Soulmates, you say?

Over time I've been hearing of the term "soulmates" and its association with romantic relationships. The dictionary defines a soulmate as being "a person ideally suited to another as a close friend or romantic partner" so we see it covering more than just romance. Friendship too involves feelings, especially love, but it's closer to the ideal concept of love than the more selfish, sexual attraction type of love people involved in a romantic relationship usually experience. Therefore, many modern astrologers' use of the term soulmates to define certain pairs of individuals based on whatever synastry and/or composite aspects they may share is shallow to say the least.

True, people can think about finding their soulmate when casting a Venus spell to bring their significant other. That doesn't mean, however, the person the spell would bring forth after successfully manifesting is actually their soulmate. Neither does it mean that any pretty astro aspects the two share make them soulmates. In the appropriate article in Asteria 2 I talk about compatability and although some astro aspects between people can be considered as alluding to the two meeting and sharing certain experiences as being fated, that too does not make them soulmates.

Just Iike spirit guides, soulmates is often used loosely to signify pretty much what the person using it wants it to signify. With spirit guides, lots of New Agers often apply it for anything in between a non-corporeal "ascended master from the Pleiades" and their pet cat. Soulmates can also cover a wide range, from the latest crush, to the boy/girl they used to be into back in grade school, to their current partner for a number of years whom they've become codependent.

From my studies and observations the term soulmates can apply to pretty much any two individuals regardless of age, gender, race, or sexuality (religion and so on). Being someone's soulmate and them, in turn, being yours does not automatically imply a romantic connection or even a friendly one for that matter. There can be cases where the two hate each other's guts on a mundane level, but since our mundane personality is only the outermost layer of the soul, being soulmates implies something deeper. Similarly, romantic and even physical attraction between the two can occur in some cases, but that doesn't mean they will begin a romantic relationship or have sex.

Someone's soulmate is a person who has shared very similar life lessons, highly probably through similar mundane circumstances. Their souls thus resonate with each other in terms of familiarity regarding their experiences in the flesh. While these experiences are likely to differ between the two, they enrich their souls in very similar ways.

A simplistic example would be a soldier who survived the war but lost his entire family due to enemy bombings of his home town, on one end. At the other end there's a little girl with no siblings whose mother died giving birth to her. She had been raised solely by her father who ended up being drafted in the army to fight in the war against the soldier's country, only to die at the front leaving his daughter orphaned. Years after the war the two meet by apparent coincidence in an apparent usual setting. Maybe the veteran has traveled to the girl's country to pay his respects to fallen comrades who's bones now rest in a military cemetery in that country. Or maybe the girl, now a young woman, travels to the veteran's country as part of her journalistic duties.

Regardless of how things occur, the two meet. Maybe the visiting veteran is being served by the woman at a local caffè or she encounters him working at some civil archive building. It doesn't matter. What matters is that there's a high probability the two will feel strange sensations when encountering one another. If they meet again afterwards, the sensations can increase and become more diverse. It's as if something inside of them is compelling them to seek and interact with the other as much as possible.

Naturally, the two may not comprehend this deep feeling towards the other. They may end up ignoring it, suppressing it, or simply getting pissed by it. And yet, it will still make itself present more or less. The best way to handle this would be, in my opinion, for the two to get to know one another better. Sure, any resentments they may have towards each other due to their past experiences can cause sparks and even cause a permanent falling out. But with patience and care the two can help each other heal their respective wounds.

Say the soldier came back not only to find everyone he loved gone, but that trauma coupled with everything he's experienced at the front has turned him stone cold to the point he found it seemingly impossible to relate to another person. He thus remained single an sought a secluded existence. The girl found herself living in a dilapidated orphanage during wartime and besides the miserable conditions and food shortages, she also suffered abuse from the staff and maybe other children as well. She too has lost all warmth and cannot even enjoy the simple beauty of sunny spring day. You can imagine why they may resent each other, even if their individual experiences and resulted traumas weren't due to the other's faults. The war between their two countries and thee people who started it carry the blame.

By getting to know each other better they would begin to trust one another more. This process can be lengthy an difficult, but for the sake of it let's say they eventually pull it through. Then, by talking to each other about their experiences and traumas they will gradually begin to unload the burdens they've been carrying for years. This happens because of their souls resonating to such a degree it facilities the healing process and in the end, finding solace.

I forgot to mention the two are likely to sense each other on deeper level, not only the intentions behind their words an actions, but also their moods and feelings. They can also sence each other's thoughts and at least have a glimpse of their memories. All of this occurs to a degree, of course, but it's being facilitated by their soul bond.

In the end, the two may very well fall in love with each other and get married or something yet that's not mandatory. A strong father-daughter relationship is also possible to develop. Moreover, a solid lifelong friendship can emerge from their meeting. Whichever the case in this best case scenario, each of them will have found healing to their suffering am made peace with themselves, others, divinity and anyone and anything they may have blamed and cursed for their misery. Once that is achieved, they will find great stability in and help from the other in rebuilding their life and working on making it as happy as possible.

Unfortunately, people do not usually recognize these kinds of human interactions and instead confuse them with something else. As such, they will shun the other. In those cases, while they too can overcome their suffering on their own or with the help of others (who are not their soulmates), they will miss a unique opportunity to help another very similar to them and, in turn, receive help by the person who's most qualified for that role.

Some might feel romantically and/or physically attracted to the other person 

 and start hitting on them (sometimes aggressively). While there may be cases where the other person will reciprocate, sometimes after a while, it's probable they will not. This will likely create complications that will deviate the two from the path of mutual help and lead them towards tensed interactions. Sometimes one person will recognize the type of relation while the other will not. This too can lead to complications since the latter will misinterpret the former's ways of dealing with them and can this lead to complications as well. 

I don't think I need to go any further with this reasoning. I hope people will at least acknowledge it even if they don't agree with it. I also want any potential client who seeks me out for improving their love life to understand my view of soulmates in case they ask me to help them find theirs.

If I were to discuss any astrological implications of soulmates, I would look to each of the individuals' lunar nodes by houses. If their natal nodes are in the same houses, I would look for any similarities regarding natal hard aspects to their lunar nodes axis.