The COVID-19 pandemic put a lot of our lives on hold. Some had to push back starting families, some had to postpone weddings, and some had to stay living in their childhood bedrooms for a lot longer than they planned to. I fall into that last category. But now, I’m finally at a place in my life where I can move out of my parents’ suburban New Jersey home and into a New York City apartment with my childhood friend — a plan we had solidified pre-pandemic, before shit hit the fan.
Although we’ve been friends since elementary school, I still have that creeping thought in the back of my head: What if living together ruins our friendship forever? I realised that I may be overreacting, so I decided to put our relationship to the test by using the one thing I trust the most: astrology. That’s right, I decided to take a deep dive into our zodiac signs.
I enlisted the help of Lisa Stardust, an astrologer based in New York City who has read my birth chart before (which was incredible — you can check it out here). She got on a Zoom call with my roomie-to-be and me to determine whether we’d be compatible roommates based on synastry, transits, and compatibility midpoints (a technique used in Uranian astrology).
For any astrology nerds out there: I’m an Aries sun, a Sagittarius moon, and an Aquarius rising, while my friend Victoria is a Sagittarius sun, a Leo moon, and a Cancer rising. So far, things were looking good for us. “Lizzy’s moon in Sagittarius aligns with Victoria’s Mercury in Sagittarius,” Stardust told us. The moon governs emotions, while Mercury rules communication style. “This means that you both have a lot to talk about, and you both can emotionally understand each other as roommates,” Stardust interpreted for us. That’s definitely a positive sign. Plus, because this alignment is in the sign of the archer, we both have similar appetites for adventure. Stardust says we both have a lot of fun seeking out new experiences together, and we’ll never run out of things to talk about.
The downside: Those with strong Sag placements are bound to say things that they later regret, Stardust warned. “Always find a common ground to talk about things when minor frustrations happen,” she advised. Noted.
Next, Stardust focused in on our third houses. There are 12 houses in a natal chart, and each one rules a specific area of our lives. The third is often called the House of Communication and can point to interpersonal relationships, including sibling bonds. Because we’ll be sharing space, our roommate relationship will be similar to a sister one, Stardust said.
This gets a little complicated, so bear with me: In your birth chart, each of your 12 houses is ruled by a particular zodiac sign. Astrologers will look at that sign’s ruling planet to get more insight into specific houses. So my third house is ruled by Taurus, which in turn is ruled by Venus. On my birth chart, my Venus is in Gemini. So Stardust looked at what’s going on with Gemini right now, and saw that the North Node of Destiny (which is about your path in life) will be transiting the sign for the next year. Stardust told me that shows that fate was pushing me to move in with someone around this time. (This is why it’s so helpful to have an actual astrologer doing your readings.)
Victoria’s third house is ruled by Virgo, and Virgo is ruled by Mercury, and as we know, Victoria’s Mercury is in Sagittarius. Right now, Stardust explained, the South Node of Destiny is transiting Sagittarius (and will be for the next year), so there’s a connection there. “This means that there’s a karmic and fated energy towards you both becoming roommates this year,” she said.
But the reading wasn’t all sunshine and roses. Stardust told us that Victoria and I may have some frustrations coming up — in the way we decorate.
Stardust explained that our charts indicate we have very different styles, made apparent by my Gemini Venus opposing Victoria’s Sagittarius Sun. “Whenever we see Venus oppose someone’s Sun, it means that there’s a difference in the ways you creatively express yourself,” she explained. In roommate terms, that would apply to decor and style, she said. Stardust noted that I may be drawn to brighter colours, prints, and eclectic pieces while Victoria may be more into a structured, modern vibe, so an important thing for us to do moving forward is to compromise and style our apartment (at least the main areas) together.
Another tip: Stardust told us not to sign a lease together during Mercury retrograde, a transit that has a reputation for messing up contracts and other forms of communication.
In all, Stardust said that we were a compatible zodiac match. We’ll have tons to talk about, but we also both like to have separate spaces, regular schedules — and a good deal of fun, thanks to our fire-dominated personalities. The quick reading helped relax any fear I had about moving in with my friend.
If you’re interested in checking out your astrological compatibility to a potential roomie, Stardust suggests checking out each others moon signs. “Your moon is your emotional wellbeing and your home,” she says. “Your moon is where you feel the most comfortable, and it’s also the part of you that you can express. You don’t want to move in with someone who you don’t have a compatible moon energy with.” So a Leo moon (who tends to be very emotional, even a little dramatic) may clash with a Scorpio moon (who prefer to deal with emotions in private). A Sag moon (who likes to feel their emotions, then move on) may not be the best match for a Pisces moon (who likes to sit and dwell in their feelings and emotions).
But completely opposite moon signs doesn’t have to be a dealbreaker. “I’ve seen people with the ‘worst’ charts who’ve been married for like 50 years,” Stardust told me. “If you have transits that aren’t classically as good as other ones, it doesn’t mean that you’re going to have a bad time, it just means challenges will present themselves.” All relationships — roommate, professional, romantic — require some degree of work and communication, Stardust told me, and a compatibility reading like this can give you a heads up about what areas might require the most patience and effort.
At the end of the day, as long as you live with someone who respects your space, pays rent on time, and doesn’t eat those leftovers you were saving for dinner, you should be able to live together in peace.
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