How to match horoscopes

How I match birth charts

I match charts with seven checks: is the partner visible in the 7th, shared marriage timing, malefics on the 7th, overlapping hard dashas, guna milap, synastry, and whether the relationship is practical.

Whatever challenges we are meant to face in married life will still arise, but we should try not to make them worse. Love is blind, and we often decide through emotion, but where possible we should make the right choice and marry at the right time. I answer the following seven questions during a compatibility analysis.

Is your partner as seen from your chart?

I first assess the possible professional background of your life partner from your chart, along with some broad personality traits, and then compare them with your partner. Suppose the ruler of the 7th house, which represents the life partner, is in Punarvasu. Punarvasu's ruler is Jupiter, and Jupiter is in Ashwini. Together, these positions can signify a partner with a background in healthcare. If your current partner has that background, it is a good sign.

A Mars-Punarvasu-like person in this example would be caring, accommodating and protective. The professional background and personality indicated by your chart should therefore match the person you are considering.

Is time of marriage common?

Matching the time of marriage is a very important exercise because it gives a black-and-white answer. For example, a couple may be in their twenties, but the man may have several combinations for late marriage and therefore be likely to marry after 30, while the woman might marry in her mid-to-late twenties. In that case, their marriage timings do not match. Their intended life journeys are different, and I have found this to be one of the most important parts of the analysis.

You might feel highly compatible with someone, and the person might match the professional background and personality indicated for your spouse, but if the marriage timings do not match, it is the wrong decision. The central point is that the time of marriage should match.

Do you or your partner have malefics linked to the marriage house?

When malefics are associated with a person’s marriage house, the person is likely to face challenges. Saturn can indicate late marriage. Ketu can create a preference for independence, making the person feel that a relationship is taking away their individuality. Rahu can bring indecisiveness or an attraction to unconventional relationships that do not conform to social norms, creating pressure from society. Mars can bring excessive competitiveness. Competitiveness may be useful at work, but in a relationship it can become counterproductive and lead to arguments. If Saturn, Ketu, Rahu or Mars is linked to one person’s 7th house, ideally the partner should not have similar combinations. If one chart indicates difficulty in married life, the other person’s chart should ideally not indicate the same difficulty.

Would you and your partner go through difficult dashas (time periods) together?

In most cases, I have seen some association of malefics with the marriage house. When both people planning to marry have such combinations, I identify whether they will go through difficult Dashas at the same time. For example, suppose the first person has Saturn in the 7th house with Rahu aspecting it and will run Saturn-Rahu from March 2029 to April 2031. Given the nature of Saturn and Rahu and their association with marriage, the person is likely to face difficulty in married life during that phase.

Suppose the second person has Ketu in the 7th house of the Navamsa and begins Ketu Mahadasha during the same period. Both people would then be running difficult marriage-related Dashas together, which could adversely affect the relationship. It can still be acceptable for both people to have malefics linked to marriage if their difficult Dashas do not coincide.

If the first person were running Saturn-Rahu while the second person began Jupiter Mahadasha, with Jupiter aspecting the 7th house, the second person might help the first deal with those challenges. Comparing the timing of difficult Dashas is therefore another important compatibility exercise.

Are you compatible based on Guna milap?

Guna Milap is a method used by Vedic astrologers to match horoscopes through the compatibility of the two Moons.

Nadi Dosha: This is the first parameter and carries eight points. It is based on the compatibility of the couple's Moon Nakshatras. If Nadi Dosha is present, the incompatible Moon Nakshatras can make it difficult for the couple to start a family.

Bhakota Dosha: This considers the relative positions of the Moon signs. If one person has the Moon in Aries and the other in Pisces, the signs form a 2-12 relationship: Pisces is 12 places from Aries, while Aries is two places from Pisces. In my experience, a 2-12 Bhakota Dosha leads to physical distance. For example, one person may work in New Delhi while the other studies and later works in Canada, but the first person cannot relocate.

A 6-8 Bhakota Dosha is likely to create a lack of understanding and dramatic circumstances. If one Moon is in Leo and the other in Capricorn, the signs are six and eight places from one another. Since the 6th and 8th houses are linked with challenges, this relationship can create health or financial issues. One person's chart is bringing that energy into the other person's chart, with an adverse effect on that person.

The effect can be mitigated when the signs share the same ruler. For example, Aries and Scorpio form a 6-8 relationship but are both ruled by Mars. The 5-9 Bhakota Dosha is less severe than the 2-12 and 6-8 relationships. It can be linked with the birth of a child because the 5th house represents children, but if there is no Nadi Dosha, I do not consider the 5-9 Dosha too seriously.

Gana Dosha: This is based on the temperament of the Moon's Nakshatra and is directly linked with mental compatibility. People respond differently under adverse circumstances: some are more forgiving, while others may want to retaliate. These temperaments have to be matched.

