about the planets placements than could be listed within the natal chart.
Planet R Degree Sign Birthstar Pada/ Birthstar
Lord/ Sub Loard Dignity State Asc 29:37 Gem Punarvasu 3/Ju/Mo
Sun 21:36 Cap Shravana 4/Mo/Ve Neutr. Adoles.
Mon 17:24 Gem Ardra 4/Ra/Ve Neutr. Youth.
Mar 21:14 Pis Revati 2/Me/Ve Grt.Fr. Adoles.
Mer R 06:23 Aqu Dhanish. 4/Ma/Mo Enemy Adoles.
Jup R 29:09 Gem Punarvasu 3/Ju/Su Grt.En. Dead
Ven 05:02 Sag Moola 2/Ke/Ma Enemy Infant
Sat 27:24 Lib Vishakha 3/Ju/Ve Exalt. Dead
Rah 11:48 Sag Moola 4/Ke/Me Neutr. Adoles.
Ket 11:48 Gem Ardra 2/Ra/Sa Neutr. Adoles.
The first column lists the Ascendant and the 9 planets.
The second column, labelled "R" indicates whether the natal Planet is retrograde or combust. Retrograde status is assigned to a planet, when it appears to move backwards through the sky. The Sun and the Moon never change their direction, while Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn periodically change their proper motion through the Zodiac and appear to move backwards, and afterwards resume their direct motion.
At the same time the natural course of motion for Rahu and Ketu is backwards.
A retrograde planet is said to give slightly unexpected results, or manifest them in a way or order that is opposite to what is considered normal. Retrograde motion is said to render extra strength to the planet. Therefore, the natural significations of a retrograde planet will manifest more intensely in one's life. If you see, "R", next to a planet in the table above, it indicates that the planet was retrograde at the moment of your birth.
When a planet conjoins the Sun in the sky it becomes lost in the Sun's rays and invisible. Therefore, the planets in the horoscope that are placed too close to the Sun within a certain
number of degrees are referred to as combust. This condition does not apply to the Lunar Nodes. When the Moon is located within a close proximity to the Sun it is referred to as new. The third column gives the exact degree of each planet, listing the degree, minutes, and seconds. Your Ascendant sign degree is 29:37 of Gemini.
The column labeled "Sign" lists the sign in which the Planet is located. This can also be seen in the chart itself by the number indicated in the house of the Planet. For example, you can see that your Mars is placed in the sign of Pisces.
The "Birthstar" column shows what Birthstar the Planet is placed in. There are 27 birthstars, and together they divide the zodiac in 27 equal portions of 23 degrees and 20 minutes each. Another name for Birthstar is Lunar mansion. Each Birthstar has a unique character and it will influence any Planet placed in it. To understand how the significations of a Planet will manifest in one's life, it is important to know the nature of the birthstar that it occupies.
Vedic Astrology pays a lot of attention to the birthstar that the Moon is placed in. The description of the qualities of that Birthstar will provide a small sketch about one's nature. Your Moon occupies the Ardra birthstar.
The "Birthstar Lord" column shows 3 more details in regards to the mentioned birthstar. Birthstars are divided in 4 quarters, each called a pada. The Planet that occupies the birthstar, will be found in one of these 4 padas. This pada number is the first item shown under Birthstar Lord. The remaining 2 are the Lord and sublord of the Birthstar: the planets that rule the birthstar, and the particular degree in that birthstar respectively.
Your Moon is placed in the 4 pada of Ardra birthstar. The lord of the Ardra birthstar is Rahu. The sublord of your Moon's birthstar is Venus.
The "Dignity" column shows the dignity of the which is derived from the sign placement in the chart. Planets can have dignity anywhere in the range from Exaltation (the best) to Debilitation (the worst). Let's look at your Venus, according to the table above, it is in Enemy dignity. This is only a partial indication of how auspicious or afflicted a planet is, so don't worry if one of your planets is not well placed in this respect. In a later part of the lesson we will discuss the concept of dignities in detail.
Naturally the planets relate to each other in a certain manner according to their inherent qualities. The conditions of the planets' essential nature of relationships are listed in this table. It is called Natural Relationship.
