antardasha

How to analyse the Vimshottari Moon Mahadasha

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Vimshottari dasha  analysis is something that every astrologer needs to know. The planets control parts of your life in a sequence which is called a Dasha. There are several Dasha systems but Vimshottari deserves a special place of its own and is the first Dasha system you will learn.

In case this detailed analysis is beyond you at the moment, I have written two basic posts, here and here with a brief analysis of the Mahadashas based on which houses the planets own in your chart.

The Vimshottari Maha-Dasha cover a human life span of 120 yrs and the sequence is,

Depending on which Nakshatra your Moon is in at the time of your birth, ie your Janma Nakshatra, you will begin your sequence. This start point is most important so ensure that you have your accurate birth time before doing Dasha analysis.

If your birth moon Nakshatra/ Lunar mansion is Rohini, Hasta or Shravan, then you will have your Moon Mahadasha/ main period going on at your birth. The balance of the planet’s dasha period remaining at birth is calculated using the location (arc degree/ minute/ second) of Moon in the nakshatra. If you get this birth time wrong, your starting point will be wrong thus your entire life-time’s calculation will also go wrong.

For the other birth Nakshatras, the Moon Mahadasha can occur at any point of time in the above sequence. But the Moon’s sub-periods/ Antardashas in the other planets Mahadashas will also carry his flavour.

Open your Vedic Jyotish software and open the Dasha section. If there are options here, input the ‘Vimshottari’ system. You have to see two things from here,

  1. At the present time, which planet’s Mahadasha/ main-period and which planet’s Antardasha/ sub-period is going on for you
  2. And at the time of your birth, which Mahadasha was going on.

If either of these, ie your ongoing Mahadasha or the birth Mahadasha is/ was of the Moon, then this post is for you,

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First a generic description, assuming that the Moon in your birth chart is favourable for you.

If you were born in Moon Mahadasha then, you are more comfortable around women in general, you are especially close to your mother, feel strongly about your traditions and homeland. You have a family who cares for you. Your basic mind and body are both strong and healthy and the overall personality remains balanced. Communicative, reasonable, attractive, popular, pleasant to be with, a generally active personality. You are receptive to external influences and often modulate these to help you grow. But you are not very forthcoming about your own self, you keep your secrets well and trust only rarely. You have a caring nature, a supportive sort of a person, generous by nature but you can equally get shrewd, narrow minded, jealous and self-centred.

If you are undergoing the Moon Mahadasha now in your life then in this Moon Mahadasha, you will be more focussed on yourself, your needs, your comforts, your growth, your family, your love, your ancestral traditions, family gods etc. Your mother or other maternal figures will be more important in life. You will be taken care of, ie given the nurture, nutrition, love that you need. More settled in life, you might develop regular habits, feel creative, improve personal care, opt for a healthy lifestyle etc. That things which support you as a person will help you grow significantly. You will be able to set up routines for a healthier you. Buying your own house or landed property is possible or shifting into your own personal home is possible. People in professions related to the 4th house or the Moon will see growth, ie homeland security, teaching, home-makers, dealers in liquids, transport, drugs, architects, etc. You might be recognised for something, get awards. Marriage and child-birth is also possible in this period. In these 10yrs you will be required to balance karma related to the position of the Moon in your chart. Caring for others or ensuring that your emotions were being satisfied. Whatever the Moon is supposed to give you in your life will be given in this time. You will go through an emotional period, uplifting or damaging.

If the Mahadasha comes at an age after the maturity period of the Moon then the energies of the Dasha can be utilised consciously thus more effectively. If you are older than 48yrs, then during this Mahadasha it is likely that you will become the understanding and mature elder yourself. You will gain more insights into the working of your own Mind. It can be a very enriching experience. Even if you are older than 28yrs, this time can help self-discovery as you understand yourself more deeply. If you are younger than 28yrs then you will receive what you need from your elders to grow.

If your birth Moon is in Cancer or ascendant sign is Cancer then this Mahadasha will be especially significant for you.

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Now to tailor these predictions for your personal life. This requires some basic understanding of Jyotish. (Here is a post on how to begin learning astrology systematically).

Step 1 is to know the aspects of life represented by the Moon and the power he has to deliver his results. You should know what he is going to give you, only then predicting the timing will be of any use. One graha is going to be directly responsible for so many things and indirectly influence so many more things in life. To keep things simple, learn to use keywords and create patterns using these.

  1. Moon in your birth chart (divisional chart 1/D-1).
    • He is placed in which house and in which sign? Thus which parts of your life is he controlling?
      • Eg Moon in 3rd house will be in charge of your siblings, income from trade, your hands, the internal confidence to take necessary actions, skills, practicality, etc. So in his Mahadasha expect these aspects of life to be more prominent in your life.
      • Eg if the Moon is any way connected to the 2nd or 7th houses then he can help in gaining money/ resources, good family life etc but this Dasha can also be linked to the timing of physical death. So do a quick check on longevity.
    • Which houses does he own? i.e. Cancer is placed in which house?
      • Eg Cancer placed in the 11th house will mean that the Moon is in charge of your friend circle, like minded groups, all gains in life, money from speculation, older siblings, etc. naturally these things will be more significant in your life now.
    • The ruler of the sign he is placed in, is he a friend/ neutral/ enemy planet. How comfortable is he in the sign he is occupying? 
    • Is the Moon exalted/debilitated? Naturally an exalted Moon will give more pleasing results than a debilitated Moon.
    • Which planets is he conjoint/ aspected by? Thus which other aspects of the personality is he influencing directly and indirectly. If he is influenced by benefics then more favourable and pleasing results if by malefics then stress.
      • Eg Moon conjoint Mars in the 10th house. This will mean that Moon is in charge of the profession, social mobility, social image etc. But the Mars is now going to help by making his soft nature more bold, courageous, and allow him to take more risks in life. Thus the natural softness of the Moon is reinforced by the Martian qualities. And the natural aggression of Mars is tempered by the softness of the Moon.
    • Has he matured? Is the Moon’s maturity being held back by conjunction with later maturing planets?
      • Planets give more sensible results after maturity. His Dasha period after maturity will give more useful results.
    • What kind of power does he have.
      • His shadbala, avastha etc also can be seen for more insights into his nature in your chart. You can go deeper, depending on your level of study.
    • And since this is the Moon, you have to analyse the Nakshatra that he occupies at birth, ie your Janma Nakshatra characteristics. 
  2. Repeat this same analysis from the birth Moon sign, i.e the birth Moon chart. (Do this only if you feel upto it, this is for advanced students)
    Re-orient your chart around and count your birth Moon sign as the first house. This is the Moon chart and this tells you about the psychological and emotional aspects of your life. How you will ‘feel’ about the Moon Mahadasha. The psychological and emotional aspects. These aspects of life can be completely different from what is happening on the physical level. 
  3. And this same analysis using the divisional chart 9, Navamsha chart will give a perspective on the sub-conscious expectations and the sum total of Moon’s potential. (Not for beginners. Do this whenever you are a bit advanced in your study, else you will end up confusing yourself.)

