exalted

Pisces the Paradoxical ascendent

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There are three watery signs. Moveable Cancer, Fixed Scorpio and Dual-natured Pisces. When any of these signs gets placed in the ascendant, it creates a powerful personality with typical attributes. The depth of the fathomless sea, intuition, power to manipulate the astral body, access to the other dimensions etc. They are more in tune with their astral selves rather than their material selves and they all face very typical problems, which perhaps are the hardest of the lot. I have written a lot about the Cancer and Scorpio ascendants earlier, this post is about Pisces as the rising house. Pisces is an auspicious sign, but like the other two watery signs it has its own deep challenges. I have written about Moon in Pisces rashi here. And if you were born with Pisces in your 1st house, you are again the summary of the zodiac.

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Jupiter owns Pisces. The Teacher of Knowledge, the one who always supports, does not let you fall, allows you gather resources for your next jump up, the resourceful, benevolent, hopeful, expansive force rules Pisces.

Then the Teacher of the Esoteric, Venus, is exalted in Pisces. This is a very important bit of information. Venus is the real Moksh-karak, the one who guides you to your deepest one-one relationship with your higher self. Read this post on Venus and Jupiter to know why Venus is exalted here and how Jupiter and Venus both support each other in their typical manner. Venus in Pisces guides the Soul to the divine and Jupiter provides the resources which will be burnt to gain that eternal experience.

And finally Mercury is debilitated in Pisces, another significant point. Mercury represents duality, the actions which lead to creation of karma and also the karmic conditions where you choose to serve or suffer in order to rebalance this karma. He is debilitated in Pisces, ie the energy of this rashi’s environment is completely unsuited to Mercury’s typical nature and activities. In Pisces, you are required to search for the universal, the one common thread linking all. Here you understand that you work not for personal gains but for the benefit of the universal good. This last sign of the zodiac is a paradox of combining completely opposite concepts which are perfectly united, fertility/ loss, movement/ stillness, duality/ nonduality, regeneration/decay, completion/start of a new cycle. The choice is yours how you use the potential energy of these attributes of Pisces, your ascendant rashi.

Pisces in the 1st house is again a bridge, you connect. You link people, situations, dimensions, consciousness, impossible odds, anything and everything can be connected by you. You are happiest and feel fulfilled when you act as the link between. Try to incorporate this concept in some way in your life, you will feel more satisfied with yourself. Pisces contains 3 lunar mansions, Poorva-bhadrapada, Uttara-bhadrapada and Revati. The Revati borns face typical problems if the exact rising degree falls in the Gandant zone, so if you are such a person, do read my posts on the Gandant and how you deal with these very typical issues.

Pisces rising gives you a soft, quiet and gentle personality. You are religious-minded and spiritual by nature and you are respected for this. You are irresistible, shy and generally very charming, cute? Your appearance and behaviour is attractive, you are kind, others are compelled to approach you, you are very attractive. Actually your astral self, as projected through your aura is very attractive, people are pulled to you because of your genuinely loving, benevolent, non-judgemental aura. They feel peace when they are close to you. You will find people confiding in you, you know secrets about everyone you know! And you never take advantage of anyone else, though others can at times take advantage of your gentle all-accepting nature.

Pisces the Paradoxical ascendent

You are generally well-off, good-natured, sympathetic, empathetic, a good listener and a good companion. Your perspective is generally original, you look at things very differently. You are very clear about family, friends, social relations and if you feel that you are required to do something for others you do it willingly. You are generally content by nature, generous, always willing to share or give.  Basically an honest, religious helpful person, your intentions are good, you wish to do good by others and you try to help others as possible. Aware of society and social behaviour, you like interacting with the large groups around you. But if you stay in large groups for long, you get uneasy as your aura gets over whelmed by so many people around you. You are not active, no hustle bustle to you. Relatively passive, you accept the situations as they come. You are rather clueless about strategising and creating conditions to for your personal advantage, rather innocent in the ways of life.

You are restless, you search, but for what?, this only you know. You are dreamy, not practical, absent minded, you forget all those things which don’t make you ‘feel’. You can seem impressionable, vague and directionless. An open mind which accepts influences, opinions and ideas like a sponge. You are changeable in your manner and behaviour. You are not objective in life but subjective. Less logic, less numbers, less hard reality and more feelings, more intuition more love. You require freedom, you like to explore, but this is more an internal freedom to ‘feel’ as you desire. You ‘feel’ your way through life. You like touching your loved one too, hugs, kisses and cuddles satisfy you. If your loved one puts restrictions on your feelings/ behaviour or disregards your intuition, this will cause problems between you two.

But one interesting thing about Pisces is this, you, after Capricorn, are the best decision-maker of the zodiac. Surprised? You are connected to your astral sum and  have intuitive sources of information which other signs cannot even fathom. You are the repository of the learnings of the entire zodiac so have a tremendous resource within you. If you are ever required to take a decision about something which touches you, you can take the best possible decision at that time, very practical and fair. But if you are not emotionally linked to the topic, if it means nothing to you, you will be vague, indecisive and your usual dreamy self. The Paradox of the Pisces!

