timing

Predicting the birth of a child

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The horoscope of the child has significant relationships with the horoscopes of his/her mother’s and father’s horoscopes, separately and simultaneously. Here writing a bit on timing the birth of a child.

Predicting the birth of a child

First of all check the horoscopes of the parents to check for childlessness. If both the horoscopes are capable of having natural children then try to work out the timing. (Or you can do this as an exercise, for your own child, correlate when he/she was born and how this time can be arrived from your and your husband/wife’s horoscopes.)

First the year. Jupiter and Saturn both are involved in timing of childbirth or more appropriately the conception of the child.

  • Within the approx 9 months prior to the birth of the child, the transiting Jupiter and/or Saturn in both the father‘s and the mother‘s birth chart, will be placed in the 5th house and/or the 9th house.
  • Or aspected/conjoint with the lord of the 5th and/or the lord of the 9th.
  • When you check aspects, if they, Jupiter/Saturn, are retrograde then they will also be influencing the house behind where they are placed.
  • Also when you check aspects, remember the planet will influence a zone of 15deg around him. E.g. Saturn in Libra at 2deg will also influence a Mars placed in 27deg Virgo.

Now the month. Mars, the ruler of life/death and transformation, also of blood, operations, secrets and openings of every sort. During childbirth, fiery energy of every sort is at work thus Mars must be involved.

  • The transit Mars in both the father’s and the mother’s birth chart, will be placed in the 5th house and/or the 9th house at least 2.5 months prior to the child birth. (A baby born about 7.5 months from conception is considered viable as per astrological concepts. A child born before this may not survive childhood unless there are a significant benefic aspects. Thus this time period of 2.5 months).
  • Or similarly aspected/conjoint with the lord of the 5th and/or the lord of the 9th.
  • Check if he is retrograde and his degrees as above.

Then the transiting Sun and his aspects to be evaluated on the same lines as the Mars above. This will help narrow down the month.

Now to narrow it down it to the day when labour will begin and the child will be thus born. Approximately within 3 days from before the child is born, these conditions will be met. The position of the Moon in transit. He will be linked to both the parents charts in either of the following ways. (This also works for children born in premature or Caesarean delivery.)

  • He will be placed in the ascendant sign of both/either of the parents charts.
  • Aspecting or in the 5th or 9th houses of both/either of the parents charts
  • Or aspecting or with the 5th or 9th lords of both/either of the parents charts

These rules are compulsory. If there is some confusion then the mother’s horoscope chart is given greater importance as she is the one actually giving birth.

Now these combinations will repeat several times in life, even if you consider the charts of both parents-to-be simultaneously. So to pinpoint the exact birth time, first of all you will have to calculate the possibility of having children using the planetary dasha.

Finally because experience is the best teacher, practice, using the charts of your family members, couples with children to see how these rules actually work in real life. Then as a second step check out charts of expecting parents to see if you can pinpoint the time of birth of the child. And finally use the charts of newly married couples to predict when their child will be born.

The more you practice doing predictions, the more your mind will get used to seeing patterns in the charts. Patterns are everything.

(There are more details you can get into using the divisional charts of the parents, especially the Navamsha and Saptamsha. But it is rather technical and beyond the scope of this post.)

Predicting the birth of a child

(This is from classical astrology from the texts and it always works. Thanks to those Jyotishi-s who have worked and done this research in the past times, so that we can use it today.)

(I am a Vedic/Indian astrologer, so to use anything that I write on, the calculations must be according to the Indian system, where we take into account the mathematical correct motion of the Earth, ie use the ayanamsha correction factor.)

Calculating Muhurt, auspicious times

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Sometimes you need to know auspicious timings, for buying a new house, or starting a puja or something important. As everyone has access to an astrology software so selecting auspicious timings is quite easy (not discussing the ‘why’, just on how to do it!). I use the ‘Hindu calender – Drik panchang’ app by developer ‘Adarsh Mobile Applications’.

Calculating Muhurt, auspicious times

Step 1 – Panchang

Panchang is the Indian system of maintaining the calender and composed of five parts which have to be evaluated for arriving at the auspicious Muhurt. You open the Panchang section of the app/software, input the day you are considering and read the data on the following.

