Professional astrologers can’t seem to decide exactly the meaning of the Galactic Center in one’s natal chart or synastry. Me, I’m just a hobbyist who likes to learn about human relationships through the study of astrology because I find it far more telling than personality tests like Myers-Briggs. I love exploring the meaning of asteroids, fixed stars, and mathematical points in astrology and what they tell us about the person as well as about their specific relationships.
Which is how I discovered the Galactic Center in astrology–and then discovered its rather profound place in my most influential relationships.
Discovering the Galactic Center in Synastry
Around 2007, I first heard of the Galactic Center, but it was in regard to planetary astrology, not natal or synastry. Pluto was conjunct the Galactic Center at around 27 degrees Sagittarius then–the very center of the Milky Way–and the world seemed to be going through a lot of shake-ups and high tension that we intuitive and sensitive types feel in our bones and blood. But I had no idea to even look for it in my own chart.
In early April 2014, the Galactic Center appeared on my radar (figuratively speaking) again when I accidentally found it at Astro.com on the list of asteroids, fixed stars, and mathematical points I could plot on an astrological chart. I don’t know if it was new or if I’d just not noticed it before, but I thought, What the heck–I wonder how that plot point played out in my last relationship. And off I went!
See, I’m used to doing synastry charts on anyone who interests me. And by that, I mean they interest me in either a very positive or very negative way, or that I am interested in our synastry to use as a management tool (which no doubt terrifies any colleagues reading this).
Do I have a nemesis at the office? Can I use what I know in his chart or in our synastry to forge an alliance or smooth over the jagged edges? Better than having access to their employer-mandated personality indicators!
A romantic rival? Oh, then I know her chart quite well, know where her weaknesses are, know where she’s got me outgunned with the other person in the love triangle. It’s…useful…to know what I’m up against.
Sometimes, it’s people I work with, ones I need to partner up with for collaboration on a project, and I need to know how we’ll get along when we become less individuals and more team. I know from personal experience that a Sun opposition Pluto in any type of relationship spells trouble for me because no matter how good everything else might be between us, the relationship will eventually be ruined by the intense, innate power struggles. (Because of my own planetary positions–I have Pluto in opposition to my natal Sun, hence I attract strong opposition to how I think and what I do–I don’t get Sun conjunct Pluto in synastry, but I imagine it’s equally intense.)
I’ve done synastry on all my friends, male and female, close especially. And yes, I’ve reviewed synastry obsessively on romantic attachments. I will never again get to a third date without knowing what’s in his chart, though I’m not as particular as an astrologer who begged me for a date for six months until I gave him my birth info, and then he dropped me within the hour…because he wouldn’t waste his time on any woman who didn’t have a Venus-Mars conjunction in synastry with him. (His words.) I once ran a chart on a man I’d dated for two weeks and saw something in his chart that was disturbing to me but it didn’t show in our intermingling until a month or so later. When he flaked out, I already knew the issue. This is just synastry, of course, and doesn’t include transits or progressions, where I’ve seen alcoholism and addictions play out both in his chart and in our budding romance.
What the Galactic Center Means
In my research into the exact meaning of the Galactic Center in natal and synastry charts, I was disappointed to find a lot of philosophizing and not much solid advice. Everyone seems to agree that it’s a point of extreme sensitivity in our charts, usually second only to the Sun, and that any planet or point conjunct it is of special importance.
After looking at dozens of synastry charts, I feel that it’s certainly a sensitive point in synastry, where conjunctions have profound, long-term effects. It’s extreme energy, motivation, sort of a fated collaboration, a relationship that brings together people powerful in their own right and allows them–if they choose to use it and not let other aspects of their synastry turn the relationship sour–to take their combined gifts to heights far above what they could do alone or through other relationships. There is a sense of destiny or fate to these relationships, as if nothing could stop them, but it’s still up to them how they advance on the future and what new life (literally and figuratively) they bring into the world. There is a creative God-spark type force that seems the opposite of the Pluto destruction, tearing down, then re-generating type force. It is unadulterated energy when the Galactic Center conjuncts the Sun in synastry, and it is flavored according to any planet or mathematical point that conjuncts it, other than the sun.
