There is a further kind of report that's been in the back of my mind. It may be too inadequately formed in my mind at present. I've been meaning to write about this perspective in the Synastry section of the forum, and haven't gotten there yet. It might resemble the Planetary State / Cosmic State / Whatever State report that is coming on the natal chart in the next version.
Here's the idea... and, in my mind, it's the most important insight I've had into synastry in the last 30 years or, maybe, ever.
It's a method of more uniquely identifying what an interchange means in the context of a specific person's natal chart - things we miss or don't think of when applying interchange interpretations more generically. It relies on principles with which everyone probably agrees, builds on what we already understand of aspects, and shows us - at a glance, intuitively! - where the specific interchange falls in terms of impact in a specific person's life and psyche.
Consider the following: When we meet and begin to interact with a person, we arrive having already our natal horoscope and its aspects. If one of your planets aspects one of my planets that has few (or wide) aspects already, then your planet will have a much more powerful aspectual impact than anything in my chart has on my planet. For example, my Sun is essentially unaspected: If someone's planet aspects my Sun, they have a stronger impact on it than does anything in my chart except its Virgo sign placement.
Similarly - same principle - any planet you have aspecting my planet comes into a psyche / person / chart system that already has various configurations on my planet. The
mix of aspects is much more complicated than simply our planetary interchange. If you bring Jupiter to my Venus and I already had Venus conjunct Saturn, I'm going to react differently than someone would who, say, had a Venus-Moon aspect instead. AND IT'S ALL GOING TO BE VISIBLE IN MY CHART.
In some ways, this "how do you take into consideration each person's natal chart when judging synastry," or "how do you really consider what they are bringing to the relationship," is the long-sought
Golden Fleece of synastry. Everyone says you should do it - and nobody has proposed a way of doing it (other than the Tropical-heavy idea of house rulerships in which your Uranus on my Sun means it affects my Sun-ruled 12th house and your Uranus-ruled 11th house - which is rubbish). Repeat: I don't know of anyone
ever providing an actual
method of discerning what each person brings to the mix of their energies other than the global overview of: read the entire chart and get an idea what kind of person this is and what they want in a relationship. (And this approach, as theoretically sound as it is, remains, at best, unsatisfying in real-world practice.)
But there's an easy way to do - an absurdly easy way!
Simply collate the synastric interchange into the "planetary state" table we are already building: The astrologer will intuitively, quickly, and accurately know what to do with it!
Consider: Marion's Venus opposes my Mercury 2°08' and her Mercury opposes my Venus 3°22'. At first look, the aspects are straightforward and accurate: Smooth, flowing, fluid communication has come easy to us since we first met. When we were building our relationship, we'd spend hours (often until dawn) talking together non-stop.
But it's more complicated than that. Even ignoring for a moment that her Mercury and Venus each have their own strong aspects, these planets are aspecting my own Venus and Mercury with
their own aspects. For example, my Mercury has one natal aspect, a 2°24' conjunction with Saturn. The more deeply I settled into connection with Marion, the more my Mercury was also in 3°22' opposition to Venus (in this case,
her Venus). This means that my Mercury changed from being aspected only by Saturn to being aspected by Saturn and (almost as closely) Venus.
Just how much weight do I give to this? This is always an important question, right? The answer is that, if I collate the interchange into my list of things affecting my Mercury, it will become quickly obvious to me - I don't need rules - it will simply appear evident to me. I will be able to see, usually at a glance, how strongly that one aspect affects my Mercury, and almost as quickly see how important it seems in my overall psyche.
It's a strong measurement of exactly how I "become a different person" while in relationship with her.
Here is a concrete example. First, I will create a "state" report similar to what I think Mike is designing. This is just my natal chart:
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Mo Aqu FG | sx Ma 1°31' tr Ve 4°29' tr Ur 5°56' tr Ju 6°13'
Su Vir | sq Ma 6°28' co Ne 8°53'
Me Lib | co Sa 2°24'
Ve Sco- | co Pl 0°13' tr Ur 1°27' tr Ju 1°44' sx Ma 2°57' tr Mo 4°29'
Ma Sag | sq Ne 0°07' sx Mo 1°31' sx Ve 2°57' op Ur 4°45' op Ju 4°41' sq Su 6°28'
Ju Can+ | co Ur 0°17' tr Ve 1°44' sq Ne 2°16' op Ma 4°41' tr Mo 6°13'
Sa Lib+ | co Me 2°24'
Ur Can | co Ju 0°17' tr Ve 1°27' sq Ne 2°00' op Ma 4°45' tr Mo 5°56'
Ne Lib | sq Ma 0°07' sx Pl 0°46' sq Ur 2°00' sq Ju 2°16' sq Ma 0°07' co Su 8°53'
Pl Leo | co Ve 0°13' sx Ne 0°46'
From this you can learn more or less everything astrology can tell you about me in general. Now, I'm going to modify it
only by adding the aspects (the ones I consider valid in synastry) that Marion's planets make to my chart. This will tell you the "different person" I am to the extent I'm in relationship with her, and also show how her aspects to my chart fit into the mix and balance of how my chart is on its own.
