A person contacted me to ask whether there is something in his chart that might explain why several of his relationships keep failing successively.
The first step was to look at the 7th house, obviously. It signifies romantic partners, relationships, and marriage. It is Taurus, which means the signification comes from Venus. A good indicator at first sight, right? Venus is precisely the planet of love and union. But where is she? In Alcabitius, she is located approximately 4 degrees from the 11th house in Virgo. This immediately makes her in this chart the principal significator both of friends and of the querent’s romantic partners. In other words, he will almost always encounter girlfriends or possible wives within his circle of friends.
But the condition of Venus is not the best. She is in fall, in Virgo. This makes the people signified by Venus melancholic, uncomfortable with themselves on a physical level, and overly focused on the analytical details that the sign of Virgo signifies. Because she also rules the cusp of the 12th house in Libra, this Venus also signifies the querent’s hidden enemies and his deep internal anxieties. In other words, Venus in Virgo in the 11th represents at the same time his friends, his partners, and his hidden enemies. Those whom he initially believes to be good girlfriends may reveal themselves as enemies over time or may become direct adversaries, since the 7th is open enemies too.
This is reinforced when we look at the Moon. The Moon is exalted in Taurus and is the second significator of relationships and marriage. And where is she? Also in the 12th, also in Libra, intimately connected with Venus, which reinforces this double bond between partners and hidden enemies who become strong sources of psychic anguish and imprisonment.
The fact that Venus has a separating sextile of only one degree with the Ascendant makes this need for love and romantic partnership a necessity for the native. It is part of his constitution. There is also a separating trine of one degree with the Descendant, which makes these women appear in a fluid and appealing way at the beginning, since no conflict is shown through a square or distance through an opposition.
As for the other rulers of the 7th in Taurus by triplicity, we have the Moon and Venus, which we have already analysed, leaving Mars. Mars is exalted in Capricorn, but unfortunately retrograde and cadent, which removes much of its strength. Moreover, Mars is also in detriment in Taurus, which makes it impractical as a useful factor to assist the matters of the 7th.
There is also another interesting point regarding this Venus. Because she is exalted in Pisces, which in the native’s chart is the 5th house where the other benefic, Jupiter, is domiciled, this contributes to a 5th house that is extremely fertile with regard to children should the native manage to find someone with whom to establish marriage. However, given the condition of this 7th house, that search will not be easy.
The fact that there is a perfect applying square with retrograde Saturn in Sagittarius, significator of the native’s finances and movable possessions, also implies that a possible marriage may bring difficulties or conflicts caused by money, since this Saturn, given its debilitated state, acts as an adversary to his finances.
We can also look at the Part of Marriage, an important Arabic Lot in these matters. Even it is not in an ideal condition. It is located in the 8th house, the house of loss, anxiety, fear and death, in Cancer, and so ruled by the Moon, which is cadent and an enemy of the native in the 12th in Libra. This once again points to the cycle we have already seen above.
Still, since the 8th is the 2nd house derived from the 7th, it represents the money of the partners. This once again brings financial matters into the picture, possibly indicating that marriage may bring money to the querent, but also conflicts given the Venus–Saturn square present in this chart.
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