HELP FOR VEDIC BEGINNERS (Part Four)

"When God created the world, He gave us astrology so He could drop a few hints". -the Space Cowboy


This is my FINAL ARTICLE in the series, "Help for Vedic Beginners". My intent was to provide beginners with enough of a foundation in the basics that they will feel confident about pursuing further self-study, and-or taking an actual class in a specialized topic like yogas. Beginners out there, please let me know what you think after reading all four articles in the series.

For those of you who are proficient in Vedic astrology, and who are just reading to "brush up", or for an idea or two that you might have missed, I would be interested in hearing whether there are any beginning topics that I should have addressed, and didn't. Please take the time to read all four articles before commenting.

And now, without further ado...


WHY ARE VEDIC CHARTS SO HARD TO READ?

Vedic horoscopes come in two flavors – North Indian style and South Indian style.
The South Indian style is much easier for a beginner to read, but it has not gained widespread use in the Vedic world. Most Vedic charts on the Web are North Indian style. If you purchase a detailed Vedic horoscope, it will almost certainly come with North Indian style charts.

James Braha uses the South Indian style charts in his book, “Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern Western Astrologer”. The cover is actually a depiction of his natal chart in the South Indian style. He does this in order to make the book more accessible to beginners.

NORTH-INDIAN STYLE HOROSCOPES

Since North-Indian style charts get the most play, let’s take a look at Angelina Jolie’s horoscope as an example. She was born June 4, 1975 at 9:09 am in Los Angeles, CA.

The diamond - shaped box at the top of the horoscope is the Ascendant. Venus is right on the Ascendant (see “Analysis of Angelina Jolie’s Vedic Horoscospe” in Sources, for a good Vedic analysis of her horoscope.)

Now take a look at the numbers…these are the key to a North-Indian style chart. The “4” is the 4th sign of the zodiac, which is Cancer. Jolie has a Cancer Ascendant.

Don’t make the same mistake that this author made when she was a beginner and assume that the house with the “1” must be the Ascendant. The diamond-shaped house at the top of the chart is ALWAYS THE ASCENDANT.

If you’re not sure which house is the second house, remember that Leo, the fifth sign of the zodiac, comes after Cancer. So the house with the “5” is the second house, and this chart is meant to be read counter-clockwise.

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There is quite a bit of good Vedic analysis of Angelina Jolie’s chart on the Web – I only mentioned one author in the sources for this article. For readers who are interested in a good biography, I recommend, “Angelina: An Unauthorized Biography” by Andrew Morton.

There are just a couple of observations that I would like to make – one is that this is an incredible horoscope for having children. Jupiter is the karaka (or “indicator”) for children – it is in its ruling sign of Pisces and located in the 9th House (its own house). This is the strongest possible combination of sign and house for Jupiter.

Jupiter is conjunct the Moon (motherhood), and the Moon is Lord of the Ascendant – indicating Jolie’s very strong relationship with her own mother, and also her desire to be a mother, (with Jupiter’s power of expansion influencing the Moon).

Plus the most powerful indicator of craving and insatiable desire in a Vedic horoscope is normally Rahu – which just happens to be located alone in the 5th House of children, so it’s energy is unmitigated by the influence of any other planet. Rahu is also a foreigner, and the 5th House represents the first child – her first child was indeed a foreign adoption.

In Vedic astrology, odd-numbered houses that follow the 5th House represent one’s relationship with particular children, and/or their qualities. The stelliums in the 9th and 11th houses of her horoscope suggest a powerful, fated relationship with her two daughters, Zahara and Shiloh. Her interaction with Zahara, and Zahara’s own personal qualities, are embodied by the planets of Jolie’s 9th House – Moon, Jupiter, and Mars. The planets in her 11th house (Ketu, Sun, and Mercury) influence her dynamic with Shiloh, and also the traits Shiloh displays herself.

The other observation I would make is that individuals like Angelina Jolie who are powerfully in touch with their life-path may experience a strong planetary maturation, even if the planet is not in a sign of rule, exaltation, or fall. Thus, Jolie realized a lifelong dream around the age of 36 when she directed her first film, “In The Land of Blood and Honey”. Her 12th House Saturn in Gemini is neither in its sign of rule or fall, but it is significant that the 12th House represents living and working in foreign lands - her role in "Blood and Honey" was a summation of all of her third-world development experience to date.

Seeing Saturn yield this sort of energy on maturation does seem to hint that there will be intense life experience regarding one or more of her children around the age of 42 when her Rahu matures - note its position in the 5th House.

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MINI-VEDIC LESSON #2
Q:

This is a south-Indian style chart with a Leo Ascendant. Saturn is in the 9th House, and Jupiter is in the 3rd House. Quiz yourself – what does this mean?

A:

Saturn is fallen in Aries in the 9th House of Luck, Higher Learning, and Philosophical Values. The 9th House also represents the guru and the father. Having a fallen planet in the House of Luck sets the native up for a difficult life.
Jupiter is in the 3rd House in Libra, which confers talent in written or spoken communications, and blessings for the siblings, rather than for the native. Jupiter is also in Libra, Saturn’s traditional sign of exaltation, so it is slightly weaker than usual.

Take-Away Lesson:
In Jyotish, fallen planets cast a positive aspect into the house opposite them, while ruling or exalted planets cast a negative aspect into the house opposite them. In this example, fallen Saturn casts positive energy toward the 3rd House, which further strengthens the impact of 3rd House Jupiter.

Conclusion:
This native will not do as well as his or siblings in terms of material success. Higher education will likely be ruined in some way, and this may be linked to the lack of material success. An astrologer would counsel the subject to avoid resentment and envy of the siblings – it is this native’s life lesson to yield energy toward one’s siblings. He or she would also advice the subject that some 3rd House blessings will still accrue to him – he should develop whatever talent is “gifted” by this placement. If the subject is a woman, Jupiter’s nakshatra (it happens to be Swati, in this instance, although this cannot be determined from the simplified chart) will also suggest qualities of the first spouse, or first serious life partner.

SOURCE:

Vic DiCara's Look at Angelina Jolie

PART THREE - If you want the previous article in this series.

PART ONE - If you want to jump all the way back to the beginning of this series.