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CHAPTER IX :: DELINEATING A CHART; ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS
Let us jump in with both feet and look at the analysis of the first house in a horoscope so that readers may enjoy a sampling of vedic astrology in the field!
THE CHART:
SIGN PLANET/LIGHTS/LUNAR NODES Cancer Ascendant Leo Rahu (north lunar node) Libra Mars Aquarius Moon, sun, saturn, mercury, ketu (s. node) Aries Jupiter, venus
What could be simpler? I will actively avoid reference to the star and sub positions which require accurate longitudes and are of greater importance when life events and time periods are being analyzed, just to keep things simple.
Cancer rises. It is an emotional, sensitive, watery sign giving a phlegmatic disposition. Its lord moon in this horoscope is placed in the 8th house in aquarius. Aquarius is an airy, fixed sign and would have a major influence in shaping the expression of the moon in this horoscope. We must also look at the sign dispositor of moon. That would be saturn, the lord of aquarius (remember, this is a vedic trip, so no uranus!) which is placed in aquarius. We therefore see that the flexible emotional inner forces of moon are being expressed within the intellectual, airy, rigid confines of orderly, methodical saturn. This person was a stickler for details and very obsessive and deliberate in his actions. The moon would also be influenced by sun, ketu and mercury which heighten the orderliness and rigidity and limit emotions.
Let us now turn our attention to the physical features. This is where one has to keep in mind the racial differences. A medium height for one race might be 62 inches but for another that might be 69 inches! In the northern hemisphere, cancer is a medium ascension sign, aquarius is short, therefore the individual is likely to be of medium to short height. Ketu and sun give medium to tall height, saturn and mercury give small to medium height. Pooling all these influences together, the individual is likely to be of medium height, which he was (about 65 inches). Cancer nativities generally have abundant hair, the association of moon with sun would eventually lead to baldness. The second house (my only digression from the first house, I promise) aspected by cruel planets (sun, saturn, ketu) and occupied by rahu gives cruel somewhat angry eyes and a low-volume but raspy voice, specially so when raised. The lord of ascendant in a malefic house (6th, 8th or 12th are malefic, 1,2,4,5,7,9,10 are benefic and 3,11 are mixed), in this case the 8th SUPERFICIALLY might indicate a person with self-inflicted obstructions, produced by one's idiosyncracies and angularities and someone who is always at logger heads with the 'system'. Moon being the ascendant lord is likely to color this rebellion with emotional, impulsive reactions. If we stopped there we would be so far from the truth! This man did experience lots of obstacles and obstructions in life (poverty during childhood and youth to name one) but he always covered up his emotional reactions and kept impulsiveness under check by being a very methodical, often obsessive, seemingly cold, even-headed person. He was an authoritarian to boot. The moon is in aquarius with saturn, mercury and sun. The strength of the ascendant is buttressed by the fact that the dispositor of moon, saturn is located in the same house with moon. Saturn is very strong, being in its moolatrikona sign. Saturn is also the karaka or executor for the 8th house and its placement there makes that house very strong and imparts strength to all the houses ruled by the planets associated with it, namely moon (1st), sun (2nd) and mercury (3rd and 12th). The ascendant is also rendered very strong by the exchange between the lords of 4th and 10th (mars in 4th and venus in 10th). Mars is a special benefic for cancer ascendants because it owns two benefic houses (10th and 5th) and if it is placed in a good house bestows great strength to the ascendant. All of the above discussion might lead one into believing that the ascendant lord placed in the 8th house loses the malefic nature of such a disposition, but what really happens (or rather what happened specifically in the case of the chart under discussion) in such a situation is that the obstacles, often self-imposed are used for moving on. This person worked throughout his life in a step-by-step manner. He placed limitations and checkpoints in his path so that slowly one by one he reached those intermediate goals and reviewed his position before moving on to the next step, always moving further and upwards in both a materialistic and spiritual sense. He used the obstacles as a mountain climber uses spikes. An unfortified ascendant lord in a similar configuration might have resulted in the native getting blocked by the obstacle rather than using it as a catapult for moving ahead. The eighth is also a private, secret, hidden house and the ascendant lord there indicates a highly introverted and introspective person whose exposed face is only the tip of an iceberg. Moon is also the significator of emotions and a person with the moon in 8th (in general and specially if it is the ascendant lord) would make active attempts to hide one's emotions in a conscious and subconscious manner. Such people use denials, blocking, repression and supression as defenses against situations and emotions which might arouse anxiety in them. The presence of mercury gives the person a tendency to rationalize everything and to depend excessively on his reasoning faculties. Aquarius, the mystic, philosophical and progressive sign is very prominent in the horoscope because the indicators for self (ascendant lord), mind (moon), soul (sun) and intellect (mercury) are all placed therein. The presence of all these indicators in one sign gives rise to a person with enormous intensity, focusedness and single-minded approach. This person was also an excellent negotiator, another notable characteristic of aquarius (with mercury in it).
