Astrology Tutorial One

INTRODUCTION

In India, astrology is called Jyotish, a Sanskrit word that is derived

from two roots, "Jyoti" and "Isha", which respectively mean "Light"
and "God". Jyotish is the science of light, both the light of the celestial
bodies and the internal light of the soul. It is a gift that was bestowed
upon humanity by the ancient rishis (sages) and has been passed on
from generation to generation in an oral and written form. Jyotish
unfolds the knowledge of how the planets and the stars influence an
individual human life as well as the life of the nations, and the globe. It
sheds light on our lives.

Vedic Astrology uses extremely accurate astronomical calculations to

determine the positions of the stars and the planets to predict the
future of individuals as well as mundane affairs; therefore, Jyotish is
referred to as predictive astrology.

Jyotish has numerous practical applications. The main one is predicting

one's life events, as well as understanding how the heavenly bodies
influence our lives and which particular planets are responsible for
favorable and unfavorable occurrences in specific areas of life. A
human being is a creation of the cosmos; therefore, all the facets of
human existence, including the past, present, and future, are
intimately connected to the influence of the planets and the stars.

Through Vedic Astrology we can analyze and interpret the quality and
intensity of an individual's karma within various aspects of life. One of
the most important areas of Vedic Astrology is "Upaya" (Sanskrit word
for method), the body of knowledge that deals with remedial measures
for improving and correcting adverse planetary influences, as well as
strengthening and promoting the positive ones. Vedic Astrology
provides us with tools and means to predict and time the events that
are going to take place in one's life, but more so, it renders
instructions on how to improve the quality of life in order to enjoy the
totality of existence.

Astronomical Basis of Vedic Astrology

The Zodiac is a belt of heavens extending on both sides of the ecliptic.
It encircles the space through which the planets travel in their orbits.
Vedic Astrology employs sidereal zodiac, which is different from the
tropical zodiac used in the Western Astrology.
While the tropical (Western) Astrology uses the vernal equinox (the
Sun's position at the beginning of spring) as the starting point for the
measurements along the zodiac, the sidereal (Vedic) Astrology uses
fixed stars to identify different segments along the zodiac.
The starting points of the sidereal and tropical zodiacs coincide once
every 25,800 years. After that the starting points separate from each
other by an approximate 1degree of an arc per each 72 years. The
difference between the longitude of the starting points of the sidereal
and tropical zodiacs at any given time is called Ayanamsha.

Due to the existing controversy about the year in which the two
starting points coincided last, there are several ayanamshas used by
different schools of Vedic astrologers. Some of them are Lahiri,
Krishnamurti, Raman, and Fagan ayanamshas. Lahiri is the most
widely used Ayanamsha which is based on the last coincidence point
taking place in the year 285 A.D.
Lahiri Ayanamsha for the year of your birth is -23:32:30 degrees.
If you want to convert your sidereal (Vedic) planetary positions into
tropical (Western), you can do so by adding this ayanamsha to the
degrees of the planets in your Vedic chart. To arrive to the sidereal
positions by converting the tropical ones, you will need to subtract the
ayanamsha from the tropical positions.
For example, Your Sun is placed in 07:50 degrees of the constellation
of Aries in your Vedic chart. When you add the ayanamsha for the year
of your birth, which is -23:32:30 degrees, you will derive the tropical
(Western Astrology) horoscope position of your Sun, which happens to
be placed in the sign of Taurus. Therefore, your Jyotish (sidereal) Sun
sign is Aries and your Western (tropical) Sun sign is Taurus.

How Vedic Astrology Predicts

For predictive purposes Jyotish looks at the positions of the planets in
relation to the stars in the Zodiac at the time of one's birth. These
positions reveal how the universe was functioning at that instance. In
a way, planets are like 9 special measuring points from which the
entire subtle state of natural law can be measured. At the time of
birth, when the body enters the world, this state of the universe gets
projected into the structure of the life of an individual. Therefore, the
conditions of these nine measuring points, the nine planets, define the
entire life span of events and circumstances for an individual.
THE 9 GRAHAS
We just mentioned nine planets, even though not all of them are
actual planets. Only five of them are planets, one is a star, one is a
moon, and the remaining two are special mathematical points.
Everyone is familiar with the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter,
Venus, and Saturn. The other two elements included into the group
are Rahu and Ketu, known as the North and South Lunar nodes. Rahu
and Ketu do not have physical substance, they are two mathematical
points that mark the point of intersection of the plane of the Moon's
orbit around the Earth with the ecliptic plane. Lunar or solar eclipses
occur when the Sun and the Moon are close to one of the nodes. From
now on, we shall refer to this group of "planets" with a proper Sanskrit
term Grahas.

Each graha (planet) represents certain facets of human life. Traditional

Vedic astrology does not consider the influences of Neptune, Uranus,
and Pluto.

