A horoscope can determine whether two different people are compatible. Compatibility is a bond formed by individual traits that compliment each other, as opposed to traits that cause conflicts and therefore are not compatible. A horoscope begins to decipher compatibility by first focusing on the Sun Sign.

The Sun Signs of the Zodiac represent the basic personality traits of individuals. Individuals, like planets that oppose each other in our solar system, usually have vastly different personalities, like the sign Aries who wants to move quickly or Libra who wants to weigh and balance everything.

In certain cases it is a common bond or likeness that draws people together, although in other cases it is two different personalities that seem to balance each other, as in the saying "opposites attract." Because of the ability of both like and opposite personalities to attract, figuring out compatibility is not a clear-cut process.

When an astrologer does a horoscope reading to determine who is compatible they obviously start with the Sun Sign, but the Moon and Rising Signs also give a great deal of information related to compatibility. Moon and Rising Signs address more subtle parts of the personality, revolving around inner motives, needs, conflicts, and past history. A proficient astrologer can weigh this information and balance it against the Sun Sign to come up with a multidimensional, instead of a single, flat, one-dimensional understanding of two different individuals' compatibility.

Planetary cycles, conjunctions, oppositions, and the orbs of the planets also play a part in the compatibility of two different people at a specific time. Though it might seem that the question of astrological compatibility should be written in stone, it is not. Other non-astrological factors are also at play when determining compatibility between two people, including where we live, what we eat, what our job is, and our life history. A careful analysis of both astrological and mundane factors must therefore be considered to get a complete understanding of the compatibility between two people.