How to detect a cheating partner
“Do I have a cheating partner”?” “Does he have a lover?” “Is she in love with somebody else?” These are common questions in every consulting astrologer’s praxis.
As usual, the chart is cast for the moment when the client either visits the astrologer or contacts the astrologer by phone, based on the astrologer’s local time and location.
The querent is always described by the AC and by the lord of the 1st house[1].
His or her co-significator is the Moon. The partner whom the querent is asking about is described by the 7th house and its ruler.
Please note that it does not matter if a couple is married or whether the question is about a hetero or homosexual couple. Astrology does not make these distinctions: all relationships belong to the 7th house.
In Fig. 1 Jupiter and the Moon represent the querent while Mercury shows the querent’s partner.
Let us now explore the two possible scenarios.
Scenario 1: There is no affair!
The infidelity suspecting querent can immediately be reassured of his sound relationship if the lord of the 7th house and the Moon are found in a fix (straight rising) sign, in an angular house and not separating from the 1st house ruler:
- Fixed signs describe the stability of a relationship and the usual life of the couple.
- A (dignified) significator in a straight rising sign (Cancer to Sagittarius) points to a “straight” character and a person’s integrity.
- Planets in angular houses have accidental strength which points to the absence of temptations or occasions.
- A separating aspect describes some kind of alienation, which is a negative indication for the relationship.
In Fig. 2, we find the ruler of the 7th house, Venus, in Aquarius, a fixed sign. The Moon is in the fixed sign of Taurus and Mars is in Leo, which is also a fixed sign.
All significators are in angular houses, which means the partners stick to their place and do not not stray around.
Similarly, if the lord of the 7th house or the Moon aspect the AC ruler it also shows that the partners are together without a third person being involved. This is actually true even if there is no reception between the planets involved. [2] We can see the (eventual) lack of reception as a description or a more mature, working relationship after the initial passion and thunder.
A good sign that the querent has no reason to worry is if the Moon is void of course. In this case, no news is good news: things are not going to change.
If the chart of the querent is like those mentioned so far, the consultation is over and the client can go home, either relieved or ashamed of his or her own lack of trust.
Scenario 2: The partner is having an affair!
But how would a chart look like if the querent’s partner was indeed having an affair?
The first thing we want to check is whether the 7th house ruler makes any aspect to Mars, Saturn or Mercury, as shown in Figure 3. [3]
Mars and Saturn are both malefics, and in this context, show the presence of an unwanted third party, disappointment and trouble.
If the querent is a man, the male planets Saturn and Mars literally show another man in the partner’s life. But if a woman is asking, they basically show the same: upcoming trouble and a corrupted relationship.
Mercury associated with the malefics is the bringer of bad news. Since he is associated with thieves, he points, literally, to the “theft” of the partner.
The distance of the applying aspect mentioned above gives us further details.
If the aspect is applying within 5°, the extra-conjugal relationship is already established and still to grow, but if the distance is less than 3°, the lover is living close by. Traditional texts describe such a person as “living inside the querent’s home”. [4]
We would then need to further explore the nature of the 7th house ruler and if it might describe some close friend, neighbor or relative. This would be the modern equivalent of having the cheater “inside one’s own home”.
Another hint is the quality of the sign the ruler of the 7th is in. If he is in a common sign, the partner is searching for opportunities and taking chances. If the significator is in a moveable (cardinal) sign, the partner might just have got into an affair or is tempted to do so.
Next, we need to check is if the significators of the AC and the 7th house are separating. They describe a growing distance between the partners and the split of the relationship: the partners are literally moving away from each other.
The attention now goes to the Moon, which acts on the one hand as co-significator of the querent, but also the general indicator of what will happen next.
If the Moon is conjunct the South Node, as in Fig. 4, the message is about emotional loss and grief which comes with the infidelity.
But if the South Node was not with the Moon but with Mars, things are different. Since Mars is a natural malefic, when he is conjunct the South Node, his malice diminishes, meaning that he is less of a thread now. If there has been some kind of temptation, it has shown not being worth the risk.
If the ruler of the 7th house is aspected by several planets, the partner has more than one lover. The Jewish Persian Sahl writes that if Mercury and Saturn aspect the lord of the 1st or the Moon from the same sign, this also reveals the existence of different lovers[5].
Triplicity rulers
We also must examine whether the ruler of the 7th house is conjunct one of the AC’s triplicity rulers and if, in addition, the Moon is separating from the AC ruler. [6] Since the AC ruler is the 7th house from the querent’s perspective, the triplicity ruler is some kind of “alternative partner” of the AC ruler (the querent), and hence this triplicity ruler represents “the other” man or woman.
The Moon’s separating aspect from the querent confirms the scenario of the partner leaving the querent.
As an example, we can see in Fig. 5 that Pisces is rising. The ruler of the 7th house, Mercury, does not apply to the AC ruler Jupiter, but to Venus, the diurnal triplicity lord of the water signs.
We can also see that the Moon is separating from Jupiter, which describes a situation in which the partner is already in extra conjugal territory.
Sahl would further check if the ruler of the 7th or the Moon was in conjunction with Mars (as the relationship breaker) or else in one of hisdomiciles[7] In Fig. 5, we find Mercury in Aries.
Past lovers or still loving the past?
A separating aspect from the 7th house ruler by more than 5° suggest a past relationship which had finished before of the actual relationship with the querent has begun [8]. If the separation has occurred within 3° the affair is over but happened within the current relationship with the querent.
To find out if the past relationship still matters, we need to see if the separating aspect is with mutual reception. In this case, the ex partners do not meet anymore but continue to love each other. This is a really important information. Once discovered that the partner is cheating, the question is will the partner chose “the other”, will the querent leave his or her partner and at the end, will the relationship break up?
The Moon will tell.
©Tania Daniels
This article has been previously published in the APAI Chronycle
References:
[1] Unless the querent is related to the astrologer. In that case we use specific houses, for example the astrologer’s friend would be shown by the 11th house and his or her partner by the 7th from the 11th house.
[2] Bonatti, p. 443; Lilly, p. 314
[3] Bonatti, p. 446
[4] Lilly p.315, Bonatti p. 444; Sahl p. 99)
[5] Sahl, p.100
[6] Sahl, p. 99
[8] Lilly, p.314
[7] Lilly p. 314, Sahl states on p. “the Lord of the 7th AND the Moon” but he is probably working with a whole house system, so it makes more sense to me to use just the Moon’s separating aspect from the triplicity ruler.