You avoid conflict. One reason is that harsh words tear into your aura, so you get psychic attacked by the person who is arguing with you. You cannot defend yourself from astral attacks, especially if it is your loved one attacking you. In case you do not know how to repair your tattered aura, there are spirits around who dig hooks into your torn aura and suck up your energy. This aura damage causes real harm to you on all levels. Second reason is your very high emotional sensitivity. You get into an argument and the same argument comes up again later. Now you not only remember the initial argument but you remember how you felt, it is so intense that it feels like that same argument is happening again with double the associated emotions. You remember emotions! So you cannot bear intensely negative emotions or situations especially if they happen again and again.

You want an easy-going life and you enjoy whatever you have. You generally have a good house, cars etc, life is reasonably comfortable. You are quite attached to your family, siblings, spouse and children. Girlfriends/ boyfriends are quite possible and you should beware of getting into undesirable relationships before/ outside marriage. You are quite romantic in marriage and like spending time with your spouse, having close emotional bonds feels good. You like giving and receiving gifts, visible expressions of love are important to you. Married life is generally stable and happy. The spouse is generally reliable, intelligent, adaptable and practical. You are rather dreamy and impractical so your loved one is required to do all the practical stuff, like money budgeting, bank balance, major life plans etc. You follow him without question or hesitation. So marry only after matching the horoscopes and marry someone who values your love and complete trust.

Your father has an important role in your life, maybe you are attached more to him than your mother. Or you may have a spiritual father, a Sat-Guru, to whom you look up to for spiritual support. The friend-circle is good, there are intelligent and positive people here. You derive emotional comfort from these people around you. You have very deep sense of emotions. Highly aware of your and others emotions, emotional pleasure or pain touches your soul deeply. This sensitivity is the source of your creative inclinations. You generally keep your personal desires secret and channelise them through your work, you write or paint etc, express yourself in some creative way. Your creative works will have a touch of mystery and can showcase your hidden depths. You can be a professional artist if you want to. Your professional life, social mobility and social status is generally quite satisfactory.

Generally healthy, but not very robust, you tire easily. This tiredness is linked to your sensitive aura again. Best go for annual check-ups once a year after mid-life. You do not like taking medicines, there might be some drug sensitivity or allergic reactions. Your aura is weak around the feet so you can lose your energy from here. Your aura is very susceptible so follow a schedule of cleansing, grounding and shielding. This will prevent evil eye and psychic attacks, you are more prone to these than any other sign of the zodiac. You cannot resist anything which attacks or makes demands from you on any level.

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During your childhood and in the young age there are typical difficulties mostly because of your sensitivity to auras and the astral planes. Children are more sensitive as it is when they are young, so this double sensitivity can cause you problems. But this is the reason why Pisces is so different. You have experienced life in all its hues through others in such a young age. These childhood issues ease out as your planets mature one after the others. You reach your complete sense of yourself in the late 40-s after which life becomes more easy and auspicious things happen to you. After this age, you are more comfortable in your own personality and this is evident in your aura. People will ask you for advice and hold your words in high esteem.

(Eg one of my sisters is a very dominant Pisces, her father was a lawyer who gave free legal advice to poor people after office-hours. These people would also come to his house for help. Their auras, the energy of their words, all very disturbed people right in the house everyday. She could sense all this but as a child did not understand what was happening to her. So she vicariously lived through so many traumas, divorces, deaths, murders, cheating, etc absorbing the energies of these twisted legal issues connected to all these people on a daily basis. She suffered alone and intensely in her childhood, but today she is truly one of the gentlest and kindest souls I know. This rather traumatic childhood experience has with time created genuine compassion in her soul.)

Now with this ascendant, there are some typical hardships which can occur suddenly without warning. One advice is to ever gamble in life. Or never take up risky ventures as you might lose your money. Another inner divide you face is your powerful belief in individuality but still you deeply believe in the unified whole. This statement can make sense to only a Pisces! This leads to a dual mindset as you are unable to choose between the material or the spiritual. On one side you want to experience the highest spiritual and on the other hand the sensory and material gratification beckons. The extent of this duality will depend on the individual horoscope, but it will exist (this existential schism is a common features of all watery sign ascendants). You might get bad advice from your siblings and friends. So before acting on such advice do ask your inner conscience. Selfishness, cruelty, immoral activities etc are bad karma, avoid them assiduously, you, Pisces, will suffer more than anyone else. You are a bit dreamy by nature, very hopeful, looking for the good in everyone else, you are too innocent to realise obvious dangers. So if you have someone genuine you trust, do take his opinion on saving money, investments etc material stuff. Be careful about giving your trust or love to anyone.

