life

Quality of Life

astrologerbydefault3 Comments

As an astrologer, I do get this question from my clients of ‘how long will I live”. It is indeed a very important question, most frequently in marriage chart matching. Most of us are interested in living as long as possible, perhaps living for ever, being immortal! But ‘life’ as well as ‘time’ is a matter of perception and is always relative. If you can change your perceptions you can change your Life!

In India, there are a few Brahmin families, who are the actual pure-bloods. They are required by karma to do perform private pujas in families or in our ancient temples. These few families are bound by very strict rules, eg on whom they can marry (to keep the genes pure), they are required to learn by-heart thousands of mantras and ritual procedures, with the correct way of pronouncing them. The boys are required to do Sandhya Gayatri puja 3 times a day. The women are required to do a specific set of daily pujas. They all have to follow very strict rules on food, dress, etc. They get married very early, have children early, work very hard, travelling, doing pujas for clients etc and die equally early, very rarely beyond their 50s. Now anyone may think that after doing so much pujas, mantras etc. why a relatively short life? The reason is this, birth in such families is to quickly finish a large chunk of karma in a targeted fashion. These men and women have chosen the fast track.

Quality of life matters always, never the length.

Quality of Life

One of my colleagues recently performed a puja using the mantras from the Devi Mahatmya to ensure the easy passing of an aged woman who was unable to leave her body. She was so ill that she could neither live and because of a karmic block, neither could she die! This was a rather extreme case because the family had to request Devi Mahamaya herself for help. This is a kindness in a very strange way. Modern medicine has also accepted that there are cases where recovery is not possible, especially in the very aged, thus they can just prescribe only palliatives to ease the pain.

When I get such horoscopes where recovery is not possible, e.g. a 80+yrs grandfather has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and the doctors cannot cure, and the state of the person/body is unbearable, I prescribe only one mantra, the Mahamrutunjai, “ॐ त्र्यम्बकं यजामहे सुगन्धिं पुष्टिवर्धनम्उर्वारुकमिव बन्धनान्  मृत्योर्मुक्षीय मामृतात् ॥ ॐ”, “Om Tryambakam Yajaamahe Sugandhim Pushti Vardhanam Urvaarukamiva Bandhanaat Mrtyor-Mukshiiya Maam Amrutaat Om”. This is to be recited in sets of 108 times, three times a day by any close male family member, sons/grandsons. The intention should be that the ‘Lord of Time’ help the soul leave the terminally sick body. If done with the proper intention, the soul will leave within 3 days. This mantra has innumerable uses. I have used it several times to help someone recover faster from illnesses, making protection amulets etc. The power of the mantra is the same, the direction/intention matters!

Now a bit of astrology. Calculation of life-span from the charts is done using several combinations which are all quite well known. These are related to

  • The ascendant sign and lord of ascendant, this is the manifested personality and its vitality. The planets conjoint and aspecting.
  • The 8th house is the house of forceful transformations of identity, death and the lord of the 8th. Planets aspecting and conjoint.
  • Timing of death will come from the lord of the 2nd and 7thhouses etc.

But these in themselves will always give an incomplete picture of ‘life’. To make this more understandable, you will have to analyse the quality of life too. E.g. Saturn in 8th house in certain cases gives extraordinarily long life, ‘the chart resists/constricts’ the act of death. (It may get difficult to leave the body!) But what are you going to do with this long life? Enjoying a long life needs good health, presence of loved ones, a community and friends, wealth, a spiritual practice and much much more. Alone and old does not give good vibes! We cannot live in isolation, we need every aspect of life in its proper balance to enjoy our life. So do a complete analysis of your horoscope

  1. The power of each planet and each house.
  2. The benefics, natural and also functional benefics and their aspects
  3. The malefics, natural and functional, and their aspects. Also check if their aspects are being countered/neutralized.
  4. Pay special attention to the 6th, 8th and 12th houses from the ascendant sign and the moon sign both. These are the sources of disease, debt, enemies, accidents, surgeries, death, loss of the manifested, turmoil, the three dushamsthana.
  5. And finally pay close attention to the foundations of your life, 1st, 5th and 9th houses from the ascendant sign and the birth moon sign. The Dharma, the deep philosophies on which your life is based on. These will determine how balanced a life you will lead and how will it affect you on the physical and emotional levels.