Step 2  Smaller sub-periods within the main period/ Mahadasha are called successively Antardasha, Pratyantardasha, Sookshmadasha and Prandasha. The logic on how to analyse these even smaller units remains the same for each planetary owner of the sub/ sub periods. In this post we will learn to analyse up to the Subperiod, ie the Antardasha.

  1. Find out the power of the sub-period planetary lord and the aspects of life that he controls just like you did for the Moon above.
    • Eg if you want to analyse the Moon Mahadasha and Jupiter antardasha, then you will have to find out both Moon’s and Jupiter’s power to give results.
  2. Then analyse the relationship between the Moon and the sub-period owner planet. If they are in the 6/8 or even the 12th from uncomfortable aspects, then that sub-lord’s sub-period will not be comfortable. If they are in the 5/9 axis it will be a favourable sub-period. The interaction between the planetary owners of the main-period and sub-period is quite important, take your time over it.
    • eg Jupiter is in 5th house and Moon in 9th house this will be an extraordinary time. Both are in the pivotal Kona houses, and in the 5/9 axis from each other. This could be one of the best periods of your life. This would also be a Gajakesari yog. So they will give tremendous progress in the Moon Mahadasha’s Jupiter Antardasha.
    • eg Jupiter in 11th house and Moon in 6th house in the birth chart. This time will not give good results. Moon in the 6th house of turmoil. Jupiter in the 11th is better placed for positive results. But they are mutually in the 6/8 axis. This is the Shakat yog, will give instability, ups and downs and significant confusion in the Moon Mahadasha’s Jupiter Antardasha.

Step 3 is the routine planetary transits /gochar. (Not for beginners. Do this analysis only if you have a good grasp of the fundamentals.) Transits can modify the results indicated by the Dasha system to some extent. So draw your birth chart (D-1) on a paper and superimpose the current planetary positions on it. Use a different pen so that you can make sense of the composite chart you are drawing. This is the last step you do.

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Now to analyse the sub-periods/Antardasha of the Moon’s main period/Mahadasha. This is just a starting point for you to base your own analysis on.

  • Moon antardasha
    • If the Moon is capable of giving pleasant results, this can be a very significant period of growth depending on which houses he is in charge of in your chart. There will be internal stability which will trigger prosperity in all forms. Personal and professional successes, marriage, birth of children, promotions, good investments, increase in wealth, good health and emotional stability, your instinct will work for you etc. If this is so, then you must make the most of this Antardasha.
    • If he is badly placed in your birth chart and inauspicious for you then emotional trauma, mental stress, physical ill health, loneliness, etc are possible in this first sub-period.
    • This is the first sub-period, so observe events around you and yourself carefully. This will set the tone for the entire Mahadasha. If this period has been favourable, you can expect continued generally favourable results. If this period has given mixed or unpleasant results you must take care. Then predicting favourable results will depend on power of the Subperiod rulers of the subsequent Antardashas.
  • Mars antardasha
    • If Mars is powerful, then in this sub-period you will take risks to achieve what you want. Highly motivated, confident, during this time you will bulldoze your opponents and gain your desires. A favourable Mars allows to to change yourself and your surroundings as per your desire. This period can be very fruitful especially if you are connected in any way to the land, eg army professional, agriculturalist, builder etc.
    • But if he is unable to give favourable results then overwork, have no time to rest, over-confidence, carelessness, anger, etc will be triggered. So pay attention to your health especially the blood related aspects. Your close family and siblings will be a source of trouble for you.
  • Rahu antardasha
    • If Rahu is capable of positive results, then this sub-period will make you want more than you have. Satisfaction will be less, you might spend more than you earn. Family may not support and professional life will not give happiness. But conversely all this will motivate you to work even harder and strive to gain more and more. You might achieve a lot of material gain during this period. However do not lie or cheat others during this time as it will backfire on you later. Try to do some Dharmic activity, eg pujas, pilgrimages, Mantra, Daan so as to keep the positivity coming in.
    • But is Rahu is going to be unpleasant for you then, this time will give you stress, losses and trouble on the physical as well as the emotional levels. You will feel tired and dispirited. If Moon or Rahu is connected to the 2nd or 7th and the longevity is at an end then physical death can occur. Even otherwise, you will be surrounded by people and things which drain you. Especially beware of any new women in your life as they can cause you harm. Legal issues are a distinct possibility during this time.
  • Jupiter antardasha
    •  If Jupiter is favourably disposed then this can be a great sub-period. Money, family, profession etc will all give happiness. Promotions, new jobs, better salary, more income are all possible. Long term investments or life time decisions during this period will be favourable. Travelling, pilgrimages etc will give pleasure. Education and learning will be encouraged. Both Moon and Jupiter are natural benefics so make the most of this time for growth and expansion. You will be known for something and there will be positivity in your life. Marriage, birth of children, job openings, educational prospects, health, wealth, spiritual mindset, pilgrimages, etc should be predicted as per the age in which the antardasha occurs. eg if the chart has some form of Gajakesari yog or a favourable Jupiter – Moon interaction you can achieve a lot during this sub period.
    • If he is not aligned favourably with the Moon then he will give erratic results. Avoid getting into any illegal or dubious activity during this time as it will give you pain later. Your luck is not with you at this time so you might think that something is surely in your hands, but it will slip out at the last moment. eg if the birth chart has the Shakat yog then be careful about predicting highly positive results.