Pisces is two fish apparently swimming in opposite directions, but still always together. This curious duality actually indicates a deep singularity. These two fish swim continuously but do not go apart. This indicates your very deep struggle to hold on to your sense of self. You are hard at work to remain still, a paradox. Your duality is controlled in such a way that the Non-dual emerges. This is a very high precision thing that Pisces does. Outwardly dreamy, passive, you are hard at work within to remain absolutely still. This is the reason why this rashi is connected to Moksh. If you desire to and work hard to achieve that perfect stillness, this sign will provide you the necessary environment to attain the Eternal. There is no compulsion in Pisces, the ego is still and you are connected to the divine. You are willing to do whatever is required of you. As always you have a choice, if you choose to enjoy the Game some more, the fish can easily move apart to distort the equilibrium. Duality can reassert itself and again start a new cycle as Aries follows Pisces. Pisces acts as a bridge between Duality and the Non-dual. Or between one creation cycle and the next.

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I found this image on the internet and whoever has made this, has done a lovely job. A Pisces dominated personality is Love, very loveable and eager to love, hearts sprinkled all over. I have seen that Pisces is the most non-judgemental one, he accepts anything from his loved one, without question or hesitation. And look at his mirror, Virgo with his broken heart. Virgos are so anxious about everything that they worry about love, expressions of love, falling in love, their loved one, worry so much that cannot see what their mirror Pisces is offering them, always. Thus the Virgo broken heart, a heart in such anxiety that it does not know to love, doesn’t recognise love if it is offered to him on a platter. And only a Pisces can love such a mirror, Pisces has so many extra hearts in him that he can easily make up for his loved Virgo’s broken one. But then having so many hearts can be an issue too, if a Pisces deeply loves someone with all his hearts, and then gets his hearts broken, all those hearts on his body break, this then results in unending pain for the Pisces. Sometimes being so full of love is a hard place to be.

Pisces the Paradoxical ascendent

Exalted and debilitated planets, retrograde and forward

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In a horoscope you will often see planets which are debilitated/ neech-avastha or exalted/ uccha-avashta. The normal reaction is to feel worried if you have some neech planets and feel happy if you have some planets exalted. The general understanding is that the planet gives his perfect results when he is placed in his exalted sign and gives his worst results when he is situated in his sign of debilitation. But this is not the complete picture so if you have a few debilitated planets in your chart, there is no need to get stressed out.

Every planet gives his results, in whatever condition he is in, he will express his energies. This expression may be on your physical level, mental state, material level, spiritual level, etc. It might be sadness, happiness, despair, ecstasy, neutral plain-ness. It may promote outgoing behaviour, social engagements, business sense, spiritual inclination, seclusion, desire for learning, etc. Every placement in the chart was chosen by you at your moment of birth. This was your higher self choosing, so the chart is the best possible alignment for you to potentially work off your karma. What you make of this potential is your free will and conscious choice.

On to exalted and debilitated planets, a quick re-cap,

Graha

Exalted

Debilitated

Sun

Aries 10th deg

Libra 10th deg

Moon

Taurus 3rd deg

Scorpio 3rd deg

Mercury

Virgo 15th deg

Pisces 15th deg

Venus

Pisces 27th deg

Virgo 27th deg

Mars

Capricorn 28th deg

Cancer 28th deg

Jupiter

Cancer 5th deg

Capricorn 5th deg

Saturn

Libra 20th deg

Aries 20th deg

Rahu

Taurus 20th deg

Scorpio 20th deg

Ketu

Scorpio 20th deg

Taurus 20th deg

(I follow B.V. Raman/Parashara)

Now the finer detail, on exaltation. Eg Jupiter is exalted at the precise 5th deg of Cancer. ie from 4.01 deg to 5 deg. So if in your chart he is,

  • Eg at 3rd deg Cancer in the forward motion. He is moving towards his exact exaltation point. He is in a state of pleasurable anticipation, optimistic, thus gives better visible results. The things connected to Cancer, the house in which Cancer is placed in and the houses/signs owned by Jupiter, are all viewed positively because of Jupiter’s upbeat mood. You can thus expect auspicious results.
  • Eg at 3rd deg Cancer in retrograde motion. Here Jupiter is moving in an apparent backward motion. Now he feels bad. He had his sights on the point of exaltation but as he has become retrograde he could not achieve his goal. He is moving away from the goal, retracing his steps. He knows he will be re-attempting his goal again when he enters his forward motion. This state of the planet is rather demotivated, he does not give his full results despite being in his sign of exaltation Cancer. Something like a mountaineer who has to turn back, when touching distance of the summit he desires.
  • Exact 5th deg in forward motion. He is exalted delighted satisfied. This is the top of the zodiac for Jupiter, from 4.01deg to 5deg, he has achieved everything. The visible results of this placement will be excellent!
  • Exact 5th degree and in retrograde movement. He is happy at the summit, that does not change. But when he is retrograde he will apparently move backward, then again start forward and cross his exhalation degree again. Thus the happiness is colored with this knowledge. He knows there will be a brief going downwards but he will get one more opportunity to be at the top. So good results.
  • Eg in the 10th deg in forward movement. Jupiter has crossed his highest point, it is behind him now. The state of remembered happiness does exist, so he is willing to give good results. But this quantum will be less than the happiness of the exaltation point as he is on his way down from his personal top. So slightly less exuberant results.
  • Eg in the 10th deg and retrograde. He has reversed his motion and is going back towards his point of exaltation. He will give quite good results, as he is again optimistic. There is a shade of seriousness now, the planet seems to be more intent about his work. This is his second attempt at the summit and he is determined to make the most of it. Good results.