Quality of Life

You have analysed your horoscope, so let us go about changing the quality of your life. You can improve the quality of your life with your Intention and Will focussing your energies. To generate more energy we use Mantras. (Mantras are only in Sanskrit, not any another language.)

  1. If you come across any problems in your chart, use the powers of the beej mantras of the weak planets/house owner/rashi owner planets to balance and regulate their energies. This is a very simple. Will take about 5 mins of your time.
  2. You can Intentionally re-direct energies. Do charity and help someone who really deserves your help. Maybe if you want children and unable to conceive, you can help out at a local orphanage, perhaps buy sweets for the children there. If you are having problems due to malefic influence of Saturn, help out in some way in an old-age home? Thoughts and intentions matter and can change the flow of your future.
  3. Practice being grateful and happy, this will reinforce your Will. There must be someone in your life who must have helped you, been kind to you, something must have touched your heart, brought tears of joy in your eyes? Your mom, dad, teacher, grandparent, brother, sister, a random stranger? Or Nature, a beautiful flower, a sunrise? Or even a beautiful dress, or the color of someone’s eyes, anything! Remember how you felt, how your heart burst with feeling and try to bring this same feeling in your heart again and again. Be grateful to your own Self too for being able to experience this joy.

And finally you will need to introduce a spiritual base to your life. This is a very minor routine that you can adopt every morning. We Indians do it and also teach our children, but I think most of us have forgotten, thus this reminder.

  1. When you open your eyes first thing in the morning, cup your palms so that both the heart lines match up. Look into your cupped palms and recite this mantra “Om Karagre vasate Laxmi Karamadhye Saraswati, Karamoole tu Govinda Prabhate Karadarshanam Om”. Then run your cupped palms over your face. This energises the hands, gives you confidence. Your hands are your primary tools for working, cooking, writing, holding and everything.
  2. When you get out of bed, put your right foot on the ground first, then your left. Express your gratitude, love and respect to the Mother Earth, “Om Samudravasane Devi, Parvatastanamandale, Vishnupatni Namastubhyam, Paadsparsha Kshamasva mey. Om”. This will ensure that you receive, ‘support’ in all its various forms throughout your day.
  3. And then remember your parents/your Guru/favourite deity/Universe with gratitude. “Om Guruh Brahma Guruh Vishnu Guruh devo Maheshwara, Guru Sakshat Parabrahma, Tasmai Shri Gurave Namah. Om”.

(If you cannot say the mantras for any reason, you can skip them, but do try to feel the energy of your palms/the Mother Earth and your source of Faith.)

Take a photo of the lines of your hands before you start doing this and recheck after 21 days. The crosses and negative lines on the palms will visibly reduce, see you are visibly changing your future here!

As you slowly and steadily start re-writing the script of every single day with these 3 small steps, you start changing your entire life. The butterfly effect!

 

Quality of Life

Maturity of the Houses of the Horoscope

astrologerbydefault

I have written about the maturity of planets in this post here, do read it. Planets and Houses of the horoscope mature at certain specific years/periods of your life. This has a rather deep impact on the chart and needs to be analysed before coming to a conclusion about it. If a house is particularly strong or weak, the effect of its maturity and subsequent expressions will be perceptible. Pay special attention to the houses which contain the Moon, the Ascendant Lord and any special yogkarak planets etc during reading. The houses can take a few to several years to mature as per the list, after which they give the most balanced expression of themselves and interact better with their resident planets and incoming aspects. Most of their effects are quite subtle, but if you analyse yourself and your life pattern, you can easily understand them.

This is the list for the house maturity and your age in years.

  • 9th House From birth to 24 yrs
  • 10th House 25 to 26 yrs
  • 11th House 27 to 28 yrs
  • 12th House 29 to 30 yrs
  • 1st House 31 to 33 yrs
  • 2nd House 34 to 36 yrs
  • 3rd House 37 to 39 yrs
  • 4th House 40 to 45 yrs
  • 5th House 46 to 51 yrs
  • 6th House 52 to 57 yrs
  • 7th House 58 to 65 yrs
  • 8th House 66 yrs onwards till death

Maturity of the Houses of the Horoscope

Now for some details on how this works. These are the general trends which will be modified by several factors like, planets residing, planets aspecting, dasha-astrological time, transits etc. But regardless of the actual physical events  which will happen the subtle theme will remain.

