Think about your love life. Notice any patterns? The way you act around someone you’re attracted to. The type of person you’re attracted to. The type of person that always seems to be attracted to you. Put it all together and you have an attraction profile.

Can you see this profile by looking at your natal chart? You bet. Read on to discover how an astrological attraction profile works, and gain some insight into your (or someone else’s) love life. Note: a birth time is required, since this information is based on the signs that the start of each house (the cusp) falls in. Sound confusing? Think of the natal chart as a roulette wheel with the signs spinning around and the houses remaining in one place. The time you were born determines where each sign will stop on the wheel. If you have Pisces in your First House (your rising sign), your Second House will likely start in Aries, Third House in Taurus, etc. The areas of your life that the houses represent do not change, but what you do in those areas depends on the different signs.

I Want You: What You Do When You’re Attracted to Someone

The Second House represents what you want and what you do to attract someone. If you’d like to dress this statement up, you can say it’s what you do when you’re courting. So if your Second House cusp is in Gemini, you might try to impress the object of your affection with your wit and intellect (verbal foreplay). But let’s take it one step further. Let’s say the ruler of Gemini, Mercury, is in Cancer in your chart. This would modify your talkative displays, making you somewhat shy. You’d want to engage them in one-on-one conversation.

You’re My Type: Who You View as Your “Ideal” Partner

The Seventh House represents the one-on-one partnerships in your life and the qualities you are drawn to in a partner. It’s also where you project the attributes you have but do not acknowledge. Think about any long-term relationship you’ve had. As it progressed, did you find certain patterns of behavior emerging? Let’s say you have Scorpio on the Seventh House cusp. You may be drawn to intense partners who engage in power struggles with you. But after being in these relationships for a while, you might notice that you start to exhibit some of this intense, controlling behavior as well.

You Again: Who You Attract Instinctively

Now we step away from the partnership zone and into the shadows of the Eighth House. Dark and primal, the Eighth indicates whom we draw to us without even trying. How do you recognize these people? They give you the strongest, most visceral reaction. You may be overwhelmingly attracted to them and/or repulsed by them, but their effect on you will never be casual. If you have Aquarius on the Eighth House cusp, you attract the rebels, misfits and outsiders. There is either a deep emotional and sexual connection or you can’t stand them. If you have Uranus (ruler of Aquarius) conjunct your Moon, you will probably be very comfortable around these folks. If Uranus is in an edgy square to your Saturn, you will probably find them disruptive and wish that they would leave you alone.

You’re my Soul Mate: Your Ultimate Other

In my article on the Twelfth House, I stated that it is “… where you let go of all superficial attachments. Evolutionary astrologers refer to it as the house of the Ultimate Other (Spirit or higher power). So when your partner’s planets fall in this house, there is the potential for that person to become your Ultimate Other. No, not your personal deity. Rather, they could help you get in touch with your higher self.”

These are the people who see past your facade. This has the potential to be heavenly and terrifying in equal measure. If your Twelfth House cusp is in Aries, it’s the aggressive straight shooters who charge past all your defenses. Now let’s say your Mars, the ruler of Aries, is in Capricorn. These people might be in a position of authority over you. They are definitely ambitious types and supporters of the status quo.

Astrology in Action

Let’s put this information together and create an attraction profile. Beth’s Second House cusp is in Aries. When Beth meets a guy she likes, she is aggressive in pursuing him. Her Mars happens to be in Aries in her Second House, so that continues the aggressive theme but also indicates that her interests may be short-lived. Mars is great at starting things and not so great at finishing. Once she conquers her object of interest, she gets bored. Mars also squares her Fourth House Moon in Cancer. So her independent approach to men is at odds with the emotional (Moon) part of her that likes to curl up at home (Fourth House). This could mean she feels her independence would be threatened if she let men into her space.

What kind of men does Beth pursue? Virgo is in her Seventh House, so she is drawn to intellectual, neurotic, Woody Allen types. But Beth has Pluto and Uranus in her Seventh as well. The plot thickens because we have to include these planetary influences. So in addition to the neurotic intellectual, Beth likes guys who are unconventional (Uranus) and probably unavailable in some way. Plus they are intense and controlling (Pluto). And since the Seventh House represents projections of Beth’s qualities, we can also say that she exhibits these traits herself in a relationship. Beth’s Mercury (ruler of Virgo) is in Aquarius in her Eleventh House. The men that Beth are drawn to should be friends (Eleventh House) as well as lovers. No touchy-feely romance here. She wants a detached, friendly relationship (with the undertone of Pluto intensity, of course).

Beth’s Eighth House cusp is in Libra. So while Beth is attracted to intense, unconventional guys, she attracts men who are flirtatious and lighthearted. So where is Venus, the ruler of Libra, in Beth’s chart? In her Twelfth House, in Pisces. This makes things interesting. Because the Twelfth represents what is hidden, Beth might not even be aware of these men.

But the Twelfth is also the house of Beth’s Ultimate Other. Does this mean the men she attracts on an instinctive level are her soul mates? It does imply that Beth needs to look more closely at the guys she would not normally be drawn to. They are creative, compassionate and definitely not controlling. They could also exhibit some of the less favorable aspects of Venus in Pisces: vague, undecided, addicted and helpless. I mention this because a Twelfth House connection does not automatically mean that Beth has hit the jackpot. It all depends on how prepared she is to explore her Twelfth House issues.

Neptune, ruler of her Twelfth, is in her Ninth House, in Sagittarius. She could find that soulmate connection with someone from another country, someone with a compassionate (Neptune) vision of how the legal system (Ninth House) should work (maybe he does charity work).

That’s You at The Wheel

So after piecing this information together for your own chart, you might be wondering if these romantic patterns are set in stone. Absolutely not. Astrology is not destiny, it’s a tool to help you explore trends in your life. If the Seventh House partners you’re always drawn to haven’t been working out, explore the alternatives in your chart. If your Second House approach to grabbing someone’s attention falls flat, change it. The information in your chart is only the first step: the rest is up to you.