One can certainly both like or dislike a person based on some sort of summary of their race, education, profession, religion, etc. In behavioral psychology, such superficial descriptions matter. In astrology, not at all. Astrology is focused on what's underneath, what's inside of a person, what makes them tick, compels them to act from within in some ways and not in others. It aims to explain why you automatically get along (or not) with a person you've just met and know nothing about, or if you do know them, what part of it working out (or not) is independent of your informed decisions. In this article, I will try to introduce the branch of astrology that deals with relationships - show how it classifies functional and dysfunctional relationships in theory, but also demonstrate, how anyone can use it in practice to improve their relationships with all basic types of individuals.
To be clear, astrology doesn't really separate inherited genetic traits, group allegiances or chosen career paths from personality, because all of that is either partially responsible for who people become, or it is a natural consequence of who they are. Causes and consequences are also often indistinguishable from each other, just like in the chicken versus the egg problem. People are complexes of all of the above, and it is such holistic perspective you need to adopt in order to be able to use astrology to understand who people are, and how they relate. Fortunately, astrology makes it easier, because all those seemingly separate parts of what makes us particular people are manifestations of one set of principles and are clearly linked to specific symbols in the natal chart.
Simply put, if you naturally get along or don't get along with a person who is, for example, a minority male religious artist, depends primarily on why he is any and all of those things. It has very little to do with him being a minority, male, religious or artist in and of itself, unless you are a particular kind of person, who, for some reason, gives major preference to this view of people intentionally, inherently or because of being conditioned to do so. And that is the astrological typology right there - you can become or believe anything, but what matters is if you do so intentionally (as a deliberate choice), inherently (genetically, in broader sense) or because of being conditioned to do so (manipulated by others through the process of learning, peer pressure or outright coercion). Intentional type is called cardinal quality, inherent type is called fixed quality and conditioned type is called flexible quality.
As is always the case with the zodiac, it is a symmetrical typology - four signs are cardinal (aries, cancer, libra, capricorn), four are fixed (taurus, leo, scorpio, aquarius) and four are flexible (gemini, virgo, sagittarius, pisces). Apart from qualities, there are four temperaments (called elements) - selfish fire, sentimental water, thinking air and materialistic earth. Each sign is in fact a unique combination of the two - quality and temperament, defining the basic twelve types of people. Now you may think that all you need is to find out the so called Sun sign or star sign and you're done, but that is only the tip of an iceberg that is human personality. Sun is important, because it represents ego, but humans have much more than ego. Sun would completely describe only a complete egocentric, a narcissist or egomaniac. Every person has all of the same so called planets, which one by one describe different parts of human psyche, and each of the planets can theoretically be in any of the signs.
That means every person is a specific blend of various qualities and temperaments, including you. Moreover, individual aspects of your chart always relate to all other aspects of other's chart, which means that you can have relationships to other people based on only some of the planets. It is because only some combinations of signs tend to relate together in a significant way, while other combinations produce only a "meh" effect. When there is an absence of significant relation between planets, it means nothing, it is not a basis for a relationship - you would simply not care about a person who doesn't significantly relate to you. Significant relations happen when the signs share something, either the temperament or quality. If you share temperament, you are literally "in the same element", the relationship gets easier and more comfortable, with only boredom as the most negative consequence. If it is the same sign, then it is strong identification with the other person, amplifying the same highs and lows.
If it is the same quality, however, it is trouble. It is a bond, but a bond of conflict or disagreement - you want to use the same quality in a different element, which means trying to do the same thing differently or using the same means to achieve different things. You have a natural tendency to disagree or to complicate each other's life. The most interesting of those is the directly opposed sign - the signs of the same quality are on a square in a circle, which means that each sign has one counterpart 180 degrees far, on the other end of the diagonal of that square. Opposing signs are the opposites that complete each other, mesmerizing or infuriating, or both. Now imagine that you have ten planets in ten potentially different signs, and each one of yours relates to each one of the other's. And that complex of interactions defines the dynamic of your relationship.
It seems intimidating in its complexity, but it is not that difficult to work with, if you take it one planet at a time. Each rules a particular part of human psyche, so take the one that matters for your inquiry. If you want to understand what pisses you off, look at Mars, ruler of anger. Other's planets in signs in conflict with the sign of your Mars should be the triggers for your anger. If your Mars was like mine in libra, which is particularly weird, because it is in exile (opposite to the sign Mars rules - aries), you would be infuriated by principal ideology or behavior of the signs of aries (normal Martian behavior), cancer or capricorn. At their worst, aries represents blunt selfishness, cancer emotional extortion and capricorn ruthless careerism. For a libra, they are all wrong, because libra values fairness, which is completely disregarded by aries; intellectual detachment, which is attacked by cancer on the basis of "if you don't agree with me you don't care about me"; and idealism, which is flat out rejected by capricorn as laughably useless.
I am a naturally introspective person, so even without astrology, I have figured out my anger triggers. What astrology still has to offer to me is that if I know that people have particular planets in any of those signs, I can know immediately, before even meeting them, in what ways they will have a tendency to provoke me. I can brace for it, I can be more understanding. Depending on a particular planet being in any of those signs, it is a very subtle knowledge. If their Moon is in a sign that triggers my anger, it is how they feel subconsciously about things that will provoke me. If it is Mercury, it will be their conscious reasoning; if Venus, it will be their taste; if Mars, it will be their ambition; if Jupiter, it will be their talent; if Saturn, it will be their shortcomings. Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are shared by entire generations, so that is a subject for another time. Last but certainly not least, Sun rules ego, one's self-image, which would be a particularly strong anger trigger.
Comparison of the two natal charts can paint the whole complex picture of whether or not you will overall get along or not get along with a person, down to minute details of your mutual dynamics. That doesn't determine, however, if you decide to become their friend, foe, lover or anything else. You have control, you are still responsible for your actions. Personality in the astrological view is a force of nature, which has to be respected and should be understood as best as possible, but which can be approached in any number of ways by an intelligent, conscious being. It really is mainly about becoming more conscious and transcending problems that arise when you follow your instincts without reflecting on them. The tricky bit is that in astrological view, even rationalism is an instinct, so you are not automatically aware of how you mistreat or annoy others just because you have a high IQ. As you by now should be able to imagine, it is particularly useful to parents to predict and avoid misunderstanding and mistreating of their children, to couples to fix the problems in their relationship and to employers or coaches to maximize the efficiency of teams.
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