HI DevilishAngel,
I hope other people post too - this is an interesting question - when I do a reading I do look for degrees that are within 3-4 degrees for each of the planets, north/south nodes, if they are the exact degree I think that is more important.. more significant... I work with the sabian symbols and crystal astrology alot - so if a family of people have the same symbol (eg angels playing a harp) I see they can be a musical family - I draw from that in a past life this was an enjoyable connection... if the symbol has a challenging (eg a car wrecked by a train) well I draw from that possible chaos and tragedy has drawn them together in this life.. I often also look to the symbol for a glimpse of the past life 'place' and time - but thats more like reading an oracle I suppose than reading astrology!!
A belief in past lifes is required before looking astrologically for past lives too - so I expect some astrologers wont work in this area.
thanks for asking - Im going to formalise this more in my own mind I think!
MARINA