In general, when a planet is approaching his exact point of exhalation, his results are optimistic. This phase is called the Aroha phase, he is ascending. When he is moving away from the exaltation point, ie in Avaroha phase, the quantum of optimism reduces changing the results that he is capable of delivering. I consider a 15deg section before the high point as the Aroha section as the planet is preparing himself for the climb, is optimistic. So for Jupiter this would be 20-30deg Gemini and 0-5deg Cancer. And similarly a 15deg section after the high point as the section where he descends as the Avaroha section. For Jupiter this would be 5-20 deg Cancer. See the topmost point is only 1deg, very short, it is rather unstable, as every way from here is down. So if you are born with such a highly exalted planet, make sure that you use its energies sensibly with your conscience as your guide. Do some spiritual practice so that you create some asset which will be useful in your next lives too.

Exalted and debilitated planets, retrograde and forward

Now about debilitation. Again eg Jupiter, who is debilitated deepest at 5th deg Capricorn, ie 4.01-5 deg.

  • Eg If he is at 3rd deg Capricorn in forward motion. He knows that he is falling into his deepest point of the zodiac. There is desperation and intense dejection, so the results are not auspicious.
  • Eg if he is at 3rd deg Capricorn in retrograde motion, here it is like he has been saved at the last minute from falling into the abyss. His results will be better than expected. He was descending, falling to his deepest neech-point, but the change of apparent motion has helped him, now he is climbing away. This puts him in a good mood. He knows that debilitation will come later but at present he is relieved and able to give reasonably good results. The mindset would be wary for the future but reasonably well-settled for the present.
  • Eg if he is in 5th deg Capricorn in forward motion. He is in the exact point of highest debilitation. Highly pessimistic, depressed, dejected etc. But as the motion is forward, he knows that he is moving out of the depths. However the mind-set has to be trained to remain patient and endure as this is just 1 deg, after this, the only way is up.
  • Eg if he is in 5th deg Capricorn in retrograde motion. This is again the deepest nadir, so the dejection depression etc will exist. As he will move in the apparent backward position and climb up there will be improvement. The mind should be trained to remain patient. But the planet will fall again as soon as he regains his forward motion. So overall this position gives a very pessimistic mindset.
  • Eg If he is at 10th deg Capricorn in forward motion. Here Jupiter would be very happy to have come out of the nadir point and is moving away from it. He has suffered, there is more seriousness and maturity but he is getting back up. The mindset would be eager, but with a wary eye on possible problems.
  • Eg if he is at 10th deg Capricorn in retrograde motion. Here the hopelessness is the maximum as the planet has already experienced his full Neech-state and is falling back again. The planet will give quite inauspicious results.

The 15deg section before the low point is the Avaroha-descending section. The planet is falling into the abyss. So for Jupiter this would be 20-30deg Sagittarius and 0-5deg Capricorn. But Sagittarius is his own sign so the effect of the impending debilitation will not be much here. And similarly a 15deg section after the high point as the section where he climbs out of the depth is the Aroha section. For Jupiter this would be 5-20 deg Capricorn. Results will always be better in a climbing up placement rather than in the falling down placement.

The depth of debilitation is just one degree, the falling in and climbing out is longer. As in life, the climbing up/down parts are longer for the planets too, the extreme point is just one degree. So if you are born with a debilitated planet know that you have to act. Act with intention and a desire to achieve.The energies are stilled at this point, if you can manage to move them even a bit, you will be going up. The tremendous potential of this position can be best diverted into the sub-conscious for internal growth. There will be disappointments but use the energy of the external negativity to search for permanent happiness within. With this placement you can actually find it within you. The route will not be easy, but you are aiming for the greatest prize, naturally the difficulties will be the hardest. Start a regular spiritual practice, this is the crutch you will use on your way.

Exalted and debilitated planets, retrograde and forward

The speed of planets, the nature and direction of their movement is a very important criterion in analysing horoscopes. There are eight types of movements of the planets (Post), and the faster planets give quick results. Especially for Saturn, Jupiter and to some extent Mars, this factor is quite important. Venus and Mercury also go retrograde/ fast/ slow etc but the time periods are shorter for them.

Another way of looking at this is, suppose Jupiter always gives 100 units of results. These will expressed in the conscious and the sub-conscious in different ratios. These 100 units as per your chart are then divided into various types of results, eg 20% for material riches, 30% for wisdom, 20% for spirituality and 30% for religiousness. In his best exalted state he will give expression to all these results in your conscious life. The full % of each type of result will be given to you. You will see and feel these effects of Jupiter in your life. There will be satisfaction and pleasure in achievements. Involved more in these Jupiter things, you will want more of these. (On the sub-conscious levels, you are using up the accumulated luck/merit/benefit of your past lives. So remember to do some merit-giving activities so that you have something for your next life.)