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  • Saturn antardasha
    •  If Saturn and Moon together in your birth chart are capable of favourable results then this period can give some benefits. But you will have to work harder. Tiredness, delays, frustrations and loneliness will be there to some extent. You might feel afraid internally. Increase in stress will naturally affect health and happiness. You will be harsher with others and this can spoil relationships. Disputes with your family or mother specifically related to land, home and assets can occur. But try to see the fair and legal position of things rather than giving way to emotions. Try to work with facts and see the practical side of things. If used intelligently, this period will give you long lasting gains. Doing some puja will help you magnify the positivity.
    • In case he is not favourable then these negative effects as above will continue with no respite. You will be unable to make sense of the events around you and remain distressed.
  • Mercury antardasha
    • Both Moon and Mercury are natural benefics so this sub-period can be quite favourable to you. Here you can expect better relations with your siblings, trade related gains may pick up, stock market and investment options may be good, education opportunities will open up. Marriage, children, job etc whatever is a ‘happy outcome’ for your mind, will occur. Your logical mind will support you and you will have the necessary boldness to achieve your goals. You will have and use your skills to resolve any lingering issues from the previous Saturn sub-period.
    • But if they are unable to work together they will cause you pain, disappointment, ill health, mental stress, legal trouble etc. Avoid breaking the law or engaging in high risk speculations as loss of money is quite possible.
  • Ketu antardasha
    • if Ketu in your birth chart can give favourable results, then this can be a short but intensely spiritual time. You will feel disconnected from the people and things around you as your inner worlds are more alluring to your mind. Or if your birth chart is of the material sort then gains from secret sources, unexpected opportunities and gains are possible. Secret tips, insights, lucky guesses etc will help you as your intuition will be high.
    • But if there is a possibility of unpleasant results, then this time can be disturbing, mental stresses, loneliness, psychic interference, restlessness, etc. If Moon or Ketu is connected to the 2nd or 7th and the longevity is at an end then physical death can occur. 
  • Venus antardasha
    • If Venus and Moon are capable of giving auspicious results together then this sub period can be a very rewarding one on several levels. Value, validation, nature, nurture, nutrition will be provided to you. Both the types of love ie needy love and equitable love will be available in your life. All your desires and wants will be fulfilled and you will be happy. Inner satisfaction, balance, fairness etc will be on a high. Depending on the physical age in which this sub-period comes, you might start some meditative practice or get married or birth of children or higher education is possible. Either way this will be a good time and do make the most of it. Money, family and good times are indicated.
    • But if Venus and Moon are unable to give pleasant results together then these very same things will be denied to you. There will be imbalance, unmet needs, loneliness and scarcity. Loss of money, resources, assets is possible.

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  • Sun antardasha
    • this is the chidra dasha, the ‘cutting off’ sub-period, the last antardasha of the Moon’s mahadasha. This is a time of review. You consolidate all that you experienced in your Moon mahadasha and cut off all that you failed to learn. The Moon will have given you opportunities for emotional fulfilment. Your relationship with your mother, maternal relatives, home culture, traditions, landed property etc were in focus. ‘Need’ based love relationships or nurturing relationships. 
    • Now the Sun is personal confidence, ego, self entitlement. ‘Selfishness’ will clean out the Moon persona and prepare for the Mars persona which is to follow. You feel a new rush of energy in you. The Sun will prepare a dispassionate list of things of what you gave and what was received. If you have given more, you might suddenly find these dependant others being systematically cut off. Only the basic unavoidable relationships which you intellectually feel necessary will be sustained by this Sun. All the opportunities for emotional fulfilment, ‘Need’ based love relationships will be consolidated. The softness and gentleness of the Moon will be gradually replaced by qualities of Mars, which is the next Mahadasha in sequence.
    • But in the last Sun Antardasha, you will decisively end all emotionally draining things. And for those emotionally uplifting things, you will remove their emotional parts and appreciate them on an intellectual level.
    • If the Sun is capable of giving positive results, there will be improvement in personal health, vitality, finances, status and power. You will also become more distant from others. ‘Neediness’ will be reduced in all ways.
    • If he is not auspicious for you, even then he will work in the same direction but the process will be painful, stressful. You will face arguments, fevers, ill health, exit of a maternal figure, cut off from the homeland, selfishness from others etc sort of results.

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Everyone who wants to learn astrology should analyse their own horoscope first. It is quite easy to predict major events in life and with some practice you can predict minor events too. Get into the habit of pulling out your own chart for a detailed analysis every 6 months. Look at the Dasha periods and transits that will happen over the next 6 months, try to predict 1-2 things which might happen. These can be very simple things to being with, eg some disturbance over the 4th house = some issue related to mother. Some positivity over the 10th house = a pleasant time in the office. Tally these predictions 6 months later, be systematic about it and evaluate for yourself how accurate you are getting.

Finally remedies can be used to set any unbalanced energies right. These are basically three,

Behavioural, ie you understand what is happening to you and try to intelligently and consciously modulate your behaviour in a way most appropriate to the situation. This requires significant control over the Mind and not everyone can do this. But if you are doing your regular spiritual practice then this becomes inbuilt in your nature.

Mantra- You use the power of the Devbhasha Samskrutam and your own intentions to change the course of the event energies. Mantras of the Moon can be used during his Mahadasha, especially do something every Monday. Or any of these activities which enhance his power. Or mantra of the Bhagwan Shankar also work well enough.

Daana – You give away the unbalanced energies to a Consciousness capable of absorbing them, a worthy Brahmin, a deity or a river/sea, this is the real meaning of Daana.

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Chidra Dasha, the closure part 3

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This is a continued post. I have written about the closing sub periods of the planets, Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon, Mars and Rahu in my previous post. This is now about the closure periods/chidra-dasha, i.e. the last sub period of the main periods of Jupiter, Saturn and finally Mercury.

The main-period of Jupiter follows that of Rahu. The Mahadasha of Jupiter lasts for 16yrs, and the last sub-period, chidra dasha belongs to Rahu, this extends for 29 months.

Depending on what Jupiter stands for in your chart, his karakatva, he will have granted you expansion, growth, maturity and wisdom during his 16yr long mahadasha. Maybe you have learnt yourself or taught others. He is a benevolent expansive planet and tends to hope against hope, believes everyone to be good, gives others a second chance, if there is negativity he will ignore it in the belief that it will be good. Jupiter can work for others, help them as he takes a hopeful and wide humanitarian angle. But this sort of idealistic situation does not exist in real life. There are crooks and people often wilfully cheat you.