Here are the names of the grahas in Sanskrit:

SUN is SURYA
MOON is CHANDRA
MARS is MANGALA
MERCURY is BUDHA
JUPITER is GURU
VENUS is SHUKRA
SATURN is SHANI
The NORTH NODE is RAHU
THE SOUTH NODE is KETU

Grahas have primary and secondary significations. Here is the list of

the primary graha significations assigned by the sage Parashara (the
author of Brihat Parashara Hora Sastra):

SURYA (Sun) signifies the soul.

CHANDRA (Moon) signifies the mind.
MANGALA (Mars) signifies energy.
BUDHA (Mercury) signifies speech.
GURU (Jupiter) signifies knowledge.
SHUKRA (Venus) signifies reproduction.
SHANI (Saturn) signifies grief.
THE 12 RASHIS
The grahas (planets) are constantly moving through the Zodiac. The
circle of the Zodiac is divided into 12 equal segments called
constellations or rashis (signs). Each rashi (sign) occupies 30 degrees
of the celestial space. Each of the rashis (signs) has a unique set of
attributes which affect any graha (planet) traveling through that sign.
The signs are environments that affect the way a planet feels and
behaves.

Here are the 12 rashis (signs) listed in their natural order:

1. ARIES (Mesha)
2. TAURUS (Vrishabha)
3. GEMINI (Mithuna)
4. CANCER (Karka)
5. LEO (Simha)
6. VIRGO (Kanya)
7. LIBRA (Tula)
8. SCORPIO (Vrishika)
9. SAGITTARIUS (Dhanu)
10. CAPRICORN (Makara)
11. AQUARIUS (Kumbha)
12. PISCES (Meena)

Rashi rulerships
Every rashi (sign) has its particular planetary ruler. The Sun and the
Moon rule over one sign each, while the rest of the grahas hold
rulership over two signs. Traditionally, Rahu and Ketu are considered
not to hold rulership over any signs, although, some astrologers
consider Rahu and Ketu to co-rule the signs of Aquarius and Scorpio
respectively. The sign rulerships are a permanent value.

ARIES (Mesha) is ruled by Mars.

TAURUS (Vrishabha) is ruled by Venus.
GEMINI (Mithuna) is ruled by Mercury.
CANCER (Karka) is ruled by the Moon.
LEO (Simha) is ruled by the Sun.
VIRGO (Kanya) is ruled by Mercury.
LIBRA (Tula) is ruled by Venus.
SCORPIO (Vrishika) is ruled by Mars.
SAGITTARIUS (Dhanu) is ruled by Jupiter.
CAPRICORN (Makara) is ruled by Saturn.
AQUARIUS (Kumbha) is ruled by Saturn.
PISCES (Meena) is ruled by Jupiter.
THE 12 BHAVAS
The Zodiac is divided in one more way. Relative to the position of the
Earth, the zodiac is divided into 12 bhavas (houses). Just as the
proper motion of planets is reflected by their degree positions in rashis
(signs), the diurnal (illusionary, relative motion of the planets as
perceived from the Earth) motion of the planets is shown by their
placement in astrological houses. The houses represent the various
areas of life. The areas of life are affected by the planets and signs
that occupy the corresponding bhavas (houses). The twelve bhavas
(houses) represent the totality of existence as experienced by a
human being.

Here are the main significations of each house:

The First House represents the Self.
The Second House represents your financial assets.
The Third House represents courage.
The Fourth House represents happiness.
The Fifth House represents your children.
The Sixth House represents your enemies.
The Seventh House represents your spouse.
The Eighth House represents your vulnerable points.
The Ninth House represents your fortune.
The Tenth House represents your career.
The Eleventh House represents your income.
The Twelfth House represents the end of everything.

So far, we have briefly covered the general principles of the three

main components of Jyotish: the Grahas (Planets), the Rashis (signs),
and the Bhavas (Houses). The positions of the planets in the signs and
houses are depicted in what is called the Horoscope. Evaluation and
understanding of the interactive influences of these three main
elements constitutes the interpretation of your horoscope.

Let us take a look at your actual horoscope kundali (chart):

Right now you are looking at your jyotish chart formatted in the North
Indian chart style. As you see, there are 12 individual sections in the
horoscope. These sections are the bhavas (houses), and each house is
fully occupied by one of the signs. The signs are marked within the
bhavas (houses) with numerals. The numbering system used for
marking the signs reflects the natural order of the signs (i.e. 1 - for
Aries, 2 - for Taurus, 3 - for Gemini, 4 - for Cancer and so on).

