tantra

Ramal Shastra Tantra is the source of Geomancy and IChing

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Ramal is a Sanskrit word which means ‘telling fortune using dice’ and Vidya is essential knowledge. And already I knew that there is a Ramal Tantra too. Tantra starts where your Pranayam and Yog stop.

(Modern scholars who study the fundamentals of the Sanatan Dharma, try to classify the deities, the shlokas, mantra, yantra etc into Vedic and Tantric. This is an exercise in futility. It is like giving a 1st standard kid the books required for a Ph.D and applauding him when he sorts them into piles by the colors on their front pages. There is nothing called Vedic or Tantric or Yogic or whatever. It is all Sanatan Dharm.)

So I looked up geomancy books available, these were all referring to Arabic and Latin influenced versions of Ramal, didn’t buy them. Also found a 2 day workshop for Rs 12000, where the teacher was going to teach ‘Basics of Ramal’, didn’t buy this either. Finally I found a Sanskrit book Ramal rahasya, the secrets of Ramal and Ramal sara Tantra the Essence of Ramal Tantra.

The ‘author’ of Ramal Jyotish is Bhagwan Shiv Himself. It is a Vidya taught by Him to Devi Parvati and it has an associated Tantra, quite formidable.

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Ramal rahasya starts off with a dialogue between Shiv and his wife Parvati (they are the intelligent conscious Tamogun, its potential and kinetic aspects respectively). He has clearly states several times that this cannot be learnt or perfected without a Guru. Guru means a spiritual Teacher. A Teacher who unveils to you the conscious intelligence operating in this created universe. So Ramal is something quite serious.

Ramal-Shastra is not Arabic, neither is it European nor Chinese. It is from the Sanatan Dharma/ Hinduism, it is a Vidya and a Tantra and it is in Sanskrit. In Jyotish, Ramal is used as a type of Prashna. It is used to find answers of one single question uppermost in your mind. Ramal Shakal/ Roop have been used by Aleister Crowley in his Thoth Tarot deck illustrations.

  • Modern ‘geomancy’ is nothing but Ramal Shastra albeit in a degraded form. Ramal Shastra travelled from Bharat/ India to Arabia and thence to Europe. It has been distorted from the original Sanskrit eg the names used are in Arabic/ Latin, but the concepts of divination are almost the same.
  • Ramal shastra also travelled to the east and gave birth to the IChing and got converted to its 8 root trigrams. Again the concepts and the names used are almost similar. I have written about IChing in an earlier post, I use it sometimes for quick answers. (Do use IChing especially if you have questions related to business, politics, strategy and manuvering. It gives very useful insights and solutions)

But the thing is IChing or Geomancy, the Arabic/ Latin/ Chinese versions have lost the connection to the Tantra of Ramal. Tantra is knowing how to put the energy to work. These two are now divinatory methods of lowered consciousness. Of the two, IChing is more powerful than ‘Geomancy’, the ‘Tao’ of IChing is a very aware intelligence.

Tantra tells you the problems and fixes the things too. Tantra also leads to Self-realization. Jyotish too is a Vidya, it leads to self-illumination and Ramal Shastra is very much a part of this. Every Yog or Vidya or Shastra has an associated Tantra or it is not of much use. You have the machine/ yantra, the knowledge/ mantra by you need to know the process/ tantra in order to achieve your goal.

But Ramal is Ramal, nothing can compare with this. You can do much much more with the original Ramal Shastra/ Tantra. Just the act of casting the reading sets the solution in motion.

(I wanted to write a book on the original Ramal Shastra and Tantra but my fingers are unable to type it. I have a typing speed of over 60 words/min. But when I think of writing the secrets of Ramal, pran actually stops moving in my fingers. It is not my karma to write this book. So if you read from some english book on ‘geomancy’, do try to channelise the conscious intelligence behind it, so that your readings become more powerful. )

Sasa yog, Saturn in 2020-2025, spiritual aspects

So here is an introduction to the original Ramal. You already know astrology, the basics at least? Ramal then will be very easy for you to learn.

For learning Ramal you will need to know,

  1. The descriptions of the 12 houses of the horoscope. You already know the brief keywords.
  2. The descriptions of the 9 graha of Jyotish, Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. This also is quite easy. You have read about them, you know how they behave. If not, I have written posts on them which you can read. Even if you remember a few keywords to begin with, it is good start. (Use the index page to locate the posts you wish to read)
  3. The detailed descriptions of the 16 images/ Shakal शकल used in Ramal. For this you will have to consult some ‘geomancy’ or modern Ramal book.
    • I use the original Sanskrit names as they have actual meanings. These 16 Shakal, are 16 types of figures drawn with single dot/ Bindu and a single line/ Rekha (In modern geomancy, the line is drawn as 2 dots, thus their tantric power is lost).
    • Shakal शकल is a Sanskrit word which means fragment or bit or small piece. (Sakal सकल is ‘entirety’.) Shakal are also called Roop रूप which means the ‘clue to the form’.

These 16 images, the Shakal शकल , made me want to learn Ramal Shastra. These are the 16 forms of the Moon/ Chandra. Each form of the Moon is called a Chandra-kala, this lasts for one day and this day is called a Tithi. So each Shakal is in fact the conscious intelligence of the Tithi or the Kala. These Kala कला are a part of Shri Vidya, the knowledge of your own internal energy geometry. These 16 images give Ramal its tantric identity. Ramal Shastra is Tantra.

The 7 regular graha-s rule 2 Shakal शकल each and the shadow planets, Rahu and Ketu rule one Shakal each. The names of the Shakal are the names of the planets. The figures you will need to practice a bit so that you can remember them. Don’t stress yourself by trying to by-heart things, as you do your practice readings you will understand them. Keep all your reference books near you. Divination is best when you have your mind relaxed.

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Sixteen, is ‘Shodash’ in Sanskrit. There are several sixteen things in Sanatan Dharm and linked to your energy self. Sixteen is one of the esoteric numbers of the Shri yantra, the geometry of the manifested universe.

There are the sixteen vowels of the Sanskrit varnamala. These are the energies of the Shakti. You already know that the vowels are connected to the Ida nadi or the ‘feminine’ energy or the Moon, ie these 16 vowels are linked to the Devi Prakruti, ie they are the 16 emanations of the Devi Lalita Mahatripursundari.

The Moon/ Chandra has sixteen phases. The no-moon Amavasya, the full-moon Pournima and the fourteen phases as he waxes or wanes, it is a total sixteen. These are the sixteen Chandra kala. Into Shri-vidya again, these 16 Chandra-kala are the Sixteen Matrika Devi-s.

