Transits taken from the ascendant

We will now study transits taken from the ascendant. Whenever an event is to happen the concerned houses get related and we find the involvement of the concerned karaka also. If the individual is going to have a child the ascendant and the fifth house get related and Jupiter is also found involved in this combination; if the individual is going to fall sick the ascendant and the sixth house relate to each other and Saturn is found involved in the combination; and in place of Saturn if Mars is involved in the combination of the ascendant and the sixth house, the individual is likely to meet with an accident or undergo a surgery.

Let us take up two illustrations. The individual of the chart was born on 02 August 1951 at 2325 hours at 28 degrees North 39 minutes latitude and 77 degrees East 13 minutes longitude. The place of birth is 0530 hours east of GMT. The ascendant is in Aries and the fifth house has Leo. She had a son born to her on 2 November 1991. The major-period of Venus was going on. On the day of birth of the child the Sun was in exchange of sign with Venus in Libra, Venus being in Leo, and Mars was associated with the Sun. Jupiter on that day was in Leo with Venus.

Let us take up a case of an accident. This woman was born on 10 April 1979 at 0315 hours at 47 degrees North 42 minutes latitude and 122 degrees West 54 minutes longitude. The place of birth is 0800 hours west of GMT. She had gone to another country where she met with a vehicular accident on 16 March 2003. She was experiencing the major-period of Rahu at that time. The ascendant has Capricorn and the sixth house is in Gemini. On the date of the accident Saturn was in Taurus with Rahu and Mercury was in Aquarius. Saturn and Mercury were thus in sambandha. Saturn was in Mrigsheersha constellation of Mars. Further, Mercury was in Poorvabhadrapada constellation of Jupiter, and the latter was in sambandha with Mars on the day of the accident.

Events take shape according to the operation of the houses and karakas. We will give some more illustrations in the next blog.

Transit of the major-period planet

We now study a new method of transit analysis. This is a very effective method.
The transit of the major-period planet gives results very clearly. With a little practice results can be deduced with comparative ease. The effect of transit is dependent on the following factors:
(i) The contact of the transiting major-period planet with a karaka. This contact can either be with the natal karaka or it can be with that very karaka in transit.
(ii) The major-period planet in transit brings about a contact between two houses taken from the ascendant. The karaka mentioned above has to be relevant to the contact between the houses. Suppose there is a contact established between the first and the ninth houses. This gives rise to the possibility of a journey abroad, but the karaka for such a journey, Rahu, must at the same time be in contact with the major-period planet. If there is no such contact between the two planets, or if the major-period planet contacts some other planet and not Rahu, then journey abroad will not materialize.
Let us consider a live chart to clarify this concept. This is the chart of a male individual who was born on 10 August 1960 at 0810 hours at Rajpura (30ON29’, 76OE36’) in Punjab, India. The time differential between Indian Standard Time and GMT is 0530 hours East.
The ascendant is at 23O50’ in Leo. Sun (Cancer), Moon (Pisces), Mars (Taurus), Mercury (Cancer), Jupiter (Sagittarius), Venus (Leo), Saturn (Sagittarius), Rahu (Leo).
The individual met with a vehicular accident on 18 December 2008. He was in the major-period of Venus.
Venus was in Capricorn in transit on the date of accident associated with Jupiter and Rahu. Its dispositor was in Leo in the ascendant. Thus a contact is established between the sixth house (accident) and the ascendant that signifies the physical body of the individual. Natal Mars is in sambandha with natal Venus. Saturn is passing over this Venus. Hence Mars the karaka for accident is involved in this affair. We can go into more and finer details but limiting ourselves to the barest minimum the event is still clearly discernible.

