Contradictions in the natal chart: how to read differing descriptions

Each chapter of the reading looks at you through its own set of factors: the Moon speaks of emotions, Mercury of thinking, Mars of action, Saturn of routine and boundaries. These are different sides of one person, and they need not coincide completely. A familiar situation: you decided one thing, feel another and do a third.

So a difference in the reading is not a sign that it “does not add up”, but a description of your inner complexity. It would be worse if all the chapters said the same thing: that would mean the reading oversimplifies. Astrology is an interpretive tradition, not an exact science, and contradictory descriptions in it are considered the norm, not a malfunction. The general order of reading, in which they should be looked for, is explained in the article how to read a natal chart.

The tenth chapter introduces no new chart factors. It takes individual conclusions from different chapters and sets them side by side: for example, how the conclusion about emotions relates to the conclusion about action, or the conclusion about closeness to the conclusion about routine. The order is this:

1. First the tensions: places where conclusions pull in different directions. They are always named directly, but without judgement.
2. Then the supports: places where conclusions reinforce each other and give stability.
3. The chapter does not speak twice about the same axis of themes: it does not present two different links on one axis.
4. If there are no tensions in the chart, the chapter shows the support and compatibility of the conclusions. It does not invent a problem just so that the chapter is not empty.

The square and the opposition are the clearest examples of tension between two planets; what they mean and why “tense” does not mean “bad” is described in the article aspects in the natal chart. But chapter 10 works not with a single aspect but with the conclusions of the chapters as a whole.

The word “contradiction” sounds alarming, but in the reading it means “two themes that need to find a common language”. Tension is the place where a choice, a skill or a habit usually appears, not a breakdown. Ease, on the contrary, often goes unnoticed and is not developed.

• Tension does not say that something is wrong with you. It says that two sides of you want different things.
• A support does not guarantee that everything will be smooth in this theme. It describes what you can count on.
• Neither tension nor support predicts events: they describe tendencies.
• If you do not recognise yourself in a description, that is also a result. Note how your experience differs: it is as valuable an observation as a match.

The example is fictional: the positions are invented to explain the idea, not calculated from anyone’s data.

Suppose that on a hypothetical chart the following conclusions came out of different chapters: Moon in Scorpio (chapter 2) — feelings are deep and open up not at once; Mars in Aries (chapter 8) — you want to act quickly and begin straight away; Saturn in Virgo (chapter 9) — the usual routine is detailed and demanding; Venus in Taurus (chapter 5) — in closeness, reliability and constancy matter.

• Tension on the “tempo” axis. The quick start of Mars and the careful, demanding routine of Saturn pull in different directions: you want to begin straight away, but nothing begins until the perfect plan is ready. This is the same axis, so the chapter names it once.
• Support on the “closeness” axis. Venus in Taurus and the deep Moon in Scorpio reinforce each other: in relationships the person needs reliability and loyalty, and emotional depth is in tune with that.

Here chapter 10 would say: a quick impulse and caution do not necessarily argue all the time; you have two ways of beginning, and it matters to notice which of them switches on. The conclusion about the support would remind you that in closeness you can count on agreement between feelings and habits. All of this is hypothesis: it is tested by your experience, not by the chart.

Chapter 11, “How to use your reading”, completes the full reading. Its steps are built on the tensions from chapter 10 and on the leading conclusions of the other chapters, and each step states what it is based on. This way you see where the advice comes from, and can agree with it or not.

For our hypothetical example the steps would look like this.

These are examples of the form, not recipes. The steps in your reading will rest on your factors, not on these.

• They do not make diagnoses and do not call your features a “problem” or a “complex”.
• They do not predict how a tension will show up in events, and do not promise that working on it guarantees anything.
• They do not judge whether your chart is “better” or “worse” by the number of tensions.
• They do not use factors that are not in the methodology: nodes, Lilith, Chiron, minor aspects and house rulers are not read.
• They do not replace a conversation with a specialist if an inner conflict weighs on you heavily.

1. Where do you notice two “voices” in yourself that want different things? How do they sound?
2. When you feel an inner argument, what usually wins, and are you happy with the result?
3. In which situations, on the contrary, do your sides act together? What do these situations have in common?
4. Which of the descriptions in the reading seems the most unexpected to you? What do you notice when you observe yourself?

An argument between your sides is rarely settled by a single choice. More often an agreement helps: when you trust the first side, and when the second.

To see which tensions and supports there are in your own chart, build your chart: the full reading will set the chapters’ conclusions side by side and end with practical steps. You can see what this looks like in finished material in the open sample reading, and how individual planets are read in the article planets in the natal chart.