From birth to 24 yrs of age you are building the foundations of your life ‘Dharma’. All sorts of experiences are converted to your personal philosophy. How you will use your formative years to build your life on is decided here. Your paternal figures, peers and patrons play a very important role in deciding the philosophical anchors of your life. Thus the 9thhouse matures. The 9this also the house of auspiciousness. Your life, its fortune or otherwise develops from here. At the age of 24yrs your outlook to life is more or less fixed. This house, Dharmasthan, is also the house of your deepest foundations, you might also get married to your Dharmapati/Dharmapatni towards the end of or after this time.

Generally the 24th to 26thyrs of age are the formative years of your career. You will be engaged in focussing on your business establishments, social mobility, role in society and professional success. (You also might become a father yourself, thus feel the responsibility more palpably). Thus the 10thhouse has matured and now onwards will give its complete results.

Logically, from the 26th to 28th yrs, you might get lucky, expand your sources of income. You might be more visible in the society and interacting with locals and foreigners, new persons and new ventures. The foundations of your long-term goals and ambitions now onwards will become clearer. (A new job perhaps) Thus the 11thhouse will start giving its subtle results.

The 28th to 30 yrs of age, will be a rather unsettled time, with long distance journeys, separation from the family/friends. There may be physical losses or spiritual revelations. You might take on burdens and feel tired all the time. Physical body and the environment in which you are used to live in will be subtly ‘reduced’ in some way. (You may shift into a smaller house, which will have an out-of-proportion deep impact on you) Thus the 12thhouse is now active and will start giving its results.

After this experience of loss, you will bounce back with vigour and from the 30th to 33 years you will redouble your efforts and bring back stability into your life and social structure. It will be like a rebirth, you will take on a new identity in some way. (These are subtle effects remember, the actual event may also be a birth of a child, making you a father/mother) You will be more confident about yourself and this confidence is here to stay, this was the 1sthouse beginning to give its results.

Next from the 33rd to 36thyrs of life will be a consolidation phase where your 2ndhouse will start giving its results. You will be more aware of your family resources and you will now onwards focus on earning money, saving, investing and creating security for your later years. You might also start internally valuing your time with your family and close friends.

Maturity of the Houses of the Horoscope

The events leading to the 36th to 39yrs, will start you on a new path to creativity. (you might start writing a blog!). You will understand the how to use your initiative and independence and communicate more. New contacts from your neighbourhood and social circle will come up and you will enjoy the new exposure. Thus the 3rdhouse will come to its own.

In the period from 39th to 45 yrs, certain events will occur which will make you value and appreciate security and stability. (You will buy a new car or a permanent house) You might even be drawn to the spiritual stability of meditation. Thus the 4thhouse will attain its mature levels of expression.

Next from the 45th to 51 yrs, you might gain a new perspective on yourself. You might discover new activities to fulfil your creative potential. You will also recognise the presence of divinity and there may be events which will turn you into a ‘respected elder’. You may also be required to focus more on your children and perhaps guide them in their lives as they also grow older.

Then comes the beginning of the exit mode from the 51st to 57 yrs and onwards you will be made aware of the failings of your physical body. Your deep seated diseases will now start emerging. Then depending on how your 6thhouse is placed, your enemies and debtors will come collecting. You will be made aware of the frailty of life and living. This is a subtle process and now onwards the 6this mature and active.

Now comes the period of 57th to 65thyrs. You finally realise on a deep inner level that your relationship to yourself matters. You spend more time with yourself either in contemplation or mediation. You might read more books on spiritual development and practice. The 7thhouse’s subtle message is that you have to forge a relationship with yourself first and find your real Self! Thus now onwards, the 11thhouse starts functioning as it really is supposed to bringing you more closer to your own self.

And then the last, 65th birthday onwards till the death of the physical body. You will understand and face the questions on death and eventual rebirth. You will be made subtly ready to experience these intensely secret mysteries as your final 8thhouse also matures and starts giving its results.

Thus the life of an average human being subtly unfolds. If you can observe yourself this is very beautiful. For every stage of life you are subtly made ready by the interactions of the planetary and sign forces. Life is quite balanced if you can dispassionately observe. Analyse yourself and witness your own Beauty!