An Illustration of Transit Analysis

Female, DOB 5 January 1969, 11:45 am, Provins, France
This individual has Pisces in the ascendant at 5 deg 17 min with Rahu and Saturn. Moon is in Cancer in the fifth house, Ketu and Jupiter in the seventh, Mars in the eighth, Sun in the tenth, Mercury in the eleventh and Venus in the twelfth.
The sub-period of Rahu is operating in the major-period of Venus.
The question is how to determine the transit effects of Rahu.
The first issue is to determine the houses that a Node would influence. There is a difference of opinion on the houses that a Node projects an aspect to. Some say the aspects are on the 2, 5, 7, 9, and 12 houses from the place of the Node; others say that it is only on the 5, 9, and 12 and so on. So, without entering the controversy we should take the houses the results of which an unassociated Node would give as follows: the house the Node occupies, the house where its dispositor is placed, the house that the owner of the constellation occupied by the Node occupies and the house determined by the sign that the Node occupies in the navamsha chart and the house where the owner of the navamsha sign is placed. We will explain these through the above illustration.
In the above chart, the Node:
(i) Occupies the ascendant;
(ii) It is placed in the sign of Jupiter which is placed in the seventh house;
(iii) Rahu is in a constellation of Saturn which is also in the first house;
(iv) Rahu is in Libra navamsha. This sign is placed in the eighth house in the birth chart. Hence Rahu will give results relating to the eighth house from the ascendant.
(v) Venus owns the sign that Rahu occupies in the navamsha chart. Venus is placed in the twelfth house from the ascendant. Rahu will be related to this house as well.
Rahu is thus related to the I, VII, VIII and XII houses from the ascendant.
Taking Venus (major-period planet) as the ascendant Rahu should give results of the II, VIII, IX and I houses.
Since Rahu is associated with Saturn in the chart all the houses that Saturn operates through occupation, aspect, constellation and navamsha will also operate in the sub-period of Rahu.
The above is the analysis of the likelihood of the houses the results of which may appear in the sub-period of Rahu in the major-period of Venus. Now, what happens when Rahu in transit enters Sagittarius. As of now (Jan 11, 2010) Rahu is in Sagittarius and this is the eleventh house from natal Venus. Hence Rahu will give results of the eleventh house.
Jupiter is in Aquarius (the major-period planet ascendant). Hence Rahu will give results of the first house.
Further, Rahu is placed in a sign of Jupiter so it gives again the results of the first house from natal Venus.
Rahu is in a constellation of the Sun which is in Sagittarius hence the above conclusion will be reiterated.
Rahu is in Sagittarius navamsha.
Rahu will therefore give results in its current transit of the first and eleventh houses. This is valid till Jan 14 when the Sun changes sign and a fresh analysis is required to be carried out.

Analysis of a Transit

Transits have been very tricky. Should we take them from the natal Moon or the ascendant is a question that has been exercising the minds of all. Each one of us has worked out his own solution to the issue.

Why should a transit be analysed from the Moon? In ancient times when birth time was not known accurately, this could have been a workable via media, but today when this is not the case, taking the Moon sign as the ascendant for analysing transits is not acceptable.

A better alternative is the ascendant. Why? Because all the persons having their Moon in the same sign could be further subdivided into twelve sets according to their natal ascendants. This enables us to give twelve distinguishable predictions to all these persons who otherwise would have got the same prediction.

How can we distinguish further? It is not right that everybody in this world should get the same prediction out of a set of twelve predictions at any given point of time. Here comes in the use of major-period planets. There are nine planets the Vimshottari major-periods of which run at any moment of time in different charts. When we are analysing the effect of a sub-period in a major-period we take the place of the major-period planet as the ascendant and analyse the sub-period accordingly. For example, if the major-period of Jupiter placed in Aries is running and we wish to know the effect of sub-period of Mars placed in Virgo, we will take Aries as the ascendant. We will notice that Mars is placed in the sixth house from Jupiter in an inimical sign and therefore according to the significations of the sixth house and its own it should cause an accident or injury in its sub-period. Since it is the owner of the ascendant signified by the major-period planet (Aries) placed in the sixth house it will cause the common signification of the sixth house and its own to appear on the physical body. Mars and sixth house both signify injury and accidents. Therefore the likelihood of injury/accident is more than that of a dispute arising.