Rahu is the exact opposite of Jupiter, he is sneaky, calculative, breaks rules, aspires for higher stations. He knows how to spot a crook, because he is one himself. In the closing phase of Jupiter mahadasha, Rahu cuts off your Jupiter persona. He accurately identifies all those things where you have let others take advantage of your benevolent Jupiter phase. Rahu will take stock of what you needed in these 16yrs, not what you gave of yourself. Misplaced hopes, humanitarian thoughts, misdirected charity work will stop. Even knowledge which you may have gained, if not furthering your personal goals and desires will be discarded. Rahu is very thorough about this, he will infuse ambition in all that Jupiter created. And this will be linked to your karma.

So during your Jupiter main-period, however kind and generous you may feel for others do keep track of what you are gaining from the interactions. This does not mean you have to be selfish, Jupiter will not allow you to be selfish. But at least be aware that what you are doing should benefit you too in some way or the other. This will make this last Rahu chidradasha more easy to navigate and you will be able to better consolidate your gains from Jupiter. Rahu will prepare you for your next Saturn persona, thus he will link your gains from Jupiter with a deep understanding of your karmic desires.

Chidra Dasha, the closure part 3

And next is the Mahadasha of Saturn which goes on for 19yrs. Saturn will make you work systematically and help you work off your karma. Whichever houses Saturn is linked to, you will work. He is a strict taskmaster and expects dedication, sincerity and honesty.

Here the last closure antardasha belongs to Jupiter and this lasts for 36 months. In this last sub-period, Jupiter will take stock of all the work you have done, or failed in and grant you an optimistic and wise perspective. You will use guidance from your elders, teachers, religion, philosophy and make sense of the back-breaking work that Saturn made you do. Relationships based on duty, responsibility and work will be analysed. If these relationships have failed to nourish your soul and failed to make you wiser they will be discarded. You will choose wisely the duties you will carry on with you into the next phase. You have worked through a significant portion of your karmic baggage and now you will separate yourself from this burden.

Social obligations, duties to the parents and elders, earning prestige /social position, gaining assets and wealth, working within the restrictions of social law, you have really worked hard! Saturn’s is the second longest Mahadasha and a lot happens in 19yrs of life, and you are probably exhausted. Jupiter will now provide his relief, he is the one who kisses and makes it better.

You do not look back with regret, but with kindness. Finally you are kind to your own self and appreciate yourself. Saturn-Jupiter give this blessing to you, of hope.

Chidra Dasha, the closure part 3

The Mahadasha of Saturn is finally followed by that of Mercury. His main-period extends for 17yrs. Mercury is all about skills, mental analysis, getting things working, technical knowledge, money, trade, communication, brotherhood, siblings, arguments, discussions, immaturity, risk-taking behaviour, courage, the recklessness of youth etc. He likes to learn, experience and also teach these things. He represents the karmic load (6th house/Virgo) you have taken on in this life and also your choice of thinking and acting (3rd house/Gemini).

Mercury’s mahadasha ends with the sub period of Saturn, this chidradasha lasts for 33 months. Saturn the elder, will systematically and dispassionately cut through Mercury’s adolescent and irresponsible behaviour/acts. Your gains will be reviewed in the lens of social conformity, responsibility, honesty, discipline and if they have helped you reduce your karmic backlog. If not, then he will cut them off, e.g your drinking buddies might vanish, friends who used your connections will vanish, teammates who used your skills without giving you credit will move away. He will also ensure that you conform to social and legal standards and make you risk-averse, you will put safety first now onwards. Saturn will make you pragmatic, realistic and less trusting. The skills you learnt will be utilised for creating a socially acceptable mature persona. Your mental patterns will have to fall in line with your material reality.

This can be a traumatic period as it is a harsh wake-up call and Saturn is anything but gentle. If this period occurs relatively early in life, it can be devastating, but if it occurs after you cross your 30s, it will be easier to navigate through. Saturn is preparing you for the next Ketu’s mahadasha, a complete new cycle. So he will remove anything that remotely resembles ‘spaciness’, ‘vagueness’ and try to ground you firmly so that you can face up to Ketu’s mindless detachment more safely.

So under Mercury’s direction however exciting it may be, remember that Saturn is going to go through all that you do think and behave. So use your intellect and try to control your thoughts and actions so that you gain something permanent from this period.

Chidra Dasha, the closure part 3

Analysing the chidra dasha effects helps you make an intelligent transition from one planet’s mahadasha to the next. If you remain aware of how things are going to be accounted for at the end, you can act more wisely during the main-periods. This last sub-period/bhukti/antardasha is a period which also acts as bridge, from one persona to another.

One thing to look into would be, if planets in sequence occupy the same house, their periods will be contiguous, focussing on the same overall themes related to that house. Especially so if it is Rahu or Ketu together with their planets in sequence, their combined periods can seem to be interminable and the house-things that they stand for will remain continuously in the spot-light. If you analyse your chart you will realise that not all houses are in focus, in your life you will deeply experience matters related to very few houses, the rest of your life will be as if on auto-pilot.

e.g. I know a chart where,

  • at birth he started with Saturn mahadasha (Saturn was placed in 12th house, so not very interested in physical/environment).
  • Followed by Mercury mahadasha, who was the ruler of the 12th house (Mercury and Saturn had exchanged houses, so more 12th house stuff).
  • Followed by Ketu mahadasha (Ketu was with Venus as the ascendant and 8th lord, more haziness with deep changes for the personality).
  • Followed by Venus mahadasha who couldn’t give his full results because he was with Ketu, it was like a combined 27yrs of Ketu+Venus!
  • So this person’s life was dominated by his 12th house and Ketu, the only relief being that the Yogkarak for Libra ascendant, i.e Saturn was controlling everything, so ultimately took him along the spiritual path after a lot of heartache and emotional pain related to his personality /physical environment.

So now, pull out your chart (Vedic system, lots of sites give free online charts), see which mahadasha you are in at present. Which house does this planet sit in? Which aspects of your life are in focus? Then the sub-period/antardasha, which planet is controlling this? Where is he placed? How are his links with the main-period planet? And finally are you navigating through with awareness or allowing these 2 planets to dictate your behaviour?