The ascendant is undeniably the most important house in a horoscope and one's mission in life in a capsule is provided by the star and sub in which the rising degree happens to fall. The houses ruled by and occupied by the starlord indicate the areas in one's life which are deemed as important by the native and success or failure in those endeavors during one's lifetime are indicated by the placement of the asterismal subdivision lord from the starlord's houses and its house of occupancy. In the case of this native, the ascendant was in the star and sub of saturn. Saturn rules over the 7th and 8th houses and is placed in 8th. The major tasks therefore are centered around internal and external growth, establishing a link between these two areas (translating ideas into concrete actions) through negotiations and invoking help from outside agencies. The eighth house deals with institutions and the biggest achievement of this person was in creating and running an institution for medical education and research. With enormous dynamism, resourcefulness, exemplary personal integrity, selflessness and sacrifice and against enormous odds, this person achieved this goal, thanks to the benefic disposition (both from 7th and 8th houses) of the ascendant sublord saturn.
This is where we come across the need for synthesizing several influences in a horoscope. Would this person have achieved all of this if there were no rajayogas in the 4th and 10th houses? Perhaps, but only as a helper and not as a leader and initiator. We must never lose sight of such a synthesis of influences in a horoscope. A horoscope is similar to a city map (or for that matter a genetic map). There are hundreds of destinations and several routes for reaching those. The ones that would be actually traveled by the native (similar to the limited number of expressed genetic traits from thousands of such traits) are indicated by special yogas and astrological traits which exist in a chart and highlight a combination of houses the effects of which are usually brought into play during conducive periods (dashas).
Even before one starts looking at the combinations and harmonics or other details, one must first look at the two set of trines that exist in each chart. The subjective and spiritual trine that is formed by the 1st, 5th and 9th houses. The worldly or objective trine is formed by the houses that lie opposite to those forming the personal trine, 7th, 11th and 3rd. Most of the activities that human beings carry out are in one way or the other connected to these two sets of trinal houses. The personal trine is obviously most important, for it deals with the substance that one comes equipped with! The first house or ascendant (lagna) is considered the most important house in any horoscope and signifies the nature or attributes of the 'essence' that manifested in the earthly plane as the individual. The ninth house, amongst other elements, signifies the portion of karma that is ripe for the picking. Little wonder that the 9th house indicates one's fortune or luck. Since it also signifies one's father, it must be considered to assess where the soul is coming from (past, or what led to the current manifestation). The fifth house indicates one's creativity, children and the karmic investments, in other words, the part of the plan which tells one, where s/he is headed for. The three houses must be carefully examined for without the necessary strength and balance, one would not have everything in place which is conducive for a fruitful, strong and happy presence.
The 'cosmic life-energy' that enters one through the subjective trine is projected outwardly through the objective trine formed by the 7th, 11th and 3rd. These houses govern issues such as siblings (3rd for younger, 11th for older), friends (11), spouse (7), business associates (7), earnings (11), effort and courage (3). People and situations which force us to interact others at a physical worldly level, but which determines to a large extent our happiness on a day-to-day basis.
These two set of trines should ideally be strong and preferably they must be equally strong. These are tripods of life and any weakness or unbalanced skew would indicate areas which would be highlighted in life.
A simple way of looking at the strength of any house is to look at the lord of that house. If it is strong in the shadbala scheme (many programs calculate this), though my personal favorite is the even simpler scheme that I use (chapter IX). Many astrologers get enamoured by 'numbers'! One must remember that even when using the full-scale bala determinations, one must avoid using the numbers too literally. The numeric strength is just one aspect of the functional strength of a planet!
Armed with some form of an index of strength of the house-lord, we need to look at its placement in the horoscope. For this delineation, it is desirable that the lord of the trines be not placed in the malefic houses 6th, 8th or 12th from the ascendant.
Thirdly, the planet should be favorable located from the ascendant and its lord. The stronger connectivity there is between the ascendant or its lord and the trinal house-lord in question, the better that is.
The house lord should be favorably situated from its own house. If it is placed in the signs that are 6th, 8th or 12th from the trine under question, the indication is reduced in beneficience somewhat. By the time we get to this level, it must be realized that we are considering weaker influences on the planet. Some exceptions must also be taken into account. If the lord of the 5th house is located in the fourth house, it is in the 12th house from the 5th and may not be all that bad. However, if the lord of fifth house is in the 12th house from the ascendant (and hence in the 8th house from the fifth), then it would be doubly 'evil' and would harm the fifth house in the chart.
