Karmic Relationships in Astrology
Karma is a concept that explains the eternal nature of our spiritual self. Our experiences stay with us as memories and emotions. When these experiences are positive and beneficial to us and others, we carry these benefits into future existences in any dimension including earth. This is often where “luck” comes from in our lives. By the same law of karma, a negative experience stays with us and results in an unresolved situation from a previous lifetimes.
Karma is not punishment or retribution. Think of it more as “you reap what you sow”, but across lifetimes. Most people think of justice, balance, and getting what you deserve as only the current lifetime. This is a limiting way to approach the eternal nature of the spirit.
Our souls continue to exist through lifetimes and we incarnate with the same people time and time again. When we have unfinished business in our relationships, it can create a karmic condition for the future. When we incarnate into families there can be positive or negative connections with parents or siblings that manifest as karma, meaning “work that needs to be done”.
We also have karmic debts that are created by our actions in another lifetime. Let’s say you were married to someone and didn’t treat them well. In a future lifetime you come back in a similar relationship, but you are always the person giving and creating a home. You will give more than you receive to balance out the previous lifetime. Or you might create a soul contract before you incarnate to achieve a specific purpose such as healing or better communication.
Karma can show up in many of your life experiences. You have relationships that come and go, like a turnstile of people in your life. You may not stay connected after this initial relationship and this is due to the work of the soul being completed. Or you have a positive relationship until there is a sudden and unexpected break. You may be in a relationship that is not working and you know it, but you are slow to make a change. When you have trouble getting out of a difficult relationship or work situation, it’s partly due to unresolved issues where you have not completed the cycle of healing.
How often have you met someone and had an instant connection or immediate repulsion? Most likely, you have known each other before and now recognize the soul, not necessarily the person. A key factor of karma is that you may feel like you are not in control. Another characteristic is not really knowing why you are in a relationship. All of these are examples of karmic relationships or soul contracts, which is a topic for another blog.
Birth Chart Clues
Astrology birth charts have indicators of the skills, talents, work, and relationship issues we bring into the current lifetime:
There are 3 modalities in astrology: a sign is either Cardinal, Fixed, or Mutable.
Fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) in the birth chart show karmic debts around inflexibility and self promotion. You are challenged in this lifetime to grow your soul through transforming your personal agenda into collaborating with others. These issues manifest most directly in your Sun or Rising Sign.
Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn) can show that your past actions caused harm and now you take action to correct those decisions by making choices that are healthier. If you have Cardinal signs as your Moon or Saturn sign, you will be the most affected.
Mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) manifest through a misalignment in your thoughts in the current life. These are actually the easiest problems to overcome. If you don’t face these issues, you will be creating karma for another time and place.
The Moon sign represents your past life experiences which translate into your childhood and emotional reactions. These experiences are buried deep in your subconscious. Every moon sign and house has some karmic significance. Some of the most common karmic indicators of the moon I’ve seen in charts are:
4th house: Tumultuous childhood is a holdover from a past life; you are connected to one or both parents karmically. This house also represents the roots of your being, so you feel the turmoil within. As you grow into adulthood you can transcend these difficulties.
7th house: You have a highly emotional roller coaster type relationship with your partner and changes in feelings occur throughout the relationship. The only way to transcend these difficulties is to go through it in a conscious and healing way. Avoidance won’t work as your next relationship will be similar, creating a pattern that is trying to get your attention.
11th house: Conjunctions, trines, and sextiles show friendships from previous lives that are beneficial now. Oppositions to the moon in the 11th house represents how you used friends in a past life and now experience friends who use you for their own purposes or they can be self-centered. Practice discernment in your choice of friends and learn to set boundaries. Practicing forgiveness towards those who have wrong you would dissolve the tension and karma.
Moon in Gemini: You were not ethical in some of your previous lifetimes and now have experiences of others taking advantage of you. You are on a quest for truth in this lifetime and are learning how to have integrity and purpose.
Moon in Libra: You are accustomed to being married or in a committed partnership. In this lifetime you may have many partners as you work through a new path of independence within a relationship.
Mars in the 4th house symbolizes past lives of strife and battles. The real enemy is within and Mars in the 4th house shows an inner conflict from previous lives. As the 4th house represents home and family, some of the tension will be represented by a home life where conflicts are not discussed and hidden. The mother is usually a strong figure and can be domineering. The karmic resolution requires the individual to cultivate peace within.
Mars in the 10th house shows friction with the father/male figures. There is a karma of gossiping which has hurt others unfairly in previous lives. As a result, you could have troubles in your career especially with males. The resolution is to think before you speak and cease judgement of others.
Chiron was the first of a new class of objects discovered in our solar system in 1977. These objects are too small to be planets but too large to be asteroids and are called Centaurs. Looking at the sign and house of Chiron in the birth chart shows where you have your deepest wound from previous incarnations. The position of Chiron shows where we have the greatest capacity for healing ourselves and others. As we look forward a couple of years to June 2027, Chiron will have a return to the place where it was discovered along with outer planets being in harmonious aspect, leading to collective healing of any karmic residue.
Jupiter in the 12th house shows where you have earned spiritual protection in this lifetime. You have challenges that are followed by unexpected success. You should be aware of making decisions too quickly as you are learning to wait for the right time to act. You have helped others in the past and they come back to support you in this one.
Your Saturn sign and house shows where your lessons, debts, and spiritual gifts are found. Saturn represents a test in this lifetime to see if you have learned your lessons.
Your South Node of the moon shows how you have developed in past lives. Its opposite is the North Node which shows current life direction. The South Node by sign and house indicates ways of existing that you are leaving behind. These may be ego-driven or independence vs. partnership.
The 12th house is rich with karmic implications. It is the house of seclusion, the subconscious, dreams, sacrifice, purification, and redemption. Any planets in this house are significant. The Sun in the 12th house always has implications for the relationship with the father, which is karmic. He will be absent often during childhood and not available for a consistent relationship. This could be do to his work, military duty, alcoholism, or divorce. As you can see, the situations differ, but they all lead to the same place - an absent father figure.
Birth Chart readings can show specific areas where you have karma as well as themes that have been repeated over and over.
Remember, that while we often think of karma as the past we are also creating it in the present. People are often weighed down and feel oppressed due to carrying around unresolved issues but they don’t realize it. While this is also the work of psychotherapy, an Akashic records session, Shamanic journeying, or hypnotherapy are spiritually oriented options to learn about the initial wound from previous incarnations.
To achieve and maintain a balanced life we need to release these old emotions and blockages. When you do the healing will bring unexpected gifts into your life and more energy to live your purpose!