And there is also an entire book in Jyotish called the Chandra-kala Nadi used for predictions. Jyotish is very much a part of Sanatan Dharm, it is a Ved-ang and it is a route for self-realisation.

  • चन्द्र – Chandra is the – moon, golden-reddish-silvery, brilliant, glimmering light, shining, fluid motion, graceful, pleasing, excellence etc.
  • कला – Kala is a – part, sound vibration, elements of the material world, fineness, embryo, skill, division of time, 16, intelligence also ignorance, the sapta-dhatu of the body, etc.

These 16 chandrakala are then the 16 beams of light radiated by MahaShodashi. The word ‘Maha-Shodashi Devi’, in Sanskrit, literally means the great 16 beams of internal light. She is the Prakruti, she is all manifested creation and everything in it.

There is a very powerful Shodashi mantra composed only of 16 beej akshar-s. It is hidden in one of the shlokas of the Devi Atharvasheersham in the Devi Mahatmya. It is obviously available on the internet, but it is dangerous, fast acting and one should not use it without guidance from a realised Guru.

The Vishuddhi chakra, described as a ‘lotus’ is the lower chakra of the Chandra-mandal has 16 ‘petals’. The chakras are called ‘lotus’ and is not just a poetic gesture. Lotus flower is called ‘padma’ in Sanskrit. But ‘padma’ has several other deeper meanings also. ‘Padma’ also means a phase, a step, the dimensions and ultimately means ‘Great-Time’ the Maha-Kaal. So the Vishuddhi chakra can be more correctly understood as a knot in the Brahma-nadi within the Sushumna. This is a place where the brahma-nadi curves and recurves around itself perfectly creating these 16 loops. These loops exist in time, in space and the other dimensions. The space-time curve of science-fiction actually exists inside your own self. Vishuddhi chakra is an important milestone in your spiritual progress. It is only when the kundalini crosses this point that you are called ‘Nara’ नर , otherwise you are still a ‘Pashu’ पशु .

The chandra-mandal is the highest part of the Shri-chakra composed of the Vishuddhi and Ajnya chakras. The human body is a yantra, basically a machine, it is a means to an end but is also a barrier if you do not know how to use it. It is a means  of control and can imply a bondage or a chain too. You have to use the force that this body (all its 5 layers) contains only then can you achieve Moksh, there is no other way. The yantra are put to work by application of the appropriate mantra and how to actually do this is the tantra.

And on an astrological note, I always assert that Venus is the real Moksh-karak, the agent of realization. His other name is षोडशांशु Shodash-anshu, he is a ray, thread, end-point of the 16. Recognise his real nature and follow him back to the Maha-Shodashi Devi and then go inwards into yourself.

ramal dice

So back to the topic, the 16 Shakals of Ramal are linked to all these 16 powerful energies as above. The शकल are raw power in themselves, they are not just figures. If you intend to use Ramal in any way, try to use the correct Sanskrit names of the Shakals. This will add to your divination and you will get precise results. Here is a brief description of the 16 Shakals, their real names in Sanskrit (Devbhasha Samskrutam).

1. vagmi Vagmi वाग्मि – represents Pratipada Tithi, the first day after the no moon or full moon. Its ruler is Jupiter. Vagmi means excellent, philosophical, teacher.

2.  lohitah Lohitah लोहित: – Dwitiya tithi. Ruler Mars. Lohitah means red, copper, metal. 

3.  ushnaguh Ushnaguh उष्णगु: – Trutiya tithi. Ruler Sun. Ushnaguh means the one with very hot rays.

4.  vidhuh Vidhuh विधु: – Chaturthi tithi. Ruler Moon. Vidhuh means solitary or of rhythmic movement

5. patah Patah पात: Panchami tithi. Ruler Rahu. Patah means downfall, illusory appearance, misfortune.

6.  bodhanBodhanah बोधन: Shashti tithi. Ruler Mercury. Bodhanah means instructor, clever, exciting.

7.   ketuh Ketuh केतु: Saptami tithi. Ruler Ketu. Ketuh means a banner, unusual.

8. saurih Saurih सौरि: Ashtami tithi. Ruler Saturn. Saurih means the Son of Sun. Saturn Shani is the son of the Sun Surya

9. mandahMandagah मन्दग: Navami tithi. Ruler Saturn. Mandagah means slow moving.

10. Teekshnanshuh Teekshnanshuh तीक्ष्णांशु: Dashami tithi. Ruler Sun. Teekshnanshuh means sharp fiery rays.

11. daityarchithDaityarchitah दैत्यार्चित: Ekadashi tithi. Ruler Venus. Daityarchitah means the one teacher respected by the sons of Diti.

12. soorihSoorih सूरि: Dvadashi tithi. Ruler Jupiter. Soorih is a learned thinker, scholar.

13. aarahAarah आर: Trayodashi tithi. Ruler Mars. Aarah means iron, several enemies, or a sting.

14.  kavih Kavih कवि: Chaturthi tithi. Ruler Venus. Kavih means enlightened, in-control, a sage.

15.  sheetanshu Sheetanshu शीतांशु: Amavasya tithi. Ruler Moon. Sheetanshu means cold rays.

16.  saumyahSaumyah सौम्य: Pournima tithi. Ruler Mercury. Saumyah means Son of the Moon, likeable, bland. Mercury Budha is the son of Moon Chandra.

Eclipses in the horoscope, birth and transit analysis

Now if you intend to use Ramal as a divinatory tool you will need the typical Ramal dice. I saw some Ramal dice on sale on etsy. But if you don’t want to buy them, you can always use cards. You will need one set of these 16 images above, you can draw them on cards with a marker. Write the Sanskrit names on the cards, so that at least some part of the real power of the Ramal gets channelised into your reading. Try with the cards first, if you get inspired then buy the dice. (The dice are very convenient as with one single roll you get the entire group of mother images 1 to 4.)

So you have your Ramal cards and your question. Now you have to pull out 4 cards from the set and create the Ramal Khet or Shield. The actual Khet has 16 computations like this below. This is a completed khet, your reading. There are 16 positions and each position is occupied by a Shakal. Each position can be interpreted to get insights into your question.

