A simple technique to help you gain deep insights into your motivations, expectations and things which silently support you. Also the subtle dissatisfaction which seems to forever surround certain aspects of your life. (For overt problems, this post) And this analysis is derived from the planetary natural friendships.

Our Jyotish texts are in the sutra form, where one word in Sanskrit actually means several things. मित्र Mitra which is loosely translated to ‘friend’ in English means ‘someone who reciprocates positivity’. Sakha सखा is someone who does positive stuff for you out of the goodness of his heart without expecting anything in return. (Bhagwan Krishna is always called Sakha never Mitra. And the Sun is always called Mitra, not Sakha.) 

For this analysis you need to know just the beginner level stuff,

• The ascendant lord of your basic birth chart
• The lords of each of the houses of your basic birth chart.
• The keywords of each of the houses ie the people, situations, locations etc that each house represents.
• And the basic table of planetary friendships

This is the sample chart I use on this blog. Aleister Crowley, 12th Oct 1875, 11: 42pm, Leamington Spa, Britain. He is dead, has lived quite a happening life, with recorded incidents and is a good study subject.

The ascendant sign is Cancer and the ascendant lord is Moon. The sign is summary of the personality and the environment in which the person moves. And its lord determines the ability of the person to coordinate his personality and the environment he is in. A strong ascendant lord is better able to use the innate traits of the personality and turn the environment he is in to his advantage.

The 2^nd lord is the Sun. The Sun and Moon consider each other to be natural friends. So Crowley was quite comfortable in the matters of the 2^nd house, ie close family, accumulated resources, personal history, speaking, small gatherings of known people etc. And the people/ activities of the 2^nd were also fruitful for him in a positive feedback loop.

Then the house opposite to the 2^nd is the 8^th ruled by Saturn. Moon considers Saturn to be neutral. But Saturn considers Moon to be an enemy. So Crowley was neutral about the matters of the 8^th but the keywords of the 8^th house had great potential to harm him on several levels. And because he felt neutral towards these 8^th things, he would have neither noticed the damage nor acted to control it. 

The 3^rd house has Virgo ruled by Mercury. Moon considers Mercury to be a friend but Mercury considers Moon as a natural enemy. So though Crowley felt hopeful and optimistic about the matters of the 3^rd house, these people/ activities had a greater potential to cause him stress. This means his extended family, teammates, trade and small business activities, writing, short travels, etc would not really support him. And because he felt positive towards these things, he would not have even believed that these could harm him so he would have not acted in time to reduce the damage.

The house opposite is the 9^th house ruled by Jupiter. Moon considers Jupiter to be neutral and Jupiter considers Moon to be a friend. So though Crowley would not have had much expectations from the people/ things that the 9^th house represents, but these same things would have supported him in numerous ways. The 9^th house is the elders, ancestors, luck, karmic merits of the past lives, blessings of the Guru etc. But the personality being neutral to these things means that Crowley would not have been interested in making the most of the positive potential that his 9^th represented.

The 4^th house is ruled by Venus. Moon considers Venus to be neutral while Venus considers Moon to be an enemy. So though Crowley would have been neutral about the matters of the 4^th house these same things would have caused him pain on several levels. The 4^th house is the mother, maternal relatives, homeland, school level education, residence, lands, property etc. And feeling neutral towards the 4^th things also means not proactively working to nip these issues in the bud.

On the other side, the 10^th is ruled by Mars. Moon is neutral towards Mars. And Mars considers Moon to be a friend. So though Crowley was neutral towards the profession, salary, social status, etc there was a significant potential for these things of the 10^th things to support him. But he was not interested in making the most of these 10^th keywords.

The 5^th house is ruled by Mars and its opposite 11^th house is ruled by Venus. So similar dynamics with the Moon as the 4/10 houses above.

The 6^th house is ruled by Jupiter and the house opposite is the 12^th ruled by Mercury. Again similar dynamics with the Moon as the 3/9 axis above.