As always, observe charts and the people around you. Books and other people’s experiences can only be a reference, but what you observe and experience is real knowledge.

(This was the last in the chidra-dasha series. I hope it is of use to the kind soul who had asked this question in the contact page. There are whole books on Vimshottari system. But the easiest way to learn is to observe. Get charts of your family members and try to correlate how events in their lives have played out with the planets. Major events like getting a job, marriage, childbirth, divorce, medical conditions, death etc can be easily tallied from the charts, even by beginners.)

Chidra Dasha the closure part 2

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This is a continued post. I have written about the closing sub periods of the planets, Ketu, Venus and Sun in my previous post. This is now about the closure periods/chidra-dasha, i.e. the last sub period/antardasha of the Moon, Mars and Rahu main period/Mahadasha in the Vimshottari system.

The Moon mahadasha is for 10 yrs and takes off after the Sun’s main-period. Then the last sub-period of Moon mahadasha belongs to the Sun and this lasts for 6 months. In this chidradasha you will consolidate all that you experienced in your Moon mahadasha and cut off all the lessons you failed to learn. The moon is mind, emotions, the astral, sub-conscious, nurturing, security, comforts etc. In his period depending on what all he stands for in your chart, his karakatva, he will have given you opportunities to gain all those things which bring you emotional fulfilment. Maybe your relationship with your mother, maternal relatives, home culture, traditions, landed property etc will have increased. ‘Need’ based love relationships or nurturing relationships will have prospered. You may have acted as a caregiver or offered maternal love to others.

Now the last sub-period here belongs to the regal Sun. Sun is personal confidence, ego, entitlement and to quite an extent ‘selfishness’. Now he will, with his characteristic confidence, clean-out the Moon persona and prepare the foundation of the Mars persona which is to follow. He will prepare a dispassionate list of things which worked for you and which were more for the use of others in your life. If you have given of yourself to others during the Moon mahadasha, you might suddenly find these others being systematically cut off. Only the basic unavoidable relationships which you intellectually feel necessary will be sustained, e.g to the mother, own family, personal lands etc.

Thus during this Moon mahadasha, do not go with your emotions always, keep an intellectual leash on your feelings. This will help you consolidate when you reach the last sub-period ruled by the Sun. See you have tried to balance karma related to the position of the Moon in your chart and might have gone through an emotional period too perhaps. But now Sun will decisively end all those emotionally draining things which clearly did not work. And for those things which did work, he will ruthlessly remove their emotional components, leaving you with their intellectual appreciation.

e.g If the Moon actually signifies your mother in your chart, she might actually leave her body during this period. Or if he is the owner of the 10th house, profession, this might indicate an end of the career. However before jumping to conclusions do analyse the Karakatva of the planets and how their interactions with each other will modify results. Look for patterns in placements.

Chidra Dasha the closure part 2

After you are done with the Moon main-period, you start on your Mars mahadasha which lasts for 7yrs. The last sub-period here belongs to the Moon and lasts for 7 months.

Mars is the force of your personality in action. Depending on his position in your chart, you will challenge, pioneer, enter into new territories, compete and win. You might have been quite ruthless in achieving your goals, perhaps taken on more than you could manage. In the headlong rush of exploration and conquest perhaps you have used all your resources. Your personality may have changed, you may be more mentally ruthless and able to take calculated risks now.

So now in this final chidra dasha/sub period, belonging to the Moon, you will release all those unmet goals, unfulfilled aspirations and silently move away from the competition. You might get to enjoy a quiet domestic life in this period too. You will appreciate the emotional value of the things Mars has given you in his period. The Moon will grant you an understanding of what you have achieved for yourself. All the risks you took will finally mean something stable in your life. Maybe you protected something or someone, or maybe you created your own personal comforts and security. You will look back on your actions with a deeper intuitive emotional perspective. He will cut off disputes, legal cases, unsolved mysteries etc related to Mars. As the Moon cuts away needless aggression from your Mars persona, you will focus on those things you have actually achieved, and have the potential to sustain you in the future.

If, during your Mars main-period, you try to bring in intuition and emotional understanding, you will gain better. In the rush of competition, do keep in mind why? are you doing this. Ultimately everything we do is for internal comfort, security and happiness.

Chidra Dasha the closure part 2

Following Mars mahadasha, is the Rahu mahadasha period of 18yrs. His main period ends with the last chidra dasha sub-period of Mars which lasts for 12 months.

Before doing anything with your Rahu or Ketu, do understand that your karma will be in full force during this period. These 2 give results as per the houses they are placed in, their house owners, and the planets aspecting/conjunct them. So first analyse their karakatva carefully before analysing the dasha results. Ketu will detach and Rahu will desire.

Rahu’s main-period is quite long at 18yrs, and quite a lot of things happen in 18yrs of time. He obsessively desires, so as per his karakatva you will also desire. Rahu differs from Mars, in that Mars is fair and competes with confidence, Rahu is often sneaky and tries to grasp by any means possible. You will find ways and means to get what you desire. You will obsess about possessing things which cannot be legitimately yours. You might work hard, or find short-cuts, or even break rules. Your moral compass will be shaky and you will be willing to do anything and everything irrespective of the consequences. Rahu’s pattern is to fall on his face just as he is in grasp of his goal, he cannot enjoy his achievement. He cannot be satisfied. This is Rahu’s main-period, so you might get the impossible things that you desire, but you will not be able to enjoy them.

Rahu is in perpetual retrograde motion so rewinds and replays the experiences of your life so that you can extract the maximum learning from it. Rahu’s period is thus very intense on the psychological and inner spiritual levels.

Then comes the chidradasha, sub-period of Mars where he will clean up the Rahu persona and make you ready for the Jupiter’s main-period to come. Mars will decide and keep only those things which you have won fairly. Any stuff which you are not entitled to, he will cut away. And this period can get quite traumatic, as desires for things which you really do not deserve, and created by Rahu will be destroyed. You might be distraught mentally, emotionally and even may fall physically ill.

During Rahu’s mahadasha, do try to keep your moral compass intact as the law of karma always operates. 18yrs are a significant chunk of your life’s path. You will be doing a lot of things during such a long period. Try to work for your desires with a sporting and fair spirit. Running after unattainable goals and breaking rules will consume energy and have repercussions later. And because this is a very long period, you might think that this is life and Rahu is your personality. But remember that this persona will be vigorously dismantled by Mars at the end of these 18yrs.