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  • The 4 cards you pull out are the 4 मातृ Matru ‘mother images’. (these are filled in the right side top 1 to 4 slots). Note them as per the sequence you pull them out as you will be using the 1st mother image again to calculate the 16th image. 
  • You derive the ‘daughter images’ from the mother images. These daughters are filled in the 5 to 8 slots on the top left of the Khet.
  • Then you calculate the four ‘niece images’ at number 9 to 12 in the second line. These are derived using the images of the daughters.
  • The niece images at 9 and 10 are combined to make the first witness at 13. It is filled in the third row right side.
  • And the nieces at 11 and 12 are combined to make the second witness at 14. This image is at the third row left side.
  • The two witnesses at 13 and 14 are combined to get one Judge image at 15. This is at the lowest row, left side.
  • And the Judge image and the 1st mother image are ‘combined’ to get the 16th image called the Reconciler.

Learning how to compute the Khet using the 4 cards, the ‘mother images’ you draw is very easy, it is given in every geomancy book. But I suggest that you get an app which gives you the computed shield directly. I use ‘Brian’s Geomancy’ app by developer ‘AoA’, it is a free app for iPhone. It computes till the 15th image. So you will need to compute the 16th image manually.

But ‘geomancy’ as it is taught today generally uses 15 images like this below. The 16th figure is not calculated. The Bindu/Dot and Rekha/Line of the original Ramal Shastra have tantric significance and inherent power. In geomancy, these have been changed, Dot is continued as a Dot but the Line has been converted to a Double Dot.

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So this is how you cast your Ramal Khet.

  • Sit in a neat and clean place, face north or east.
  • Deep breathe a few times, relax your mind, focus on your question.
  • Shuffle your Ramal cards and pull out the 1st one. This is the 1st ‘mother image’ so input it in your app.
  • Similarly input the 2nd 3rd and 4th cards ‘mother images’ in the app and touch ‘done’. 
  • The app will compute the complete shield and give you the final figure of the 15 images.
  • This is how you calculate the 16th Shakal, the Reconciler. in the example below, figure one will be the 1st mother image and figure two will be the 15th Judge image. You combine them together using this formula to get the 16th Reconciler image.

Ramal Shastra Tantra is the source of Geomancy and IChing

So if you are learning ‘geomancy’ or ‘ramal’ from any arabic/ english book do remember to cast the 16th Reconciler Image too. This is the gist of the entire reading and offers unique insights into the corrective actions which you will be taking up to address your problem.

And as Ramal Shastra and Tantra is authored by Bhagwan Shiv and the first ‘student’ of this Vidya is Devi Shakti, it would be best to think of them with gratitude before doing the divination. This will make your Geomancy/Ramal or IChing readings more powerful.

Chakra, Graha and the Rashi

(I had got a question on Ramal Jyotish some time ago but was putting off writing this post as I did not know how much I would be allowed by karma to write on this topic. So this post is a bit disjointed.)

Ketu conjunct Lord of the Ascendant sign

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I have written about Ketu conjunct the other planets. Ketu the headless graha internalises the planet he is with and changes his behaviour. This effect is quite significant if he is with your birth Moon (in about 8% charts). But the most challenging combination would be Ketu conjunct your ascendant lord. The probability that a planet is ascendant lord and conjunct Ketu in a chart is mathematically extremely low. Very few people have chosen this, as these energies are very unique and rather traumatic. If you are an evolved soul, this combination can gift you with immense spiritual progress after Ketu matures at the age of 48yrs. But before this happens life goes by in a strange daze.

The ascendant lord is the most important planet of your chart. The ascendant sign defines the personality and your environment. The exact rising degree is practically a graha/force in Jyotish (when you read the divisional charts). And its lord controls how your personality and your environment interact with each other. Eg if you have a powerful ascendant sign, both your personality, your environment will be equally beautiful. But the ascendant lord is in a bad position, you will not be comfortable with yourself nor be able to make full use of what is available to you in your environment.

Ketu conjunct Lord of the Ascendant sign

If Rahu is desire, indulgence then Ketu is rehabilitation, revenge, rebalance, regeneration, renunciation. Ketu is primarily a malefic, related to catastrophes, karmic retribution, destruction of the material, inimical to Life. His results are not pleasing or satisfying to the body/mind, though they may be good for your soul’s spiritual progress. He is piercing, weird, eccentric, indifferent, separative, scorching. So the closer your ascendant is to Ketu, especially if both are in the same Nakshatra, you face a strange disconnect in every aspect of your life. Ketu brings in material adversities in any aspect of life he touches and obstructs the auspiciousness of the planet he touches. Ketu matures at the age of 48yrs, so he will hold back the maturity of the ascendant lord also till this age. There will be two very distinct and extreme phases in your life, before your 40s and after your 50s, with your 40s being the transition period.

Till you reach your 40s, you will be rather unpredictable, immature, prone to extremes of behaviour as Ketu’s intense impulses controls your interactions between your personality and your environment. Your mindset will be rather dark, you might prefer being alone, might get attracted to negative thoughts and behaviour. You are not very active, somewhat inert as you are not interested in anything much. You are more into your ‘Past Everything’ as you are determined to extract the last bit of information from your past lives, past interactions, past experiences etc. This might make you seem hazed out or vague. Thought processes can seem irrational as Ketu does not follow conventional logic. Ketu is instinctive and gets his information from very deep sources which are beyond comprehension to others. You might seem odd to others, your understanding is different, very deep. Clairvoyance, ‘clair-sentience’  exists. You can make that leap of intuition mixed with fiery intellect, a very unique and incisive logic which is always right. Your thought processes are subtle, sublime and your ideas are often so high up that you are often misunderstood by average people. You are not of this material world. Others might think that you imagine or make-up things but you are always proved right in the end.

Innocence is an overriding trait as ego does not exist, no action is motivated by selfishness as the sense of self itself is absent. You are shy, self-conscious, you do not have any sense of your own abilities and are highly impressionable. You always role-acting (can be a very good spy or professional actor) as you are not really interested in anything around you. You are an innocent and believe others to be innocent too but you can detect lies and fakes very easily. You want to know the truth of everything and you will work hard albeit in a disinterested manner to uncover it. Lies and falsehood will not be tolerated and if you have friends/family who lie to you, you will snap ties with them in an instant. You need fairness and justice in life. You like solving puzzles of every type, the mind likes finding solutions. If you get an idea, you stick to it, and it is generally correct, and you cannot be reasoned with. You have very strong likes and dislikes somtimes erratic and unpredictable. You might seem to be short-tempered, cruel and insensitive to others, but this is Ketu’s typical disinterest at work, you are not interested in them. Impulsiveness and intensity exists which comes from deep within your psyche and it is linked to the activities from your past lives. You are capable of staying alone in solitude for ages.