In his worst debilitated state however, he will be unable to give the full 100 units in the conscious state. His expression here will be less maybe just 20 units will be given depending on your chart. You will consciously be made aware of the decrease in satisfaction, the ephemeral nature of the material. There will be a movement away from the external show of Jupiter-things a desperate search for pleasure. This is a crucial point. If your moral compass is weak or you are willing to be satisfied by temporary measures, you might take the wrong path in life, eg drugs, addictions etc. This is a slippery slope and most of the debilitations cause such problems. In fact addictive behaviour with its very temporary ‘high’, is actually a desire for the permanent ‘high’ that you get during your spiritual practice.

But see, Jupiter has to give 100 units, it is compulsory. The remaining 80 units are ‘locked’ due to debilitation. If you can divert your mind or do some astrological remedies, or do some mantras, you can use their power to unlock the remaining 80units, which will be then used in giving you spiritual satisfaction. For the rare few, who can divert this desire for satisfaction, this energy to the correct direction, the spiritual results will be unimaginably high. Your sub-conscious mind will be pulling in these energies and Jupiter will give his results more internally. You will be made aware of the higher divinity within you. (If the pull of the debilitated planet is very strong and the person intends to find his real self, then such people can actually renounce the society and take sanyas.)

If there are several debilitated planets in your chart first analyse them in depth. Then try to shift your mindset consciously. Try to focus on the higher spiritual. Do some regular spiritual practice, try to be patient, keep your intention strong. They will benefit. Every planet gives his full results, only their style and direction of expression varies.

 

Exalted and debilitated planets, retrograde and forward

 

Exalted and debilitated, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury

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I have written about the other exalted and debilitated planets in my previous posts here and here. In this one will write about Jupiter, Venus and Mercury. Basically exalted/ucch planets are when the energies of the planet exactly matches the energy of his environment rashi where he is placed in the horoscope. And debilitated/neech is when his energies exactly mis-match the energies of his environment rashi/sign.

Jupiter is exalted in Cancer and debilitated in Capricorn

Jupiter is the benevolent lord of expansion. He is the humanist and the philosopher. He is the teacher of knowledge and patiently guides his students to enlightenment. He is most comfortable when he has no restrictions on his nature to expand and teach.

Cancer/Karka – This is the watery sign owned by the agent of the mind, the Moon. The Moon and Jupiter are good friends. Cancer represents the depths of emotions, intuition and perceptions thus it offers no limits to Jupiter’s tendency to expand in every possible way. Cancer is also a maternal sign and loves providing security and stability. Jupiter uses these characteristics of this sign to provide support in terms of philosophy, theory  and knowledge. He also likes to provide structure to the external expressions of religion, as rites and rituals. His students become his children and his guidance is appreciated. Jupiter acts as a lens through which all the life events are experienced. He becomes the perfect teacher in Cancer and thus feels validated and exalted.

Capricorn/Makar – This rashi belongs to the strict disciplinarian Saturn. Obsessed with the stratified social hierarchies, work, money and power. Jupiter here finds no takers for his philosophy and  humanitarian approach. Prosaic hard work and involvement in the materialistic saps his energy. Instead of teaching philosophy and laying foundations of human life he is forced to work for social mobility. He is selfless, wants to raise awareness of humanity itself but here has to ensure his selfish material growth. Jupiter is suffocated here, trying to fit in an environment utterly contrary to his true nature. Saturn too tries to restrict, constrict and structure the Lord of expansion and miserably fails.

Exalted and debilitated, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury

Venus is exalted in Pisces and debilitated in Virgo

Venus is the best teacher of them all. He garbs his lessons as pleasures, the external trappings of beauty, companionship, food, drink and sex. Then waits till you get tired of this array of pleasures and then offers you some more. This goes on till you realise that the best possible relationship is with yourself and your real self is the most beautiful of them all, that is when he gives his real gift of self-realization and self-knowledge.

Pisces/Meen – This environment brings out the best in Venus. The owner of Pisces, Jupiter and Venus are both Gurus, one teaches the esoteric the other the conventional, and as per the stories they have been classmates. Though their students now continuously war with each other (Daitya v/s Devata) they themselves are on quite amicable terms. Only when both the Gurus are in harmony can final enlightenment be possible. They have their own differing view-points but in Pisces, they balance themselves and come to an agreement. Pisces also is the end of the zodiac, this represents ‘settlement of everything’ in the broadest sense possible. Also here Venus can explore the deepest range of the secret, esoteric, sub-conscious and the unknowable. Thus Venus in Pisces provides the ideal environment for Venus to express all aspects of his personality, mundane, spiritual, esoteric, secrets and beauty in all ways!