  1. Thithi (Lunar day) – The day/Tithi of the dark fortnight/Krishnapaksha or bright fortnight/Shuklapaksha.
    • Avoid the 4th, 6th, 8th, 12th, 14th and no moon day as generally inauspicious.
    • The rest are good.
    • Shuklapaksha, the bright half is better for most auspicious activities.
  2. Vaara (Week day) – Generally Thursday and Friday are good for all activities. Avoid Tuesday and Saturday for auspicious activities, you can carry out activities like getting back loans etc on these 2 days. The rest of the days are average.
  3. Nakshatra (Lunar mansion) – The Lunar Mansion in which the Moon occupies at Sunrise – Nakshatra (The Vedic/Indian day starts at Sunrise not midnight.)
    •  The 3 nakshatras Bharani, Krutika and Ashlesha are not good for general auspicious activities.
    • Auspicious nakshatras generally are Ashwini, Rohini, Mruga, Pushya (this is not for marriage), Magha, Uttara, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Anuradha, Moola, Uttarashadha, Dhanishta, Shravan, Uttarabhadrapada and Revati.
    • The remaining are average.
  4. Yog  – The Sun and Moon together form auspicious and inauspicious periods throughout the day, these are calculated as yog. There are 27 yog.
    • Vishkhamba, Vyaghata, Parigha, Vyatipatha, Vydhruti, Ganda, Atiganda and Shool are inauspicious.
    • Except these you can choose the other names which are good.
  5. Karan – The activities suitable for the day are also described as karan. There are 2 karans in a lunar day. One for the day and one for the night. There are 11 karanas.
    • Bhadra and Nagavam are inauspicious.
    • You choose other names other than these which are good.

Step 2 – Chandrabala.

To choose the day with the most favourable moon sign. Open the daily moon sign section of the app/software. Count the sign occupied by the transiting moon of that day from your birth moon sign. It should not be 6th, 8th or 12th. Rest all are good. (detailed post here)

Step 3 – Tarabala

To choose the day with the most favourable Nakshatra for you. You should know your birth Moon Nakshatra for this. Look into your birth chart, it will be mentioned.

Now in the Tarabala section of the app/software you choose the day you are thinking of and you will either see these serial numbers or these names against your Birth Moon Nakshatra. Choose the ones which are ‘good’.

1 – Janma – danger (bad)
2 – Sampath – prosperity (good)
3 – Vipath – accidents (bad)
4 – Kshema – wealth (good)
5 – Pratyak – obstacles (bad)
6 – Sadhana – success through work (good)
7 – Naidhan – dangers (bad)
8 – Mitra – friendships (good)
9 – Parama Mitra – excellent (very good)

Step 4 – Panchak Rahita.

To choose a time where the ‘5 sources of stress’ are nullified. Open the Panchak rahita section of the app/software, input the date you are considering and check out the panchak rahita period for the day. You will see some of these 5 options against the day/time, then it is inauspicious.

Mrityu Panchak – risk of death
Agni Panchak – risk from fire
Raja Panchak – risk from the king/government
Chora Panchak – risk from theft
Roga Panchak – risk from diseases

For auspicious periods it will be clearly mentioned ‘shubh muhurt’.

Step 5 – The hours ruled by the planets. The rule here is simple, the first hour of the day after sunrise is ruled by the planet of the Day,

  • e.g. first hour after sunrise on Monday ruled by Moon and so on in the sequence Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury.
  • e.g. first hour on Tuesday owned by Mars then following the sequence Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter.

The general readings are these,

  1. Moon – Suitable for relationships and emotional things, land and house purchase, purchase of household items, long travels, joining new job.
  2. Saturn – Should be generally avoided. Suitable only for business related to oil, farming and selling lands and houses.
  3. Jupiter – Suitable for starting new ventures and expansion activities of all types, education, business, marriage, gold etc.
  4. Mars – Generally avoided but suitable for specific activities like business in electronics, explosives, weapons.
  5. Sun – Suitable for government related activities, new job, politics, share markets and speculation.
  6. Venus – Suitable for all new ventures and all activities. Marriage, business, purchasing, selling, journeys. etc
  7. Mercury – Suitable for business activities, financial activities, short travels, learning new skills.