Here’s now, chart by chart, that I figured this out in my own life, without telling you too much about each relationship.
The Galactic Center Conjunction
The first thing I did when I discovered I could plot the Galactic Center usingAstro.com was to see how it fit in my own natal chart. There it was, out there by its lonesome between 26 and 27 degrees Sagittarius. No aspects to any major planets or points in my chart. Ho-hum.
Great. Now let’s see where it is in my synastry with Boyfriend #666. Here’s what it looked like in our composite chart:
There it is. Not conjunct anything. But…wait. It IS conjunct something, just not something that Astro.com shows you in its charts. You have to know where to look.
My romantic relationship composite charts (and some close friendships) often have some of the same aspects. I rarely have Venus conjunct Mars synastry, but almost always Venus conjunct Sun (in wide orb or better), and a variety of Venus, Juno, Vertex aspects (usually conjunctions or oppositions, which definitely catch my attention). Venus relates to romance and creativity; Juno relates to partnership needs and fulfillment; Vertexis a point in the astrological chart that is fated, like a wish fulfillment, and in certain aspects is an inescapably bonded connection.
If the Vertex is a “second ascendant,” then the Anti-Vertex at 180 degrees is the “second descendant,” a very sensitive point in the chart that is a strong, fated, love connection (or can be), though I’m not sure if it’s always a romantic love. To me, the Anti-Vertex is expressed as a deep, deep bond that is unusual in intensity. So, if I draw the Anti-Vertex on this chart, then suddenly we see that Galactic Center conjunct Anti-Vertex.
Yes, this was a deeply bonded relationship. That’s about all I can say for it any more. The synastry was never as profound between us as I would have thought, given the depth of the emotions, but the end result was always right there in his natal chart and in the multiple synastry charts I ran early in the relationship…and ignored.
What about other intensely bonded relationships? My older daughter and I are especially close, so I ran our chart and found out that we have our Galactic Center conjunct Moon in about 1 degree. Interesting.
And my father, whose legacy of abuse I’d been dealing with for the previous few months? Galactic Center conjunct Saturn in approximately 2 degrees. (Ascendant unknown)
I ran charts for various short-term flings and found little to nothing in the way of Galactic Center aspects. No conjunctions—even in wide orb—nor oppositions or squares. I didn’t check fixed stars or all asteroids known to man, but nothing really stood out as significant…like, unfortunately, these men in the long run. Some physical attraction, but nothing really enduring. Again, like the relationships.
At this point, I decided to see what sorts of conjunctions I might find if I went through every name in my personal astrology database, which includes names and birth info of past romantic partners, family, members of my spiritual circle, some coworkers, and lots and lots of friends. What I found next was downright eerie.
The Galactic Center Conjunct the Sun
My database is a very old one, so it should be no surprise that the first name on the list after mine was a former romantic partner with whom I had a turbulent long-term relationship. The turbulence stemmed from several things, astrologically. First, we had Pluto opposite Sun in synastry so we have constant power struggles. Second, he had that annoying Venus conjunct Pluto aspect in his natal chart, which tends toward narcissistic behaviors. Last, he had Mars and Mercury both in Scorpio, which tends toward verbal sharpness in arguments and lots of abused feelings. With his Virgo Ascendant and Libra Sun, he had the analytical traits that I find so massively appealing in a man and yet we had almost nothing in common outside our intellect. Our relationship definitely shaped my life, and in spite of the fact that I want nothing to do with him now, the time that we were together made me quite a good businesswoman and manager because together our relationship took on the practical, business partnership personality if not a passionate pair with a fierce and transcendent love…the latter being what I always craved.