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You are not religious in the conventional sense, occult is what you are. Occult is all those things which are mysterious and dangerous to others. You wander in areas which are very scary to others. Astrology, divination, tantra, telepathy, telekinesis, magic, hypnotism, astral stuff comes easily to you. In fact if others stare in your eyes for too long, you can actually mesmerise them. You are hypnotic, people find you mysterious and fascinating. You like travelling, physically/astrally and to places linked to secrets, mystery and occult. Research, searching for hidden things, secrets of the mind, studying the past eg archeology, inventing stuff, exploring underground treasures from minerals to the Kundalini are all possible. Obviously you are very sensitive to the astral dimensions, energy, ghosts, spirits etc. You know all secret things but you do not really care about all this. And you will face damage from these things, you are most vulnerable to damage from these ‘other things’ as you are apathetic to the things Ketu is linked to. You might be ill, hurt or simply overtired but you are not aware, you push your body (both physical and astral) beyond limits after which it can just snap. You should get yearly medical check-ups and also shield yourself from psychic damage. You will be prone to heat related diseases linked to problems of pran flow in your nadi-s. Take care of your physical eyes and nadis..

You are required to assimilate the lessons you have learnt from your past into your present, only then can you move ahead into the future. If Ketu can attach you to these past things then he himself is the force who can detach you from them in one sharp clean cut. He is the fog himself and will make you cut through his haze. Ketu is your deepest learnings from your past lives often associated with painful lessons. You will want to extract the least bit of information from these, and this process gives you tremendous pain on the emotional/ inner levels. But you are essentially indifferent to your self, so you go through this pain without any issue.

Ketu is illusion for those who operate on lower levels of consciousness but grants clarity and discerning insight to the evolved souls, as he can penetrate through all veils. If the chart shows an evolved soul then this weird influence of Ketu makes sense in the late 40s as the spiritual path becomes more obvious. A Seer, Sat-Guru can be produced with a strong Ketu+ascendant combination.

Spiritual practice or using your intelligence in a higher way can best channelise this Ketu+ascendant lord. Then you can come up with path breaking analysis which requires out of the box thinking. Any field linked to secrets, research, exploration, law, medicine, detection, crime, poisons, drugs, mind etc which requires incisive thinking is yours. Or you can also attain Moksh, as Moksh is essentially a paradox in the terms of this created worlds, a challenge well suited to your typical intelligence.

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The placement, house/ sign in which this combination occurs will also matter. Also look into the houses placed in the 5/9 axis from this house. The ascendant lord in any house of the chart generally will give auspicious results or at least does not damage things too much. Whichever sign/ house the ascendant lord occupies gets more focus in the lifetime. However Ketu in the different houses requires analysis. One placement of Ketu+ascendant lord is especially powerful, if in Leo or the 5th house. This gives an independent spirit, an ability to transcend external influences, very deep perceptions and can dissolve the self-ego and grant you Moksh in this life itself.

But if this is not an evolved soul, then this combination affects longevity, mental balance, physical health and in fact every aspect of life, adversely. Whatever Ketu is capable of granting on the higher side as above will be affected by haze if he is functioning through his lower energy version. Then you become a ‘victim of circumstance’, your impulses and instinct get you into trouble. All the above positive attributes will be affected and there is more suffering in life. Ketu alone has the power to drastically reverse things and take things to extremes. So will it be a dramatic fall or rise in fortune, will depend on the power of the ascendant lord and the rest of the horoscope.

Ketu with the ascendant lord will, at some point of time, turn you into an ascetic, either visibly or internally. I have written about Ketu conjunct the individual other planets in my post here. Do go through it. Ketu with Jupiter takes away your luck and restricts auspiciousness in your life unless Jupiter has sufficient power to use Ketu’s abilities. If the ascendant lord Mars or Saturn is with Ketu, life will be intense and overall unhappy, even if they are relatively powerful in the chart. If Ketu is with a powerful Sun or Mercury as ascendant lord, then life can be manageable. Ketu with Moon as the ascendant lord can give high psychic abilities but will take you into the occult so living a normal life will not be very easy. Ketu with a powerful Venus ascendant lord will grant material dissatisfaction but can grant Moksh later in life.

You are the Nirvishesh Brahma, all our souls are the same Non-dual. And unless you realise your Reality, no other experience can really satisfy the soul. So Ketu in his real sense is the learning that there is no satisfaction in the things of this manifested universe. This learning is not made apparent till you experience the fun-fair of Creation and realise that it indeed does not satisfy. Thus the nameless longing to know real happiness, experience Moksh, intensifies. Ketu+Venus is the best possible Moksh-karak combination, in my opinion, for the spiritual aspirant. Ketu is the only force who can cut off all bonds and attachments to this manifested creation so completely that Moksh becomes possible. This is the real reason he is the most powerful of all the nava-graha.

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(Someone in my family has a Ketu+Venus ascendant lord combination in D1 and Ketu+Moon in the D9. An interesting case study. Small things in her life also show this influence, dress sense is odd, got her nostril pierced and it got infected, eye vision went bad in childhood, debris in her 3rd eye chakra, highly intelligent but does not know where to use it, highly perceptive, not connected to her family, prefers being alone, highly educated, widowhood and remarriage, suffers routine injuries due to the occult, deeply into spiritual stuff, has occult abilities but is erratic etc.) Do keep a collection of sample charts of your family/friend circle, as you learn a lot from observing them on a regular basis.

What was Soma-ras exactly, alcohol?

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One of my friends asked me this question. I know that there are ‘modern’ (in my view, ignorant) scholars who claim that ancient Indian Rishi-Seers ate non-vegetarian food and drank alcohol! Now I really don’t bother about random people saying things but my friend! So this post.

What is tantra? It is complete control on your mind as you attempt practices for gaining complete control on your own vital energy/ pran. You accept the experience with full awareness. And you desire to transcend this experience because you really to experience is your own self ie Moksh. And what is Yog? Here also you control your mind, attempt practices, gain complete control over the pran in your body. But you consciously deny yourself the experience of the manifested as you search for the Ultimate. You are determined to experience nothing but the Ultimate. Both routes are different but require control over the mind and the direction of the pran movement. The genuine practitioners are very different, if you sit near them you feel the ‘grace’, blessings, peace and strength.