Chidra Dasha the closure part 2

(Have continued with the closing sub periods of the Mahadashas of Jupiter, Saturn and Mercury in my next post.)

 

 

Chidra Dasha the closure part 1

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I have written on how to go about analysing the periods according to the Vimshottari dasha system earlier. It is most common, used for timing the events, like birth of a child or death of the body, which are predicted from your birth chart. The 120 years of the human life are assigned to the 9 planets/graha and then each main period (mahadasha) is further divided into sub-periods (antardasha) and further sub-sub-periods till every single day of your life is mapped out.

Of particular importance is the final sub-period (antardasha) of every planet’s main period (mahadasha), this last phase is called the chidradasha. In this final sub-period you release all the stuff related to the current mahadasha and get ready for the next planet’s mahadasha in the sequence.

Two planets play an important role in this chidradasha period, first is the ruler of the Mahadasha/main-period and second is the ruler of the sub-period/Antardasha. Now you will have to first understand,

  1. the real nature of these 2 planets, this is relatively easy from the basic keywords.
  2. then you will need to know what all these 2 planets stand for in your chart, i.e. their ‘karakatva‘. Your basic birth chart D-1 will give you the physical manifested context. Counting from the birth moon sign will indicate the emotional context. And if you have the exact birth time, you can draw the 9th divisional chart, Navamsha, to get the subconscious undercurrents.
  3. And finally how these 2 planets are placed in relation to each other, will determine their dynamics. If they are placed 6th- 8th from each other they will be out of balance and cause more problems.

This is the most important step in analysis, take your time over this. The charts will tell you ‘what’ you have, the dasha will then tell you ‘when’ and ‘how’ this will happen.

Chidra Dasha the closure part 1

The Ketu Mahadasha (detailed post) lasts for 7 years, its last sub-period of 12 months belongs to Mercury. Ketu is the agent of spirituality, Moksh, dissociation from the material, etc. Wherever he is linked to in your horoscope, you will be apathetic to the concerns of that house/sign. During his period you will want to attain spiritual progress and an internal detachment from the material. You will ‘wander through spirituality’, search for a Guru, maybe explore different spiritual concepts, try out different practices, perhaps go on pilgrimages, read books on esoteric stuff etc. He will orient you as per his position in your chart and give you results depending on his ‘karakatva’. All through these 7yrs, Ketu will be the undercurrent flowing in your life.

Ketu is in perpetual retrograde motion so rewinds and replays the experiences of your life so that you can extract the maximum learning from it. Ketu’s periods are thus very intense on the psychological and inner spiritual levels.

When you reach the last sub-period, you will cut your losses and consolidate the overall gains from your Ketu. Depending on the ‘karakatva’ of Mercury in your chart, he will systematically dismantle the Ketu persona of these 7 years and help create your Venus persona which will last for the next 20yrs. He will analyse and systematically organise all that you have learnt and will cut off all those failed attempts at learning Ketu‘s lessons. Ketu’s periods are always abstract, but Mercury will bring it all to a focus during his Ketu-Mercury chidradasha and you might actually teach, or be vocal, or write, in any way actually organise Ketu’s randomness and lessons with Mercury’s help. You might feel that the past 7 years suddenly making ‘sense’ now.

During your Ketu mahadasha, however spaced out you may feel, you will have to make some efforts to gain some skills, practical knowledge and actually do it too. Just being hazy will make this last chidradasha difficult to consolidate.

As your Ketu mahadasha ends, your Venus mahadasha will start. If you have managed to lay down a good ground work for your spirituality or if your chart has the potential, Venus will take you on in his real form of Daitya-Guru, he will push you onwards on your spiritual path. If not, then he will take you into a 20yr period of material pleasures, love, romance, hoarding treasures, song and dance. More details will depend on the karakatva of Venus in your chart, his power and ability to give results.

(Specifically for Libra ascendant, Venus is the ruler of the 8th house. Thus the first sub-period of Venus Mahadasha, ruled by Venus himself, will catastrophically change your expectations of the external relationships and treasures and make you go deeper within yourself.)

Chidra Dasha the closure part 1

The Venus Mahadasha (detailed post) which lasts for 20 yrs, has the last sub-period belonging to Ketu, this chidradasha lasts for 26 months.

Venus the owner of Taurus and Libra represents beauty, balance, fairness, treasures, relationships etc at every level. His Mahadasha is the longest at 20yrs and often represents significant periods in your life. During these 20yrs you will engage very deeply with others, the society at all levels, professional, emotional, legal, inter-personal interactions, maybe get married, have children, job, etc so many things depending on your chart. But remember this Mahadasha ends in the last sub-period of Ketu, the agent of dissociation. Ketu will in his apathetic way cut through all the material stuff that your Venus persona has created, leaving just the spiritual and the psychic with you.

Thus it is very important that you do some spiritual practice which brings you closer to yourself throughout the Venus Mahadasha. Else this last sub-period of Ketu will cause extreme alienation, separation and detachment coupled with despair from the material stuff that you have been after during the Venus main period. It will be a hazed out separative period, as you drift away from your Venus persona. There will be no clear cut understanding of what was achieved or not, just an internal sense that that the material that one tries to hold on to is unsubstantial. You may drift into spiritual practice or become unavailable to your loved ones as you realise that validation and real love from another human being is really not possible.

And finally because he is Ketu, he does not complete the job at hand! His Venus-Ketu chidra dasha does not allow complete separations. He will detach you physically. But you will retain a deeply intimate bond with all the treasures and relationships that Venus gave you, as an undercurrent throughout your life now onwards. But you will have to understand though you may long for those material pleasures again, that phase is over. Use your learnings and experiences from this period to find your internal treasures, else you will remain with regret.

After Venus’ Mahadasha ends, starts the Sun’s main period which lasts for 6yrs. At the end of this period you will experience the last sub-period, the chidra dasha which belongs to Venus. This period lasts for 12 months.

