Why zodiac compatibility isn’t the sole yardstick to find an ideal partner

If the astrological math is so watertight, why do people who are seemingly perfect for each other on paper, fall apart, while the opposite also stands true?

Latika and Aman (names changed on request) were childhood sweethearts. It was a given—they were meant to be together. Their families had joined forces in business in the mid-90s, and their parents, much like them, were best friends. It was like an episode straight out of Amazon Prime Video’s series Made in Heaven, where couples married on earth were said to be matched in heaven—it’s all written in the stars, they said, until Latika’s now former husband was found cheating on her at a work party. “Our parents had matched our birth charts and kundlis. Thirty-three out of 36 of our aspects matched. Our parents’ astrologers were convinced we were an exceptional couple, and nothing could stop us from living a blissful, conjugal life,” the 36-year-old researcher says, three years since her divorce, and seven years since her marriage.

For Latika, hailing from and being married into an upper class, upper caste Hindu family largely meant having to depend on astrologers to validate every small decision their families made as a collective, especially since they ran a business together. Her  parents still don’t know what went wrong; the stars surely weren’t lying. “It must have been some dosha [or a cosmic imbalance in one’s birth chart, according to Vedic astrology] that they didn’t really account for,” sighs Latika, prompting that she has given up on wanting to argue with empirical evidence with her kin.

However, Latika is far from alone in her predicament. As evinced in the three-seasons old Netflix reality show Indian Matchmaking that debuted in 2020, the business of marriage in the subcontinent, to this day, is heavily founded on the principles of astrology. The protagonist of the show—the contentious figure of the Mumbai-based matchmaker Sima Taparia—does not shy away from approaching astrologers, palm readers, even face-readers to find suitors for her clients who often live across continents.

Latika was born and raised in Delhi, and currently lives in Oslo, Norway, for work. Upon watching the show, her mother asked her to “consider contacting Sima aunty.” “I mean, can you believe it? She just won’t give up! She hates the fact that I am on dating apps because she believes they aren’t a serious way of approaching relationships. So what is? Matching people on the basis of random calculations made by some stranger who has no clue who you are? There were red flags with my ex all along, but my parents never cared because they felt everything would be okay if our aspects matched,” she shares.

How is zodiac compatibility calculated

The practice of mapping two charts and assessing how the individuals might work together—regardless of what equation they wish to forge—is known as synastry. According to Kochi-based astrology student Ishita Ray, “You match the various parameters—like that of health, faith, etc.—where each parameter is assigned points, and based on those points, the compatibility of each person’s constellation signs are matched to their partner’s. This is among the more common methods used in Vedic astrology, but there are others as well, like aspects,” says Ray. According to her, when looking for romantic partners, the norm is to measure planetary aspects, or the exchange of energies between the planets in the horoscopes of the two individuals in question.

However, if the math is so watertight, why do people who are seemingly perfect for each other on paper, fall apart, while the opposite also stands true? “That’s because people seem to think of zodiacs as the bible for compatibility. It’s merely an extrapolation of your habits and personalities,” explains Ray, cautioning against taking the traits of just a person’s sun sign as the be-all and end-all of their personalities. “For some people, it’s too limited to the permutations and combinations Linda Goodman talks about,” she says.

Zodiacs in relationships

Speaking of Linda Goodman, one of her most iconic books, which is arguably a canonical work on western astrology, Sun Signs (1968), delineated how each of the 12 zodiac signs behaves in the most commonly-performed social roles—of a parent, child, lover, friend, employee, and employer. Therefore, it’s no surprise that even if society lays a disproportionately higher emphasis on romantic and conjugal ties, other relationships are just as pivotal.

For 32-year-old Swarna Datta, an instructional designer based in Kolkata, while astrological compatibility isn’t the driving force behind looking for romantic partners, they do help her navigate the terrain of relationships in general. “If you are on a dating app, or a matrimonial app, the user interface is fairly identical, and you have access to all the information of the person you are interested in—which includes their birthdays—and immediately lets you know what their zodiac sign is,” says Datta, adding that from her past experiences and interactions, she chooses to engage or not engage with someone based on the element their sun sign belongs to.

In both western and sidereal astrology, the signs are grouped into four categories, using the concept of classical elements from antiquity—fire, earth, air, and water. According to Brooklyn-based Chinese astrologer Alice Sparkly Kat, author of Postcolonial Astrology, one could imagine these zodiac elements as “communities,” where you might consider it similar to “getting along better with some of your neighbours,” while not so much with the others. For Datta, a water sign (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces), air signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) have conventionally not boded well. This has not only guided her choices in matters of romance, but familial and friendly relations as well. “While people belonging to the same element are thought to get along best with each other, sometimes, I feel, as a water sign, being with another water sign in a moment of crisis seems like we are drowning each other in the other’s sorrow, because we tend to process grief or any strong emotion in a similar manner,” she says. Therefore, while emotional wavelengths find uncanny matches with a fellow water sign for Datta—sometimes a little too closely for her comfort—she often actively seeks out partners who can ground her sensitive facets in moments of vulnerability, which she believes earth signs (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn) do.

“From my experience, these rational, practical, and objective individuals are not comfortable being uncomfortable. There is a balance that earth and water signs can build, which can be helpful in creating a long-term relationship,” shares Datta, adding that she also considers her interactions with zodiac signs of individuals placed in other important relationships in her life while measuring compatibility. 

The pitfalls of astrological matchmaking

However, Datta draws the line when astrology turns intrusive, probing into aspects that cannot possibly be accurately apprehended by one’s charts, for instance, one’s health condition or a woman’s will or ability to conceive a child. “I am trying to understand the other person’s mind and heart better through astrology. It does not mean I completely stop using my brain or rationale to understand someone as a person. In the matrimonial business, astrology does become very invasive this way,” she says.

Now, with heightened interest in this discipline, money is being pumped into astrology apps like never before. According to India-based research firm Allied Market Research’s study titled Astrology Market by Type (Love Astrology, Vedic Astrology, Natal Astrology, Medical Astrology, Horary Astrology, Electional Astrology, Uranian Astrology), by Mode (Online, Offline), by End User Generation (Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, Boomers): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2031, published in January 2023, the global astrology industry was valued at US$12.8 billion in 2021, and is projected to reach US$22.8 billion by 2031, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 5.7 per cent from 2022 to 2031.

For Pune-based astrologer Rajesh M., this is an important piece of information, which points to a slippery slope astrology has occupied since the beginning of time. “There’s so much room for ambiguity in this field that it just becomes the easiest thing to mine and fool people. Marry that with big money and technology, and boom! You have the perfect recipe for a scam,” he says. His tip? “Beware of palm readers, fortune tellers, and apps that claim to give you exact details of how life will play out. They are like the three witches of Macbeth, driving you towards self-fulfilling prophecies that are not just intrusive, but also offensive to human intellect,” says Rajesh, underlining Datta’s trepidations, and advising against throwing one’s caution to the astrological wind.

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