 

Maturity of the Houses of the Horoscope

Depression, what does the horoscope say?

astrologerbydefault2 Comments

Am getting more questions related to mental problems like depression, suicidal thoughts, not fitting into the society and wanting to remain apart. It is rather worrying to see young men and women getting such emotional lows for no good reason. I have written on addictions and on psychiatric issues.

There are cycles in human society. During one ancient period, invasions were a regular feature, so I guess Mars was more important then, being alert, going with an army to kill, or being able to defend one’s home and village were important life skills. But in this cycle, my and your lives are dominated by communication, you wake up to a Whatsapp msg and sleep with your Facebook. If you don’t get enough likes on your posts, you feel uneasy and if someone writes something critical about the post, the whole day goes in depression! You read other’s thoughts, people whom you have never even met, and these posts affect you more than they logically should. You pore over every comma, full-stop and try to find meanings in every tiny word.

But then if your mom scolds you for eating junk food, you don’t even look at her. If your teachers ask you to switch off your mobiles in class, you allege ‘freedom of expression’ and get that teacher scolded from the principal. You do not value real in-depth knowledge, much less wisdom. The social structure has changed, your home has become the like-minded group of your Internet, not the physical solidity of the 4-walls. You now derive your emotional security and happiness from the virtual world. You let your these virtual groups define your personality. You find pleasure in the ephemeral, get bored and then search for new topics to pleasure you, till you feel jaded. And you value this virtual temporary stuff more than the real solid long-lasting stuff that was once the foundation of the society.

Depression, what does the horoscope say?

So you see, from the paragraph above, if you have paid attention to the keywords baby-steps for the horoscope, there is a lot you can analyse. In our world today the following have gained more importance,

Mercury – He is the agent of all sorts of communications, databases, number-crunching, juvenile chit-chat, nit-picking and details. He is a superficial adolescent spending time with same-age groups chattering, gossiping. Now attention spans even getting shorter, maturity getting lower and nervous excitement higher.

He is rapidly becoming the foremost planet of our times, so let us see what is his take on the matters of mental health. Examine just this one all-important placement, the 3rd house from the birth mercury sign. This is the place where your thoughts tangle and complicate and play with themselves till they cause mental stress. Thoughts here repeat in never-ending loops, which is not good for normal analytical reasoning. The sign, house and planet in this 3rd from mercury demand mental attention and energy. Distracted, depressed and compulsive thinking is seen from here.

Any planet placed in this 3rd from Mercury causes mental chatter. So pay special attention to this mental-energy draining location when evaluating mental stress. These planets, house, sign give their other effects in life as always, and some of these may be excellent but as far as mental processes are concerned they disrupt. Eg Saturn placed here, will give mental oppression, hard mental work, bitterness, negativity, oppression and depression. eg. Moon placed here will color every thought looping into your brain with emotion, creating anxiety, worry, fear of emotional loneliness, of losing mental/emotional stability and loss of comfort.

If this house is vacant, it is better as the mind functions without pre-conceived bias. This problem of ‘sticky’ feelings/opinions is less severe. This house has the past karma of faulty mental processes from past lives which has to be experienced and completed.

Back to analysing our current time-cycle.

Saturn – the solid hierarchical social structure as defined by Capricorn is moving more to the quick-changing similar-minded group structure as defined by Aquarius. The more exotic is good, the more rules flouted the better, everyone making profits even better. You are at your ambitious best, wanting to jump upwards, till you over-reache and fall on your face.

Moon – the mind, which loves to flit from subject to subject. With the Internet, there is no dearth of subjects, the mind is in a whirlpool, of messages, likes, pings and hashtags, that it is getting dizzy not quite knowing where to look. Mind needs comfort and emotional security/stability, but here it gets nothing of that sort. Nothing to anchor itself in these shifting sands of the virtual world. There was a time when a mother or father meant security and love, but now these relations have stopped existing. The mind has lost its roots.

Mars – He is the vitality of the personality, but he seems to be failing in a strange way. You rarely see a person being a vital male or a female brimming with the force of his/her personality. Misshapen, fat, ill and worse, mentally weak, is what this current population is moving onto. Reproduction is also being affected, with assisted reproductive technologies and overall weaker children being born.