The house counting sequence follows a counterclockwise direction,

and so does the sign sequence within the chart. The box at the center
top of the chart is called the First house. The sign occupying the first
house is called the Ascendant. Your Ascendant is the sign which was
rising at the eastern horizon at the time of your birth. The sign is
indicated by its corresponding number. In your chart, the first house is
marked with number 8, which indicates the sign of Scorpio. Therefore,
your Ascendant is Scorpio. The box on the left of the first house is
called the second house. The number 9 in that house represents the
sign of Sagittarius. Next to it is the third house, then the fourth, and
so on up to the twelfth house. The sequential order of the houses is
FIXED in the North India chart format. The top center box is always
the first house and the bottom center one is always the seventh. When
using the North Indian style chart you should also remember that the
numbers within the houses represent the sign numbers, not the
numbers of the houses. For your convenience, here is a complete
overview:
Each of the grahas (planets) is placed in one of the bhavas (houses).
The planets are marked in the chart with their abbreviated names.
Now we see from the picture of your chart, which houses your planets
occupy. The Sun, indicated by the letters Su, is in house 6. The Moon
(Mo) is in house 7. Mars (Ma) is in house 5. Mercury (Me) is in house
6. Jupiter (Ju) is in house 7. Venus (Ve) is in house 5. Saturn (Sa) is in
house 9. Rahu (Ra) is in house 12. Ketu (Ke) is in house 6.

Once again, you should not confuse the house numbers with the
numbers that you see in your chart. The numbers in the houses
represent the signs that occupy those houses. The houses must be
counted in a counterclockwise direction from the 1st house, which is
the top center house. The houses should be counted inclusively of the
house you are counting from. For example the 3rd house is located
three house away from the first one, not two, and 11th house is 5
houses away from the 7th, not four.

Even though within this tutorial we will always reference your chart in
the North Indian format, you should learn the difference between
North and South Indian chart styles. Let's take a look at your natal
chart drawn in the South Indian format
Whereas the North Indian chart has a fixed house order, the South
Indian format has a fixed sign order. The sign of Aries always falls on
the second left box on the top of the chart. The house box that the
Ascendant sign occupies becomes the First house with the remaining
houses following in a clockwise direction. Commonly, the First house
is marked with a diagonal line or with As mark. Some astrologers
choose to mark the houses with numbers , as opposed to the North
Indian style, in which the numbers represent the signs.

However, in this illustration of your chart in South Indian format the

numbers within the houses represent the signs, 1 for Aries, 2 for
Taurus, 3 for Gemini, etc.

In the next chapter of this Tutorial you will learn more details about
your jyotish birth chart. To go to the next chapter, please click the
Back button on your internet browser and then choose Personalized
Tutorial II from the selection list. Thank you.
 Astrology Tutorial Two

Graha's (planet's) placement in a bhava (house) gives rise to a unique

combination of interplay and exchange of energies between the planet
and the house. The influences of the house and the planet mix and
blend, forming new energies that will dominate over the areas of life
represented by that particular planet and the house, as well as the
house/s that the planet rules. The planets will affect the areas of life
represented by the houses that they are placed in, while in turn, the
houses will affect the areas of life signified by the planets that are
placed in these houses. The planets and the signs, and the signs and
the houses exchange their mutual influences in a similar manner.

To help you make sense out of all these possible meanings, let's start
with the most important point in the horoscope, the Ascendant. The
Ascendant is the sign which occupies the first house. Since the first
house represents your personality and life in general, the sign in this
house is of great importance and it has an enormous influence over
how a person is shaped as an individual. Your Ascendant sign is
Scorpio, so its natural characteristics can fairly accurately describe
your general personality make up.
Another very important sign is the sign occupied by the Moon. The
Moon in your chart is placed in the sign of Taurus (indicated by
number 2 in the picture of your chart). The degree of the Moon is
12:33. Therefore, your general personality traits and characteristics
can be described by the signs of Scorpio and Taurus. Scorpio
ascendant indicates qualities of radiance, fixed purpose, defense
mechanism, and inner vulnerability. The Moon's placement in Taurus
shows steadiness, persistence, patience, strong desire to accumulate,
and sweetness.

As explained, each house is fully occupied by a sign. The planet that

owns that sign becomes strongly associated with the house in question, and is
referred to as the "lord" or "ruler" of that house. For your chart, the lordships are
as follows:

Houses 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Lordships Mar Jup Sat Sat Jup Mar Ven Mer Mon Sun Mer Ven
Placed in 5 7 9 9 7 5 5 6 7 6 6 5
House

The Grahas 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):

Aspects from planets to House cusps

  Sun Mon Mar Mer Jup Ven Sat Rah Ket Total
1st house 45.9 46.9 27.9 52.4 51.7 34.7 35.3 2.6 47.6 345.0
2nd house 30.8 48.2 12.8 37.3 47.0 19.6 10.3 20.4 54.6 281.1
3rd house 15.7 33.1   22.3 58.1 4.5 39.7 47.8 12.2 233.4
4th house   18.0   7.2 33.6   50.0 54.3   163.7
5th house   3.1     1.9   35.1 11.1   51.2
6th house     2.2       49.7     51.8
7th house     21.3     10.3 21.0 47.6 2.6 102.8
8th house 14.2   55.6 7.7   35.8   54.6 20.4 188.2
9th house 43.5 11.9 25.4 30.5 13.1 34.5   12.2 47.8 218.9
10th house 30.7 39.0 9.5 37.2 41.4 8.9     54.3 220.7
11th house 1.5 33.1 60.0 14.5 58.1 41.9 39.7   11.1 259.9
12th house 56.6 6.4 55.6 30.6 34.0 49.6 50.2     283.0
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 grahas (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 grahas that they
contain (except themselves).

