SKYMATES: The Composite Chart, Vol. II 
by Jodie Forrest and Steven Forrest
The website of Jodie Forrest and Steven Forrest: Alpha Lyra Consulting & Seven Paws Press
SKYMATES: The Composite Chart, Vol. II
The website of Jodie Forrest and Steven Forrest: Alpha Lyra Consulting & Seven Paws Press
What's a composite chart? It's a chart of the relationship itself, derived from the charts of the couple. It shows what the relationship needs in order to grow, learn and thrive, just as an individual person's chart shows what that person needs.Our own Seven Paws Press is publishing volume II of the new, revised expanded edition of this synastry classic, with lots of evolutionary and "cookbook" material. "Cookbook" material means you can look up the meaning of your composite Venus in Pisces or composite Mars in the 10th house, etc. Skymates II is devoted entirely to the composite chart; there's so much information it deserved its own book! Scroll down for the Table of Contents, the Preface to the New Edition, reviews and ordering information. Click here to see Skymates, Volume One.
Click here for Skymates II review from Considerations, Volume XX Number 3, August-October 2005.
TABLE OF CONTENTS: SKYMATES, VOLUME TWO: THE COMPOSITE CHART
By Steven Forrest and Jodie Forrest
Acknowledgments
Foreword (scroll down to read)
Table of Contents
IntroductionPart One: The Composite Chart
Chapter One: Nuts and Bolts
Chapter Two: A Few Examples
Chapter Three: The Eternal TrianglePart Two: The Souls’ History Together
Chapter Four: The Lunar NodesPart Three: The Composite Cookbook
Chapter Five: The Composite Sun
Chapter Six: The Composite Moon
Chapter Seven: The Composite Ascendant
Chapter Eight: The Composite Mercury
Chapter Nine: The Composite Venus
Chapter Ten: The Composite Mars
Chapter Eleven: The Composite Jupiter
Chapter Twelve: The Composite Saturn
Chapter Thirteen: The Composite Uranus
Chapter Fourteen: The Composite Neptune
Chapter Fifteen: The Composite Pluto
Chapter Sixteen: The Composite NodesPart Four: The Composite Chart in Action
Chapter Seventeen: The FitzgeraldsConclusion
Appendix
FOREWARD:
SKYMATES: The Composite Chart, Volume Two(Copyright Jodie and Steven Forrest, 2004, all rights reserved. You may quote brief passages in reviews,
if we are properly credited--thanks! send us email)FOREWORD
Perilously close to the beginning of our marriage, we tempted the Fates by writing a book about the astrology of love, sex and intimacy. That was the first edition of Skymates, which Bantam Books published in 1989. We were happy enough with that book, but years of working astrologically with our clients' relationships taught us that there was a lot more to know. A couple of decades of using astrology in our own intimate processes taught us even more. We really felt that we were ready to update Skymates, but we quickly realized that putting what we had learned into print was going to take us two volumes, not one.
In 2002, our own Seven Paws Press published Skymates, Volume One: Love, Sex, and Evolutionary Astrology. That book covered most of the elemental tools of synastry: deciphering the relationship message of the individual birthchart, working with interaspects and understanding house transpositions.
The present volume completes the picture with a consideration of the composite chart. As with Volume One, those of you who have the old Bantam edition of Skymates will occasionally encounter a familiar passage. Rest assured that the book you are holding in your hands is a substantially new piece of work. The material is deeper—and frankly, some of that depth comes from the freedom of not writing to fit the “dumbed-down” strictures of a mass market publisher. Furthermore, in response to popular demand, we've included a very extensive “cookbook” section. To get a head start in interpreting your own composite charts, you can simply look up the meaning of any planet in any sign or any house. They are all there, plus the Nodes of the Moon. Beware though: there are perils connected with piecemeal interpretation! We are proudest of the parts of the book that teach you how to think like an astrologer, pulling the messages of the individual configurations together into a single ironical, ambivalent, complicated whole—something that better resembles a modern relationship, in other words!
The whole is, famously, greater than the sum of the parts. Two birthcharts can tell us a lot about two people—how they see each other, how they interact. But always, when two souls dare to love each other, when they go through the doorway of romance and face the vexing, magnificent, wild country that lies beyond it, they create something new. Something bigger than themselves is born. And, together, they ride that beast through a landscape of darkness and heavenly light.Turn the page; meet the real beast with two backs.
Thanks for joining us for another journey. And thanks for helping us live that double Aquarian life prophesied in our own composite chart.
—Steven Forrest and Jodie Forrest
Chapel Hill, NC
May 27, 2004
ORDERING INFORMATION:
The new SKYMATES, vol II: The Composite Chart is available from us for $25.95 per copy, plus $6.00 for priority mail shipping (or $4.00 media mail for one book) if your order total is less than $50.00. The book is a trade paperback, ISBN 0964911388, 456 pages, 6 x 9". If you don't want to get it from us, please ask your local bookstore to order it! It's in Books in Print, so they can do so. Our wholesaler is Baker and Taylor, and our distributors are Bookpeople, New Leaf, Weiser/Red Wheel and, in Europe, Gazelle.
