Synastry Matrices and Collision Charts
This is an introduction to the progressed synastry matrices and collision graphs used to further demonstrate patterns in synastry. Below is the matrix of actors Jean Pierre Aumont and Marisa Pavan who shared three Sun-Venus aspects in the year they married, 1956.
The synastry matrix is a tiered matrix that includes the planet positions of both parties' natal charts, together with their progressed planet positions for the year they married. In the example below, the French actor Aumont was born on 5th January 1911 and so the planet positions of noon GMT on this day (we have no time of birth for Aumont) are listed in row E and the planet positions for 19th February 1911 (45 days after his birth) are his progressed planets in row C. Italian actor Marisa Pavan (twin sister of Pier Angeli) was born around 18:05hrs on 19th of June 1932 in Cagliari, Italy. The planets for this date and time are in row B. Pavan's progressed planets in row D are the planet positions for 13th July 1932.
Color coding has been used to differentiate the planets which connect to each other. Red, green and blue are used indiscriminately for trines, conjunctions and oppositions. Red is mainly used as first choice independent of whether the aspect is a trine, conjunction or opposition, for the closest or most significant aspect, blue is then used for a secondary aspect of this type, then green. On one occasion, gold is used to show a fourth important aspect of this type.
Collision Graphs: Timing Graphs
The collision graph below includes a number of different types of planetary collision which took place between Jean Pierre Aumont and Marisa Pavan between the years 1940 and 1980. Along the horizontal axis are the years and months. The vertical axis shows the number of degrees from exact each aspect is at any point in this forty year period. As you can see, there is a lot of "noise" created over time by planetary connections.
If we separate out the relationship aspects that we consider to be very important in relationships, we find that we can assess two very important years using the theory of Progressed Venus Synastry.
Aumont and Pavan (who was Pier Angeli's twin sister), were married in 1956. By 1962, their relationship was under strain and they divorced in 1963 only to reunite and re-marry in 1969
This collision graph below shows only trine aspects between the Sun and Venus. The most important intense point in the development of a trine aspect is just before it becomes exact. As you will observe in this graphic, two Sun Venus trines came inside two degrees between 1951 and 1955 which were exact between January 1956 and December 1957. A third started to become strong between 1966 and 1969.
If we just look at square aspects, we find that two squares, one between the Sun and Venus and the other between Venus and Venus became exact between 1962 and 1963. The friction or discord created by these differences of opinion about relationships was long gone by 1969.
Explaining Collision Graphs (aka Collision Charts)
If you decide to enter the positive astrology synastry section (via the Relationship Services link in the menu bar) and create a personal relationship database of your own, there are one or two things you can do to ensure that you have a greater understanding of the graphs and matrices used in progressed synastry.
To understand synastry matrices navigate to the Synastry Matrices page which will ensure you understand the synastry matrices which will accompany your synastry reports. Synastry matrices are like snapshots that show you what was hot and cold in your relationship astrology at any given time. Collision graphs expand upon these matrices and allow you to see how the important planetary connections discussed in your synastry report and highlighted in your matrices, will develop through time. They show the growth and development of synastry (or relationship) aspects.
To generate a collision (or timing) graph you need to enter two ID numbers from your personal database into the fields marked ID#1 and ID#2 in the Collision Graph section of your personal database:
As Tip 1 says, you should choose a date a few years before the start of your relationship to get a good perspective on any important collisions, which will be displayed in a graph like this, which is for a relationship which began in mid-1997:
Horizontal and Vertical Axes
The horizontal axis along the bottom shows December (12th month) for the years 1985 to 2004 and therefore shows a twenty year period. The vertical axis on the left hand side shows the number of degrees your relationship aspect is from being exact at any point in time. As you can see from this graph, the two collisions (trines of progressing Venus to natal and then progressing Venus) became exact in late 1996 and mid-1997. The first aspect (the white dotted line) was 12 degrees from exact in 1987 and the second (the orange line) was twelve degrees from exact in 1991. The horizontal blue line shows the baseline orb. This shows the time during which the aspect will be most powerfully and intensely felt. (This is also called the two-degree orb as it shows when the aspect passed the two degree point). As can be seen in the case of the orange line, it was very powerful between 1996 (when it passed the baseline) and 1998 (when it separated beyond the baseline orb). The white dotted aspect was within two degrees from 1995 to 1998.
Changing dates to generate reports for other times in your relationships
For you to create a collision graph for any two people in your personal database, they both have to have the same relationship start date. This date is set when you first enter data into the database. If you wish to match two people who are not in a relationship, or you wish to look at a different time period (for which you can also generate a synastry report), you can change or coordinate any two people in your database.
All you have to do is take any two people in your relationship database and enter their ID numbers into the ID fields of the Change the Start Date of the Relationship section of the database page. After you press the recalculation button a new set of planetary aspects will be calculated for the date you entered, and the synastry matrices for this date will be displayed ( use the back button to return to your database and generate report and collision graphs). Of course, the natal planet positions will not change and important natal synastry aspects will still be included in your report and in your synastry matrices.
