There are several things to look for when it comes to making a prediction of new love. And transits are the least among them. What you really have to look for are progressions (Secondary Progressions) involving the angles, 7th house ruler, Venus, and any planets in the 7th.

It bears remembering that a certain percentage of your clients (or even you, yourself) do not really want a relationship. Many people have such afflicted 7th houses or 7th house rulers that, even as they obsess over having a relationship, their own resistance and fears will prevent one from ever getting truly started.

So your first step is to examine your client's chart for hir likely pattern of relationship.

Look at the whole chart, then examine the 7th house. Any planets in the first house are liable to make relationships difficult to sustain, because there is automatically more of a focus on the self, and not on the 'other'. A loaded seventh house is just as difficult, because it reflects someone who may be too reliant on the other, so that it is difficult to establish an equal give and take, or that the native is too willing to be in any relationship at all, or if the seventh house planets are badly afflicted, the native may not find anyone who lives up to hir standards.

So it's very necessary to assess at the outset what the likelihood is of your client's ability to establish a relationship. Afflicted 8th house planets can be equally problematic as well, because they'll indicate a disinclination to intimacy. The afflicted 8th houser might be prone to many short-lived, meaningless flings, but not psychologically willing to engage in an intimate, longterm relationship.

If you find these sorts of patterns in a client's chart, please refrain from blurting out, "Hah, you wish!". You don't know how much work your client has done in overcoming self-defeating patterns or fears. Instead, it is acceptable to tactfully enquire regarding the client's past relationships, their quality and length, or to gently mention that *in the past*, there may have been some difficulty regarding the issues the chart patterns indicate. Please be non-specific; it is for the client to broach the specifics first, not you. Remember that someone vulnerable has come to you for help. You mustn't open closed doors; the client must open them first, and then these personal matters can be discussed tactfully and gently on your part. It's a matter of respect, compassion, courtesy, and the building of trust.

Once the client's natal chart has been studied and you have a good grasp of hir patterns, likes, and dislikes, you can move on to the really fun stuff: the predictive part of the work. You'll need to ascertain that the given birth time is correct, first, by finding significant aspects from the Solar Arc MC and its calculated Ascendant to Secondary Progressed or natal planets and angles, and verifying that these time periods corresponded to major events in the client's life. If the 'hits' made by the Solar Arc Progressed MC and its calculated Ascendant *don't* match up to time periods of major life events, you will have to rectify the chart before you can begin your predictive work. Rectification of charts is a whole 'nother article. But for now, let's assume the client's given birth time is correct.

What you look for is exceedingly simple. You look for the aspects formed by the progressed planets and angles to either other progressed planets, or to natal planets and angles. Focus on aspects involving Venus, the MC and Ascendant, the seventh house ruler, and any seventh house planets. For example, a semi-sextile of p Sun to natal Venus can indicate the start of a new love. But it's the involvement of the *angles* that will show the major relationships. The progressed Descendant (calculated from Solar Arc Midheaven) aspecting *any* planet, can indicate a new relationship. Also, any progressed planet aspecting the natal Descendant can indicate a new relationship.

It's as simple as that. The p MC aspecting Descendant ruler, or Descendant, or 7th house planets, or Sun, Moon, or Venus, will also signal a probable new relationship.

If it is apparent to you that such an aspect will not occur for awhile (a few years), and your client is im- patient, it is time to do two things: 1) look at transits from the outer planets to the Sun, Moon, Venus, and 7th house planets (if any) and ruler, since these may indicate at least some 'relief' during the wait for the 'biggie', and; 2) look at the other things currently affecting your client's chart. It is more than possible that, when a client is obsessing over having a relationship when the time isn't yet ripe for one, that s/he is trying to escape other issues that are less pleasant and more pressing. These issues should be discussed if possible. For example, a client's parent may be ill or dying, or pressures at work might be becoming unbearable. These can be difficult issues that a client would wish to escape or evade. But if you can do it gently, try to get your client to open up about such other issues. Being able to talk about these 'masked' problems can do hir a world of good, especially when you, as an astrologer, can help hir find the light at the end of the tunnel and, by virtue of your knowledge, assure hir that there is more to this life business than meets the eye.

All Rights Reserved; Gail Sandra Klein; March 21, 2001