psychologically astrology

Jyotish or Vedic astrology has so many tools, but you should know which ones to use and how to use them. There is a lot of confusion about the Ashtakvarga, so here is a very simple way of using them in interpreting transits. You will need your Ashtakvarga table. There is system on how to make them, but now with everything available on software and free online calculators, am not writing on the maths.

This is how an Ashtakvarga table looks like. This is called a ‘samudaya ashtakvarga’ or a ‘sarva ashtakvarga’, the combined table. Input your birth details into any online software and you will get a chart which looks like this.

The top row is the Signs from 1-Aries to 12-Pisces. The first right column is the Ascendant degree and the 7 planets. ‘The Eight divisions’. Rahu-Ketu are not used in this table, instead the Ascendant degree/ Lagna is considered as a full-fledged ‘planet’ by itself. Each row is the score of that planet in the specific sign, this can vary from 0-8 points. The lowest row is the combined score of every sign this can vary from 0-56. The total number of points of the grand total are 337, this is constant at the lowest right cell. (I have tried to simplify this post to the lowest possible, but you need to read the rows and columns correctly, that is it.)

So to interpret individual planetary transits. The rule is that

• if the planet is transiting a sign where its score is 5-8 then the results will be good.
• If he is transiting a sign where the score is exactly 4, it will be average, not-good, not-bad.
• If the he is transiting a sign where his score is 0-3, then the results will be  inauspicious.

If some planet has a score of 8 in a sign, the maximum score, then his transits in this sign will give you several benefits, prosperity, official favours, marriage, family times, wins over enemies, gain of land/property, promotions, leadership etc. Such opportunities will come on their own. And you can also plan and actively use such transits for auspicious activities, long journeys, new undertakings, purchase of gold/ property etc, depending on the nature of the planet and the sign involved. eg in out example table the Mercury transiting in Leo is excellent at 8 points.

Especially in the Moon’s row in your table, check which sign has the highest score. You might end up marrying someone with this sign, or your best friends will have this sign as their moon or ascendant sign. You will gain from people having this birth Moon sign. eg Moon has the highest score in Taurus in the above example table.

The intensity of the results progressively diminishes as the planet’s score in the signs diminishes. If he has the exact 4 point score in some sign, the planet transiting that sign will be neutral for you while he transits. He won’t create problems and neither will he actively aid you if you need his help. (However you can trigger his energies by using any of his remedies.) eg the Sun transiting in Gemini in the above example.

And if some sign has a score of 0 for some planet, be very very careful when that planet transits that sign. It can signify extreme misfortune. For the nature of misfortune, locate this sign in the D1 and check out what house it is in? Where is its owner? Who is occupying/aspecting it? In the D9, check the power of its owner planet, which new house does this sign shift to etc. In short, get all the information about the possible results of that this sign is capable of. Then also do a full ‘agent-analysis’, Karakatva-analysis of this particular planet too. Such transits can signify extreme misfortunes, diseases, losses, loss of wealth, loss of job/position, death of children/ wife/ parents, death of self etc. (To change this situation for the better, you should perform some spiritual practice or some remedies of the concerned planet.) The example table does not have such an example. However Saturn has a very low score of 1 point in the signs of Capricorn and Aquarius each. This would represent a Saturn- Capricorn-return for the person (his birth chart is below), so physical effects would be damaging. Saturn in Aquarius would be Saturn transiting the 8th house and also second from his own birth position, rather bad for the health and position in society.

Now an example in detail, refer to the above table. Let’s take the eg Sun. Sun transits one sign per month.

• He has score of 5-8 in the signs, Aries, Leo and Virgo. So his transits in these signs will give auspicious results for the person. Sun has the highest score in Virgo, so this transit period will give him the best possible Sun related results.
• A score of exact 4 in Gemini, Cancer, Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius and Pisces. This is a rather long list! Average indifferent results for the Sun-related things when he transits these signs.
• A score of 0-3 in the signs of Taurus, Scorpio and Capricorn. Sun’s transits in these signs will give more problems than solutions. He has the lowest score in Scorpio ie 2 points, so the Sun’s transit in this sign will be the most problematic.

Now lets cross-check if this tallies with what the chart says. (It will always tally, but this is an educational post so doing this extra analysis.) This is the chart and birth details of Aleister Crowley, the greatest occultist that the western world has produced in recent times. 12th Oct 1875, 11:43 pm at Leamington UK. This chart is so extraordinary that I have decided to use it as my example chart. This man was a superlative genius. And he has my gratitude because of all the things he did, he, with Lady Frieda Harris, designed the Thoth Tarot deck. (haven’t been able to locate her birth details). I use the Thoth deck and it is actual magic. We know a man by his creations!