Astrology Tutorial Two

Welcome to Chapter III 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
grahas, the rashis, and the bhavas.

GRAHAS AND THEIR SIGNIFICATIONS

So let us return back to the nine grahas. As we mentioned in Chapter
I, each graha represents certain qualities of life. Here are the natural
significations of each graha.

SURYA (the Sun) represents anything that embodies the center 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.

CHANDRA ( 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.
MANGALA (Mars) signifies your courage, strength, energy, and your
siblings, especially male siblings.

BUDHA (Mercury) signifies your intellect and mental capacity, as well

as the quality of your verbal skills.

GURU (Jupiter) signifies wisdom, knowledge, fortune, and religion.

SHUKRA (Venus) signifies romance, material and sexual desires,

pleasure, and comforts. It may also represent your beloved one.

SHANI ( 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 graha. The influence

of a corresponding graha become the dominating influence of that day.
The Lunar Nodes, Rahu and Ketu, do not get rulership over a day of
the week.

Surya (Sun) rules over Sunday.

Chandra (Moon) rules over Monday.
Mangala (Mars) rules over Tuesday.
Budha (Mercury) rules over Wednesday.
Guru (Jupiter) rules over Thursday.
Shukra (Venus) rules over Friday.
Shani (Saturn) rules over Saturday.
Malefics and Benefics
The grahas (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.

RASHIS
Although, each rashi (sign) has its unique attributes and
characteristics, it also has something common with some of the other
rashis(signs). The twelfth rashis are divided into three categories,
three modes of operation: Cardinal ( Movable, Fixed, and Dual) The
type of the mode defines the way the rashi acts and the type of energy
that it produces. The movable rashis are active, changeable, and
direct. The fixed rashis are slow, and as the mode's name implies,
resisting to change, and attached to particular fixed way of doing
things. The dual rashis are always moving in different directions,
exploring all the possibilities and sides to each matter.

Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn are Movable rashis.

Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius are Fixed rashis.
Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces are Dual rashis.

Besides being categorized in terms of 3 modes, rashis 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 rashis, movable, fixed, and dual. For example, water rashis are
Cancer ( movable), Scorpio (fixed), and Pisces ( dual). The same
pattern applies to all four elements.

Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius are Fire rashis.

Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn are Earth rashis.
Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius are Air rashis.
Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces are Water rashis.
BHAVAS
Bhavas (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 called kendras (angular). The kendras produce very prominent and
powerful influences.
In your chart all the kendras are occupied by the fixed rashis (signs),
which can be interpreted that you tend to be fixed in your ideas,
opinions, living and working habits.

The 1st, 5th, and 9th houses are called trikona (trinal) houses. As you
have noticed, the first house is both a kendra and trikona, which
makes it's influences the most prominent and auspicious.
Your trikona houses are occupied by water rashis (signs).

The 3rd, the 6th, the 10th and 11th houses are called upachaya
(growing) houses. The conditions and effects of the grahas (planets)
placed in the upachaya houses have a chance for gradual improvement
throughout the course life.

The 6th, 8th, and 12 houses are called dusthanas. They are considered
to be the most difficult houses.
The 12 bhavas (houses) are divided into four types: Dharma ("life
mission or purpose"), Artha ("wealth or material acquisition"), Kama
("desire"), and Moksha ("spiritual liberation").

Bhavas (houses) 1, 5, and 9 are Dharma houses.

Bhavas (houses) 2, 6, and 10 are Artha houses.
Bhavas (houses) 3, 7, and 11 are Kama houses.
Bhavas (houses) 4, 8, and 12 are Moksha houses.

You may have noticed that the Fire rashis (signs), Aries, Leo, and
Sagittarius correlate to Dharma bhavas (1st, 5th, and 9th houses) in
nature and qualities. In the same way the Earth rashis (signs) Taurus,
Virgo, and Capricorn can be related to the Artha bhavas (2nd, 6th, and
10th houses). The air rashis (signs) Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius
correspond to Kama bhavas (3rd, 7th, and the 11th), and the water
rashis (signs) Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces correspond to the Moskha
bhavas (4th, 8th, and 12th houses).

SIGNIFICATIONS OF THE 12 BHAVAS

In the beginning of the tutorial we briefly mentioned the main
signification of each house. Now you are going to become familiar with
significations of each bhava in more detail.

The First bhava (house) represents your birth, the inner and outer
Self, appearance, well being, personality traits, and general
inclinations. It is a Dharma bhava, and it is at the same time a kendra
and a trikona. It is the most important and auspicious bhava 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 Scorpio.

The Second bhava (house) represents your family, status in life,

wealth, oral knowledge, speech, mouth, face, right eye, and foods that
you like to consume. It is an Artha bhava.

The Third bhava (house) represents your younger siblings, talents and
skills, courage, energy level, means of communications, as well as
short distance travels. It is a Kama bhava and an upachaya (growing).