Graha Dosha: This considers the friendship between the Moon-sign rulers. If one Moon is in Capricorn and the other in Leo, the rulers are Saturn and the Sun. Their difficult relationship would lead to mental incompatibility. One person might feel that their authority is being questioned, while the other might feel subjected to excessive control.

These are the first four Guna Milap factors that I study carefully, and they carry the highest number of points. The other parameters can be reviewed through the Match calculator on Farfaraway.

Even with a full Guna Milap score, the first two questions in this article must still make sense: the person should resemble the spouse indicated by the chart, and the marriage timings should match. If the marriage timings do not match, it is still incompatible in my view, and there is still no future in my view. Guna Milap studies only the Moons; it does not consider the Dashas, each person's life journey or the chart's overall description of the spouse.

A high score is a good sign but does not necessarily make the match ideal. Similarly, a low score is not automatically a bad match if the person and marriage timing otherwise fit the chart. All these factors must be considered together.

Are you compatible based on Synastry?

In synastry, we superimpose one person's chart on the other and study how the planetary interactions might play out. If one person has Mercury in Libra and the other has Venus in Libra, a Mercury-Venus synastry forms. This could create a friendly bond, lead to friends marrying one another or support a business partnership.

A Sun-Saturn synastry is likely to create authority issues. Mars-Venus would create instant mutual attraction. Venus-Rahu can create extreme attraction, particularly from the Rahu person towards the Venus person. For example, if one person has Rahu in Scorpio and the other has Venus in Scorpio, the Rahu person may become excessively interested in the Venus person.

A Ketu-related synastry could indicate a past-life bond. If one person has the Sun in Pisces and the other has Ketu in Pisces, the relationship might play out in a way that requires the Sun person to act as a caretaker or fatherly figure for the Ketu person. Different planetary combinations therefore produce different meanings. Synastry helps us identify the relationship's strengths, weaknesses and the kind of chemistry that might play out.

Is your relationship practical?

The final question is whether the relationship is practical. The most important issue is the desire and ability to start a family, which can be assessed through the 5th house. Saturn in the 5th house makes it very likely that the person will become a parent later in life. Ketu may show that the person does not want to start a family, or that circumstances do not allow them to take on that responsibility. This is not always the case, so the 5th house must be analysed carefully.

If one person has a weak 5th house while starting a family is extremely important to the prospective partner, there may be a practical mismatch. If both people want children, their 5th-house positions should at least not be weak.

Another practical issue is settlement abroad. If one person has several combinations for living in a foreign country while the other has neither those combinations nor the desire to relocate, the difference may become impractical later. The relationship with in-laws can also be studied through the 8th house. Saturn, Ketu or Mars linked to the 8th house is likely to indicate difficulty with in-laws, which becomes particularly relevant if the couple plans to live with them. Astrology can therefore help answer practical questions about a shared future and support a more thoughtful decision.

How to identify your partner from your chart

Begin by identifying the ruler of the 7th house and studying its nature. If the ruler is Saturn, for example, you are likely to attract a Saturn-like person. Then identify Saturn's Nakshatra. Saturn in Pushya could indicate a partner with the personality of a professor or researcher, although this is a simple example because both the planet and the Nakshatra are ruled by Saturn.

A more complicated example is Saturn in Purva Phalguni. The partner could work in risk management or finance, which is directly linked to Purva Phalguni. In personality, this could be someone who is very serious about pleasure: the person at a fun park who does not let himself go, or the person standing in a corner at a party.

Purva Phalguni is ruled by Venus, so you must also study Venus's position to understand the combination fully. In the same way, identify Saturn's sign and study the sign ruler's position. Then study Saturn's sign, sign ruler and house in both the main chart and the Navamsa. The house occupied by the ruler of the 7th house in those charts gives an idea of the quality of married life. Its placement in the 6th, 8th or 12th house is likely to bring challenges.

Other positions to study

Do the same exercise for the Darakaraka, the planet holding the lowest degree in the chart. Identify its Nakshatra and sign, study their rulers, and then study the Darakaraka's house, sign and sign ruler in the Navamsa while relating those positions back to the main chart.

You can also study Venus, particularly for a man, because Venus represents a wife. For a woman, study Jupiter. I also identify the ruler of the 7th house in the Navamsa and study its position in both the main chart and the Navamsa. As the 7th house is linked to marriage, I try to study as much information related to it as possible.

You can go further by checking whether the ruler of the 7th house, the Darakaraka, Venus or Jupiter, and the ruler of the 7th house in the Navamsa are conjunct planets such as Rahu. Such a conjunction can indicate that your partner will be foreign to you. This complete study can help you identify who your partner might be.

Make the decision thoughtfully

I understand that love is blind and we cannot always help ourselves. If we can, however, we should make the decision thoughtfully. If astrology can help us and we believe it can, I think using it is the wise thing to do.

The Match calculator on Farfaraway gives a Guna Milap compatibility result based entirely on the positions of the two Moons, together with synastry. Keep in view that this is an indicator. The full analysis requires all the questions and methodology described here.