Where to start? Karma is such a vast subject and there are literally hundreds of thousands of interpretations of what it is and how it affects us. I don’t have the space to get philosophical in this article. My goal is to describe the astrological concepts of relationships. In its simplest terms, the eastern concept of karma is what is called the Law of Cause and Effect in western society. For me, life is not a series of random, disconnected moments; life is more like a continuum, with each experience following a natural sequence. Or … we can be a confused human being trying to discover his experiences. I have managed to experience both awareness and lack of awareness throughout my life. I’m sure you are too.

Anything you participate in or set in motion through your personal actions will have natural results that definitely belong to you even when you don’t want to own them. You can take direct action, refuse to participate, try to ignore, and the list goes on. All these possibilities and more set in motion something that belongs exclusively to you, whether you know it or not. Life doesn’t require you to be aware or accept, it just needs you to be available. Know now that the common sequence is initiation, process and results, consciously or unconsciously, now or in another life, so that you cannot connect the results with the cause at all times. Think of life as a circle that is actually a sine wave in experience. Sometimes you are at the top of that curve and sometimes at the bottom. Eastern philosophy sees humanity on the wheel of life, condemned to repeat experiences at the same level until enlightenment takes it off the wheel. Western philosophy is not comfortable with pure destiny, so free will must enter the picture. We have some popular phrases that illustrate this concept.

· For every action, there is an opposite but equal reaction.

What you sow, so you will reap.

What goes around comes around.

Sometimes you get the bear; sometimes the bear catches you.

Karma is a description of the process of experience. Somehow we start the experience and those experiences produce results. Sometimes the answer comes quickly. At other times, long periods of time obscure the cause of effect and we become bewildered and occasionally victimized.

Enter someone else (and you were having a lot of fun alone). You have your karma and they have their karma and they have both decided to share, hopefully 50/50 or at least fairly, but usually with a few surprises. You have not discovered your own karma and now you have two karmas to resolve, yours and that of a virtual stranger. Good luck. How do we view karma in a relationship? What are the signs? Even if you know what the signs are, will you understand what they mean? Are you both awake and aware enough to make this a positive experience?

Get into Astrology At a rudimentary level, we can look at the nodal connections between graphs to determine if there are any past life connections at play. In Western astrology, if the connection is tied directly to the south node, that indicates a link from the past. If the connection is more direct to the north node, that indicates a link to the future. Did you notice that Eastern astrology has quite different definitions for Rahu and Ketu (the nodes)? Since the nodes are paired, there will naturally be aspects on both nodes, so choose the strongest aspect to start with, but look at the potential for both positions. The south node represents the karmic relationships that are rooted in the past, the harvest part of the life cycle. The north node represents your new direction or the development or sowing of new karma. It is very valuable to know if you are attracted to a person because of their largely unconscious past associations or if you have experiences to share in a now-to-future setting.

Not all relationships are comfortable and that is true for those with karmic overtones. For that, you must look at the stress aspects in your nodes. Sometimes you meet a person and an instant, irrational but powerful dislike arises that can interfere with the formation of the relationship or it can serve as a warning. Sometimes you meet a person who you feel like you’ve known forever, even though you just met. Look at the beneficial aspects. If you come across a person whose nodes are exactly the reverse of yours, you can yell “Bingo!” This shows that they have been united in the past and that they also have experience to do together in this present and future. Maybe it’s unfinished work, maybe it’s contemporary work, but the past of one graphic should support the other as you progress through the experience.

For me, the hardest thing humans do is successfully interact with each other. The underlying concept is that you take two people, put them in a room, close the door, and demand that they interact successfully at all times, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, until death do you part. That is not even remotely realistic. We must learn from each other and hopefully grow and evolve within any relationship. If we are not part of each other’s growth, there is no real reason to stay in a failed relationship. It is not your “karma” to be left with a bad situation in which growth is not possible. Karma can be misinterpreted in that sense. They should both be growing or they should change the experience. If for some reason you must stick together, try to put it on a positive footing for the good of both of you. You are here to grow and become, not to stagnate and give back. That is both your responsibility and your choice. Don’t blame karma!

Next, astrologically, I would look at the synastry between the cards. Place the two wheels side by side and note the overall connections. Remember that one will be the receiver and another will be the trigger for each pairing. Once you’ve gotten past that pairing, reverse the charts and do the same for the second person. Having one as a trigger while the other receives keeps the reading clear and simple, but it is only half the sine wave. Using the same information, reverse the activator and receptor. That will illustrate the other half of the related sine wave. Once you have the general conditions between the participants, look specifically at the outer planets to determine success, failure, and potential karma, the difference between the beneficial or malefic synastry aspects.

Saturn can bring responsibility, structure, duration, and tenacity, or it can bring obstacles, imprisonment, and depression. Choose wisely.

Uranus can bring charisma, magic, excitement, but you may not stick around long enough to enjoy it. Uranus will not accept limits, rules, or relentless compromise. If you can stay relaxed and just enjoy the journey, without demanding what Uranus cannot and will not deliver, the relationship can continue.

Pluto can bring psychological depth to any relationship on many levels, but it can also bring confusion, power and control issues, manipulation, and obsession. Choose your poison.

Ah … now comes Neptune. Here comes imagination, creativity, inspiration, sympathy, spirituality, and all those beautiful descriptions of unconditional love. But since each front has a back, we must look to the other side of Neptune to see the parts we don’t want to know about, such as deception, illusion, deception, and disillusionment.

In a long-ago workshop, astrologer Carol Rushman taught that true spiritual association between two people is illustrated by strong, positive Venus / Neptune connections between charts. These are the people who are so in tune that they know what others are thinking, can finish each other’s sentences, can go for a long walk without talking, and still feel comfortable with each other. That is true magic, when two souls are in harmony that transcends physical limitations. It seems to me that it would be the perfect opportunity to work on that shared karma that is formed when two people enter into a relationship.

How do you get the best out of a relationship while working on the karmic patterns between the two of you? Talk about it, plan it, work on the plan, create benign and non-judgmental signs to get through the bad times that come into every life. Encourage each other, support each other, commit to your personal growth in every way possible, respect, honor and promote the common good and the good of each individual. That is a difficult task, but if you are committed to working through karma and maintaining a good relationship, you can do it. If you can!