See the main D1 – birth chart and D9 – navamsha. If you look at the position and the power of the Sun from these charts, you can see that the Ashtakvarga makes perfect sense. The Birth Sun is placed in the 3^rd house in Virgo. He goes to Virgo navamsha so is Vargottam, capable of giving very good result inside-out! Sun’s Virgo transits are going to give the best results. His lowest score was in Scorpio. A watery secret occult sign placed in the 5^th house the natural owner of the 5^th sign Leo is the Sun. This sign is placed third from the Birth Sun. Sun when transiting Scorpio will be in his natural house 5^th but in a watery mysterious environment. (You, a radiant king, come back to your bright sunny house and see that it is taken over by neo-goths, now its dark, full of occult paraphernalia and you are supposed to work from here, naturally you are uncomfortable.)

Now why is the ascendant sign taken a separate ‘planet’ level item in this analysis? Your ascendant sign is the ‘concentrated’ you + your environment. Sometimes you need to calculate Muhurt-s, the perfect time to perform some action. It is called Electional/ Event astrology. Now in a day, all the 12 signs rise at the east direction, each for approx 2 hours. How do you decide if this particular 2-hr time frame is good for you to buy a house or a car? Or if a person has had an accident and you know what time the accident occurred. You can use this time to find out the ashtakvarga of the ascendant sign and determine the severity of the injuries. Here we are into very high details, we are analysing how 2-hr slots on every day are going to be for the person.

So again refer to our Ashtakvarga table, this time read the ascendant sign/Lagna row.

• The rising degree has a score of 5-8 in the signs Gemini, Libra, Scorpio and Capricorn. The highest being in Scorpio and Capricorn at 6 points each. So the two 2-hours slots when Scorpio and later Capricorn rises in the east will be especially favourable for this person.
• The ascendant degree has a score of exact 4 in Taurus, Leo, Sagittarius, Aquarius and Pisces.
• And has score of 0-3 in the Aries, Cancer and Virgo. The lowest being in Virgo at 1point.

To cross-check from the D1 and D9 horoscopes. Scorpio placed in 5^th Kona house, its owner Mars exalted, placed with Saturn in 7^th Kendra house. Capricorn in 7^th house containing an exalted Mars and its owner Saturn. Genius coupled with the ability to think, analyse, use with discipline, power and balance etc. This is backed up by the D9, Scorpio becomes the 1^st house and Mars remains vargottam, exalted and in the 3^rd house. Capricorn goes to the 3^rd house and Saturn shifts to the 11^th house. This combination is quite good, so the personality is most productive, well-balanced when the ascending signs are Scorpio or Capricorn. (This person was obviously famous in society as a very high level occultist, a mountaineer, a spy, numerous affairs/marriages and more things!)

One more point, look at the totals row, the lowest row, where the total score of each sign is computed. Here the range is from 0-56 points for each sign. The mid-point is 28. A sign with a score of 30+ points generally gives better results than a sign with -25 points. Signs with scores 25-30 give average results. This is a very generic statement, but good enough for a very rough understanding.

So your practical exercise for today is, use any online Ashtakvarga generator. Input in your birth details. See how your Ashtak-varga table looks like. Take a screen-shot or download or print it. Then for each planet check out which signs are in the 0-3 category, in the exact 4 points category and in the 5-8 points category. You need to do this only once. Write this information down for your easy reference. You can mark it on your table with different coloured pens or make a table and keep it on your desk. So now you know which sign transit for which planet would give very good results, indifferent results or inauspicious results. Then when the current planets change their signs in the sky, just refer to this table and get your instant transit readings. (But then, as usual, you will need to know what your this planet signifies in your chart for the exact events. So natural agent and chart-specific agent analysis is always the first step.)

So this was on using the Ashtakvarga for analysing the power of a planet to give his results during his transits through the various signs. Earlier this table was quite typical to calculate, but with software, it is as easy as a click of a button. So do use it, it is always accurate. No complicated stuff to learn by rote. But you will need to find out what your planet stands for in your chart first, this is the first step of every astrological analysis. This can be as simple as matching keywords to begin with. Later you can add more shades of meanings as you learn and observe yourself more.

Have written more on Ashtakvarga here.