The Fourth bhava (house) represents your mother, emotions,

happiness, home, real estate, vehicles, and quality of early education.
It is a Moksha bhava and a kendra.

The Fifth bhava (house) represents your children, good merits from
the past lives, education, speculative activities, and leisurely past
times. It is a Dharma bhava and a trikona.

The Ninth bhava (house) represents good fortune, prosperity, your

father, devotional practices, foreign travel, higher knowledge, spiritual
guide, and grandchildren. It is a Dharma bhava and trikona.

The Tenth house represents your career, social status, government,

fame, and father (both the 9th and the 10th houses represent the
father). It is an Artha Bhava and the most powerful kendra. It is also
an upachaya bhava.

The Eleventh bhava (house) represents your desires and their

fulfillment, money, plentitude, career income, gains, elder sibling, and
friends. It is a Kama bhava and an upachaya.

The Twelfth bhava (house) represents foreign residency, immigration,

imprisonment, confinement, losses, sexual pleasures, hospitals, sleep,
dreams, death, and moksha (final liberation). It is a Moksha bhava and
a dusthana.

Depending on the influences that the bhava (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.
GRAHAS IN BHAVAS
The natural benefics, like Jupiter, Moon, and Venus do better when
placed in any of the trikona (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 of the kendra houses. On the other hand, the natural malefics,
Saturn, Mars, Rahu, Ketu, and Sun are considered to be better off
placed in upachaya (growing) houses, as the conditions of the
upachaya houses improve as time goes by and the afflictions and
hindrances created by the natural malefics will be slowly removed, at
least partially.
As it has been emphasized before, the Moon's placement in the chart
is of the utmost significance. Ruling the mind and emotions, Moon is
responsible for your subjective perception of life. Your Moon is placed
in the 7th house which gives you a romantic and emotional disposition.
Your life revolves around important relationships. Your desires and
craving are very strong, which can lead you to frequently experience
emotional intensity.

Your Sun is placed in the 6 house.

Your Mars is placed in the 5 house.
Your Mercury is placed in the 6 house.
Your Jupiter is placed in the 7 house.
Your Venus is placed in the 5 house.
Your Saturn is placed in the 9 house.
Your Rahu is placed in the 12 house.
Your Ketu is placed in the 6 house.

Directional strength
Each planets obtains Dig bala (directional strength) through its
placement in a specific house of the horoscope. Directional strength is
one of the components of the overall planetary strength evaluation
formula.

Surya (Sun) receives full Dig Bala when placed in the Tenth House.
Chandra (Moon) receives the full Dig Bala when placed in the Fourth
House.
Mangala (Mars) receives full Dig Bala when placed in the Tenth House.
Budha (Mercury) receives full Dig Bala when placed in the First House.
Guru (Jupiter) receives full Dig Bala when placed in the First House.
Shukra (Venus) receives full Dig Bala when placed in the Fourth
House.
Shani (Saturn) receives full Dig Bala when placed in the Seventh
House.

CHANDRA LAGNA

The Moon is the most essential and significant factor in Vedic

Astrology. It is the natural significator of the mind and emotions and is
ultimately responsible for the way one perceives and views the world.
Therefore, besides evaluating the natal birth chart you must evaluate
the planetary positions in relation to the Moon's placement in the
chart. The Chandra (Moon) Lagna (ascendant) is created by
superimposing the sign which the Moon occupies in the natal chart into
the First house.
Naturally, your Chandra Lagna ( Moon rashi) is Taurus.

SURYA LAGNA

Alternatively, the same principle can be applied to Surya's (Sun's)

position in the birth chart, and Surya (Sun) lagna (Ascendant) kundali
(chart) can be made by placing the sign, which is occupied by the Sun
in the natal chart, into the first house.
Your Surya lagna is Aries.

SUDARSHAN CHAKRA

Sudarshana Chakra is a circular composite chart that allows to view

the birth chart conditions from all three lagnas (ascendants). The inner
circle is your natal birth chart, the circle in the middle is the Chandra
Lagna, and the outer circle is the Surya Lagna.
The houses are counted in the counterclockwise direction from the first
one, that is marked As. in the case of the natal birth kundali, and
respectively Moon in Chandra lagna and Sun in Surya lagna charts. By
evaluating the various conditions of the graha placements, the houses,
and their lords as counting from all three lagnas you can gain a more
detailed insight into the horoscope. According to the sage Parashara,
the renowned author of "Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra", analyzing the
horoscope from all three lagnas is essential for accurate evaluation of
the birth chart.

CHURNING THE HOROSCOPE

There is a technique that can be used to obtain additional information

about the lives of your relatives, friends or spouse, as well as specific
areas of life. It is called churning a horoscope. For example, if you
desire to derive more information about your mother and details of her
life, your natal chart can be rotated to superimpose the 4th house to
become the Ascendant, so all of the positions and lordships can be
evaluated in relation to the 4th house.

So the ascendant sign of your "mother's chart" is Aquarius.