Jupiter – No one really bothers with his gift of deep wisdom and knowledge. Very few genuine teachers and equally few deserving students. Jupiter finds himself trumped by Mercury for the time being.

Sun – He is the source of divine intelligence and the creativity associated with it. But now creativity also seems to have been warped. From the elegance of Elvis’s songs in the past to Miley screeching in recent times, just for a comparison.

Venus – He is capable of giving you Moksh, the final esoteric wisdom if you can transcend his pleasure-able tests. But in this world of instant gratification and zero patience, you fall in his traps of girl/ boy-friends, addictions, make-up, fad-diets and superficial beauty.

Rahu – the world is abound with risky ambitions, the scale of which has gone global. Rahu’s nature is to over-extend and eventually fail. If in the past your business failed, only your close groups would know about it and you would get over it quite quickly too. Now the entire world knows about this, never forgets it and your past failures will be online forever haunting you.

Ketu – Now we all are dissociated from the real world. I guess this says it all. A bit more about Ketu, the embodiment of dissociation, the agent of separation, detachment, and despair. These are the ‘pure’ results which will be of course modified as per other factors, planets, aspects, sign and house.

  • Ketu in Aries or Scorpio – generally lethargic but intermittent spurts of unpredictable, aggressive or violent activity. Typically passive-aggressive behaviour.
  • Ketu in Taurus or Libra – is an escapist by nature. Quite active and gets into several aimless relationships with weird persons. Destruction of money, wealth and relations is often a result.
  • Ketu in Gemini or Virgo – mental confusion, anxious and aimless chatter, wrong illogical analysis, querulous arguments. Will interfere into the lives of others, basically cannot be trusted.
  • Ketu in Cancer – psychic, nervous, painfully insecure, over-sensitive, terrified of abandonment, dependant. Prefers to remain in isolation and is scared of life overall.
  • Ketu in Leo – Is a nutcase who thinks himself to be the emperor. Meaningless self-righteous self-promotion. Is sometimes wildly excited and then easily offended.
  • Ketu in Capricorn or Aquarius – extremely detached from everything represented by society. No motivation and zero interest in life. Wears depressing colors drab looking is generally disinterested.
  • Ketu in Sagittarius or Pisces – carries the load of global human despair. Wants to ‘help’ humans, takes to travelling to ‘help’ large scale humanitarian problems. Ineffectual and an escapist.

Depression, what does the horoscope say?

This time-cycle is replete with challenges and at the foremost are the challenges posed by Mercury, the agent of thought and analysis. So if you feel despondent and depressed, open your horoscope and analyse everything to do with Mercury. Try to analyse how Mercury links up with Ketu/ South node and the rest of the planetary forces.

Think yourself back to yourself. You can do it, just give it a try.

We can analyse everything if we can learn to break it down to components. Astrology, Tarot, Runes, any divination tool is about this. These tools empower, they tell you what you have sub-consciously chosen, and then give you the option to change your wish again this time by conscious efforts. These conscious efforts mean consciously working with energy, with your Self. You yourself are conscious energy.

Remember you are never helpless, you always have a choice. Your conscious Will can and does intervene. You just have to intend the Change.

Moksh Trikon of the horoscope

astrologerbydefault5 Comments

The 12 houses of the horoscope are divided into the Dharma Trikon, houses 1, 5 and 9. The Arth Trikon 2, 6 and 10. The Kama Trikon 3, 7 and 11 and the Moksh Trikon 4, 8 and 12.

In Sanskrit the word Moksh is everything that a spiritual seeker aspires for. It is the Ultimate Knowledge which frees from the reincarnation cycle of birth-death-rebirth. It is the liberation of the eclipsed Sun and represents the complete balancing of karmic debts. Moksh means that the soul has experienced everything that is possible to be experienced including its own True Reality. It is the final understanding of the complete Universe.