Virgo/Kanya – This is the house of Mercury, the impressionable adolescent. Venus placed in Virgo finds himself at a loss. The sign is too immature and too involved in details to understand his deep esoteric teachings and sense of aesthetics. Surrounded by details and data he does not know what to make of them. He likes to make alliances and partnerships but in Virgo he told to use the data for arguments, nit-picking and blame-games. He wants to arrive at agreements but the juvenile and nervous nature of the sign does not allow him. He is bogged down with unfair demands to attend. He has debts to serve and enemies at his back. This house represents the loss of harmony in every which way and the Lord of Balance himself is off-balance here.Mercury is exalted in Virgo and debilitated in Pisces

Mercury is the use that we put our intelligence to. Databases, details, interpretations and conclusions are the domain of Mercury. He is very susceptible to influences from other planets but his primary desire is to collect data, organise it and then use it as a reference point . He uses his databases to interpret his life experiences. He is still a youngster and rebels against authority and loves juvenile chit-chat and meaningless arguments.

Pisces/Meen – This is the expansive and bottomless watery sign of Jupiter. Mercury feels uncomfortable with him and Jupiter dislikes Mercury’s juvenile antics. Chatty conversations are not very welcome in the reflective, dreamy, imaginative Pisces. Give an adolescent too much freedom with no structure and you have a Mercury in Pisces. Pisces is watery, nothing solid for him to hold onto. His data and details are like the silvery fish slipping from his hands. His databases sink to the depths of the sub-conscious and he is confused. He does know, he is the lord of mental ability himself, but Pisces refuses him the structure that he needs. He cannot articulate himself properly, cannot communicate. He leaps from one topic to another without logic and tends to mix data from his own material world and the imaginary worlds of Pisces. His audience may be entertained but refuse to take him seriously.

Virgo/Kanya – In his own house Mercury is ultra-happy, he has his own room to himself. He can play with his data and details, get his friends for a sleep-over or eat food on the bed, no one to continually look at what he is upto. He has the structure that he requires and he can re-structure and re-organize till he is satisfied with his efficiency. His geeky smart nature comes up strong, his computers, his analytics, his database and he is prepared to analyse any sort of information, very objective. He is the brilliant thinker, always prepared for every question and is clarity of thought himself. He controls the inventory of the Zodiac at his fingertips. Logic, precise thinking, technical, multi-dimensional analysis, he can deliver anything and everything. Communicating with confidence he is 24/7 and 365 days of pure mind.

 

Exalted and debilitated, Jupiter, Venus and Mercury

Exalted and debilitated, Rahu, Ketu and Saturn

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About exalted/ucch and debilitated/neech planets again. I had written about Sun, Moon and Mars in my post here. Here let us talk about Saturn, Rahu/North Node and Ketu/South node. Exalted is when a planet feels at home and its energy perfectly matches the energy of the environment/sign. And conversely, when the energy of the planet is perfectly mis-matched with the energy of the rashi environment it is ‘debilitated’.

Astrology is just matching energies. Start by learning the basic keywords and see if you can you can understand the energies of the 12 houses/signs and the 9 planetary forces. If you want you can read on the combinations and yogas/doshas later but first learn these basics. Astrology is quite simple actually.

Exalted and debilitated, Rahu, Ketu and Saturn

Saturn, is exalted in Libra and debilitated in Aries.

Saturn is the King of Karma! He subsumes his personality for the greater good of the society. He works anonymous among the masses and does not care about acknowledgment. He works tirelessly and endures so that everyone reaps what they have sowed. He is into redressing old hurts, balancing pending Karma and restores fairness and discipline. His work is his fulfilment. Saturn needs structure, discipline, maturity, hierarchy and austerity.He serves and in his service, he Rules.

In Libra/Tula the airy, intellectual sign of his friend Venus/Shukra, he gets maximum opportunity to carry on his work. Venus happily hosts his friend Shani and honors him as the agent of social Justice. And Shani supported by the intellect and inherent fairness of Libra, does his work with aesthetics and beauty. Karma is beautifully balanced! Saturn in Libra becomes great in public related legal issues and is exceptionally materially successful. He addresses old karmas by his legal/balanced service to a large section of the society. His spiritual activity will also be regular and he will learn about constraints and restraints on his personality, which then he will be able to work through. The only fear he faces here is the fear of illegality and unbalance, and this fear is addressed in the environment of the sign itself.

In impulsive Aries however, the rigid, slow-to-move Shani finds himself at a loss. Though Mars is neutral to him, he views the aggressive youthful Mars as an enemy. In Aries/Mesha, Shani, creates fears and resistance from the physical body and the environment both. He constricts innovation, instinct and competition. He demands that in the ‘Sign of the Champions’, rules, regulations and social equality be followed. He refuses to provide energies for explorations and new ventures. The body frame wants to be visible, win and shine, but Saturn insists on anonymity and drudgery.  Saturn tries to perform his obligations but fails unless other planets placements help him. Aries’s energies are invasive and contrary to Saturn’s true nature of Social Justice.

Rahu, is exalted in Taurus and debilitated in Scorpio

Rahu is the ambitious one, always over-reaching and falling. Yet he never surrenders. He respects no boundaries and is never satisfied. He is an expert in camouflage and can pretend to be anyone or anything as long as thinks he can gain. He has the courage and daring to attempt, often over-extends.

