by Marilyn Muir, LPMAFA
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
I had just completed my coronation write up, sent it out for proofing and formatting for the website, and started to put everything away. I had not completed the work on Queen Camilla because her birth data is only rated Rodden B and I prefer AA or A information. But there are rare opportunities to access coronation charts, and I didn’t want to waste opportunity. Thought I might as well complete the file before I put it away. Did so. Mind boggling! The Queen Consort’s coronation (crowning) took place fourteen minutes after the King’s coronation, so there would not be much change in the overall layout of the two events, just a few degrees on the Ascendant and Midheaven. I then compared her Queen Consort coronation to her natal. The multiple exact connections of each coronation to the pertinent natals and between one another as individuals were the mind-blowing part.
Once my mind had been cracked open that way, I wondered what the composite and relationship charts between the King and Queen looked like. More mind-boggling insights! I can’t just put this file away – I must follow these new research leads. So, this article will be an add-on to the preceding article. Let’s start at the beginning and do this in small steps.
- Look at King Charles’s natal Midheaven and Ascendant compared to his personal coronation Midheaven and Ascendant. Bingo! Exact conjunctions, 75 years apart!
- Look at Queen Camilla’s natal Midheaven and Ascendant compared to her personal coronation Midheaven and Ascendant. Bingo! Exact conjunctions, 76 years apart!
- Look at King Charles’s natal Midheaven and Ascendant compared to Queen Camilla’s Midheaven and Ascendant along with their 14’ separate coronations. Bingo! Exact conjunctions!
- King Charles was born November 14, 1948. Queen Camilla was born July 17, 1947. Their coronations were May 6, 2023. That is a 75-to-76-year spread. The King and Queen were born about 1.5 years apart, yet their primary angles are identical and quite tight! To me, these four chart connections are close enough to be considered identical. Therefore, Bingo!
History Know that I was a fan of Princess Diana and was crushed when her young life was snuffed out. I did a lot of crying as I did the accident charting, trying to understand what happened astrologically. I was not actively writing / publishing at that time, so that research is somewhere in my old files, never published. Hmmm! More to do??? I was not happy with the dissolution of that marriage inasmuch as Camilla figured heavily into that part of the story. Not my business! No right to judge! As a result, did I feel that Charles / Camilla as a couple was made in heaven? No, I did not. At this moment, with what the balance of the charting has revealed to me, and more than I ever realized possible, I can say I was wrong in my assessment! Why? Sometimes things are meant to be. Perhaps the universe has a different perspective! Karma?
A brief explanation is due relative to the difference between and the use of the two chart relationship techniques. That will make application to this article information easier for you.
Composites have been used for many years, and is the usual relationship chart of choice for Astrologers. Why? The math is easier. When all charting was done by hand, relationship charts were a mathematical bear to do; so, many Astrologers took the easier math route: composites. And they work very well. Both techniques are valid. Both charts work, but for different reasons. The advent of computer-generated charts alleviated the math problems with improved accuracy. Relationship charting is now available at the push of a button, now easy to calculate, and has been gaining ground in usage. I use both. What is the difference?
- The composite is a midpoint chart that never truly existed in orbital mechanics (reality).
- The relationship chart is a real-time chart that existed at a point between the two births.
- The composite is theoretical. The relationship chart is reality.
- I do wish another name had been used for the relationship charting technique because both techniques are relational in nature and the unfortunate repeat of one term can cause confusion.
The composite is a midpoint chart, derived by taking the usual main components of the chart: ten bodies, Ascendant and Midheaven, accurately adding each pairing and dividing the total in half to find the midpoint. For example: Sun #1 + Sun #2, and the total divided in half = the composite Sun. The same math is done on the pairings of the other nine bodies and angles. Once the Midheaven and Ascendant are calculated, go to the Table of Houses, look up the applicable Midheaven (for longitude and time of birth), and run your finger down the column to the Ascendant (for latitude) to generate the balance of the house cusps; erect that information as a wheel, and drop in the generated planet positions where they belong. (Note: Computer programs may ask if you want a Midheaven-based or Ascendant-based chart. This would take some personal example comparisons to choose… called practice!)