In the horoscope the houses 4th, 8th and 12th are called the Moksh trikon, the triangle of release. The basic keywords of each of the houses/signs and planets are listed out in this post. The horoscope is the charted out path of a soul for one life-time, thus the release in this limited sense of one life-time, means the death of the physical-body and the movement of the soul out of it. These three houses are used to predict the situation when the soul separates from the physical body. (The timing of death is calculated using the Lords of the 2nd and 7th houses counted from the ascendant). The main house of body-death is the 8th. So let’s discuss the 8th first.

death-1-e1541143780709-min

The 8th House

The 8th sign of the Zodiac is Scorpio and the owner Mars. The 8th house represents the moment of death of the body and the the physical situation of the body-death, self-destruction. This includes the reason of, the place of, method of and the environment in which the body-death occurs. This transformation is naturally ruled by Mars thus is very fast, terrible yet subtle and so complete that no trace of the previous soul identity remains. It is extremely powerful very secret and extremely personal. Death, and its opposite birth, is so common but is unseen and unknown, only can be experienced by the one soul who is going through it. The 8th is also the assets and wealth of the spirit that comes with death.

The 8th is the house of openings and the routes through which the soul travels to the astral planes. In my post on Kundalini I have described the naadi routes through with the prana and the kundalini travels, these secret routes are also in the domain of the 8th. The naadis are of different energy capacities. And the soul chooses that route which resonates with its energy. If it moves out through a higher energy route it will be reborn in a situation which will afford it better options for spiritual growth. For a normal mortal, the soul can exit through any one of the energy channels/naadis. This choice of routes is offered to the soul at the moment of its departure. For the enlightened soul who deserves Moksha, it leaves only through the brahamarandhra. This route to the brahmarandhra is opened and available only after intense Dhyan when the kundalini gets active.

It is extremely important to remain aware at the moment of exit so that you can make full use of the energy of release, this energy is generated by you yourself. The next birth occurs as per the mental/emotional/spiritual state of the person at the moment of death. Denying or resisting it is equivalent to resisting yourself. Your soul is in the center of the energy spiral and your new life is being formed around you. Thus participating in this energy game without fear and with full confidence and awareness is essential.

The 12th house

This is the ‘house of loss of the manifested‘. This house rules over the loss/reduction of everything that is visible and the increase of all that is invisible. It will reduce the vitality of the physical body, the conscious self, the waking state, the tangibles. It will enhance and expand the increase of the astral, the sub-conscious, the sleep and the dream states, and the unknown intangible.

This 12th is also the 5th as counted from the 8th house. The 5th house from anywhere is the expression of the intelligence and creativity of the matters of that house. Thus the 12th house represents the intelligence and creativity of the psyche at the point of death. And the 12th is the house of loss. Thus the 12th represents the transition of the physical manifestation to the astral. The identity of the Martyalok, based on the physical appearance, social status, ego, self is all lost. And the astral/spirit/pretatma identity of the Pitrulok is created.

We do this transition from physical to astral every night when we sleep, but here we return to the body when we wake up. But during body-death the chakra and naadi system /electrical energy-vortices and channels of the body are permanently blasted open. The energy of the blast, powers the permanent transition to the astral.

We are conditioned to think of death as a dark shock, a trauma where an unwilling soul is forced out of the body. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. When the body dies the soul moves out of the body very systematically, it is a natural process. The soul has completed the set of tasks it had laid out for itself as represented in the birth horoscope. If the 12th house, the sign/planets posted and aspecting are strong, the soul successfully and intelligently transitions and re-orients to the new realities of the astral. It utilises the energies operating at the moment of death completely, to choose the time to be spent in Pitrulok/astral world and the seeds of the identity and conditions of rebirth.

When a soul is ready to leave the body, his sub-consciousness plays before his conscious mind, a series of images from his stored karma. The soul intelligently chooses which image he wants to resolve in his next life. Thus the imprint of the new next life is registered. This is the creative aspect of the 12th house in relation to death. The soul chooses from the several possibilities of the astral energies. A stable emotional and mental environment at this critical moment allows a better choice. Thus spiritual aspirants, Yogis and Sadhus often leave their bodies when in meditation. During meditation the mind is stable thus the new rebirth is the best possible option. If the meditation is absolute, the soul attains Moksha.

Quality of Life

The 4th house

And now the third side of the Moksh trikon. The 4th house, the foundation. Let’s now count from the 8th house of death, the 4th is the 9th house from the 8th house of death. The 9th house counted from any is the house of the paternal figures, ancestors, philosophies, rites, rituals, expression of ideologies and ceremonies associated with religion. So the 4th house represents the guidance, ideology and rites associated with the act of body-death.