Rahu is at his acquisitive best in Taurus/Vrushabh. The earthy energies of this sign allow him to indulge in his cravings for lineage, treasures, resources, hoards, food/drink, song and dance. The solidity of the treasure house fascinates his Serpent/Naag mind. He allows himself sensual pleasures and indulgence here. Here in Taurus he can break rules under a superficial garb of legality and earn even more wealth for himself. He can shine in the banking sector. He has gained a good family back-up for himself, and he leverages his assets to shine in the social area too. Thus Rahu’s every ambition is allowed expression in this house of Venus and he unfailingly takes advantage of it.

In Scorpio, Rahu suffers in a curious way. This watery sign is of secret thrills. The owner Mars lets Rahu use his energies, but to enter the mind and the shadows. Here Rahu becomes a successful tantric, energy-worker, an explorer, archaeologist, someone who works alone, away from the society. He delves into the past and the dark with ambitions and ideas of self-gain. He is then a knower-of-secrets, sometimes applauded in the society but generally feared. He cannot claim his social privileges and his assets of secret knowledge cannot be displayed. The society does not understand his ambitions and is wary of him. Rahu is denied social mobility here, which chafes.

Exalted and debilitated, Rahu, Ketu and Saturn

Ketu, is exalted in Scorpio and debilitated in Taurus

Ketu is Apathetic. He does not care, one way or the other. He offers detachment and dissociation from the manifested. He is unwanted and does not want. Directionless, desireless and headless, he is the rootless wanderer. He is alone, ethereal and other-worldly.

Now this ‘Cut-off Ketu’ in the house of treasures is completely out of place. In the very physical Taurus he, the nebulous one, is not bothered with assets of the family, its money, wealth, resources, history etc, but conversely he is supposed to look after them. How can he? He has no head remember! He is not interested in sensual pleasures, partying, spending quality time with the family/friends and food/drink or song/dance. Utterly detached from social hierarchies and position of the family in the society. He has no permanent value and thus get no validation from the society. Ketu does not block the pleasures houses of Taurus, just that he does not attach to them. He might appreciate these luxuries but is not acquisitive, is rather detached. Venus’s sign Taurus fails to charm Ketu.

In Scorpio however Ketu feels better at home. Secret transformations are ok with him, place any ‘head’ on him, change his personality, it is all the same to him. He enters the terrifying forces of magic, occult, secrets, emergencies, death and rebirth with that same detachment of an observer. He can become a good doctor, surgeon, tantric, etc, it’s a pull from the past lives, but the thrill of exploration does not exist now. Been there done that! This non-attachment can actually lead to great spiritual development and then Moksh!

When analysing Rahu/Ketu placements, emphasis should be given on the house/sign owner, the planets/conjunct and aspecting both. These are nodes of great power and their power is directed and modified heavily by these other forces.

This was how exalted and debilitated Saturn, Ketu and Rahu behave. If you understand their basic natures its quite easy to analyse. Astrology is all about matching patterns and analysing them. The chart is like a palimpsest, it will reveal its secrets one layer at a time.

 

 

 

 

 

Exalted and Debilitated, Sun, Moon & Mars

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Exalted/ucch and deblitated/neech planets are terms thrown about casually by most astrologers without understanding what they really mean. And in the simplest possible words, when the energy of the planet perfectly matches the energy of the environment/sign it is ‘exalted’. And conversely, when the energy of the planet perfectly mis-matches the energy of the rashi environment it is ‘debilitated’. Simple!

Astrology is the matching of energies to get a meaningful analysis. If you can understand the energy dynamics of the 12 houses/signs and the 9 planetary forces, astrological readings will become effortless and intuitive. Start by learning the basic keywords.

Exalted and Debilitated, Sun, Moon & Mars

Now lets check out the Sun, he is exalted in Aries and debilitated in Libra.

  • Sun is the Radiant Royal! He feels that he is entitled to his right to rule. He does not trade, he does favours on his subjects. He is the entitled elite, the others are his subjects. his word is law and he does not even really need to listen to the other. He does not share his throne with anyone else, he is self-referential and individualistic. The divine intelligence and the center of the universe!
  • Mars is a great friend of the Sun and his Aries is The First! The Sun’s independence and confidence get an added boost. He becomes the Royal Warrior here with all the energies and vitality of the physical body at his command, is handsome! He is the best in his field, noble, active, ambitious, courageous, liberal, optimistic, charming, favoured among the opposite sex and adored as such. The entitlement of the Sun and the energy of Mars make this a very comfortable posting. He is the center of vitality, his personal integrity beyond doubt and can perform vigorously in self-employed business, military, politics or as a movie-star, is a bit selfish too. The Sun is able to perfectly express the energies of his surrounding environment which in turn supports him fully too, thus is exalted.
  • Venus is Libra the Perfect Partner! Venus and Sun are enemies. Libra is all about beauty, negotiations, balance, fairness, agreements, trade. To survive and thrive in Libra the Sun is required to have at least a basic sense of bargaining, making alliances, matching and pairing and being beautiful. A resident planet who really doesn’t believe in any of these traits, and in fact behaves exactly oppositely is bound to be rather unhappy here. The Sun gets very selfish here, he cannot and does not acknowledge his supporting friends/family/staff who contribute to his success. He is interested in making alliances and bargains but these fizz out because of his Ego. This is thus inharmonious for marriage as there is little tolerance of imperfection and mutual interests.. Libra is about sharing, partnerships and fairness that is regulated by the legal system of that age. It does not believe in entitlement. But the Sun believes that he himself is the divine intelligence and above the law, thus is highly uncomfortable here.