Click here to order Skymates, Volume Two from us.
Amazon.com also carries this book. Click here to order it from AmazonSOME QUOTES ABOUT THE FORRESTS' WORK:
"A book made for anyone who dreams of having a match made in the heavens! I can't recommend it enough." --Trudie Styler, actress, producer, U.N. ambassador for Unicef.
"This book is a must-have for anyone doing the spiritual work of relationships." --Tracy Gaudet MD, Director, Duke Center for Integrative Medicine.
“As intelligent and cogent as it is poetic.”—Sting
REVIEWS OF THE ORIGINAL SKYMATES:
Advanced Astrology Book of the Year award, January 2002, from HOROSKOPET magazine (formerly GALAXEN magazine), astrology center, publisher and museum, Denmark.
"...down to earth, beautifully written, with enough anecdotes and samples to make reading a pleasure and understanding easy. It's great to know that some astrologers (too few) write erudite books without sounding stuffy, and impart good material without repeating themselves ten times."
-- Marion D. March, ASPECTS magazine"...when two writers who don't seem to know the meaning of "trite" take on love, the result can be quite interesting. Steven and Jodie Forrest have distinguished themselves -- together and separately -- as first-rate writers, and what they have to say would be interesting whether it was about astrology or not. When you combine those writing skills with an equally-fine knowledge of astrology, you have something that most people interested in astrology will want to read....a good read and good handbook."
-- Kenneth Irving, AMERICAN ASTROLOGY
Skymates II review from Considerations, Volume XX Number 3, August-October 2005:
Steven and Jodie Forrest are masters at simplifying and illuminating astrological jargon, making it accessible to all levels of astrologers. In their new book, Skymates II: The Composite Chart, the Forrests use their combined expertise to explore composite charts. This book complements their other book on relationship astrology, Skymates: Love, Sex and Evolutionary Astrology, which explores individuals' relationship needs and analyzes the synastry symbolized in birthcharts. Taken together, these two books give astrologers superb reference tools for understanding relationship astrology.
The Forrests consider composite chart analysis a very powerful technique for adding insight into relationship dynamics, symbolizing an "invisible third party" in a relationship. They write, "The invisible third party in every partnership may be impossible to see, but it reveals its nature and hidden agenda very clearly in the composite [chart]."
The book begins with an excellent overview of how to understand and work with composite charts, and then the lion's share of the book is taken up with an extensive "cookbook" analysis of composite planets in signs and houses. The meaning of Lunar Nodes in composite charts is also explored and interpreted. The Forrests write that Lunar Nodes can help a couple understand "their souls' history together" and help a couple "find their karmic story."
Clear, easy to understand explanations are the Forrests' hallmark. Though their books are easy to read, there is no sacrifice of depth. Jodie and Steven Forrest, both well-known astrologers, are also skilled fiction writers and are able to integrate colorful imagery with solid astrology. Using sample charts to examine the kinds of information that can me gained by composites, the Forrests demonstrate the value of this astrological technique. The Forrests write "A birthchart and a composite chart both describe the same things: an optimal evolutionary path, the tools we have for the job, and what it looks like if we blow it."
Bound to be a popular text with novice astrologers who wil most likely want to look up composite interpretations for all their relationships, this book is suitable for astrologers of all levels. Seasoned astrologers are well aware of the limitations of "cookbook astrology," but they'll still find the book's insightful and imaginative interpretations useful and enjoyable to read. Skymates II: The Composite Chart deserves a space on every astrologer's bookshelf--right next to Skymates: Love, Sex and Evolutionary Astrology. --Leda Blumberg
NEW SHIPPING RATES NOW IN EFFECT
As of Jan. 1, 2006, our new shipping rates are as follows (click here for an explanation of new shipping rates):
NC residents, add 7% sales tax to all orders EXCEPT taped personalized interpretations, horaries and electionals.For retail orders of TAPED PERSONALIZED INTERPRETATIONS only:
mailed within the US (includes AK, HI, PR, APO and FPO), priority mail shipping.....free.
sent within the US by Fed Ex standard overnight if available....................................$20.00
mailed outside of the US by US airmail....................................................................$17.00
(We do not recommend surface mail for taped interpretations.)
sent outside the US by Fed Ex standard overnight if available..................................$35.00
For orders of charts only, of five charts or fewer, shipping is $1.
For all other retail orders sent within the US (includes AK, HI, PR, APO and FPO), priority mail shipping rates are as follows:
$ 00.01 - $50.00.....................$7.00
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$ 75.01 - $100.00...................$11.00
$100.01 - $150.00...................$12.00
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For all other retail orders sent outside the US by air mail, add $20.00 to the rates above.For all other retail orders sent within the US by Fed Ex three day if available, add $8.00 to the rates above.
For all other retail orders sent within the US by Fed Ex standard overnight if available, add $20.00 to the rates above.
For all other retail orders sent outside the US by Fed Ex three day if available, add $35.00 to the rates above.
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