The 4th house is one of the 4 foundation houses of the horoscope (the other 3 being the 1st, 7th and 10th house). This house is responsible for the wisdom that is available to the departing soul at this critical moment of death. Benefic planets, aspects and signs placed here allow the soul to receive protection, guidance and wisdom from the ancestors and guides who reside in the astral planes. This care-taking or sheltering support from the guides is very crucial as it will help you exercise your choice of regeneration better. This 4th house also determines the emotional stability and comfort level at the moment of body-death. If the soul is relaxed it will be better able to adjust to its new existence and also bid adieu to its previous physical manifestation.

The funeral rites, cremations and the mantras are very important as they create energies which propel the departing soul faster. Rituals have been designed by the ancient seers in such a way that every physical object used in the ritual resonates with its spiritual counterpart. There is no superstition. eg, the light of the lamp resonates with the light of ultimate enlightenment, the incense resonates with the prana energy etc.

The 4th is the house of bindings, thus your new identity of rebirth is bound to your soul here. The material, spiritual, social, emotional etc context of the new rebirth which you chose in the 12th house, at the moment of the 8th house is fixed in the 4th house.

The moment of release of the soul from its manifested physical body is the second most significant moment of the current life, the first being the moment of birth. So during this process, the conscious will of the soul has to dominate over the vagaries of the mind. Thus to really determine the success of this transition the 4th, 8th and 12th houses counted from the birth moon also have to be analysed. Counting from the moon will give the emotional context if each house. How you feel about the matters of that house.

This was the Moksh Trikon, analysed very differently. I do not believe that astrology is fatalistic. Yes, events happen but we always have the power to utilize the energy released from every life event to grow spiritually. There is no point of knowing the exact moment of death, which predictive astrology will calculate, if you are scared of it. Rather analyse your horoscope and be prepared to consciously use what will be offered to you. You always have a choice, this is in fact ‘Free Will’.

 

Moksh Trikon of the horoscope

Mars the Agent of Life and Death

astrologerbydefault

Mars is a fascinating force in your horoscope. He rules over your body-birth as the natural lord of the 1st house, and also ensures your body-death as the natural lord of the 8th house. He represents vital energies/prana and he is responsible for the ‘life’ that courses through you. Mars, the ruler of Aries and Scorpio will always exert his influence on the 1st and 8th house of the chart in addition to the actual sign posted there and the influence of the other planets on them. Birth, death and re-birth, all these processes are expressions of these Martian energies. He interprets the energies lying dormant in the subconsciousness to create conscious action which is expressed either physically in Aries or psychologically in Scorpio.

(Will just quickly clarify this term ‘Natural ruler’. The first sign is Aries and its lord is Mars, thus in any horoscope, placement of Mars and Aries sign in the birth chart will have a subtle influence on the matters of the 1st house/ascendant. This subtle influence exists irrespective of whatever the actual ascendant sign is.)

Mars the Agent of Life and Death

Mars owns Aries the natural First house –

This is his House of Identity! He decides, Who are you? When did you arrive? What time, location and circumstance?. Here Mars is the energy of the moment of actual birth, the family of birth and the situation of birth. He has become the pioneering, vigorous, physically athletic, impressive, unafraid, competitive, First. The 1st controls the visible body, the musculature, the blood and the network of vessels. Thus he is good at all the activities related to animal survival and passion; from hunting, to eating, to sex and competing. Here he uses his physical body as an athlete, a fashion model, a stuntman and in his free time too engages in active sports like hiking, surfing, gym, etc. In the 1st, Mars is the reserve of courage, energy, a fuel tank of masculine, sexual productive energy always in motion. And yes, he can be cruel too.

Here as the 1st, the self-destructive tendencies of Mars are gradually released into the environment which ensures gradual learning in the conscious, thinking states. Mars as the 1st is always moving in the physical visible realm. His energies are distinctive in appearance and he is noticed for his sexual vibes and physical beauty. And being the 1st, he also rules the head, the brain and the thought processes thus is intelligent, incisive, precise and promotes himself and his clan. And his this ‘selfishness’ is approved and admired in the society.