Sun Mon Mar Mer Jup Ven Sat Rah Ket
Friends Moon Mars Jupiter Sun Mer Sun Moon Jupiter Ketu Sun Venus Sun Moon Mars Mer Saturn Rahu Ketu Mer Venus Rahu Jupiter Venus Saturn Mars Venus Enemies Venus Saturn Rahu Ketu Rahu Ketu Mer Rahu Moon Mer Venus Sun Moon Sun Moon Mars Ketu Sun Moon Mars Ketu Sun Moon Saturn Ketu Netural Mer Mars
Jupiter Venus Saturn Venus Saturn Mars Jupiter Saturn Rahu Ketu Saturn Rahu Ketu Mars Jupiter
Jupiter Mer Jupiter Mer
Besides the natural planetary relationship, we should consider the temporary planetary relationship which is determined by the unique layout of a particular chart. The rule for determining the temporary relationships is that any planet that is placed in the same house, or in a house more than 3 away, becomes an enemy.
The combination of the natural and the temporary relationship is called the "Panchadha" or compound relationship. This is simply an addition of the previous two.
When placed in certain signs, planets naturally influence other signs, planets, and houses by aspecting them. The Sanskrit word for Aspect is "drishti", which means "glance". There are a few ways in which planets aspect ("glance at") each other, signs, and houses. Each planet always aspects the 7th constellation from the one it occupies (once again, remember to count inclusively of the sign that the planet is placed in), this type of aspect is called Full Aspect. Naturally, along with aspecting that sign, the planet is going to be aspecting the house that the sign occupies and the planets placed in that house. In your chart the Sun is placed in the sign of Gemini Capricorn in the 8th house. So your Sun casts a full aspect on the constellation of Cancer which is placed in the 2nd house. Now you know that each planet has a full aspect on the sign and any planet that are located seven constellations away from it's own placement.
Besides the seventh (full) house aspect, a few planets have "special" aspects.
Mars always fully aspects the 4th, the 7th, and the 8th constellations counted inclusively from its position. Your Mars aspects the 1st, the 4th, and the 5th houses of your birth chart. Jupiter always aspects the 5th, the 7th, and the 8th signs from itself. Your Jupiter is placed in the 1st house, therefore it aspects the 5th, the 7th, and the 9th houses.
Saturn aspects the 3rd, the 7th, and the 10th signs from its position. In your case, the 7th, the 11th, and the 2nd houses receive Saturn's aspect.
Rahu and Ketu also have special aspects, they aspect the 5th, the 7th, and the 9th constellations from their placements.
All the special aspects have the same potency as the full aspect.
Most aspects are one-directional, which means that an aspecting planet, does not receive a reciprocal aspect from the planet that is aspects. This type of aspect is called one-sided. When two planets are aspecting each other, it is called a mutual Aspect. A mutual aspect establishes a powerful connection between the planets.
The intensity of aspects depends on the angular distance between the two planets. The following table shows the exact aspects between all the planets (the score of 60 being the highest):
Sun Mon Mar Mer Jup Ven Sat Rah Ket
Asc (16) (51) (6) (47) (32) (51) Sun (42) (48) (8) (47) (4) (49) Mon (4) (54) (18) (53) (35) (57) Mar (14) (13) (7) (37) (36) (6) (49) (10) Mer (35) (48) (16) (40) (12) (57) Jup (15) (52) (7) (47) (31) (51) Ven (35) (23) (11) (15) (46) Sat (12) (19) (53) (19) (59) (44) Rah (48) (19) (25) (28) (60) Ket (9) (45) (24) (56) (37) (60)
The Planets aspect each of the house cusps to a greater or lesser degree. The exact amount of aspect is shown in the following table (60 is the highest):
House No. Sun Mon Mar Mer Jup Ven Sat Rah Ket
1st 16 - 51 6 - 47 32 51 - 2nd 57 4 24 39 - 34 58 52 7 3rd 44 20 3 51 11 21 9 48 26 4th 31 43 56 38 35 7 - 11 48 5th 14 24 58 21 56 - - - 48 6th - 17 27 5 32 - - - 28 7th - 53 10 - 59 - 58 - 51 8th - 40 - - 46 10 45 7 52 9th - 27 - - 56 32 32 26 48 10th 13 13 - 6 39 37 7 48 11 11th 44 - - 31 3 12 50 48 - 12th 25 - 22 35 - 42 45 28 -
Another known system of aspects is Jaimini Aspects or sign aspects. According to Jaimini system, all the movable signs, like Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn aspect the fixed signs, such as Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, except for the signs adjacent to them. At the same time the planets placed in those signs aspect each other. In the same manner all the dual signs, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces aspect each other and the planets that they contain (except themselves).