Tantra or Yog, are the only possible ways for attaining Moksh. If you invoke the tantric aspect of your deity, you can move very fast on your path. But the pitfalls are extraordinarily dangerous and if you make mistakes, the repercussions are unimaginable. You are required to have complete control over your mind, emotions and actions. You cannot lose your focus in what you are doing, else you will be so badly damaged on the spiritual levels, that it will take innumerable lives to recover. There are several ancient tantriks who made mistakes and are stuck on earth (if ever you visit the ‘burning ghats’/ Smashan in Kashi/Varanasi, you will know what I mean)

All deities have their Tantric ‘variants’. The Ganapati who is considered the most ‘cute’, adorable deity has an extremely terrifying aspect called ‘Uddanda’. This form is with innumerable hands holding multiple weapons, all three eyes open, red with rage, wearing red garments, red aura, lots of ornaments, trumpeting the sound of ‘Om’, dancing the dance of destruction as he systematically destroys everything holding you back in your spiritual progress. If you do his Sadhana, it is like he is intently standing in front of you holding all his weapons, ready to decimate you if you make one single fraction of an error. If you manage to complete his Sadhana he will grant you endless energy, open your Kundalini locks, allow you Moksh and everything.

There are very few genuine tantriks who do pujas of such forms of deities. This is a very arduous method of spiritual practice. This Sadhana is not a ‘short-cut’. The deity grants you energy which energises you from the depths of your soul to the aura which projects outside you. You are first made capable of holding the energy then the energy is given to you and the path will be difficult. But the fundamental premise of Tantra is experience without any sort of engagement. Your deity is an aspect of the Ultimate Reality. As you follow the path shown to you, you will see that not only you, but your deity also evolves. Hereto unknown aspects of his energy will be shown to you, you will experience. Everything essentially is the Parabrahma, the ‘beyond intelligence’. You are the Para, your deity is the Para. Your deity will finally show you this Para form of himself and yourself too. Here is when the deity, the aspirant and the Real all merge. Moksh.

Depression, what does the horoscope say?

But the point comes to this, a genuine aspirant will not do anything which will dampen/distort his energy, or make him lose control over his energy. It takes so much effort to gain one smidgen of control over your energy, you don’t fritter this away! By ‘energy’, I mean the movement of Satva-Raja-Tama, the three- Gun the basic building blocks. You use your pran consciously to control them. This is the goal of all spiritual practice.

In movies and in life, you will see ‘tantriks’, practitioners to be typically creepy individuals. Wearing weird clothing, lots of malas, beads, black tilak on the forehead and general creepiness. I have met some of these practitioners and there was a miasma of negative energy, dark-auras in their rooms and surrounding them. Very suffocating. You feel suppressed, scared and want to get up and run away. (This is not what a real knower of Tantra looks or feels like, I have met some of these too.) These ‘tantriks’ are those degraded individuals who indulge in the lowest forms of energy manipulations and and will do anything the client asks for as long as their payment is right. Mostly these have spirits bound to them who they use as slaves to perform their work. These are the ones who drink alcohol, eat non-veg food etc.

These practicioners have spoilt the reputation of Tantra. Looking for short-cuts and with very material wishes. If you know how, you can go to a cemetery where dead bodies are buried and capture yourself a spirit. A slave you can use. Such slaves are always ready to turn on their masters. Or if you know more (or foolhardy or over-confident), you can visit the aforementioned ‘burning ghats’ of Kashi and bind an ancient tantrik’s spirit. Here your slave is a skilled one (pishachya, brahmarakshas, vetal etc) and can do more. And if it gets a chance it will happily turn on you and cause even more damage. Or there is another option, to go to some place where there is no inhabitation and natural forests. Here you will find spirits linked to the other dimensions who visit these areas, especially on eclipses, twilights, no-moon days and full-moon days. You can strike your bargains and get them to fulfil your wishes. None of this is advisable, but those who are blind in their desire for material gains and power will do it. And later suffer, badly.

And this is not what Tantra really means.

These short-cut tantriks use some other spirit or being as their source of energy. They are not internally that spiritually evolved themselves. Their only ability is to control the spirits using ‘procedures’, rituals and mantra. These spirits desire base/ tamasic gifts, like alcohol, meat, drugs, or sexual contacts, which the tantrik will procure for them so that they will work for him. And one becomes what one associates with, so such a practitioner also eventually becomes such a degraded creature himself. Then while this spirit is associated with them, they experience the higher energy levels which cannot be sustained when their association is broken. So the energy flow has to be consciously brought down in his body too.

Eg you have wire which can carry a current of 50volts. Now you temporarily link it to a second wire so that now it can carry 5000volts current. But this linkage is not possible all the time, the second wire needs a break, say for 12 hours/day (spirits need this, else they go insane). So as the first wire is delinked, there is damage as the wire is not in itself capable of 5000volt. This damage is to be suppressed (it can be repaired only be personal spiritual practice, which these short-cut tantriks will not do). Also at the instant of delinking the residual 5000volts has to be brought down in an instant else it will fry this first wire. So these tantriks drink alcohol.

Alcohol in large quantities lowers down the movement of pran and also your ability to control it. (In the past, my office group had a couple of guys who really liked drinking hard alcohol. During office parties it was very educational to watch them. As they drank progressively larger quantities of alcohol, their auras would progressively get murky and shrink.) Alcohol brings down your energy immediately and this ‘downer’ lasts for a day or so. Non-veg food also acts in the same way and its effect is sustained for a longer time, for a few days. And sexual contact also does the same thing, intimately sharing energy, such tantriks will divert all the extra load into their partner, now both will suffer. If even some normal person does these activities as a habit, you can easily see the effects. His energy body loses its vitality. Alcohol and non-veg are tamasic in nature, the person’s energy will become still, dull, difficult to move etc. (I never advocate avoidance, once in a while, for social reasons, for emotional reasons, for medicinal reasons, for health reasons etc is ok. But mindless over-indulgence will harm. In meats, only fish meat is comparatively safe.)

Depression, what does the horoscope say?

‘Soma-ras’ needs to be explained now. Modern scholars opine that Soma is alcohol which our ancient Seers drank, which is the stupidest thing. Soma-ras is defined by the two great Seers/Rishi of Ayurved, Patanjali and Sushrut, they have written about it.

Soma is another name for Anna, the ‘essence of food’. Anna is the ‘material thing’ of this universe which you use to sustain your mind/ body. This stuff is capable of being disintegrated by Fire/ Agni/ Pran and converted to Pran. In modern terminology, Soma would be something like matter and Pran is somewhat like energy. They both are conscious, intelligent, inseparable and inter-convertible. Soma is considered to be a form of Shakti (the energies are ‘with Uma’) and Pran is considered to be a form of Shiv. Soma is dispersed, it cannot be focussed on. Pran is the concentrated energy, this can be focussed with intention pushed into the thinnest nadi of the body. Soma needs to be converted into Pran for it to be of real use. Now there is one typical nature of Soma powered Pran, it rises up with relatively little effort.

