Imagine you have been asked on a date, or maybe to go into business with someone. How can you judge whether to say yes or no?

Relationships of any sort are minefields. It often takes months, if not years, to really know someone, and by then we may be emotionally, physically, and/or financially involved—by which time extricating ourselves is not so easy. Having invested so much of ourselves, we often choose to go forward anyway, ignoring that little voice telling us it isn't going to work, because the alternative is going to be painful, or costly, or both.

This is where astrology comes into its own. And you don't have to be an expert to quickly suss out someone. But you do need a chart, which means knowing the time, date, and place of this person's birth.

Let's assume they will be willing to share this info. And if they aren't, why not? What is it they are keen to hide? Warning bells should already be ringing! If a prospective partner thinks astrology is rubbish, it won't be possible to share exciting adventures into new, esoteric ideas with them, and it is really important to be able to share personal beliefs without being ridiculed or dismissed. So, that is test number one.

Clue One: Aspect Lines
So, you now have the chart in front of you; I advise choosing a Huber House System for this rather than the usual Placidus, as it is clearer and simpler to read. And although you love astrology and thought you could read charts, this one leaves you feeling blank. Don't panic. The best clue to someone's real motivations at a glance is to count the number of coloured aspect lines. These are the lines that span the chart. Think of the red as energy lines; the blue as relaxed, chilled lines; and the green as searching for knowledge lines. How many are there of each?

Lots of red? This person is full of energy. Sounds great, but stop a moment. They will be leaping out of bed at some unearthly hour to jog in the morning and quite possibly dancing the night away, too, plus they will have loads of projects on the go. Do you have the energy to keep up?

A lot of blue lines means they are able to relax, but if there are too many blue and not many red they may be lazy—which means you will end up doing all the work.

A surfeit of green lines means they are dreamy and imaginative, but without some red lines it is probable these dreams will never become reality. These are the people who have wonderful ideas but often expect others (read you) to pay for them. Either way, their grandiose plans usually fail, as they don't have the necessary energy or business acumen to make a success of them, no matter how much willing financial backing they have.

But, no green lines in a chart means a lack of imagination. This is great if you are employing an accountant or need a practical, logical person for a job, but dreams make us reach for the stars—so beware people with no green, as they are very prosaic and practical.

All blue and green lines show a dreamy, relaxed, unrealistic person, because there is no red energy to motivate them into action. Not an ideal person to go into business with, or even commit to a partnership with—unless you have a surfeit of red energy lines and are happy to be the boss/take charge/earn the money. But you will pretty much do it all while they will be enjoying the fruits of your labors!

Mostly red and green lines in a chart should be avoided. It creates irritability. No matter how chilled these people appear, or how nice, scratch the surface and they will react with snaps and snarls and criticisms! Look, too, for any planets with only red and green lines going to them. These are the planets that react immediately and instinctively, often without taking the feelings of the other person into account. You don't want to see this with the important planets, like the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, or Mars. Also, they are generally overly-active people as they work off this inner tension by keeping moving; these are the people who relax by going to the gym or jogging, or cycling long distances. Life with them will be exhausting, both emotionally and physically.

Ideally, there will be a balance of colour in a chart. A few more red lines than blue is fine and even one green line is okay.

Clue Two: In Which Area of the Chart Are Most of Their Planets?
In your mind, split the chart equally into four: top and bottom, left and right. Each of these areas in a chart has different energy motivations.

All on the left of the chart? These people don't relate well to others, being very private, and often loners. They generally choose very lively partners who are socially adept to be their go-between. This isn't to say they aren't lovely people, but they don't have good (or any) social skills and find it hard to party and fit in with others. These are the people you find sitting in a different room at parties, or the ones who wander out into the garden. The older they get, the more likely they are to follow their natural inclination to be alone.

Most planets on the right-hand side? They are lost without other people, and cling to partners, especially when the Sun or Moon is in the Seventh House—which can make them needy; certainly they may be a little (or a lot) controlling to make sure the partner stays put and doesn't leave them. Having no planets on the left means they hate being alone and so surround themselves with people and activity, as the more people they gather into their sphere the less scared they feel.

Planets clustered at the bottom of the chart? No problem, they are busy, active, community-minded people who get involved. But they may not have the ability to think outside the box. And they may have little interest in esoteric subjects.

All at the top? They can't help it, they have an innate feeling of superiority. Mostly, these people are very wise and knowledgeable, but beware those who are just snobby, especially if the Sun is in Eleventh House, as they prefer the company of other like-minded people and don't want to get involved with what they perceive as "ordinary" people!

Usually, charts have a scattering of planets, which indicates the ability to balance all these areas, and to move easily between them, but do check as it's a really good quick clue to any worrying inclinations.

So, there you are. You don't even need to be an astrologer to suss out quite a lot about someone in these two easy steps.

Check out my book, Birth Chart Interpretation Plain & Simple, to delve deeper into charts. Whether an aspiring astrologer or a complete beginner, it is a mine of information presented in an easy-to-understand but informative way.