Welcome to Lesson 3 of Your Personalized Tutorial
So far we have briefly covered the basic principles of the main components of Vedic horoscope. Before we continue uncovering various advanced concepts and techniques we should go over more detailed information about the key players of Vedic Astrology - the planets, the signs, and the houses.
PLANETS AND THEIR SIGNIFICATIONS
So let us return back to the nine planets. As we mentioned in Lesson 1, each planet represents certain qualities of life. Here are the natural significations of each planet. The Sun represents anything that embodies the centre of a structure or which holds some power: it signifies your higher self, your true inner nature, your ego, it represents your father or teacher, a head of your state or the country.
The Moon signifies your mind and emotions, your mother, females in your life, and the general public.
Moon has two phases: waxing and waning, and of course every time it is placed in the same sign that the Sun is in, it is considered to be New, while occupying a constellation directly opposite to the one occupied by the Sun, it becomes Full. Even though by nature Moon is a benefic planet, it becomes weak while being in a waning or new state, and therefore loses some of its benefic potencies. A strong, bright, waxing Moon well-placed in the chart is said to give a great boost to the overall conditions of one's life. Birth in the full Moon is considered to be highly auspicious in Vedic tradition.
Mars signifies your courage, strength, energy, and your siblings, especially male siblings. Mercury signifies your intellect and mental capacity, as well as the quality of your verbal skills.
Jupiter signifies wisdom, knowledge, fortune, and religion.
Venus signifies romance, material and sexual desires, pleasure, and comforts. It may also represent your beloved one.
Saturn signifies grief, old age, separation, restrictions and delays, as well as maturity and perseverance.
According to an ancient legend, Rahu and Ketu are two halves of a dragon. Rahu is the head of the dragon and Ketu is the headless trunk of the dragon. According to the legend, Rahu and Ketu hate the Sun and the Moon and always pursuit them, trying to swallow the Luminaries. They succeed, but just for an instance (of course that is called an eclipse), then the luminaries escape, and the chase goes on. Rahu and Ketu are said to act in a chaotic, unpredictable manner and are capable of inflicting powerful suffering through their influences in the horoscope.
RAHU signifies obsession, foreign influences, unusual cravings, infections, strange occurrences, addictions, and so on.
KETU signifies detachment, occult knowledge, spiritual techniques, and untraditional healing methods.
Each day of the week corresponds to a particular planet. The influence of a corresponding planet become the dominating influence of that day.
The Lunar Nodes, Rahu and Ketu, do not get rulership over a day of the week. The Sun rules over Sunday.
The Moon rules over Monday. Mars rules over Tuesday. Mercury rules over Wednesday. Jupiter rules over Thursday. Venus rules over Friday. Saturn rules over Saturday.
Malefics and Benefics
The planets are divided into two groups according to their basic qualities and energies: natural malefics and natural benefics. Malefic planets are capable of producing unfavorable effects on the areas of life represented by the bhavas (houses) that they affect by placement or aspects, while benefics influence the horoscope in a uplifting and positive manner. Please note that the functional nature of a planet may be different from its natural condition. Later on, we will explain what constitutes the functional nature of the planets.
Moon, Jupiter, and Venus are Natural Benefics.
Sun, Mars, Saturn, Rahu, and Ketu are Natural Malefics. Mercury is Neutral.
SIGNS
Although, each sign has its unique attributes and characteristics, it also has something common with some of the other signs. The twelve signs are divided into three categories, three modes of operation: Cardinal (Movable, Fixed, and Dual) The type of the mode defines the way the sign acts and the type of energy that it produces. The movable signs are active, changeable, and direct. The fixed signs are slow, and as the mode's name implies, resisting to change, and attached to particular fixed way of doing things. The dual signs are always moving in different directions, exploring all the possibilities and sides to each matter. Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn are Movable signs. Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius are Fixed signs. Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces are Dual signs.
Besides being categorized in terms of 3 modes, signs are also divided into 4 groups, each of them assigned to a Natural element : Fire, Earth, Air and Water. Each of the element groups contains all 3 modes of signs, movable, fixed, and dual. For example, water signs are Cancer (movable), Scorpio (fixed), and Pisces (dual). The same pattern applies to all four elements.
Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are Fire signs. Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn are Earth signs. Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are Air signs. Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are Water signs.