When I ran our chart to see where the Galactic Center was, to my surprise, it was exactly conjunct our Composite Sun, in wider conjunction with Mercury and Mars–and our Descendant. Hmmm. Yes, you know we did get a lot accomplished while we were together. How much more we could have accomplished if we’d had more common purposes and had both supported the other’s dreams. That’s not a question but a sadder statement of regret. Definitely a significant pairing if not often a happy one.
The second chart I ran was with another significant romantic relationship, also long-term, but except for the beginning and the very end, it was a long-distance relationship. I never knew his birth time, and therefore didn’t know his ascendant, but I know enough to cast a decent chart. Like the previous man, he was an analytical and intelligent Libra, with that same annoying Venus-Pluto Conjunction to the exact degree, but more polished and charismatic than the first. We might easily have married, and it was discussed and yearned for by both, but like many Libras, he felt compelled to be partnered up with someone, sometimes anyone. He was an alcoholic, a spendthrift, and a womanizer, and if I’d married him, I know he would have made me miserable in more ways than I can imagine. And yet….
There in our synastry chart was the Galactic Center, conjunct our Composite Sun within 2 degrees, in wider conjunction with Mercury and Mars.
Hmmm. Okay. Getting scary now. They weren’t born the same day, yet the two of them were alike in many ways beyond the obvious.
A bit unsettled, I continued through my database, finding few if any connections, until I hit two close friends, both male, both Libras, again. Both with our Composite Sun conjunct the Galactic Center. In both cases, I felt a strong and easy bond upon first sight, and was familiar with both either online or via friends before we met in the flesh and knew even then that we would be in teaching and learning mode together.
In synastry with Friend #1, who is a couple of decades younger than I am, our Composite Sun is conjunct the Galactic Center a little more than 1 degree and Saturn is conjunct it within around 1 degree. We have some interesting vertex synastry as well on our ascendant line, but don’t tell his wife! We are good friends with a close spiritual connection, and 90% of our conversations are esoteric in nature, whereas with the two previous men, the only esoteric discussions resulted in put-downs for not living in the world of “science.” Both of the first two would have laughed at knowing I ever ran an astrology chart on them, and would have pitied me for my “ignorance.” Friend #1 and I have a unique and caring relationship, and talk often, but probably not a lot in common beyond the esoteric. The Sun-Saturn connection in these relationships tends to tamp them down and structure them tightly. He was a member of my closest circle locally and in my house regularly until he moved a day’s drive away, so our joint efforts are on hold.
Regarding synastry with Friend #2, who is nearly a decade my junior, I was a bit nervous to see he has the same Libra/Virgo combination as the first man in the Galactic Center conjunct Sun quartet in my life. However, he has none of the natal chart concerns and, other than his analytical and intellectual prowess, he seems to have little if anything in common with the first two men. We share a deep and unusual bond, highly spiritual in nature, and –likely the result of Mercury conjunct Ascendant–we could talk about life and spiritual pursuits 19 hours at a time (or at least, it seems that way). This is another relationship that seems highly collaborative, in both business and spiritual aspects. There is actually a good bit of shyness between us, in spite of our ease in talking, that I’ll attribute to our Composite Mercury behind the scenes in the 12th house. He doesn’t live close enough to be part of my closest circle locally, but we are able to collaborate and support each other’s business and spiritual goals. Our Galactic Center is conjunct our Composite Sun to the exact degree, and conjunct Anti-vertex within 3 degrees.
The relationships with the latter two friends seem to have much more reciprocity than the two long-term romantic relationships, but I believe that to be a result of their Pluto placements and our Pluto synastry rather than anything to do with the Galactic Center-Sun conjunction. All four seem absolutely fated, past life oriented, and able to affect great change and results for all involved, if all desire to harness the power of the Galactic Center. I would best describe these as “exponent” relationships, where working together with purpose can make us not twice as powerful, but exponentially powerful in meeting the results we seek.
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