, unconscious level. These sessions are unpredictable and breakthroughs can be quite dramatic. Most importantly, these breakthroughs are not simply intellectual. Instead, they are capable of producing actual behavioral change.

Though this is a deep reading intended for those in a serious relationship, it is not designed for both partners; only one partner should attend.

BIRTH TIME REQUIREMENT: the moment of your birth is a requirement for this type of reading; a birth time accurate within 1-2 minutes is preferred, though insightful readings are possible if your birth time is accurate within 5-10 minutes (though this is not always true). If you are not sure if your time of your birth is accurate enough, please contact us before scheduling your astrology chart reading. Your birth date and location are, of course, required.