The Bond Code: How to Compare Two Charts

The Bond Code is the practice of comparing two people's charts to see how their energies fit together. It does not tell you whether a relationship will last. What it can do is show where two people understand each other easily, where they are likely to clash and what each could learn from the other.

Start with each person's chart

Before you compare anything, calculate each person's chart with the Destiny Matrix calculator and read the main points: personality, talent, material task, karmic task and core. A comparison is only as good as your understanding of each chart on its own. Or enter both dates in the compatibility calculator to see the two charts side by side.

Which numbers to compare

• The two cores: do you feel at home in similar or different states?
• The two personalities: how do you come across to each other at first?
• The karmic tasks: are you working on related lessons or opposite ones?
• The two love lines: what does each person need from a partner?
• The karmic tails: does one person's pattern trigger the other's?

Same, complementary or opposite energies

When two numbers are the same, there is a strong sense of recognition, and also a risk of amplifying each other's shadow. Complementary energies, such as the Emperor and the Empress or the Magician and the High Priestess, tend to balance each other. Opposite energies can be exciting and difficult in equal measure. None of these patterns is good or bad on its own. They are different kinds of relationship with different tasks.

How a combined chart is made

Some teachers build a third chart for the couple by adding the numbers of the two charts point by point, and reducing any sum above 22 by adding its digits. For example, if one person was born on July 14, 1991 and the other on November 3, 1989, the days are 14 and 3, which add to 17. The months are 7 and 11, which add to 18. The years reduce to 20 and 9, which add to 29 and then reduce to 11. The sum of those three is 46, which reduces to 10, and the center of the couple's chart is 11. The combined chart is then read as a chart of the relationship itself.

This is one method among several, and you will find others that give different results. If you try it, treat the combined chart as another mirror, and not as a verdict.

A worked example

Compare two people born on July 14, 1991 and on November 3, 1989. Their charts share more than most: both have a core of 10, the Wheel of Fortune, both have a karmic task of 5, the Hierophant, and both have the same tail, 5, 20, 15. That is the 'same energies' case. These two will feel a strong recognition, they are likely to face the same questions about values, calling and attachment at about the same time, and they can also feed each other's habits, so it is worth noticing together when an old pattern repeats.

Where they differ is just as useful. One has personality 14, Temperance, calm and measured, and the other has personality 3, the Empress, warm and generous. The first has a love line of 6, the Lovers, which asks for honest choice and partnership between equals. The second has a love line of 22, the Fool, which asks for freedom, play and trust. A good conversation for this pair is how much closeness and how much freedom each of them needs. Their money channels are 21, the World, and 8, Justice, so one tends to earn through reach and the other through clear terms and fairness. Together they cover both.

How to use the comparison

• Read the energies together and write down where you feel recognized and where you feel misunderstood
• Look at the tasks that you share, and how you could support each other
• Talk about what you find, with curiosity and not as an accusation
• Remember that two people with a "difficult" combination can build a good relationship, and the reverse

Questions to ask each other

• Where do we feel at home in the same way, and where do we need different things?
• Which of my patterns does your pattern wake up, and the other way around?
• What does each of us need from a partner, according to our love lines?
• How can our different gifts cover for each other at home and at work?
• What do we each want to be able to say honestly to the other, and what has stopped us so far?

Friends, family and colleagues

The same method works outside romance. Comparing your chart with a parent, a child, a close friend or a business partner can explain why some conversations are easy and some go in circles. With family, look at the karmic tasks and tails, because patterns often repeat across generations. At work, look at the talents and the material tasks, and notice who is best placed to lead which part of the work.

What compatibility charts cannot say

A chart cannot say whether you should stay together or part. It cannot replace honest conversation, shared values or counseling when it is needed. If a comparison makes you feel afraid or hopeless, put it aside. It is there to help you understand each other better, and not to decide for you.

To read more about each energy in love, see the guide to the love line, and for a deeper look at your own chart, a personal reading is available.