Sun’s periods are characterised by the individual self, self-creativity, self- intelligence, self-progress, self-recognition, self-power, self-success, self-entitlement, will and intention. Depending on the Karakatva of Sun in your chart, you will be granted opportunities to grow in the material or spiritual directions. Your Sun persona will be very individualistic, self-referential and with self-ego to a great extent. And the last sub-period/chidradasha is of Venus, who indicates balanced relationships and hoarding treasures. So there will be conflicts of two sorts, one is Venus will consolidate learnings related to partnering and equitable behaviour, which is sort of antithetical to the Sun persona. And second this is supposed to be the chidra-dasha, the sub-period of separation and closure from the Sun persona, but Venus will, in his desire to hoard and balance relationships, not let this separation happen so easily.

You have been self-focussed for all these years, now at least appreciate those others whose efforts assisted you in your way. Also recognise that there were some aspects of your personality, habits, behaviour, relationships, partnerships etc which were actually draining you, were a disappointment. Now is the time to release them, not with regrets but with understanding and balance.

Also during this Sun’s main-period try to keep your relationships and actions more on the intelligence level or on clearly defined give-take levels rather than needy-emotional levels.

From this Sun’s main period you are now moving towards the Moon’s Mahadasha of 10yrs. So evaluate the emotional significance of Sun and Venus in your chart, counted from the birth moon. This assessment will be important as your Moon’s mahadasha will take off from this foundation.

(For Libra ascendants, this period can be quite traumatic as Venus rules the ascendant and the 8th both. Accepting the contradiction of a stable personality coupled with catastrophic changes in the personality, which will be related to divine intelligence and every sort of gains will be a task. Then Aries ascendant too suffers in a strange way, Venus here rules the 2nd and 7th houses, the Marak, who can decide the time for physical death has arrived. Detailed results will depend on individual charts.)

(Will continue this in my next post.)

 

Chidra Dasha the closure part 1

Ketu Mahadasha

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The most commonly used system for timing events is Vimshottari dasha here. Depending on which lunar mansion/nakshatra you were born in you will experience the planetary dashas/periods. Not everyone will experience all the 9 graha/planetary forces’s Mahadasha during their lives. This post is about interpreting Ketu’s times.

Ketu Mahadasha

As always there is no point to doing astrological predictions if you do not have the precise birth details. Even a difference of 1 minute will put off your Dasha calculations. Do your birth time rectification using maths or life-event matching or palmistry and then get into the dasha predictions. If your birth moon Nakshatra/Lunar mansion is Ashwini, Magha or Mula you will have your Ketu mahadasha going on at your birth. The balance of the planet’s dasha period remaining at birth is calculated using the location (degree/minute/second) of Moon in the nakshatra. If you get this birth time wrong your starting point will be wrong thus your entire life-time’s calculation will go wrong.

And then the Ketu mahadasha can occur at any point in life depending on your birth Moon nakshatra. The sub-periods/Antardasha owned by Ketu in other planet’s Mahadasha-s will also carry his flavour.

Ketu’s main periods/mahadasha or sub-periods in other planets Mahadashas will give results as per Ketu’s ability to give results in your chart.

To evaluate Ketu’s Mahadasha in your life, there are 3 steps.

Step 1 is to check out these following about Ketu in your chart. You need to know the power of Ketu in giving results and also the aspects of life which he represents. These keywords are going to be in focus during his periods.

  1. Location of Ketu in your birth chart (divisional chart 1/D-1). Can you expect it to give its results completely or not?
    • Which house and in which sign is he placed? Thus which aspects of life is he influencing.
    • Is he in the sign of a friend/neutral/enemy planet. How is this planet placed? Is he strong/weak etc, as Ketu will take on his powers and ability to give results.
    • Is Ketu exalted/debilitated?
    • Which planets is he conjoint or aspected by? Thus which other parts of the personality is he influencing? Also Ketu will take on their powers and ability to give results too.
    • Is the birth during an eclipse? Or a kaal sarpa yog?
    • Has he matured?
    • Which lunar mansion/nakshatra is he placed in? He will be influenced by the ruler of this nakshatra too.
    • And finally is there any planet placed in Nakshatra owned by Ketu? He can be influenced by these too!
  2. You can repeat this same analysis from the birth Moon sign to get the effects that this Ketu Mahadasha is going to have on the emotional aspects.
  3. And you can repeat this same analysis using the divisional chart 9, Navamsha chart to get perspective on the sub-conscious and astral expectations and also the sum total of his potential. (If you find this complicated right now, don’t overwhelm yourself, do it whenever you feel more confident.)

Ketu is primarily the force of detachment and dissociation. As mindful dissociation from the manifested world is required for spiritual growth he is also called the Moksh-karak (agent of enlightenment). But broadly whichever house/aspect Ketu touches, he will make you indifferent to them. These will simply not be relevant to you, you will be apathetic to them. Sometimes being detached can give better fruits than being overly attached to things. If he is favourably placed and in the company of benefics and influencing the powerful houses of your chart he will give good results. Gains from overseas, business where you deal with intangible stuff (eg stock markets are just numbers not solid stuff), journeys to distant places including astral travel etc are possible. If he is heavily influenced by malefics and is going to give unpleasant results then he can cause, deaths, separations, amputations, losses, diseases, anxieties and related stuff. Ketu in his periods will shed off all that is consuming your energy for no good reason. All the things which are not wanted at the deeper inner levels will be cut off by Ketu.

But go through his karakatva/all that he stands for in the chart, before predicting hopeless things and causing yourself needless stress.

Step 2 is now you will need to evaluate upto the antardasha/sub-period levels at least. (Even smaller segments are called successively Pratyantar-dasha, Sookshma-dasha and Pran-dasha. The logic on how to analyse these even smaller units remains the same for each planetary owner of the sub/sub periods.) The lord of the sub-period will give his results within the broad framework of the overarching Ketu’s karakatva as above.

  1. Find out the power of the sub-period planetary lord like you did for Ketu above.
    • Which houses he rules over is more important now because Ketu is headless and will take cues from this sub-period lord.
    • Especially if this sub-period lord is the owner of the 2nd or 7th house (Marakesh) its sub-period within the Ketu mahadasha can cause physical death.
  2. The mutual relationship between Ketu and the sub-period lord. Are they friends/enemies/neutral. And their placement, if they are in the 6/8 or 2/12 uncomfortable aspects, that sub-lord’s sub-period will not be comfortable.

Step 3 is the routine planetary transits/ gochar which will modify results during their transit periods. You can get this from your software and superimpose it on your D-1 birth chart. Use a different pen so that you can make sense of the composite chart you are drawing. Or you can use the easy Ashtakvarga table method to get a sense of the transits Dashas.