When you eat food, it enters your digestive system where the conscious fire of digestion transforms it. Some of this is absorbed and some part is ejected out. This absorbed essence of food is used in different ways, to sustain the Sapta-dhatu, to sustain the mind/Manas and some is converted to pran/vital energy. The ancient Rishi-s ate specific food which could be converted completely to Pran. This food is called the Soma. Ras means the essence. And Ras also means the infinite intelligent scalar field of unlimited energy. So ‘Soma-ras’ is the subtlest energy of the essence of food. If such a food is eaten, there would be nothing ejected and a big boost of pure pran. This food was eaten before entering into the deepest states of Dhyan-Sadhana. These states would be maintained for long periods of time, even years. Rishi Patanjai clearly says that there are herbs-Oushadhi, which can be used to deepen the Dhyan states and achieve Moksh. But we do not have the details with us (continuous onslaughts of invaders targeted our temples, which were our institutions of learning and the teacher, the Brahmins who knew. No wonder this age is called the Kali-yug, all real knowledge is lost to us.)

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If you find this difficult to believe, try this small experiment. The hypothesis is, if you eat food which has higher spiritual energy, it is more easily and completely converted to Pran. There would be very little matter ejected and your aura/ energy will improve. So eat a dal/rice for 3 days. The dal should be only mung bean dal (Vigna radiata). And the rice should be unpolished. Add one spoon ghee (made from Indian desi humped cow milk) and some sea-salt/ rock-salt and turmeric as per your taste. If you find it tasteless, put some jira/Cumin seeds or 1pod of elaichi/ Cardamom or a bit of ground ginger in it as it cooks. This is the most Satvic-energy combination, where you have protein, carbohydrates, fats, mineral, turmeric in one dish. See what effect it has on your energy.

So, to conclude, Soma-ras is the purest essence of food, which is not available to us now. It is definitely not alcohol. Alcohol downs your energy instantly. Our ancient Rishi-s did not eat tamasic foods. They were Seers, realised souls, or aspirants who were actively working towards realization. Some of us are also actively pursuing this goal. So if you can, try to reduce your non-veg/ alcohol intake and sexual activity to reasonable limits. Mindlessly indulging in these will reduce the quantum of your pran and also affect your ability to manipulate it.

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Kundalini piercing the 3 knots and the 6 chakra

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The entire Shri Vidya is based on the geometry of the chakras and the movement of the Kundalini in your body. The Shri-chakra geometry is your energy geometry in perfect equilibrium. If you place all your chakras one above the other you get this Shri geometry. It is worshipped in 2D and in 3D in several ways to increase the personal energy. This diagram is the basis of the entire Tantra and all spiritual practice. Your Kundalini starts at the very bottom Muladhar chakra, and after curving through this complicated geometry it reaches the top central dot, Bindu. Only in deep Dhyan and by the pull of your internal Guru does the Kundalini move from its resting place. Else it will not stir and it is for your own protection. Only when you are mentally ready to accept, experience and transcend duality and illusion does it move. Kundalini is not some mystic power nor is it some prize.When it moves and ultimately reaches its destination you leave this Universe/Creation forever. As you realise your real self, you realise that the universes are all unreal. You realise Moksh.

This post is just to pique your interest. To actually experience anything of this sort you will need to practice Dhyan.

Tripur, Tripurari, Tripursundari

The Shri-chakra geometry is basically in two parts.

The topmost bindu, the central dot is the avyakta para form. The tiny dot within the central equilateral triangle. This is the unmanifested Beyond form or the Ultimate Intelligence. The Para, your real nature, the ultimate you. If your Kundalini arrives here you experience your own reality. This is your target.

The equilateral triangle around the central dot and everything around this triangle is the vyakta or aparaa form. This is the manifested creation or the unintelligent limited energy. Your body, mind, your universe etc is created outwards from this triangle (this post on the 24 tattva-s). This lower part is further sub-divided into 3 sections.

Vahni वह्नि mandal

The lowermost 2 chakras, Muladhar and Swadhisthan are the Vahni वह्नि mandal. The circle of Fire. To cross this mandal, you are required to transcend the Muladhar and Anahata chakras and then undo the Brahma Granthi/knot. Here ‘you’ means the energy of self-identification called the Kundalini. With every movement of the Kundalini your concept of Self is expanding yet becoming subtler.

The Vahni mandal is deeply linked to Raja gun. (You are composed of the three Gun.) Raja gun is the energy which creates illusions. It creates ‘Maya’. Fire is perhaps the greatest illusion, it is not technically matter nor is it completely energy. It exists, but shifts continually, you cannot pin-point the flames to a definite location. You cannot describe its color or shape, it is every changing. It transmutes, it consumes, it releases. Very fascinating. Brahmdev is the name of the conscious intelligence of the Raja-gun, represented by the Fire, Vahni. Here the Real and illusion, the material and the spiritual mix, you cannot tell them apart. This knot opens only when attachment to the illusion, the gross world is abandoned. The gross body is called the sthool-sharir which is composed of the anna-mai-kosh, the body which is linked to the material. (Your body is composed of 5 sheaths.) The reality or rather the unreality of this sheath is first experienced and then transcended here. Once the kundalini crosses this Vahni mandal, your consciousness can intentionally separate from the physical shell, eg you can consciously leave the gross body and travel using your subtle body.

Crossing this Fire-circle is very difficult as here you have to stop creating. If you look at your behaviour you are always creating, thoughts, ideas, emotions, tendencies, physical stuff, reading, writing, working, you create. And you are attached to these creation of yours. Stopping this creation and attachment to creation is extremely difficult. Not impossible but very difficult.

My Guru would say that Dhyan is necessary and ideally to be performed 3 times a day, ie in the morning, evening and once in the night sometime between 10pm-2am. When you begin your practice, you finish off one session in 30 mins, you get utterly bored, sitting, breathing and staring into the darkness between your eyebrows, mind wanders, the body aches etc. Later, maybe after 6months of this, you find that your mind is less diverted, your body is more supportive, your breathing is slower and you go on to about 45mins-1hr per session. The process gets enjoyable. Then after 1yr, you might see each Dhyan session going to upto 1.30hrs. There is deep internal intoxication (no other word). Later maybe after 2-3yrs of regular practice, it can stretch for hours, you will sit continue from 9pm – 5am, and your requirement for deep sleep and dream state will reduce and go to zero. All this varies from person to person, but the common theme is that you have to practice regularly.

