History and Hollywood are littered with famous lovers, people who left behind spouses and families and careers–the devil to take the hindmost—so that they could be together.
Usually when the two pair, family and friends are incredulous. Sometimes it is because there is a seeming mismatch in age, personalities, social status, education or professions. Sometimes there is enmity shown to the person perceived as taking control of the other’s person’s life. Jennifer Anniston’s fans hated (and still do) perceived interloper Angelina Jolie.
What makes these relationships so special? What draws two people so inexorably that nothing matters more than being together?
Even an astrologer looking at a synastry chart may not see where the two feel as if they are fated to be together. It is not until we use a Composite Chart that we would see the configuration known as the Finger of God, the Yod. This is the configuration that lends a sense of destiny to the couple.
A Yod is made up of two inconjuncts that share a planet at the apex and separated by a sextile between the planets at the base. With inconjuncts one end of the configuration is of one gender and the other end the other. The inconjunct is a stress aspect because of the polarity of gender at either end. The planet in the masculine zodiac sign wants to take direct action, while the planet in the feminine sign wants to work things indirectly. It is a nagging and annoying energy, and often with the inconjunct, people swing wildly from one extreme to the other.
With a Yod, the two planets at the base drive energy to the apex, pinning down the energy so it does not swing back and forth. However the energy is now also locked into place and the person with a Yod is forced to deal with the issues presented, often by focusing exclusively on the issue. This dynamic works the same way in relationship charts, and the couple with a Yod in the composite chart have to be together, whether it seems like a good idea or not.
The feelings for the individuals in this relationship configuration are frighteningly intense, highly charged sexually, obsessive in the desire to seek each other out and many times fly against all sense or reason. Many times one or both of the pair has to make painful choices. One or both may be panicked by the intensity of their feelings and either try to deny the pull or try to leave the relationship. Like a rubber band they always come back, sometimes many times. This type of relationship is a romantic’s dream and a pragmatist’s nightmare.
Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman are a famous couple with a Yod in the composite chart. Paul Newman left his wife and children to be with Woodward. Here the planet of love, Venus and Uranus form the base of the Yod, while dreamy Neptune, the patron star of Hollywood is at the apex. Theirs was a romantic union, fueled not just by a love of freedom that they both shared, but a love of their profession. At a time when it was not usually done, Paul Newman whole hearted supported his wife’s professional ambitions to the point of funding and working on her projects himself. Eventually their marriage became known one of the longest lasting Hollywood marriages.
Another example is the composite chart of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, a story most of the world is agonizingly familiar. Meeting on the set of Mr. & Mrs. Smith the electric chemistry of the two sparkled on the screen making a ridiculous plot almost palatable. One scene where they tear up their beautiful house in trying to kill each other spoke eloquently of the violence of their own emotions in sorting through a literally explosive relationship. By the end of that scene each submits to the intensity of their emotions and decided to fight deadly odds to stay together. Here life imitates art and true to the Yod, stories of Brad and Angie breaking up and getting back together fill national and world wide gossip rags. There is probably some truth in these stories, but with long lasting Saturn and the heart of the relationship, a romantic Moon in Pisces at the base of the Yod, with Uranus at the apex, this a relationship with highs and lows, temporary break-ups and glorious reunions. But it has just as much chance of lasting as Woodward and Newman’s.
When Shakespeare said in Midsummer Night’s Dream “the course of true love never runs smooth” he could have been talking about a relationship with a Yod in the Composite chart. The stakes are high for both individuals since the words “What God has put together let no man put asunder” are never truer. Should the relationship fail to stabilize and became permanent one or both of the participants will be seriously and sometimes irreparably heart broken. One or both could be dogged by feelings of failure that could poison future relationships. Rarely does either party escape without a wound to their soul or a serious bruise to their ego. But it seems in terms of attaining intense romantic love, the fated nature of the Composite chart containing a Yod makes it one of the best bets around.
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