Composite charting worked well for many years. Think about what this chart is. It is an artificial construct, not a chart based on factual placements. My explanation: a composite is a chart of possibilities. Why? Because each position is actually a halfway point. Each midpoint represents a specific position where each party meets the other at the halfway point of their possibilities. Therefore, it is where you and I would meet at the 50% point on all issues. That is not remotely possible in a single relationship, much less every potential relationship worldwide! To me, the composite is a chart of possibilities, IF one met the other halfway on each individual issue.
- Think about meeting a person for the first time, looking at the promise implied within each new, unique encounter; what we see as possibility.
- Then think further. Once we have established a relationship, we have opinions and conclusions based on what we actually experience with one another. Reality!
Reality equals the relationship technique. Why? The Relationship technique chart is cast by using the date, time, and location of birth of each participant to determine a midpoint in time and space. Time includes the time standard in use at that moment at each birth location. We may meet or have our relationships at completely different locations over the experience of the relationship. People in our society do move around a lot!
The math by hand was difficult, and to me constituted a “best guess” accuracy level. If you were good at math, it was easier and relatively more accurate. The computer calculations erased all that difficulty and pops out an accurate chart within seconds. The relationship is a factual chart centered on the midpoint of both birth dates, a real-time chart for an actual relationship.
- The Composite is “what we see”. The Relationship is “what we get”. Both work. Both have value. Practice will help you decide whether to use one or both. I use both.
- Know that the planets in the composite and relationship charts can be quite different.
- Point to remember: The more there is commonality between the composite and the relationship charts, the better the possibility that you “get” what you “thought” was possible.
Where to begin with this royal couple?
- Look at the composite chart between Charles and Camilla, specifically the angles. Midheaven 11:32 Aries, Ascendant 4:15 Leo.
- Then look at the relationship chart between Charles and Camilla, specifically the angles. Midheaven 11:32 Aries, Ascendant 4:15 Leo.
- Those angles are exactly the same as the natal charts of the couple. In the multitude of charts that I have done over my fifty-year study of Astrology, I have never encountered this.
- We are seeking commonality between these two charts. What else? The Suns are opposed within three degrees (polar opposites), Moons are conjunct within five degrees, Nodes conjunct within three degrees. For the outer planets, Uranus within five degrees, Jupiter wide but same sign, Saturn within six degrees, Pluto within two degrees, and Neptune one degree. (The three outer planets cannot move that far in 1.5 years, so that’s normal). Commonality.
- If you are doing a deep study, you can also look for similarity of planet house positions. Look at both Neptunes conjunct the ICs, Moons and Uranus in the 11th, Nodes in the 10th, Plutos in the 1st, Saturns close to the 2nd cusp, Jupiters in the 5th.
- What could it mean? Repeating, commonality between the two types of charts indicate where you can potentially experience fulfillment of your anticipations. (Life does not come with guarantees!) Commonality shows how each individual experiences one another within the relationship. Many of the planets, houses and signs don’t change their individual meaning and the participants can experience unity. This relationship has developed and held together for about a half century! The couple must feel like they belong together, whether that is active (actually together) or outside involved experience (separated). How would you ever shake such tight connections? Haunting!
And then there is always Karma… our life lessons! For that I look to the Nodes; connections to the South Node for the past and connections to the North Node for this current experience. King Charles’s natal and coronation and Queen Camilla’s coronation are all at 4 Taurus. We are all in a universal school. Our lessons may or may not register on us consciously; but life can teach us whatever it chooses, and has all the time in the world to do so.
For your further study, I recommend these additional articles on my website (marilynmuir.net):
Relationship Chart – What You See is What You Get – Actuality
Relationship Degrees
Relationships – An Astrological Look at Possibilities
Relationships – Synastry – Who are You? Who am I? How Do We Affect One Another?
Relationships from the Karmic Perspective – To Be or Not To Be
Composites – What is the Potential of Any Relationship?
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