The Moon, is exalted in Taurus and debilitated in Scorpio.

  • Moon is the mind, the astral self, the sub-conscious, the emotions and the combined experiences of several lives. It is the original sea of creation. He is the prefect reflection, the agent of emotions, comfort and security. He controls the experiences that we receive from our mother, residence, lands and immoveable properties, homeland, customs and traditions of our people. He also controls rhythms from the soothing lullabys to the great cycles of time and space. Every event in this life is seen through the lens of the Moon/Mind!
  • Venus as Taurus is basically the stored assets and resources of the lineage. This statement describes the basic nature of the Moon perfectly. Collecting and banking resources, saving them and retrieving them whenever required is the basic function of this sign. Reservoir of history, database of stories, a warehouse, an inventory and the behaviour associated with these is Taurus. The treasuries are almost always secret which makes the Moon very happy. We really dont know what the Moon is because he reflects everything thus hiding his real self. Now from an astral point of view, the Moon is the stored resources and treasuries of all the lives that we have led. The life events tagged with emotions become experiences which are stored as the mind. And the Moon is the Mind! Thus Moon is perfectly happy when he resides in Taurus because his basic nature is validated here.
  • Mars as Scorpio is the explorer of the unknown depths. Here, Scorpio wants to penetrate into the sea of creation that the Moon is. Mars here drills into the realm of the Moon with single-minded vitality and force. He uses the occult and the sub-conscious as his weapon, and is vindictive and vengeful. This makes the mysterious Moon very uncomfortable. The sign represents the fires in the energy channels and sudden forceful movements, like accidents, traumas, surgeries, death etc. Dramatic transformations and creation of new identities. These ruthless energies are not a suitable environment for the comfort-seeking, emotionally vulnerable moon.
  • Scorpio is also said to be partly ruled by Ketu/South node. This further irritates the Moon because Ketu is the agent of un-belonging, apathy, severance, abandonment, indifference and disinterest. This is completely against the Moon’s basic nature of emotional security, comfort, belonging, nurture, care and maternal behaviour.

Exalted and Debilitated, Sun, Moon & Mars

Now we come to Mars, exalted in Capricorn and deblitated in Cancer

  • Mars is the agent of Life and Death. Mars is the fiery energies that effect transformation birth-death-rebirth. He is the physical structure of the body and also the vital energy that flows through it, domination and strength. He is the invader, pioneer, the warrior and the competitive spirit. He is full of vigour, vitality and excitement.We need his energies to remain alive, when properly channelized these are called self confidence. He is the fiery energy in action. The masculine Man.
  • Saturn of Capricorn is the best possible environment for Mars. Here Saturn allocates only that much vitality to Mars which he can realistically use. And this energy is to be used for the welfare of the people and the society. Saturn is the strict teacher who ensures that you systematically re-balance your karma. Using the focussed energies of Mars for this is their best possible use. And as Mars does even more good work for the society, the society also appreciates him in return, giving him position and power, thus he feels validated. He is competitive but regulated. He is an Executive and can be very good in corporate and in government equally. He uses his structured, legal, active force with understanding of long terms goals. Mars here knows precisely how to apply the available energy in the most productive tasks and he remains focussed on working on and expanding his social reputation and control.
  • Moon of Cancer drowns the Mars in a sea of dreams. Here his energy is controlled by the fickle impulses of sensation. Here Mars faces the challenge of expressing delicate Cancer emotions in a direct vital Mars forceful style. His direct nature becomes emotionally volatile, and the Cancer’s love of the homeland suffocates his instinct to invade. Expression of sexuality is always affected as Mars though attracted to the corresponding partner, cannot express himself physically, can be a problem in marriage. Wherever Mars is he will compete and win. Cancer wants him to nurture but he wants to conquer! So Mars manipulates emotionally and psychologically. He tries to dominate others emotionally. He wants to have a bond with the mother and other topics of Cancer but they are often dysfunctional.Spikes of rage and violence can occur where the sudden burst of outward fiery energy moves in the liquid watery diffused emotional environment of Cancer. Not a very happy placement for the always-First planet!

This was on the exalted and debilitated sun, moon and mars. I have written on Saturn, Rahu and Ketu in my post here. You do not need to learn by rote anything. Just understand their basic natures. This will help you build a very strong foundation to your study of astrology/Jyotish. And for your personal journey, the more you understand about your life’s foundation and building blocks through your chart the more free you will feel. You will be able live a more balanced and happier life instead of crying over, ‘why did this happen to me?’.