Step 6 – Surya Sankranti –

The Sun transits one sign in one month. A time of 6 hours and 24 minutes before and after the Sun transits into the next sign is inauspicious so avoid this period for starting new projects.

Step 7 –  Finally draw the horoscope of the day and time you have fixed and check the following.

  • The ascendant lord of this chart should not be with malefics or in the 6th, 8th or 12th houses.
  • The moon of this chart should not be with malefics or in the 6th, 8th or 12th houses.
  • The house of this chart related to the activity you wish to perform should be strong. eg, for buying a new house the 4th house should be good. For a new job the 10th and 11th houses, for a new business, the 7th and 11th houses etc.

This was a very brief to-do list on calculating Muhurt, the auspicious times in astrology. A perfect Muhurt is very rare, so choose a good Muhurt which has the maximum possible positive attributes and fewer negative attributes. The very basic concept is that such a day should be favourable to the main person in the ritual/action. If you cannot wait for a proper muhurta, buy your car on a day which has the transit Moon sign in favourable aspect with your birth moon (1st, 4th, 11th).

You can do these simple calculations on your own, there is really no need to go and consult a professional! A project started in a good Muhurt will be naturally more auspicious, smooth and hassle free.

 

The Vedic calender

Marak, rulers of the 2nd and 7th houses

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Marak/Marakesh is an important concept in Jyotish. Marak is the planet/s which decides the timing of exit from the physical body, death. The situation of death is defined by the 8th house and the conditions active at the moment of death are seen from the power of the Moksh trikon, but timing is from the Marak. The planetary lord of the 2nd house and the 7th house of the ascendant is the Marak planet for the chart.

The 8th house and the bhavat bhavam of the 8th i.e. the 3rd house are called the Ayush sthana, houses of longevity. The twelfth house counted from these two houses are thus the 7th and the 2nd houses, these are the Marak/death determining houses.

Then there are natural marak planets i.e. Saturn, Mars, Ketu and Rahu. These three can on their own cause physical death without much assistance from other planets but its quite rare. They need to be connected in some way to the 2nd or 7th houses or their lords. Physical death is an extremely significant phenomenon, it is not determined by a single placement but by a synergy of the entire chart’s energies as a whole. The Mahadasha or antardasha ruled by the Marak, or a particularly important transit of the Marak planets can serve as the final break point.

Marak, rulers of the 2nd and 7th houses

So why the rulers of 2nd and 7th houses? These are auspicious houses, so why should they be used to judge the time of death. Death is not considered auspicious, or is it?

House 2 – You all know quite a bit of astrological stuff by now, so what all does the 2nd house stand for? Think a bit and read on.

  • 2nd house is the storehouse. You, in your life gain experiences of several sorts. Also you accumulate several types of stuff. These are your assets, the treasures of your personality and your environment (defined by the 1st house). These are ‘collected’ in the 2nd house. You finish collecting all that you have decided on, your treasuries are full. Now what? You leave! The body cannot take in anything anymore, you have completed your targets. Saturation.
  • Now the natural ruler of the 2nd is Venus. He is also rules relationships at every level.  Relationship with the act of death naturally ruled by Mars of Scorpio 8th house. The 2nd house here is one-half of the yoke, the other being the 8th house (it is counted seventh from 2nd). When you finish accumulating your assets in the 2nd house, the 8th house will trigger the fast terrifying transformations of your assets, take these stores and use them in a balanced manner, converting your physical identity to that of the astral. Emptying them and making them ready for the next rebirth.

House 7 – After reading this about the 2nd house, I am sure you can work out why 7th house ruler can also indicate the time to exit the physical body.