You need to give time to yourself. In your life-time till now you have lived for thousands of hours, but have you given time to yourself? Time is the most precious thing you have and you have frittered it away on others. Try giving yourself these 1.30 hrs initially per day. It may not be possible for everyone because of genuine constraints but at least 30mins per day, one session daily?

You have to do Dhyan for some 500hrs to begin with at least, otherwise you will not see anything to do with pran or kundalini.

Who is a Guru?

Saura सौर  mandal

Back to our geometry, and the next 2 chakras. The Manipur and Anahata chakra-s make up the Saura सौर  mandal, the circle of the Sun. To cross this mandal you need to cross these two chakras and also undo the Vishnu-granthi or the knot of Vishnu. The concept of jivatma/individual soul as compared to your limitless Reality is the syllabus here. You are made aware of the unreality of the sookshma sharir or your subtle body. (The subtle body is composed of the Pran-mai-kosh, Mano-mai-kosh and Vidnyan-mai-kosh sheaths.)

The Sun represents the individual ego/ jivatma. Unless you give up the sense of narrow personal self, the experience of the greater Self is not possible. Here in the Saura mandal, the sense of attachment to the fruits of actions done by you is linked to your soul. Creation of new karma is possible only till the kundalini crosses this mandal. The new karma you create in your current life is called Agami karma which gets added to your stored karma. You can reduce the stored- Sanchit, karma by your spiritual practice.

The Vishnu Granthi, the knot of Vishnu opens only when attachment to the sookshma sharir or subtle body is abandoned. Vishnu is the intelligent energy of Satva-gun, this maintains the Maya – created illusion. Here you are taught the deepest wisdom linked to the Satva-gun. Not just taught, but also tested rigorously.

When you crossed the Vahni mandal, you understood, experienced and transcended your attachment to the process of creation and the attachment to the stuff you are creating. You transcended the illusion of ‘act of creation’. Now you do not desire new creations. But you are ‘someone’, you are Priya, Amit, a mother, a teacher, a son, you are scared of the dark, you like sweets, you are an Indian etc. You have all these impressions stored in your subtle-body accumulated from your past several lives. You are maintaining these impressions. When you attempt to cross the Vishnu-granthi you are shown these impressions to be the illusions that they are. All your notions about your limited sense of self are shown to you as being nothing, insubstantial.

To overcome some thing, you need to understand every aspect of that thing, experience it and transcend it. This journey of the Kundalini is just this process. The process can perhaps be painful or pleasurable. But both these mindsets cannot sustain in the understanding of the self. You are the Para, the beyond, you are complete in yourself, you don’t need the concept of happiness or any other feeling to describe your completeness. You are All there is. You are your own definition. It is rather a subtle understanding here.

In some cultures, the children believe that there is a magical person who comes once a year and gives them toys. The parents do not tell the child the truth unless he grows older and toys become irrelevant to him. Just like that, you are not shown the illusory nature of your material life unless you are capable of absorbing the intelligence in the way it should be.

Kundalini is an intelligent force, it will not move or do anything unless you are ready. There are some exercises on the internet which claim to move the kundalini, they are all fake. If by ill-luck you manage to ‘move’ the kundalini by force you are in for a very bad time, your body’s vital energy network will be short-circuited, the movement of pran will be affected, there will be physical illness and mental insanity.

So just do your Dhyan, your internal Guru will do the rest. Your job is very simple, just sit, breathe, focus and mantra every day, (either once/twice/thrice). When you attain the critical potential, things happen spontaneously. Your Dhyan is the process of cleaning up the road using the movement of pran/vital energy. When the road opens the kundalini will move on its own.

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Chandra चंद्र  mandal

Back to the geometry, the top one-third. This is the Chandra चंद्र  mandal, the circle of the Moon, composed of the Vishuddhi and the Ajnya chakras. To move onwards from here these two chakras and the Rudra Granthi is required be be navigated successfully. The energy body associated here is the Karan sharir or the causal body. Here you understand why you separated from the Greater Self in the first place. Why you have karma bound to your soul? This karan-sharir is the tightest sheath around the soul called the Anand-mai-kosh. The meaning of this sheath is rather typical, it means ‘the happiness you feel when you know that the game is near its end’, ie the eternal happiness of Singularity. As you cross the Vishuddhi and Ajnya chakras you finally transcend dualities and come within reach the Singular sense of self. Here you destroy the seeds of karma itself, you destroy the concept of ‘creation of creation’. You destroy the concept of ‘maintenance of creation’. Finally you destroy the concept of ‘destruction of creation’. The entire creation vanishes as if it never existed in the first place. The presiding energy here is the Shiv, the intelligence of Vishuddha tama-gun. The extra special pure energy of Tama-gun.

The Kundalini has to cross all these three mandal, in which it pierces the 6 lower chakras and these 3 Granthi. ‘Piercing’ is perhaps a wrong word to use, but Sanskrit words cannot be translated only experienced. All this happens within the Sushumna nadi, the thinnest energy channel of the body. Within this channel there are progressively thinner naadi-s, Chitrini and Vajrini. Nadi within Nadi layout. This thinnest nadi within a nadi is also called the Brahmanadi. This Brahmanadi is through, from the lowest Muladhar to the topmost Sahasrar+Bindu complex terminating at the Brahma-randhra at the top of your head. At every chakra and granthi this Brahmanaadi is twisted around itself in a very specific way. This forms the lotus/yantra of that specific chakra. Piercing the chakra means the energy moves smoothly through these thin complicated loops without damaging anything.

Till now the kundalini was in the region called Dharmakshetra-Kurukshetra in the Bhagwat Gita. To navigate this part you have to strive and focus, take efforts.

Bindu बिन्दु  mandal

Now after the Kundalini crosses the Ajnya chakra it reaches the last section where the Para pervades. You have destroyed your sense of your individual self. Now onwards the progress is more under the control of the internal Guru and your greater self. This region is called the Dash-angul-sthan, the space between the forehead’s Ajnya-chakra and the top of the head, the Brahmarandhra at the center of the Sahasrara chakra. This space is also called the Bindu mandal. It is also called the Dharmakshetra. The other remaining chakras of the head exist in this region.