Ketu Mahadasha

Ketu Mahadasha/main period lasts for 7 years. His energies are quite intense thus this relatively short period. Within this, you will experience the following antardasha/sub-periods. These are very very general readings just to trigger your own thought processes. Each horoscope is unique so each will have its own unique analysis. Readings/combinations from books should be used for reference, as a starting point and to build into your own further analysis.

  1. Ketu antardasha – 4 months 27 days
    • If Ketu is placed well he will give gains in terms of professional life, personal life, may give awards and recognition, separation from negative things in life. But despite this he will give an underlying mental stress, maybe headaches.
    • If Ketu is not placed well, debilitated or under malefic influence he will be no condition to give positive results. Then he will give his results of apathy and separation in the negative sense, causing separation from the positive things in life. As Ketu is a headless graha, most problems will be in some way linked to the ‘head’.
    • He follows Mercury’s Mahadasha, so first of all will cause a sudden end to things which were going on in life. Things will suddenly start going out of sequence, karmic stuff will come up for resolution. Mostly endings! However if you can remain in control intellectually, you can actually make use of the spiritual things from your past lives which will now be accessible.
    • You might feel alone, introverted, caught in the past during this period. Try to divert these energies into your spiritual practice if you can so that your material life remains more stable.
  2. Venus antardasha – 14 months 0 days
    • If Ketu and Venus have a fruitful working relationship then expect pilgrimages, visits to sacred places, companionship, profits and gains through partners. Learning opportunities and broadening of philosophical outlook.
    • But if these 2 are in an uncomfortable relationship in your chart then expect eye problems, headaches, problems in relationships, they can also cause separations and divorces.
  3. Sun antardasha – 4 months 6 days
    • If Ketu and Sun are comfortable with each other and will give benefic results then gain in wealth, creativity, political power, favours from political leaders, a good relationship with the father, wins in legal issues is possible.
    • However negative results of such a combination can give problems with the government, health related issues, fevers, heart problems, unnecessary travel to foreign locations etc.
  4. Moon antardasha – 7 months 0 days
    • If Ketu and Moon are mutually comfortable then expect profits in your businesses, you may construct new houses, buy new cars or start something new connected with liquids. Interactions with women will increase. More results depending on all the things Moon stands for in your horoscope.
    • Else the negative effects are like this, problems from women, emotional issues destabilised life, lack of comforts etc.
  5. Mars antardasha – 4 months 27 days
    • If Ketu and Mars are on good terms in your chart you will start something new as can be seen from the karakatva of Mars in your chart. Eg, you can start new businesses or lands. There will be energy and confidence in pursuing your interests.
    • Else the negative effects can include traumas, surgeries, accidents, damage to the vitality of the physical body, diseases which cannot be diagnosed etc.
  6. Rahu antardasha – 12 months 18 days
    • Rahu and Ketu are always 180 degrees apart. Ketu desires Rahu and Rahu desires only his ambitions
    • If Rahu is well placed with benefic planets and is capable of giving positive results, your ambitions will be high and also will be fulfilled during this period. Especially sucess in foreign lands, markets and speculation.
    • If not then you will suffer from over-reaching and falling while chasing your ambitions. Troubles and diseases may accompany.
    • Here karmic influences predominate and free will is at its lowest ebb, so best lie low while this is on.
  7. Jupiter antardasha – 11 months 5 days
    • If Ketu and Jupiter are favourably situated then you can perform rituals like pujas, yadnyas etc, publicly visible ceremonies. There will be prosperity, celebrations and gains. Maybe marriages and birth of children.
    • If not then there will separations from the aspects of life defined by Jupiter in in the horoscope.
  8. Saturn antardasha – 13 months 9 days
    • If Ketu and Saturn are both capable of giving good results with each other then social mobility, hard work which yields success, change of job for the better,
    • If not then this period can cause physical problems related to bones, teeth, nerves, obstacles, death of parents (if indicated), social defamations, loss in power and money, theft, long journeys etc.
  9. Mercury antardasha – 11 months 27 days
    •  If Ketu and Mercury are favourably disposed towards each other can lead to pilgrimages, good health and comfortable lifestyle, huge profits in trade and good communications, birth of children etc.
    • If not then, can cause losses in mental and intellectual capacity, problems in speech, losses to the children and siblings etc.
    • This is the final sub-period of Ketu Mahadasha. In this period you will release all that related to Ketu and prepare yourself for the upcoming Venus mahadasha of 20 years.
    • If, in case, you have your Venus and Ketu conjunct with each other then you will have a massive 27 (20+7) years of life as a seamless Venus/Ketu combination mahadasha. And if by chance Venus is your ascendant also here you will face 27 yrs of a strange dissociation with your sense of self.

The generic remedy for those suffering from problems during this period of Ketu is pujas of Shiv or Shakti. Doing the Rudra-abhisek once in a while or a daily recitation of any Shiv mantra will be good. Or if you are more drawn to Shakti, a yadnya of Devi Mahatmya once in a while or reciting any mantra of Devi daily will help.

Analysing the effects of planetary periods requires an understanding of several factors in the horoscope, the most important being the karakatva of that planet (which areas of your life are controlled by the planet) and the power of the planet to give good/bad results. If you can determine these two things with confidence, analysing the effects of that planet’s periods will be easy.

This is the second shortest mahadasha at 7yrs. The shortest is the Sun Mahadasha at 6yrs. This 7yr period is very intense thus is very short. If you can do some spiritual practice during this period it can provide significant back-up for you for a lifetime. Ketu’s main period  is followed by the Venus Mahadasha, the agent of relationships, the longest one which lasts for 20yrs.

Ketu’s periods will be characterised by his keywords, separation, dissociation, apathy and disinterest. But these will be very intense periods where karma will be in the forefront and your options will be rather limited. It is a very short period of 7yrs as Ketu’s separative fiery energies cannot be tolerated for more than this. In this period, try to remain calm, try to actively take interest in things unfolding around you and do start some simple regular spiritual practice. These simple things will act as an anchor in Ketu’s periods and help you resolve your own karma more easily.

If you feel a bit overwhelmed by all his here is a tiny short-cut keyword post on how to analyse the planet’s time-periods based on the which house he rules over.

 

Ketu Mahadasha