While couples in love complement each other, conflict is bound to occur within relationships— from the ‘perfect couple’ to best friends. However, understanding a partner’s motivations through astrology can help navigate through relationship issues.

“A birth chart can reveal so much information about a person: you can see their talents, you can see the sorts of things they struggle with, you can see what sort of emotional needs might be the most important to them, you can see their triggers,” astrologer and tarot reader Janay Anthony said. “When you know these things about somebody it’s easier for you to understand their motivation and the situation.” 

Various factors make up birth charts, four of which are most relevant to note for understanding the language surrounding astrological compatibility. 

“In your chart, there [are] four characteristics to look for— the signs, the planets, the houses and the aspects. The aspects are the relationship the planets have with one another,” astrology student Lolyklara Huergo said. 

One cannot predict a pair’s compatibility solely through their “sun signs,” which one can determine by the position of the sun relative to 12 constellations on one’s birth date, and illustrates individuality. Instead, one’s moon, venus and mars signs give far more input on relationship dynamics. 

“The moon is about how you express yourself and how you express your needs and the extent of what those needs are. So, if your needs are incompatible with another person’s needs then, when you’re in a relationship with them, that’s where a lot of the conflict can come up,” Anthony said. 

Venus signs, which rule courtship and admiration, explain one’s personal taste and represent one’s values. Mars signs depict the way an individual asserts themselves and their drive. While your venus sign might help determine who you like, your mars sign helps you go after them. 

“Whether it’s your Venus is compatible with your partner’s Venus, your Venus is compatible with your partner’s Mars or you and your partner have compatible Mars’s—if there’s some sort of compatible inner play it can speak to a compatibility with or between love languages as well,” Anthony said. 

Compatibility between these characteristics— moon, venus and mars signs— depend on which element they pertain to and their ‘gender.’

 “When we talk about the signs of the same element. When you have two different planets and the same element, that is a compatible sign. And also, when you have a planet in the same-gender of an element, that’s also a compatible sign. The opposite signs are actually kind of compatible with each other, but it’s this weird, like balancing act thing,” Anthony said. 

Each sign has a ‘gender’ or duality with Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius and Aquarius representing the ‘masculine’ signs and Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn and Pisces representing the ‘feminine’ signs. 

“Fire and air are extroverts, they’re auto expressive, yang and they’re masculine. Earth and water… are yin, introverts, receptive, passive and feminine,” Huergo said. 

The duality of signs speaks to the way in which individuals express themselves in situations. 

“Signs that people refer to as masculine: they are more assertive in nature, they’re more likely to express outward, and project outward and away. And then the signs that people refer to as feminine: they’re more receptive and they take in information, rather than outward,” Anthony  said. 

The elements that a sign belongs under also can speak to compatibility. Sharing the same of the four elements—fire, earth, air, and water— can illustrate compatibility in partners. 

“Two signs of an element, let’s take fire, for instance, and the fire signs are Aries, Leo and Sagittarius. All those fire signs will be masculine or assertive. So, there is a natural affinity because like compliments like,” Anthony said. “It’s kind of just easier to understand the other person’s motivation.” 

Opposing signs also have a sort of compatibility based on their shared gender. 

“All the fire signs are masculine and all the air signs are masculine. But on the Zodiac fire will always be opposite air, so they have a commonality. And so even though they are opposite the commonality kind of brings them together in a weird way,” Anthony said. 

Astrology can serve as a great tool to help you try and understand your partner’s motivations and navigate through your conflicts. 

“If somebody has the type of chart where they love to be the leader and that’s just the role they’re most comfortable with and then they have to do a group project and they get bitter about having to share responsibility. You can understand … they’re bitter because they like being the leader,” Anthony said. “You can understand the reasoning behind it and I feel like understanding people’s motivations can contribute to you being more empathetic about their point of view.”

While looking at people’s charts gives insight into a person’s rationale, many warn there is a need for privacy with such personal information. 

“There is a responsibility to have respect with that information and make sure that you get the consent from the person whose chart you want to look at,” Anthony said. 

While astrology can serve as a beneficial tool to understanding your partner, it does not determine the success or failure of a relationship— communication is key to the vitality of any partnership. 

“Astrology can help you find some of the differences between you and your partner, but it won’t tell you how to navigate those challenges per se,” Anthony said, “So when something does come up in your relationship, it’s just, it’s important to talk about it, whether you’re using the language of astrology or if you’re just talking straight.”