A short post today.

The 9^th house is the house of luck, divine blessings, your auspicious merits from your past lives, guidance of the Guru, ancestors, the help you get from your seniors etc (post here). Jyotish is a Vedang and we use it to know more about our own selves. When you go to an astrologer to know about your charts, you are doing it because of the power of your 9^th house inspires you to do so. You want to change your luck. To seek answers and to receive them needs an auspicious 9th house. In most Indian languages, we address Jyotishis as Guru-ji, ie we request guidance from the Parmeshwar in the form of a reading. 

A genuine Jyotishi has a Vidya and knows that if he puts price on it, the negative karma of the client will attach to him. He can only accept Dakshina willingly offered by the client. Earlier, if you wanted to consult a Jyotishi, you would go to him on an auspicious day. Offer him some flowers, fruit, money, betel leaves if you could, a Namaskar with gratitude and ask your question. He would not check how much money you had given or ask for more. He would answer to the best of his capacity (his 1-5-9 houses) and as per the punya/ auspicious merits (9^th house) of the client. The only reason where he would refuse to answer, was if the omens, Shakun, were unfavourable. Omens are linked to the workings of the 9th house of the querent.

Shakun are important in the practice of Jyotish. A Jyotishi is also called a Daivednya, ie someone who can fathom the destiny, fate, predestined events, tangles of karma, Will of the Universe etc. (This is mainly connected to the 9^th house of the client.) When you understand that you are exploring the workings of intelligent consciousness, you realise that the environment around you also offers answers. In fact the querent himself carries the answers with him. There are several books on Shakun-s which you can refer to. Shakun-s are also discussed in books on Prashna.

Shakun can be anything, the items which the client has offered to the astrologer, the gestures that the client makes as he is asking the question, the first word that the client speaks, the sound of birds/ animals in the area etc. This includes observing your own self, the Swar in your own breath can give you so many answers if you are aware. Intuition should always be acknowledged, this is also a part of the Shakun, ie if you or the client feels uneasy, confused, there is a sense of weight, stifling energy,  disturbing images flash in your mind or you feel positive, happy etc. Or some object falls down or if there is an accident on the street or you hear people arguing somewhere or you hear soothing music from the room next to yours.

All these things indicate the energy of the moment and hint at the answer to the questions. So when a client approaches an astrologer with a question, his behaviour, your own behaviour and the environment together subtly supply the answers even without referring to the charts. While reading for a client with a strong 9^th house, there will be powerful and obvious Shakun during the reading. And a Jyotishi with a powerful 5^th house will be more capable in understanding them. In the Mahabharat, the King of Gandhar was an expert at reading omens so was given the title ‘Shakuni’. 

Jyotish is not for everyone. Divination tools work only for those charts who have an auspicious Dharma trikon, ie the 1^st 5^th 9^th houses have to be powerful, especially the 9^th house. The 9^th house and its lord indicate the strength of your blessings. The help that you get. Getting a proper reading is a help from the Universe on a grand scale. In your study sample (post here), observe people who have a damaged 9^th house/lord and then observe people who have a strong 9^th house/lord. There will be a very marked difference in these two types of people. Unexpected support, lucky choices, a random event which helps, a nudge from the Universe at the right time, the 9th house plays a subtle and pivotal role in life.

The ‘luck’ that your 9^th house represents, manifests as guidance from the astrologer. That critical spark of luck is provided by the Jyotishi, who is reading your chart at this time. If your 9^th house is damaged at birth, then advice given by astrologers will rarely work for you. You might not believe in divination methods, thus not approach astrologers in the first place. The 9^th house is so important that even if your 9^th lord in transit gets debilitated or unfavourably placed etc, you will not be able to make full use of the astrologer’s guidance. However even for those who have a damaged 9^th house/lord at birth, if he gains some power in transit, then for this time duration you will temporarily be more lucky in life.

This concept also works for the astrologer himself. A good astrologer will have a powerful Dharma trikon in his birth chart. Especially the 5^th house has to be very auspicious. The 5^th house/lord is connected to Mantra-siddhi (post here). ‘Mantra’ is a Sanskrit word which also means discussions, advice and guidance. To be able to give good advice, the 5th house has to support you. The 1st house is the overall personality. You have to look convincing enough for people to approach and seek help from you. And finally your 9th house is your own ability to be the respected senior, peer, teacher, guide. But even if you have this auspiciousness in your birth chart, the ability to divine varies with the Mahadasha and the transits. Observe your own self and note how the Dasha/ transits affect your ability to read. Eg when my Dharmesh, ie 9^th lord gets combust or retrograde, debilitated or afflicted by malefics in transit, I do not feel inclined to do readings. I obviously can if I need to, but it feels like a chore. When he comes out of these effects, I feel the change within me, things start flowing again. I wrote my maximum posts when my Mantresh, ie 5^th lord was favourably placed in relation to my 5^th house. Creativity was on an all time high and I was driven to write. And when my Lagnesh, ie 1^st lord is debilitated in transit, I simply do not think about charts, my past lives karma comes up demanding my attention. The best, ie divinely inspired readings, are when the Dharma trikon gets power in transit. When this happens, I don’t even need to see the charts, the required information just flashes before me. 

Thus if the astrologer you are consulting is going through a bad period, he will not be able to answer your questions appropriately. And you might need to take a second opinion from someone else. Generally during such adverse periods, a genuine astrologer will not take clients and focus on setting his own energy right. 

And if a competent astrologer’s readings fail to work for you, don’t blame Jyotish or the astrologer. Instead do some remedies for the 9^th house and things will fall into place automatically.