Odd Couples: When Incompatible Signs Work Anyway

Early on in the course of most people becoming familiar with astrology, they usually come across the notion that any given sign is more compatible with some signs than with others. Fire matches with fire (or maybe air), Earth matches with earth (or maybe water), Water matches with water (or maybe earth) and Air matches with air (or maybe fire). At some point you can expect to come across gags about Water putting Fire out, or Air blowing Earth into dust, or whatever.

This is generally true, and yet observation tends to lead to the conclusion that human relationships aren't really that straightforward. First of all, astrology itself isn’t that straightforward. A couple with numerous harmonious aspects to each other’s Moons, for example, can often overcome difficulties around their Sun placements. Not only is it painfully simplistic to reduce any human to a mere Sun Sign, doing so ignores the fact that some combinations that (theoretically) "shouldn't work" do often work quite well. And quite often it seems to boil down to the less-than-obvious things about each of the signs in question that they, nonetheless, have in common.

Here are three examples of “incompatible signs” that nonetheless defy the textbooks:

ARIES AND VIRGO:

You've got to admit that this combination sounds like nothing but trouble. The headstrong Ram has little to no patience for things like accounting and fine details, and these are the things Virgo seems to thrive on. But astrologers often see this Sun Sign combination work out anyway. The secret here may be that both signs are far more sensitive than they normally let on. One (Aries) tends to mask their sensitivity with bluster, and the other (Virgo) with quiet withdrawal. However, once these two catch on to each other's Big Secret... it can be pure magic.

CANCER AND LEO:

One sounds like its happiest hiding in the ocean, and the other is the loud and proud King Of The Jungle. Try for a moment to picture a wildlife preserve that caters to both Crabs and Lions together in the same enclosure. Not easy, is it? The key to this one is in the imagery of their ruling planets: The Moon and The Sun... a natural duality if there ever was one. There is a natural polarity involved: the masculine and the feminine (regardless of the actual genders of the individuals involved). Besides, once you've won the heart of a Crab, they cling to you. And Leos like little things clinging on to them. Just ask one of their pets.

SAGITTARIUS AND PISCES:

Horses and fishes? Forget it ... or so you might think. What a lot of fans of Western Astrology have forgotten (or never heard in the first place) is that both signs are (or were, before Neptune stumbled its way into the party) traditionally ruled by Jupiter. Jupiter is the natural ruler of philosophy, long-terms goals... and marriage. Put a Sag and a Pisces together in a relationship with a common philosophical basis and there's no holding them back.

So, there you have it. From now on: no more blaming your bad relationship(s) on incompatible Sun Signs. After all, you and your partner are only human.