Have you ever felt an immediate connection with someone you met for the first time? A sense of déjà vu or eerie familiarity that you couldn’t explain? These chance meetings turn into life-altering severe connections that are almost certainly “karmic” or fated in nature. There are usually specific themes that are repeated in these relationships. The following are all quite common:

The relationship begins as a chance encounter. One or both parties were not supposed to be there in the first place, got talked into coming at the last minute, missed a flight, took a wrong turn, stopped impulsively at the supermarket, or some other version of a completely random and unexpected meeting.

The parties experience a heightened awareness, such as time standing still, ringing in the ears (or no sound at all), a physical (magnetic) pull towards one another, etc.

A feeling of familiarity, a sense that they’ve met before or have known one another for years, etc.

The sense of falling in love at first sight.

Another theme most of us aren’t aware of involves planetary contacts between natal (or birth) charts. Astrologers refer to the study of these contacts as “synastry.” Astrologically speaking, aspects between planets from one natal chart to another describe the connections shared between two people and the karmically indicated lessons.

Although the popular view of these relationships is that they’re “meant to be,” a more realistic way of looking at them is that while there may be a reason two people come together (karmically) in the present lifetime, there’s no guarantee that they will stay together. Suppose one or both of them have reached a point in their evolutionary journey that they’re no longer the appropriate facilitator for the other person’s karma. In that case, the relationship is unlikely to last.

Not all karmic aspects are pleasant or easy: some are pretty challenging. The nature of the planets involved and the elements between them will determine both the karmic patterns and the ease or difficulty with which they’re expressed. There is a multitude of astrological factors that are significant in determining relationship compatibility (or karma).