HOUSES
Houses are categorized in several ways. Let us refer back to your chart and the blank chart that displays house numbers. This will help you visualize the concepts that we will be discussing.
The four diamond shaped houses in the middle (the 1st, 4th, 7th, and 10th houses) that constitute a large diamond in the center of the chart are angular houses also known as kendras. The angular houses produce very prominent and powerful influences. In your chart all the angular houses are occupied by the dual signs, which can be interpreted that you can easily see both sides of an issue, that you are skilled at doing more than one thing at a time, and that you might have more than one occupation.
The 1st, 5th, and 9th houses are called trine houses, also known as trikona houses. As you have noticed, the first house is both an angular and trine, which makes it's influences the most prominent and auspicious.
Your trine houses are occupied by air signs.
The 3rd, the 6th, the 10th and 11th houses are called growing houses. The conditions and effects of the planets placed in the growing houses have a chance for gradual improvement throughout the course of a person's life.
The 6th, 8th, and 12 houses are difficult houses.
The 12 houses are divided into four types: Life Mission or Purpose (Dharma), Wealth or Material Acquisition (Artha), Desire (Kama), and Spiritual Liberation (Moksha).
Houses 1, 5, and 9 are Purpose houses. Houses 2, 6, and 10 are Material houses. Houses 3, 7, and 11 are Desire houses. Houses 4, 8, and 12 are Liberation houses.
You may have noticed that the Fire signs, Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius correlate to Purpose houses (1st, 5th, and 9th houses) in nature and qualities. In the same way the Earth signs Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn can be related to the Material houses (2nd, 6th, and 10th houses). The air signs Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius correspond to Desire houses (3rd, 7th, and the 11th), and the water signs Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces correspond to the Liberation houses (4th, 8th, and 12th houses).
SIGNIFICATIONS OF THE 12 HOUSES
In the beginning of the lesson we briefly mentioned the main signification of each house. Now you are going to become familiar with significations of each house in more detail. The First house represents your birth, the inner and outer Self, appearance, well being, personality traits, and general inclinations. It is a Purpose house, and it is at the same time an angular and trinal house. It is the most important and auspicious house in the horoscope. The sign that was rising on the eastern horizon at the time of your birth is your Ascendant or
Rising sign. The rising sign fully occupies the First house of your horoscope. Your Ascendant is Gemini.
The Second house represents your family, status in life, wealth, oral knowledge, speech, mouth, face, right eye, and foods that you like to consume. It is a Material house.
The Third house represents your younger siblings, talents and skills, courage, energy level, means of communications, as well as short distance travels. It is a Desire and growing house.
The Fourth house represents your mother, emotions, happiness, home, real estate, vehicles, and quality of early education. It is a Liberation and an angular house.
The Fifth house represents your children, good merits from the past lives, education, speculative activities, and leisurely past times. It is a Purpose and a trinal house.
The Sixth house represents your debts, health conditions, diseases, enemies, level of service, ability for detailed work, litigation, and accidents. It is a Purpose and a growing house.
The Seventh house represents relationships, partnership, marriage, business, and friends. It is a Desire and an angular (powerful) house.
The Eighth house represents the obstacles that hold you back, your losses, and longevity. It is a Liberation and a difficult house.
The Ninth house represents good fortune, prosperity, your father, devotional practices, foreign travel, higher knowledge, spiritual guide, and grandchildren. It is a Purpose and a trinal house.
The Tenth house represents your career, social status, government, fame, and father (both the 9th and the 10th houses represent the father). It is a Material house and the most powerful angular house. It is also a growing house.
The Eleventh house represents your desires and their fulfilment, money, plentitude, career income, gains, elder sibling, and friends. It is a Desire house and a growing house. The Twelfth house represents foreign residency, immigration, imprisonment, confinement, losses, sexual pleasures, hospitals, sleep, dreams, death, and moksha (final liberation). It is a Liberation house and a house of difficulties.
Depending on the influences that the house receives from the occupying sign, conditions of its ruler, planetary aspects or placement, the conditions of the matters signified by that house will either flourish or suffer. That will define how you will experience that particular facet of life.
PLANETS IN HOUSES
The natural benefics, like Jupiter, Moon, and Venus do better when placed in any of the trinal houses. Those placements enable planetary significations to flourish, creating peaceful and harmonious conditions in a person's life. Also, benefics will do well when placed in any