The 1st’s resources and reserves are forged in the subconscious as the karma of his past lives. This karma is primarily related to expression of anger and also conversely to the fear of anger released inappropriately. His resources are also like the subconscious, largely unknown to himself, but always available when needed. This Mars has an extended brotherhood which links to him from the community and he welcomes similar minded individuals into his clan. This extended family also gains profits and luck from the energies of the 1st Mars. His source of emotional security and comforts is either his profession or his father. The family group is the place he where is at the center stage and his powers of creation too find an outlet here. And he in turn provides security to his mother, homeland, properties, relatives and residences. He is the ideal male partner to his female partner and the perfect example of a masculine father to his sons. This Mars has learnt how to be a man from the group of benevolent paternal figures in his family.

The 1st loses his identity under the influence of that mysterious psychological energies of the 8th house. Here Mars’ energies behave somewhat like a Ouroborous, consuming himself so that he can rebirthed again, new and refreshed. And he also has the capacity and capability to transform the energies of his losses, debts and enemies into challenges where he wins, transforms and evolves himself with every interaction.

Mars the Agent of Life and Death

Mars also owns Scorpio the natural Eighth house –

The House of Transformations belongs to Mars! Here Mars Forces Change. The identity first determined by the 1st house is now transmutated in the 8th. The identity of birth thus undergoes repeated changes in the lifetime and the last change leads to termination of the body-identity. Death is a major transformative process which transforms a resident of the Martyalok, to a pretatma/spirit denizen of the Pitrulok. In this context the 8th also become the house of all roads and pathways including the invisible psychic routes. Mars here is the energy of death and carries with him the seeds of the identity of the next life. In the 8th, Mars also controls the transformation of the parent’s DNA into a child of the next generation, by controlling the power of the reproductive system. He is at his highest psychological dominance here, penetrating, intensely controlling in his pursuit of Hidden Knowledge through every which route possible. The 8th is now the Randhra, the House of every sort of Openings and movements through them. These movements are often fast and terrifying.

The source of Mars’ energies are the self-destructive tendencies which are gradually released into the depths of the being so as to afford an internal learning experience. He is the shaman, the investigator, the healer and the killer here. He moves continuously in the realm of secrets, the inner mind, the interiors of everything, including the body. Mars learns his lessons here in the shadowy realm of the psyche.

The 8th is where Mars the Eternal Warrior competes to find the Essence of the Self. He takes on identities and then transforms himself again and again. The next birth occurs as per the mental/emotional/spiritual state of the person at the moment of death. Thus he gives himself a chance of Self Realization. His war zone is the inner lands of the psyche and his prize is gaining the Self Identity. And because he is Mars, his ways are the swift actions of discovery, release, breakthrough, surgery, catastrophe, openings, invasions, scare, shock, intimidation, torture, rebirth etc. The 8th house ruled changes can be invisible, psychic and of varying intensities. Psychic healing, major surgeries, accidents, intensive therapies, tantrik magic are some of these 8th house events which practically bring about a re-birth in terms of the body-identity, emotional-identity, spiritual-identity and soul-identity. Here Mars controls the hidden energy body and the system of Chakras-energy vertices, the network /Nadis and the Prana/vital energy flowing through them.

As the natural lord of the 8th, Mars here is the Identifier of Secrets. His resources and treasuries are the guidance and philosophies that he gets from ancestral spirits and shadow guides. Such a Mars finds his brotherhood in the regulated environment of his profession, but his comfort zone emotionally is the network of like-minded individuals he cultivates, the stranger the better. His creative aspect again lies in the unknown realm of visions, dreams, sub-conscious and the invisible. He also ensures the secretive nature of his creative forces. The 8th also represents the material resources of the partners, but such a Mars values no physical treasures. As the 8th, he has maximum power when his exists in the shadows of the society, his methods and means secret. If he, by chance, gets too visible in the society he gains enemies and arguments. The society is not very comfortable with such a Mars and is inclined to be a bit scared of him.

If and when you develop control over your mind, emotions and thought patterns through intense spiritual activity where you train the movement of the vital energies/pran flowing in the energy channels of your physical body, you can gain control over your body-death and rebirth. In such a case you can choose your next physical-body and life situation. This then will be a Reincarnation rather than just a rebirth.

This is the real nature of Mars and the two Houses, 1st and 8th that he owns.

I have always believed that learning by rote does not contribute to real learning. For real understanding we need to get into the mind, the motivations and the energy of the subject. Thus this post.

 

Mars the Agent of Life and Death