Similarly, when we analyse the transit from the place of the major-period we should notice the placement of the planet in transit from the natal major-period planet and analyse its effect at that time. For example, suppose in the above illustration, Mars is occupying the fourth house (Cancer) in transit from natal Jupiter. Both Mars and the fourth house signify property. Since it is also the owner of the ascendant (place of major-period planet) it involves the self of the individual in matters relating to property. Hence during the transit of Mars through Cancer this person will be involved in handling property. As Mars would be debilitated here the results may not be too satisfactory. Going into the nakshatras in the fourth house, when Mars enters Cancer, it will be in the nakshatra of Jupiter. Since Jupiter owns the ninth and twelfth houses from Aries, this would be the time when the individual tries to dispose of the property of his father (ninth house and twelfth house). The individual will get stalled in his efforts when Mars enters the nakshatra of Saturn and he would face obstacles and may decide to earn through (Saturn ownership of the tenth and eleventh houses) that property and when it enters the nakshatra of Mercury he may part with it (third house/twelfth from fourth ownership of Mercury). We can analyse all the nine planets in transit in this manner and we will notice that this method gives much closer to real experience results.

The analysis of a transit from the natal position of the major-period planet has another advantage. The transits of major planets like Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu will pose the question of repetition of results if we analyse from the natal Moon. The position of ascendant determined by the natal position of major-period planet will probably differ with each return of the major planet. Jupiter returns after twelve years, Saturn after thirty and Rahu/Ketu after eighteen. Hence with each return of a major-period planet the possibility of the same major-period continuing remains slender.

We must super-impose this analysis over the conclusions drawn by taking the planet in transit from the natal ascendant, but this we will discuss in another blog. Further, another very interesting avenue opens when we consider transits from the natal position of the sub-period planet!!

Years each planet rules

Indian astrological tradition has been of the view that Saturn rules the first six years of a person's life. Rahu follows Saturn. It rules the years 7th to 12th, Ketu then comes in and rules the 13th to 15th years, followed by Jupiter that controls the life between the 16th to 21st years. The Sun is repsonsible for the 22nd and 23rd years, the Moon for the 24th year, Venus for the 25th to 27th year, Mars from the 28th to 33rd year and Mercury from the 34th to 35th year. After the 35th year the cycle repeats for the next 35 years and so on to the end of life.Therefore the 36th year to 41st year is again ruled by Saturn and so on.
The results pertaining to houses and karakas that a planet is related to would appear in the years allotted to that planet. For example, between the 51st to 56th year, if Jupiter is related to Rahu, and to the eleventh and ninth houses, the person may travel abroad. When Venus is related to Jupiter and to the fifth and eleventh houses the person may have a love affair between his 25th and 27th year. If Venus is related to Saturn and to the fifth and twelfth houses, the romance may come to an end during these years.
The transit of planets during their respective years is of primary importance and would produce results that their relationships indicate in the birth chart. For example, if Venus shows break in romance, during its transit in the years allotted to it, when it comes in contact with Saturn, the fifth and twelfth houses at the same time, it will bring the romance to an end.
There are techniques that help us in isolating the year within the band of years allotted to a planet in which one of the many events promised by a planet in its band of years would happen. The exact month and even day can then be determined through the use of its transit. We will discuss these techniques in a subsequent blog.

