Romantic Triangles

The romantic triangle between Jen, Brad and Angelina is interesting. Both women share a Moon-Pluto hard contact. Jennifer has had a turbulent relationship with her mother, and fell out twice. The friends actress says, "One thing my parents marriage taught me--my mother, actually--is to be independent. She didn't have her own life, other than her kids, so when my dad left, she was devastated. "You have to have a career, a passion--a fallback position. "No matter how small or ugly, there is always something to be learned, if only to say, 'I forgive,' though, of course, you still have your moments of not forgetting." Jennifer says of living life with her ex-model mother, "I don't know if I would have known how beautiful she was if she wasn't always pointing out how unbeautiful I was."

Here is an astrological article by Liz Greene that explains the dynamics of the Eternal Triangle:

A triangle can be like a grand trine in a chart. The energy circles around and around; it flows back on itself and does not nourish anything else in one's life. Within triangles, all three people tend to project elements of themselves on each other. The triangle holds these projections in place, and there may be enormous resistance to change. We might even say that the triangle forms because there is resistance to change, so whatever is seeking expression from within is experienced through projection. When such a triangle breaks up, the projections come back home again. Psychic energy is released, whether it is through death or the voluntary relinquishing of someone. The timing of this is not accidental. In one or two or even all three parties, unconscious issues have finally reached a point where they can be integrated, even if this is expressed by simply letting it go. The moment we are able to do that, the projections begin to become conscious.

I do not believe real forgiving comes in any other way. It is a kind of grace. It cannot be created by an act of will. It is very sad to hear the Betrayed saying, "I forgive you", not because it is truly heartfelt, but in order to get the straying partner back again. Underneath there may be no forgiveness at all - although this may not be entirely conscious - and then the punishment can go on and on. Forgiveness can only come out of a recognition of one's collusion in the triangle - whatever one's role - and the taking back of one's projections. Before that, forgiveness is not really possible. It only seems to emerge out of something being genuinely integrated in oneself. The entire process is transformative. We cannot manufacture forgiveness if we have been betrayed - nor can we manufacture it for ourselves if we are the Betrayer. We can only work to integrate what belongs to our own souls.