Within the depth-psychology corpus anchored by Liz Greene and her associates at the Centre for Psychological Astrology, synastry occupies a pivotal position as the practical arena in which intrapsychic dynamics become visible through interpersonal encounter. Greene’s treatment in Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil remains the foundational text: her entire chapter titled ‘In Synastry’ systematically examines how cross-chart contacts between Saturn and every other significant planet function as externalised projections, shadow encounters, and compensatory mechanisms drawn from analytical psychology. The underlying thesis is unequivocal — what passes for romantic attraction is frequently the unconscious recognition of one’s own rejected or undeveloped functions in another person. Saturn’s contacts with the Sun, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are read not as fated bondage but as developmental pressures: friction that compels the growth neither partner could achieve in isolation. Greene draws extensively on Jungian concepts — shadow, anima/animus, projection, the law of compensation — to reframe traditional malefic interpretations as opportunities for integration. Howard Sasportas references synastry in bibliographic contexts, confirming its status as a recognised sub-discipline within the astrological canon. The passages from Benveniste and Beekes, retrieved by lexical proximity, carry no relevance to depth-psychological synastry and are properly excluded from this entry.
This same association also holds true in synastry where the power of the archetype, stripped of any personal feeling, is perceived by another person through the medium of a very vulnerable Saturn.
Greene argues that in synastry the Saturn–Pluto archetypal complex operates impersonally, making the Saturn person acutely vulnerable to the transformative force carried by the other’s Pluto placement.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976thesis
These cross-aspects hinder or stabilise the urges of each person and as such are extremely common in close relationships because for the majority of people relationships are fields for the development of the personality.
Greene establishes the core depth-psychological rationale for synastric analysis: cross-chart aspects function as developmental catalysts, making intimate relationships the primary theatre of individuation.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976thesis
The underlying impetus in the majority of relationships lies not with the apparent conscious choice of partners, which is neither conscious nor a choice, but with the more ambiguous purposes of the unconscious.
Greene grounds synastry in a Jungian epistemology of unconscious motivation, arguing that partner selection is driven by projection rather than conscious preference.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976thesis
Those men and women who have the least developed defenses and the greatest inner imbalance tend to attract the greatest frequency of relationships where there are difficult Saturnian contacts.
Greene invokes the law of compensation to explain why difficult Saturn synastric contacts cluster around psychologically undeveloped individuals seeking through the other what they cannot build within themselves.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976thesis
When Saturn in his role of shadow on one person’s chart is contacted by the outer planets on another’s horoscope, he swings about to confront what he feels to be an abyss opening behind him.
Greene characterises the Saturn–outer planet synastric contact as a shadow encounter: Saturn’s defensive structures are destabilised by the numinous quality of the transpersonal planets carried by the partner.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976thesis
There is frequently a tie of financial obligation involved with Venus-Saturn contacts which binds two people long after the affection has ceased to exist.
Greene demonstrates that Venus–Saturn synastric contacts create material and emotional entanglements that persist structurally beyond the dissolution of feeling, illustrating Saturn’s power to concretise and bind.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976supporting
What he sees as coldness, criticism, and rejection in the other person is merely the outward display of the same kind of terror of being hurt or proven inadequate that he himself is feeling.
Greene reads Saturn–Saturn synastric contacts as mutual projection of shared inadequacy, producing a vicious cycle of defensive withdrawal that nonetheless exerts productive developmental pressure.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976supporting
The shadow as well as being the dark or destructive side of the personality is also the helpful hidden brother and cannot be ignored or abandoned because these two brothers together make one life.
Greene uses the alchemical Sun–Saturn polarity to explain the mutual dependency characteristic of Sun–Saturn synastric ties, reframing the malefic dynamic as a necessary complementarity.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976supporting
The moment a projection becomes conscious, it ceases to be a projection; and the individual who becomes aware that the threat lies not in the other person but in his own shadow is free of the unusual compelling quality of this contact.
Greene identifies consciousness of projection as the transformative lever in Mars–Saturn synastric entanglements, linking synastric work directly to the individuation process.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976supporting
The feelings of inadequacy, guilt, and confusion which colour the unconscious attitudes of many people toward their own sexuality can be brought to light and dissipated through the positive and honest energy of Mars.
Greene argues that Mars–Saturn synastric contacts, even in non-sexual relationships, carry unconscious sexual undercurrents whose recognition can serve the positive integration of both planets.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976supporting
The inner effects, however, are more important, and these deal with a restructuring process in Saturn’s defenses and unconscious narrowness so that the man whose Saturn is contacted can build his inner structure on a firmer base.
In Saturn–Uranus synastric contacts, Greene prioritises intrapsychic restructuring over mundane manifestation, positioning the relationship as an instrument of inner architectural reform.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976supporting
Neptune can inflict very deep hurt on a person who has not come to terms with his Saturn for the man will then be extremely vulnerable on his dark side.
Greene warns that Saturn–Neptune synastric contacts exploit the unintegrated shadow of the Saturn person, making psychological preparedness a precondition for constructive engagement with the contact.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976supporting
Although Saturn-Pluto contacts are not personal, they often accompany intense emotional effects such as rage, impotence, jealousy, and frustration.
Greene notes that Saturn–Pluto synastric contacts channel collective rather than personal energies through the individual, generating disproportionate emotional intensity that demands conscious understanding.
, Saturn: A New Look at an Old Devil, 1976supporting
SYNASTRY Penny Thornton
Sasportas’s bibliography lists Penny Thornton’s Synastry as a companion volume in the Aquarian Astrology Handbook series, confirming synastry’s established status as a discrete field within the astrological literature of the period.
, The Twelve Houses: An Introduction to the Houses in Astrological Interpretation, 1985aside