One must also identify and take into account tenets such as bhavat bhavam! If the lord of the 3rd house is situated in the 5th, and hence in the 3rd from 3rd, this gives added strength to the capability of the lord of the third house. Similarly look for the 2nd lord in 3rd house, the 4th lord in 7th, etc.
Much of Jyotish depends on planetary associations. A chart might have strong planets by one or several counts, but if they do not network or connect properly, then one must use caution in delineation. While looking at any house, not only is its lord important, but also its sign dispositor (and its star dispositor as well, for advanced students!!). A strong and well-placed planet without the support of its friends and dispositor is like a dethroned king who is seeking refuge in a foreign country. He is probably a lot better off than a poor inhabitant of the host country, but his power and capability is but a shadow of what it was in his own home. It is very hard to give specific numeical values to each of these conditions because these signify a 'range' of efficacy. This range that allows possiblities is perhaps what 'free-will' and choice is all about.
One must take into account considerations such as, are the associating planets (and this goes beyond conjunctions, as in the case of the bhavat bhavam referred to earlier) friendly to each other? Are they of similar nature (benefic/malefic, similar elements or quadruplicities), are they of similar strengths or is there a difference in their strengths producing a situation where there exists a domineering protective influence of one (with its associated blessings and curses!).
Much of what I am delineating here hopefully sounds simple and commonsensically logical. If it does, then you have won a quarter of the battle. Of the rest 50% involves familiarizing yourself with the basic alphabet and grammar (who is friendly to who and where is one exalted and who is a badhaka and which planet is the karaka or executor of which house or which area of life, and the order of planetary rulership of dashas and stellar mansions and rulers and similar details). That still leaves 25% which allows you to delve into special techniques (if you wish) and studying of combinations etc. Many combinations are based on similar logical principles involving strength of planets, rulerships of significant houses (positive as well as negative) etc. My advice to all beginners is very simple. Do now allow the plethora of techniques to overwhelm you. The flashiest yoga, the most superaccurate multidimensional harmonic or ashtakavarga analysis would not get you one bit closer to being a good reader unless you master the very basic level of analysis which involves studying the interaction of the houses and their rulers in a chart and this is almost akin to weaving a story, as you synthesize the elements that the analysis of the chart provided you with. While you focus on any planet or area of a chart, try to see how it is being influenced in the chart and always, ALWAYS, when you find something very important or earth-shaking in a chart, try really hard to see if there is corroborating evidence pointing in the same direction as your original deduction. The more number of pointers that you find, the more confident you can be of such a delineation.
Let us now look at another chart, something from the other end of the human spectrum,
VEDIC: SIDEREAL CHART of J.Dahmer, the Wisconsin serial killer.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ITEM LON NAV SI ST SU % x x xx x x =========================== x x x x Rahu x x ASCEN 26 leo me ma ju - | x x LIB x x x x MOON 27 aqu ju me ju 64 | x x x x LEOx x SUN 13 pis ve su ke 74 | x SCO xx xx CAN x MERC 13 ari ve mo ra 45 | x x x x x x VENUS 29 sag ma su ma 54 | x x x VIR x x x MARS 15 sco ju sa ra 78 | x x JuR x x x x JU (R)09 gem ju ke ju 66 | x x SAG xx GEM x x SAT(R)25 sco ju ve me 57 | x x SaR x x x x RAHU 29 sag su su ma -- | x x x x x x KETU 29 gem sa ju su -- | x x x PIS x x sun x | x x x x x x DASHA: ME-ju till 3JAN 62 | x CAP xx xx TAU x ===========================| x x x moon mars x x merc x |LAHIRI AYANAMSHA: 23.30d | x x AQU x x ARI x x | 05.21.1960 | x x x x x x | 4:34 PM (5 h) | x x ketu x x x x | 87W54 43N01 | x xx venus x | | xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ============================
The diamond shaped houses are the angles, the first house (ascendant) being the one at the top (virgo) followed by the second (libra) and so on.
A cursory look at the chart reveals nothing very extraordinary! Fairly strong planets (this was not going to be an ordinary, also ran soul!), with virgo rising with the ascendant lord mercury in the ninth house in taurus with the sun. Superficially, good for spirituality and for one's physical appearance. Until one realizes the oft-repeated dictum of vedic astrology! Look at the house lordships and not just planets! The ascendant lord (who is also the lord of 10th) associated with the lord of 12th (sun) in one of the tripods of life, the 9th trine! For mutable signs, the lord of 7th house is a planet capable of causing obstructions, incarcerations and jupiter, which is also tainted by virtue of the dictum that benefics as lords of angles (7th and 4th in this case) can be trouble! Well such a tainted Jupiter is associated in the 4th house with the lord of 5th (saturn) which takes 'care' of the other tripod of life! And saturn is placed in the 12th house from its own house, and hence incapable of providing any support to the fifth house. The lord of the 9th house (venus) is placed in the 8th house (confinement, incarceration, obstacles, hidden acts) making it unhelpful to the ascendant as well as the 9th house. Nothing good so far!