I have not calculated mundane aspects (of her planet to mine in the framework of my chart), but perhaps I should. In a case where I have planet A aspect planet B, and she also has B aspect my A, I have gone with the smaller orb (e.g., my 0°46' Neptune-Pluto sextile wins over her 1°00' semi-square of Pluto to my Neptune).
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Mo Aqu FG | sx Ma 1°31' tr Ve 4°29' tr Ur 5°56' tr Ju 6°13'
Su Vir | oc Ur 0°21' op Ju 4°30' sq Ma 6°28' co Ne 8°53'
Me Lib | co Ne 2°04' op Ve 2°07' co Sa 2°24'
Ve Sco- | co Pl 0°13' oc Ju 1°05' tr Ur 1°27' sq Ma 1°58' sq Sa 3°00' co Me 4°22' tr Mo 4°29'
Ma Sag | oc Su 0°06' sq Ne 0°07' oc Pl 1°25' sx Mo 1°31' sx Ve 2°57' op Ur 4°45' op Ju 4°41'
Ju Can+ | co Ur 0°17' tr Ve 1°44' sq Ne 2°16' op Ma 4°41' tr Mo 6°13'
Sa Lib+ | co Me 2°24' co Ne 4°29' op Ve 4°31'
Ur Can | co Ju 0°17' tr Ve 1°27' sq Ne 2°00' op Ma 4°45' tr Mo 5°56'
Ne Lib | sq Ma 0°07' oc Mo 0°21' sx Pl 0°46' sq Ur 2°00' sq Ju 2°16' sq Ma 0°07' co Su 8°53'
Pl Leo | co Ve 0°13' sx Ne 0°46' co Ma 1°45' oc Ju 0°52' sq Sa 3°14' sq Me 4°35' co Ur 5°01'
What kind of difference does this make? For one
huge difference, look at my Sun in the two charts and think how you would interpret the natal Sun of those "two different people." Or for a quite different look, see Mercury in both lists. Or notice how her Saturn square my Venus, though a reasonably close orb, is only the fifth-strongest aspect to my Venus and takes a present but proportionately minor role, while her wider Jupiter opposition to my Sun (because of where it falls in the mix) is dramatically more important. Or how her Jupiter to my Venus makes my natal Venus-Jupiter stronger (closer orb) and, by nature of the aspect, more dynamic. There is much to see!
In contrast, here is my "state" report with Mike's aspects to my planets added in. Look at how it shifts attention on my Moon. Notice that his Mars to my Neptune doesn't even appear - seems to have no effect - because my own Mars-Neptune is already much stronger. Similarly, his Mars to my Moon pales before my closer natal Moon-Mars, but his Moon to my Jupiter-Uranus is much stronger than my natal Moon-Jupiter and Moon-Uranus. There's more to see"
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Mo Aqu FG | sx Ma 1°31' op Ju 3°22' tr Ve 4°29' tr Ur 5°56'
Su Vir | sq Ma 6°28' co Ne 8°53'
Me Lib | oc Ju 1°30' co Sa 2°24'
Ve Sco- | co Pl 0°13' oc Su 0°39' tr Ur 1°27' tr Ju 1°44' sx Ma 2°57' tr Mo 4°29'
Ma Sag | sq Ne 0°07' sq Me 0°46' sx Mo 1°31' sx Ve 2°57' op Ur 4°45' op Ju 4°41' sq Su 6°28'
Ju Can+ | co Ur 0°17' sq Mo 1°19' oc Sa 1°29' tr Ve 1°44' sq Ne 2°16' sq Me 3°56' op Ma 4°41'
Sa Lib+ | oc Ju 0°54' co Me 2°24'
Ur Can | co Ju 0°17' sq Mo 1°02' tr Ve 1°27' oc Sa 1°46' sq Ne 2°00' sq Me 3°39' op Ma 4°45'
Ne Lib | sq Ma 0°07' sx Pl 0°46' op Mo 0°58' sq Me 1°39' sq Ur 2°00' sq Ju 2°16' sq Ma 0°07' co Su 8°53'
Pl Leo | co Ve 0°13' oc Su 0°26' sx Ne 0°46'
It seems to me that this is a worthwhile approach and, as being utterly suitable for computer calculation, perhaps should somehow be worked into the report structure.