In the derived "mother's chart" the actual 10th house of your natal
chart would become the 7th house of the "mother's chart", and
therefore can be used to analyze mother's marriage and/or business
partnerships. The 7th house of the natal chart will be become
"mother's" 4th house and can be looked at for the matters related to
one's mother's real estate assets, her emotional nature, her home life,
as well as her relationship with her mother (your maternal
grandmother). In the same manner you can rotate the birth chart and
superimpose any of the twelve houses into the first house.

DIVISIONAL CHARTS

As we know each sign of the zodiac takes up 30 degrees of celestial

place. Each of these 30 degrees can be further subdivided into smaller
portions. Each of these divisions will have its own zodiacal rulers.
These divisions are called Vargas ( divisional charts). There are 16
divisional charts. Each of them corresponds to a particular area of life,
and is used to explore the area of life that it governs in further detail.
The natal chart, of course, provides plentiful information about all
facets of life, but often an astrologer would choose to look at a specific
varga ( divisional chart) to derive more clues about the area of life
that it signifies.

16 VARGAS

1. Rashi or the Complete sign of 30º is the birth chart itself.

2. Hora or one-half of a sign (15º) is wealth varga.
3. Dreshkana or one-third of a sign (10º) is siblings varga.
4. Chaturthamsha or one-fourth of a sign (7º30') is destiny varga.
5. Saptamsha or one-seventh of a sign (4º17`8.5") is children varga.
6. Navamsha or one-ninth of a sign (3º20') is spouse and fortune
varga.
7. Dashamsha or one-tenth of a sign (3º) is career varga.
8. Dwadashamsha or one-twelfth of a sign (2º30') is parents varga.
9. Shodashamsha or one-sixteenth of a sign (1º52'30") is conveyances
varga.
10. Vimshamsha or one-twentieth of a sign (1º30') is spiritual
progress varga.
11. Chaturvimshamsha or one-twenty fourth of a sign (1º15') is
knowledge varga.
12. Saptavimshamsha or one-twenty seventh of a sign (1º6'40") is
strength varga.
13. Trimshamsha or one-thirtieth of a sign (1º00') is misfortunes
varga.
14. Khavedamsha or one-fortieth of a sign (0º45') is auspicious and
inausp. effects varga.
15. Akshavedamsha or one-forty fifth of a sign (0º40') is all areas of
life varga.
16.Shashtyamsha or one-sixtieth of a sign (0º30') is general life
trends varga.

For example, if you want to obtain information regarding your career

then you should evaluate the tenth house of the birth chart along with
the first one. Then you can search for additional information by
analyzing the conditions of the divisional chart called Dasamsha (great
successes).

Here is your Dashamsha chart

NAVAMSHA

Navamsha (spouse) is the most important divisional chart. It is the 9th

division chart and is commonly used to evaluate the conditions and
future of your married life, as well as general happiness, luck, and
well-being. By using an analogy it can be said that the rashi chart is a
tree and the navamsha chart is the fruit. The conditions of the
navamsha chart can either promote or offset the indications of the
natal chart, therefore, it should always be looked at before drawing the
conclusion of whether the results promised by the natal chart will
manifest in your life.
Let us take a look at your Navamsha chart.

You should pay attention to the planetary positions in the navamsha

chart to see which rashis or dignities, and houses the planets occupy
there. A graha which is debilitated or greatly weakened in the natal
chart is still going to exert much positive influence, if it is occupying its
exaltation or own sign in the navamsha, or placed in a friend's sign in
an auspicious house and/or influenced by benefics. Naturally, the
planet that is greatly placed in the natal chart, but severely afflicted in
the navamsha will not be able to manifest its full potential as benefic
influence, and will render mixed results.
Your Sun is placed in the sign of Aries in Exalted dignity in the natal
chart, while in the Navamsha chart your Sun is in Gemini in Enemy
dignity.

A planet which occupies the same rashi (sign) in both the natal chart
and the navamsha is considered to be Vargottama ( the best
division). This condition grants a lot of prominence and strength to the
planet's influence. It is most favorable for a planet to be vargottama in
its exaltation, or swakshetra dignity, while occupying its debilitation
sign in both charts may seriously hinder the matters signified and
influenced by that particular planet.
Vargottama condition can also be applied to any other divisional chart,
but it is not going to have as much value as it does in the case of the
navamsha chart.

Check to see if you have any vargottama planets in your chart.

Compare the rashis which your planets occupy in the birth chart with
the rashis that they occupy in the navamsha chart.
Your Moon is placed in Taurus in the rashi chart and in Aries in the
navamsha.
Your Mars is placed in Pisces in the rashi chart and in Cancer in the
navamsha.
Your Mercury is placed in Aries in the rashi chart and in Libra in the
navamsha.
Your Jupiter is placed in Taurus in the rashi chart and in Aries in the
navamsha.
Your Venus is placed in Pisces in the rashi chart and in Scorpio in the
navamsha.
Your Saturn is placed in Cancer in the rashi chart and in Scorpio in the
navamsha.
Your Rahu is placed in Libra in the rashi chart and in Libra in the
navamsha.
Your Ketu is placed in Aries in the rashi chart and in Aries in the
navamsha.