Then we see the association of mars and moon in the 7th house. Moon is the significator of mind and emotions and is placed in the mystic and impressionable pisces. Pisces moons are charged with emotions and very susceptible to suggestions. While this makes them highly clairsentient and empathic, the presence of mars in its viscinity does not auger well. The combination is too incendiary, too explosive. A vedic dictum states that those who have mars and moon in the same sign, are involved in businesses that profit from the other gender. The gamut runs wide, from the illegal to the legal (cosmetics for instance!). Such an individual is also endowed with an intense temper and can go mad with rage! Being in the 7th house, one's sexual practices are not likely to be anywhere near what is considered normal or conventional. Alcohol and substance abuse is more likely than not, as is cruelty towards other living beings in thought, words or action. There is one caveat though! If either mars or moon happen to be the lord of ascendant (mars/moon combo with aries, scorpio or cancer ascending), then the 'energy' of this combination is available for good purposes. In JD's case, the mars/moon in pisces in the 7th spell definite trouble.
The ascendant sublord is jupiter (tainted considerable as described above) and this key personal planet is definitely not in a very helpful state here. Yet another negative factor is the 6/8 position of the ascendant lord (mercury) and the ascendant sublord (jupiter), incapable of helping and strengthening each other mutually. The retrograde state of jupiter and saturn in the fourth house indicate enormous stresses in JD's mind. His mother probably went through a phase in her life when she faced the strain of expansion and contraction, whether to turn outward or inward, and a large degree of mental pain and uncertainty. This is a strong sign of unstability!
JD killed his first victim in 1978 in the dasha of Venus and subperiod of mars. At the alleged time of murder, scorpio was rising with the sun was transiting the 8th house in the star of mars and sub of venus, the moon was in jupiter's star (jupiter being the planet of obstacles for reasons stated above). The transits of luminaries are considered indicative of sensitive periods during dashas and usually the effects are seen during the days or periods when these are transiting the stars of the dasha/subperiod lords, mars and venus in this case. The nature and motive behind the murders is not quite outside the domain of the planets involved, with distorted form of love, rage, aggression and control, attributes of an imbalanced mars and the outcome of a venus that lies in a hidden obstructed unexpressed 8th house! The distorted mentality behind cannibalism (making a part of oneself, ultimate control and incorporation, all arising out of a very distorted and gruesome thinking).
He was apprehended in 1991 after the period of venus ended in April 1991 and the period of sun began. The few months of time when one major period finishes and another begins is generally considered as a period of adjustments and not very auspicious. As 'management' changes hands, one tends to make mistakes and is unsettled. Sun is the lord of 12th (loss, incarceration) and placed in its own star in the 9th house (justice, spiritual release). Dahmer was extremely cooperative and almost waiting for the arrest, as if! If he had that much of insight left, that is!
In his last days, according to his priest-attending's statement, he had begun to turn towards religion, had a full cognizance of the heinous acts he had performed and was even wishing to be relieved of this misery by death! Five days before he was killed, at thanksgiving, he was reading from the Book of Revelation, to his priest, "In those days shall men seek death and shall not find it, and shall desire to die and death shall flee from them". He verbalized at times that he deserved to die.
On 28th of November, he died in the dasha of sun and subperiod of saturn, when the sun was in the star of saturn and the moon was transiting through the star of sun, again indicating the interesting pattern of the luminaries being in the stars of the period/subperiod lords. The moon was transiting Dahmer's ascendant on the day of death. Saturn is a strong maraka (killer) in the chart because of its natal placement in the star of venus which rules the 2nd house (one of the killer houses) and which is afflicting the house of longevity (8th) by its presence there. Moreover, saturn is associated with jupiter the other killer and obstructive planet in this horoscope, thus adding more sting to it! The fact that the two planets are retrograde perhaps hints at the karmic/fated nature of this gruesome story.
The bitterness that existed between the parents of JD continues! A news story indicates that JD would be cremated as per his last wish and the parents are fighting over who gets the ashes.
Unlike, most serial killers who are habitual liars and psychopaths, JD always seemed curiously forthcoming with details about his murders. He confessed to all his murders very willingly and even confessed to killing someone that the police did not know about. Very mercurial, very communicative, almost as if he was studying and analysing the whole thing in a detached and dissociated manner that mercurians nativities are capable of!
Šopyrighted by Crystal Pages (1995)
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