And finally the 7^th house is ruled by Saturn who considers Moon as an enemy while Moon is neutral towards him. Thus the partner that Crowley desired the most actually considered him to be an enemy. He felt neutral towards his partnerships, business dealings, legal issues, profits from business, adored deity, spiritual practices like meditation, etc, but these things had the potential to cause great harm to his personality, his environment and the interaction between his personality and his environment. And his neutrality towards all this 7^th stuff would have not let him act for resolving these stressful issues.

This basic understanding can be improved by factoring the planets present in the houses.

• Eg the 7^th house – Saturn, the owner of the 7^th in the 7^th itself increased the potential for damage that the 7^th could inflict on the personality. Mars, the owner of the 5^th and 10^th (yogkarak) in the 7^th would have been great if he were alone here, but he is conjunct Saturn, which spoilt his capacity to give positive results. His energy is channelised by Saturn and this has allowed the 7^th /Saturn even greater potential to harm the personality. 

If you have noted in the series above, the houses opposite each other are never ruled by mutual natural friends of the ascendant lord. This rule is applicable to all the ascendant signs/ lords and across all the houses axes but with one notable exception. The Venus Mars pair are both neutral towards each other. This dynamics is clearly reflected in the people with Aries, Taurus, Libra and Scorpio ascendents ruled by Venus/ Mars. Both Venus and Mars tolerate each other and neither sabotages the other’s significations. If you have such charts in your collection, then note the interaction these people have with their spouses, business partners etc, the 7^th house things. These four ascendants have the most balanced relationships with their mirrors, significant halves, shadows, ‘fill in the blanks’. And as per the Bhavat bhavam concept, if the 7^th house is secure then the entire personality as a whole remains balanced.

These four ascendants of Mars and Venus are special in another way. Their kona ie 5th and 9th house owners are mutually natural friends and also friends with the ascendant lords. This is a great advantage – the creative intelligence, life foundations and the personality are in a positive feedback loop. This is applicable for the Leo, Capricorn and Aquarius ascendants too. These seven ascendant signs potentially have a powerful Dharma trikon which can propel them onwards on a fast track to a fulfilling life.

In your chart, check if the 5th or the 9th lord considers the ascendant lord as an enemy or vice versa. In this case you will have to take extra efforts in these critical aspects of life. 

For the four ascendants ruled by Mercury and Jupiter, there is a typical situation. Jupiter sees Mercury as an enemy. Mercury considers Jupiter as a neutral. So in the chart, the four kendra houses suffer because of this tension between the two. The kendra, 1 4 7 10 houses are the pillars of the chart, responsible for the material support that the personality gets in life. If you observe your sample charts/people of these ascendants you will see that they have several issues simmering below the surface. Their personality/ environment, family life, profession, relationship with father/boss, money flow, relationship with the spouse etc reflects this discomfort between the 4 kendra house lords.

When you analyse your own chart, note the following ‘enemies’. 

1. For those houses whose owner considers your ascendant lord to be an enemy, but your ascendant lord considers to be a friend – You will have to tone down your expectations from these houses. Pay attention to the small things which start going wrong, the red flags. Do not ignore early warning signs and take corrective action immediately to avoid major damage.
2. For those houses whose owner considers your ascendant lord to be an enemy, but your ascendant lord considers to be neutral. Here you will tend to ignore the house and its issues. So try to pay attention, get involved even if you do not want to and resolve the issues of these houses in time, before they become unmanageable.

You can similarly find out the houses which are supportive to your personality, ie the houses owned by planets who consider your ascendant lord as a friend. You should change your attitude towards these facets of your life depending on whether your ascendant lord feels friendly, inimical or neutral towards these.

Analysing your horoscope in this way will add to your understanding of the dark and bright halves concept (here and here). Do note how the thread of karma weaves through the houses from the perspective of the ascendant.

If the house in the dark half is supportive to the personality then the house opposite to it in the bright half is not and vice versa. So you are more comfortable or really happy only in one of these two houses opposite each other, never equally comfortable in both. You can either turn inwards or outwards, never both at the same time.

(Use astrology to decipher your own personality, it is a more fulfilling way of applying Jyotish. If you can consciously channelise your personality and use your environment, you will be more successful in life.)