This Brahmarandhra is the seat of true light of the self also called the Jyotir-lok, Satya-lok or Parabrahm.

In Shri-Vidya, the Mahakameshwar, ‘the great one who controls all desire’ resides here merged together with his ‘wife’ Mahakameshwari or Lalita Tripursundari, ie the Kundalini. Here Kundalini reaches her ‘husband’ Mahakameshwar, merges with him and thus attains Singularity. This means that in the Bindu mandal, the desire to create has not been expressed yet, both energies are one, they are not differentiated. The merged form is the Reality. There is no duality. When the Singular here differentiates into duality, she starts creating the world while he observes. Thus these two energies are known as the parents of the universe.

If you refer to the Bhagwat Gita, this Brahmarandhra is the abode of the subtlest yet tremendous aspect of Krishna. If you practice using the Vidnyan Bhairav Tantra as your reference book this is the abode of Bhairav. The non-dual, the Advaita. The same concept is discussed in Bhagwat Gita and the same is in Devi Mahatmya, and in both the backdrop is a War of terrific proportions. War and spirituality are an odd combination perhaps, but it is War, you fight your mind. In fact every story-allegory in Sanatan Dharm aka Hinduism describes this same thing in different words. The world and everything around you is a mixture of the real and the unreal mixed together. ‘Maya’ means ‘not-that’. Maya cannot be proved to be definitively proved to be real or illusion. Understanding then experiencing and transcending this is real Knowledge of the Self. This is Sadyo-mukti.

 

The Gayatri mantra

This post is partly in response to this comment I received in the Contact form,  (I read an article which mentioned about our age and chakras. Are chakras related to our chronology like one chakra is dominant or something? Also what is meant by opening chakras?)

It is a rather technical post so do read the hyperlinked posts, linked to the words in pink.

I have written about the ‘age and chakra’ part in my earlier post here.

8th house Dushamsthan

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The 6th, 8th and 12th houses of the chart are called the Dushamsthan, of these the 6th is considered the most turbulent as it is linked to the awareness and the resolution of Karma/bondage. The 12th is dissolution of the manifested. The 8th is then catastrophic transformations of identity where the physical, emotional or spiritual identity undergoes a rapid, forceful and often traumatic change. The death of the physical body is the most extreme change which is seen from here. This is the energy of the Rudra, from the 33 koti devatas who make up your body. Catastrophic changes to the body/ mind /soul, always lead to very intense progress on the spiritual levels.

Every sort of ‘Shock’!

Broadly the 8th house from the ascendant governs the situation of physical death, longevity, hidden assets, legacies from the dead, secret knowledge, mysteries, secrets of all forms, undiagnosable diseases, the act of childbirth, the movement of pran/vital energy in the body, occult, tantra, openings of every sort, evolution/involution, cycles of destruction and creation, disappearances and re-appearances, powerful but invisible transformations. Unplanned, unlikely, unanticipated, emergencies, upheavals and meltdowns. Self-destruction coupled with rebirth. And ultimately the potential for recovery, reinvention and reactivation.

8th house Dushamsthan

Energy (Prakruti) cannot be destroyed, it can only change from one form to another. The 8th house counted from every house will indicate the potential for transformations related to the keywords of that house. So e.g. if you are looking at the marriage aspects of a chart, also analyse the 2nd house (counted eighth from the 7th), for secrets and changes to the married state. Then the 8th house from the birth Moon should always be analysed. It indicates emotional turbulence and the threats to the stability of the mind and emotions, intimidation and abuse.

The 8th house is never very visible, just like the natural 8th sign of the zodiac Scorpio, it has unfathomed depths. The 8th is a part of the Moksh trikon with the 12th and 4th houses. It facilitates ‘release’. So unless you focus on it specifically, you will remain unaware of your occult potential.

Here is where the walls of creation break down and reform. The invisible comes out and suddenly you realise its significance. The 8th is intimately connected to the occult, tantra. Tantra is the study of constant change. For the physical self, the 8th house rules over death, surgeries, accidents, ‘cuts’ of every sort. For the emotional, it causes stress and separates. For the spiritual it opens up routes into the depths of the subconscious.

The 8th house also indicates the family of the spouse. The money, the wealth, resources of his/her family. Generally you do not know these things about your spouse’s family completely, so this links up with the secret nature of the 8th! Also the voice, speech, eating habits and wealth-accumulating habits of the spouse.

The 8th then indicates explorations, excavations, surgeons, shamans, tantriks, secret financial activities, scientific researchers, secret criminals, etc type of professions, which thrive on skill and an awareness of suspicions, intuitions and sensations from the internal.

8th house Dushamsthan

The planets occupying this house often incline an interest in the occult depending on their nature. Too many or strong planets here would indicate reduced interest in philosophy or organised religion and a deeper interest in spirituality or the occult. Their Dasha periods/ significant transits will be quite happening times. e.g. Saturn here will indicate it is the karma to do so, a Mercury will grant the boldness, necessary logic and skills to do so, Venus will grant the tantric knowledge and esoteric wisdom related to the occult etc. A special case would be the Moon placed in the 8th house.

If this house is vacant then look out for the transits or the dasha periods of the owner planet, this would be the time which would trigger its potential. This 8th house ruler is a very important agent of change in your life. Track his movement and the aspects of life he controls. He will cause sudden uncontrollable changes wherever he may be at birth or go in transit. But if you understand that he ‘transforms’ not ‘dissolve’, you might understand his actions better.

If by chance, you have the same planet ruling your 8th from ascendant and the 8th from Moon, be careful during his periods, e.g. Libra Ascendant with Moon in Pisces, Venus is ascendant lord, 8th lord, and lord of 8th house from Moon, thus the Venus mahadasha (20yr long) and his antardasha within other planets Mahadashas will be especially transformative. Similarly for Aries ascendent with Moon in Virgo be careful with your Mars periods. If you can navigate this period successfully you will benefit beyond imagination else the physical and subconscious body both will suffer.

It is important to remember that the 8th house is Shock and Change. How you go with the energy and participate in the process will determine how effective the 8th will be. A strong ascendant sign, ascendant lord and birth Moon are very important in this respect. If you are attached to your identity or have Saturn-like resistance to things unfolding around you, you will suffer more. And then is all about perception, if you are prepared for the change you will not be so shocked and if you are aware in advance you will not feel the sudden-ness. So the intensity of these events is reduced by a strong yet adaptable personality.

To navigate the 8th you will have to think like a hunter in the jungle, the shadows can contain a prey or a predator, so be prepared!

8th house Dushamsthan