In Chapter IV of the Tutorial you will find out how to time your
predictions for various life events. To go to the next chapter please
click HOME button and choose Personalized Tutorial IV.

Astrology Tutorial Four

Welcome to Chapter IV of Your Personalized Tutorial.

TIMING THE EVENTS

Once you carefully evaluate the conditions and dominating planetary

influences in the natal chart and navamsha, as well as the Chandra
lagna and other charts you should be able to get an idea about the
possible future events that are going to take place in your life. At the
same time, you will be faced with a question of "When" will these
events come about? You will most definitely like to know when can you
expect that great job promotion or when should you watch out for your
health. This brings us to the subject of techniques designed for timing
the events.

Dashas
The most important technique used for timing the future events is
called Dashas. There are more than a few dasha systems, but the one
most widely known and commonly practiced is Vimshottari Dasha
system.
Vimshottari dasha assigns a designated time span of influence to each
graha (planet) in a fixed sequence, with the complete cycles
amounting to 120 years. In the modern time it is rare for a human to
live past 120, so, naturally, one is not going to go through the full
cycle of Vimshottari dasha. Nevertheless, after the full cycle of 120
years is completed, it repeats itself in a set order.
Each of the twenty seven lunar nakshatras is ruled by a particular
graha. Ketu rules the very first nakshatra, Ashvini. The nakshatra
rulership sequence proceeds in this order: Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon,
Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, and Mercury. Then again it starts with
Ketu and repeats itself three times.

Time Span of each Dasha

Ketu Dasha is 7 years long.
Venus Dasha is 20 years long.
Sun Dasha is 6 years long.
Moon Dasha is 10 years long.
Mars Dasha is 7 years long.
Rahu Dasha is 18 years long.
Jupiter Dasha is 16 years long.
Saturn Dasha is 19 years long.
Mercury Dasha is 17 years long.

Although, the order of the planetary cycles is fixed, the

commencement of a particular planetary cycle is individual and
depends on the Moon's nakshatra placement in the horoscope. Your
Moon is placed in the Rohini nakshatra. Moon is the ruler of Rohini
nakshatra, therefore, you were born in the dasha cycle of Moon.

The rest of the planetary cycles proceed in a fixed order. Whether or

not you go through the whole cycle of the first pIanetary cycle is
possible that an individual will not go through the whole cycle of the
first planetary dasha, as depending on the degree of the Moon, one
may be born in the middle of the end of the first dasha cycle.

Taking into account a considerable length of some of the planetary

cycles, you might wonder how could Venus dasha cycle keep producing
the same results in one's life for 20 years. Well, it is not going to. Now
we come to the point of 5 levels of dashas. While the main dasha
cycles can last for many years, as shown in the table above, there are
four more dasha levels that are much shorter in length. The major
dasha cycles are called Maha dashas, and the planets ruling them are
referred to as Maha dasha lords. They provide general information
about the person's life within their designated cycle. The shorter
planetary cycles are called sub-dashas, and they are the ones used to
precisely and accurately time the events of one's life.

You are currently in the Maha dasha of Rahu.

The first sub-cycle is called Antar-dasha, and its lord is referred to as
the Antar-dasha lord. Antar-Dasha cycles follow the same fixed
general planetary sequence order as Maha dashas. It should be noted
that the starting planetary cycle of a sub-cycle is always a repetition of
the major level. For example, if a person is starting a Maha Dasha of
Jupiter, then the very first Antar-dasha cycle will be also Jupiter, the
next Antar-dasha will be Saturn, and so on.

You are currently running the following five levels of dashas Ra-Ke-Ve-
Ve-Ra.
You can view more of your dasha cycles by clicking HOME button and
choosing Your Current Dashas from the selection menu.

Transits
The other event timing techinque that is used along with dasha cycles
to accurately predict the times when certain events are going to take
place is Gochara (Transits). Gochara deals with the subject of the
ongoing movement of the planets referenced in relation to an
individual chart. Just as your natal birth chart represents the planetary
positions as they were at the moment of your birth, so does the
Transit chart show the current planetary positions in relation to the
planetary positions at the time of your birth. It is also advisable to
evaluate the transit chart in relation to the planetary positions of the
Chandra ( Moon) chart.

If you would like to take a look at your real time gochara (transits)
positions in relation to your birth chart, click HOME button on your
internet browser and select Animated Transit Chart link from the menu
of the features offered on the site.

Some of the nine grahas move through the Zodiac much faster than
others. The Moon, being the fastest, takes less than a month to go
through all the twelve signs, while Saturn, the slowest graha, takes
about 29 and a half years to complete one circle of the Zodiac, which
means that Saturn will spend about two and a half years transiting
each of the houses in your chart.