  • The 7th house rules bargains, partnerships, balance and equatable sharing. Throughout your life you are actively involved in several kinds of partnerships. Every relationship can be viewed through the lens of a ‘partnership’, where both partners gain fairly. So what happens when you reach your goals on partnerships and gains from them?
  • We take birth to re-balance karma, no other reason. ‘Balance’ is the reason for this life in this body. We decide on how much of this karma-balance-target at the moment of birth. This moment of birth is the 1st house, and the 7th is the other part of the yoke.
  • Once you achieve the goals, it is time to set new targets, i.e. leave the old physical body and take on a new one.
  • The stuff you have in the 2nd house also represents the secret gains from the 7th house (it is the eighth when counted from the 7th house). It represents how you have used the energy of the 7th to change the status of your karmic-balance.
  • The natural ruler here is also Venus, as he rules the 7th house of the zodiac, Libra.
  • Venus is the real moksh-karak, when yoked to the vitality of Mars he can even grant you Moksh if the time is right. When all your karma is balanced by the assets you have gained in your this incarnation. This is one of the reasons Moksh is considered to be the primary function of Venus and not any other planet.

Marak, rulers of the 2nd and 7th houses

If in the horoscope the Moon sign is more powerful than the Ascendant sign then check out the 2nd and 7th house lords counted from this Moon sign, they can also act as Maraks.

Then there are those periods in life where life becomes unbearable. There are catastrophic changes and traumas which makes one want to end it all. But these are not periods where death will occur. These hard times are related to the following planets, their Vimshottari Mahadasha /antardasha or significant transits. The power of the planet to give positive or negative results should always be examined before arriving at a conclusion. And then as always look for patterns not single placements.

  • Lord of the 12th house counted from the Moon or Ascendant or Saturn – Loss of emotional support and comfort, extreme loneliness and grief. Separation from love and loved ones. A deep desire to move into the astral dimensions permanently.  This causes a desire to leave the physical body frame. The spirit wants to dissolve and separate.
  • Lord of the 8th house counted from the Moon or Ascendant or Saturn – Again this planet cannot confer physical death but traumatic catastrophic changes which are quite death-like. Transformations of personality in every way, positive and negative. Sudden wealth, legacies, accidents, surgery, magic, tantric stuff, divorce etc, but never actual physical death.

The length of a life is not important the intensity is. Mars rules intensity and Saturn rules endurance. Mars is always willing to change, transform and he has the capacity to generate enough resources to facilitate his fast and furious movements. Saturn is slow, he moves slowly generating his resources and the processes which he rules over linger on. Mars, the ruler of life and death is also the natural partner of Venus, the ‘natural’ ruler of 2nd and 7th, the ‘natural’ marakesh. And Venus is Saturn’s best friend too.

If the chart shows the influence of Mars over this process of physical death, it will be very fast. If Saturn has links to physical death then it will be slow and often via a lingering illness. If you have Mars and Saturn both involved with your 8th house then be prepared for the long haul, a long life has been granted to you. If benefics aspect they will give a graceful and dignified transition.

The timing of death is the Marak. The situation of death is the 8th house. What happens during the death process is the Moksh-trikon together. But do remember that longevity is calculated differently. ie If the longevity is shown to be long then Marak’s periods in young life will not cause physical death. So if you are interested in physical death, first calculate longevity. Sometimes you get a case where the person is enduring a prolonged illness. You look at the chart and see that though the Marak’s periods are on, the life span allotted to the chart is not yet complete. Such a typical time frame gives ‘sickness’, this sickness may manifest as extreme sadness (astral body suffers) or actual sickness (physical body suffers). The pran-link between the jivatma/soul and the body/robot is thinned down. The soul has not yet decided to leave. In such a case, prayers and healing (on spiritual, physical, emotional and mental levels) can convince the soul to stay on and continue in happiness.

Back to Venus, the morning star! The natural owner of the 2nd and 7th signs thus the natural Marak. Venus always fascinates me. He is Maya, cannot be determined if he is real or an illusion. He is beautiful, balanced, he knows the value of stuff, he grants the deepest knowledge, he decides the time when your body has exhausted itself. He tells you it is time to get a new life! He tests you, he does not grant his wisdom so easily. He defines relationships, the most important one being your relationship with your own self. He is perfection! A philosopher might say that the family/ 2nd house and the spouse/ 7th house are the things one most loves and thus these are the ones which destroy him in the end!

 

Marak, rulers of the 2nd and 7th houses