Karakas:Edited and Amplified

I have come back after a long time. So let us not waste time. Let us talk of some important aspect, say the karakas.
What are the karakas? These are nine planets. Each planet is by nature inclined to produce events relating to some aspects of human life. To take a few examples, the Sun is the karaka for father, status, heart, abdomen, fire etc. The Moon is the karaka for mother, water, home, mind, chest, female genitalia etc. Mars represents younger siblings, disputes, litigation, accidents, injury, surgery, immovable property, etc. Mercury should be examined for education, speech, writing, communication, mother's younger siblings, etc. Jupiter stands for wealth, children,scholarship, elder siblings, husband, finance, etc. Venus is the karaka for wife, women, sex, vehicles, luxury, kidneys, etc. Saturn is the karaka for death, longevity, disease, obstacles, debts, danger, profession, loss, delay, etc. Rahu should be studied for journeys abroad, diplomacy, riots, fraud, incarceration etc; and, Ketu for spiritualism, black magic, moksha, etc. If a karaka is strong and is not afflicted by adverse planets in a chart, it would persuade us to believe that matters relating to the karaka would show a healthy existence. But we notice that this is not entirely true in life. An individual is wealthy but he has no children; a man has a luxurious car but he has a perpetually ailing wife; a man goes abroad and gets jailed there. Such illustrations can be quoted without end. So there have to be some more elements to be considered.Therefore, we must also see if the concerned house is also similarly well placed. Suppose Venus is healthy in the chart and the fifth house is also strong and unafflicted, the individual is expected to be happy in his romantic affiliations.
A karaka cannot be read in isolation. If you are looking for the status of the individual in a chart, besides the Sun, you have to examine the tenth house from the ascendant; if for his home, then the fourth house with the Moon; if for his younger siblings, then Mars and the third house; if for his education, the fourth house and Mercury; if for his wealth, Jupiter and the second house; if for his wife, Venus and the seventh house; if for his profession, the tenth house and Saturn; if for his loss of liberty, Rahu and the twelfth house; and if for his spiritual status, Ketu and the twelfth house. When the house and the karaka are strong and they do not bear adverse influence, that aspect of life of the individual will flourish and he will be a happy man in that regard. Illustration, if Jupiter and the fifth house are good, the individual will have good children and he will be happy with them. Yet, there is scope of doubt.
Parashar here has introduced another element. In Chapter 32 verses 22-24 of his magnum opus Brihat Parashar Hora Shastra he has said that to examine any aspect of life the same number of house should be examined from the karaka as from the ascendant. Therefore if you wish to study the father of an individual you ought also to study the ninth house from the karaka Sun as the ninth from the ascendant. Therefore we now have three elements, viz., the karaka, the house from the ascendant and the house from the karaka. Each element has to be scrutinised closely to reach a conclusion about any aspect of life of a person.
An event can happen in the period of a planet only when the planet is a karaka for that event, or it is related to the right karaka. If the mother of the individual is going to pass away, the period planets, ie, the major, sub and inter-period planets should each one of them be related to the Moon (event relating to mother) and Saturn (loss through death). Suppose the major-period of Jupiter, the sub of Mars and the inter of Venus were current when the mother died. Then Jupiter, Mars and Venus will be seen to be related to the Moon and Saturn in the birth chart. The question is should each of these planets also be related to the fourth house from the ascendant. The major-period planet has to be related to the fourth house from the ascendant; the sub-period planet should be related to the fourth house from the place occupied by the major-period planet; and, the inter-period planet should be related to the fourth house from the sub-period planet. In the same manner, the planets should be related to the eighth and twelfth houses. Further, the three planets must also be related to the fourth house from the Moon and the eight and twelfth from Saturn.
What happens when a planet is not related to a karaka but is related to the two relevant houses? To be more concrete, the dasa of Mercury is running; it is related to the fifth house, and the fifth house from Jupiter, but it is not related to Jupiter. Clearly, nothing relating to children will transpire in that dasa. The thumb rule is that a planet must be related to all the three elements for it to produce results relating to that aspect of life.
The question of relationship between planets and houses therefore assumes considerable importance. We will discuss it in the next blog.
May 23, 2009 3:51 AM

I would again submit to all friends using this site that the free service on this blog is meant for succour to persons who are facing specific problems in their lives. This blog is not meant for general reading of the chart or for satisfying curious correspondents. A general reading of the chart or specific aspect of life can be attended to by any astrologer or even by me as a professional service.