The constant motion of the grahas through the Zodiac brings them into
an interplay with the elements of birth charts. As the planets "transit"
through the houses of the horoscope and pass over the natal planetary
positions, they interact with the significations of the natal planets and
houses, influencing the conditions of the horoscope.
Depending on the nature of the planets and their positions in a
particular birth chart, the effects of the transits can be either very
favorable or outright negative. Also, it is obvious that the transit
effects of the slow moving Saturn are going to be much more profound
than the transits of the fast moving Moon.
Therefore, for a purpose of predicting long term trends in your life you
should pay attention to the transits of the slow moving grahas:
Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu, and Ketu.
Rahu and Ketu are always separated by 180 degrees, therefore, they
are always seven constellations away from each other. For example,
currently Rahu is transiting through the sign of Gemini and Ketu is
transiting through the sign of Sagittarius. They will remain in these
rashis (signs) until March 2002. As you know, the nodes move in a
backward motion, so in March 2002 Rahu will move from Gemini into
Taurus and Ketu will move from Sagittarius into the sign of Scoprio.
You are Scorpio rising, that means that untill March 2002 Rahu will be
transiting over the 8th house of your chart (in relation to the
Ascendant).
Likewise, Ketu will be transiting the 2nd house of your birth chart.

You should also remember to evaluate transits from the Chandra lagna
as well. Transits from the Moon's position will provide additional clues
for predicting life trends.
Your natal Moon is placed in the sign of Taurus. Therefore, Rahu will
be transiting the 2nd of your Chandra Lagna chart ( from the Moon).
Ketu will be transiting the 8th house from your Moon.

The other two slow moving planets, Jupiter and Saturn, are currently
transiting through the sign of Taurus.
Jupiter takes about 12 years to complete one full cycle around the
Zodiac, so it spends on an average 1 year in each sign. Jupiter will
remain in the sign of Taurus until June of this year and then it will
leave Saturn behind and move into the sign of Gemini.
Saturn will remain in Taurus for another year and a half.
So until June 2001, Jupiter will be transiting the 7th house of your
birth chart ( from the Ascendant) and the 1st house from the Moon.
Because Saturn is currently occupying the same sign as Jupiter, it will
transit the same houses in your chart, i.e. the 7th house from the
Ascendant and the 1st house from the Moon. Saturn will remain over
these houses untill the summer of 2002.

When evaluating transit effects, you should consider the natural

significations of the transiting planets, along with their lordships of the
houses in the birth chart and Chandra lagna, as well as the
significations of the houses through which the planets are transiting
(again from the Ascendant and from the Moon).
In your case, Jupiter is the ruler of the 2nd and 5th houses from the
Ascendant and the 8th and 11th houses from the Moon. to be
continued
 Astrology Tutorial Five (Dasha Effects)

Vimshottari

Dashas from to
Ra-Ke-Ve Sat 14 Dec 2002 Sun 16 Feb 2003
Ra-Ke-Su Sun 16 Feb 2003 Fri 7 Mar 2003
Ra-Ke-Mo Fri 7 Mar 2003 Tue 8 Apr 2003
Ra-Ke-Ma Tue 8 Apr 2003 Wed 30 Apr 2003
Ra-Ke-Ra Wed 30 Apr 2003 Fri 27 Jun 2003
Ra-Ke-Ju Fri 27 Jun 2003 Sun 17 Aug 2003
Ra-Ke-Sa Sun 17 Aug 2003 Fri 17 Oct 2003
Ra-Ke-Me Fri 17 Oct 2003 Wed 10 Dec 2003
Ra-Ve-Ve Wed 10 Dec 2003 Thu 10 Jun 2004
Ra-Ve-Su Thu 10 Jun 2004 Tue 3 Aug 2004
Ra-Ve-Mo Tue 3 Aug 2004 Wed 3 Nov 2004
Ra-Ve-Ma Wed 3 Nov 2004 Thu 6 Jan 2005
Ra-Ve-Ra Thu 6 Jan 2005 Sun 19 Jun 2005
Ra-Ve-Ju Sun 19 Jun 2005 Sat 12 Nov 2005
Ra-Ve-Sa Sat 12 Nov 2005 Fri 5 May 2006
Ra-Ve-Me Fri 5 May 2006 Sat 7 Oct 2006
Ra-Ve-Ke Sat 7 Oct 2006 Sun 10 Dec 2006
Ra-Su-Su Sun 10 Dec 2006 Tue 26 Dec 2006
Ra-Su-Mo Tue 26 Dec 2006 Tue 23 Jan 2007
Ra-Su-Ma Tue 23 Jan 2007 Sun 11 Feb 2007
Ra-Su-Ra Sun 11 Feb 2007 Sun 1 Apr 2007
Ra-Su-Ju Sun 1 Apr 2007 Tue 15 May 2007
Ra-Su-Sa Tue 15 May 2007 Fri 6 Jul 2007
Ra-Su-Me Fri 6 Jul 2007 Tue 21 Aug 2007
Ra-Su-Ke Tue 21 Aug 2007 Mon 10 Sep 2007

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