Hari Aum
I am going to outline some basic principles with regard to seeing one's spiritual life from the birth chart.
In my previous post from March 2015 on this topic, I made an attempt to analyse the various ayanamsas and work out which one seemed the most accurate. As mentioned in that post, I have found the Raman ayanamsa to be the most accurate and use this to cast the chart. I use the Jagannatha Hora software. (I have deleted that post as I have no wish to debate with anyone over ayanamsas- each to their own.)
Key points when analysing spirituality in the chart:
1. The key elements of spirituality in the chart that need to be examined are the lagna, the moon, the fifth house and the 9th house. The lagna represents the individual self/body/personality, the moon represents the mind. With regard to spirituality, the fifth house represents mantra, intelligence, creativity and good karmas from past lives. Similarly, the 9th house represents dharma, spirituality, wisdom and Guru.
2. Connections between the lagna, lagna lord, moon and fifth and ninth houses is good for spirituality
3. The eighth house- this is the house of the occult, hidden mysteries of life, suffering and transformation through this. It is one of the moksha trikonas, along with the 4th and 12th houses. It is not uncommon for people with an interest in spirituality and the occult to have planets in the 8th house.
4. The twelfth house- this is the house of meditation and moksha. The influence of benefic planets here or aspecting this house is said to be auspicious. A connection between this house and lagna/moon can again give an interest in meditation and moksha.
5. Planets of spirituality- the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Ketu are important for spirituality. Moon/lagna/lagna lord aspected by Saturn can indicate a person with vairagya, non-attachment to worldly things. The association between Jupiter and the Moon/lagna can give an interest in spiritual life as Jupiter represents the Guru and spirituality. Sun is the natural indicator of dharma.
6. Ketu's influence on the lagna or moon can produce non-attachment and spirituality.
7. Charts- the main rasi chart, the navamsa and vimsamsa (d 20) charts should be analysed with regard to the above
8. How to find the ishta devata, the deity who leads one to moksha from the chart:
a) Find the atma karaka AK (planet with highest degrees in the chart).
b) Identify the sign in which AK is placed in navamsa or vimsamsa (there is controversy about which chart- I use both, but mainly vimsamsa based on what I have read on this subject).
c) Now look at the sign in 12th position from the sign containing AK. If there are planets in the sign, see which is the strongest. The higher deity associated with this planet is the ishta devata. If no planet is present here, take the lord as ishta devata.
9. I have read that planets in trines in vimsamsa indicate deities one will worship and found this to be pretty accurate
10. Yogas for spirituality -certain combinations of planets create 'yoga' which are regarded as good for spiritual life. These include hamsa yoga, tapasvi yoga, parivrajaka yoga, sadhu yoga, sannyasa yoga, dharma-karma adhipati yoga (these are well-described on other sites so I will not elaborate here).
I am going to outline some basic principles with regard to seeing one's spiritual life from the birth chart.
In my previous post from March 2015 on this topic, I made an attempt to analyse the various ayanamsas and work out which one seemed the most accurate. As mentioned in that post, I have found the Raman ayanamsa to be the most accurate and use this to cast the chart. I use the Jagannatha Hora software. (I have deleted that post as I have no wish to debate with anyone over ayanamsas- each to their own.)
Key points when analysing spirituality in the chart:
1. The key elements of spirituality in the chart that need to be examined are the lagna, the moon, the fifth house and the 9th house. The lagna represents the individual self/body/personality, the moon represents the mind. With regard to spirituality, the fifth house represents mantra, intelligence, creativity and good karmas from past lives. Similarly, the 9th house represents dharma, spirituality, wisdom and Guru.
2. Connections between the lagna, lagna lord, moon and fifth and ninth houses is good for spirituality
3. The eighth house- this is the house of the occult, hidden mysteries of life, suffering and transformation through this. It is one of the moksha trikonas, along with the 4th and 12th houses. It is not uncommon for people with an interest in spirituality and the occult to have planets in the 8th house.
4. The twelfth house- this is the house of meditation and moksha. The influence of benefic planets here or aspecting this house is said to be auspicious. A connection between this house and lagna/moon can again give an interest in meditation and moksha.
5. Planets of spirituality- the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Saturn and Ketu are important for spirituality. Moon/lagna/lagna lord aspected by Saturn can indicate a person with vairagya, non-attachment to worldly things. The association between Jupiter and the Moon/lagna can give an interest in spiritual life as Jupiter represents the Guru and spirituality. Sun is the natural indicator of dharma.
6. Ketu's influence on the lagna or moon can produce non-attachment and spirituality.
7. Charts- the main rasi chart, the navamsa and vimsamsa (d 20) charts should be analysed with regard to the above
8. How to find the ishta devata, the deity who leads one to moksha from the chart:
a) Find the atma karaka AK (planet with highest degrees in the chart).
b) Identify the sign in which AK is placed in navamsa or vimsamsa (there is controversy about which chart- I use both, but mainly vimsamsa based on what I have read on this subject).
c) Now look at the sign in 12th position from the sign containing AK. If there are planets in the sign, see which is the strongest. The higher deity associated with this planet is the ishta devata. If no planet is present here, take the lord as ishta devata.
9. I have read that planets in trines in vimsamsa indicate deities one will worship and found this to be pretty accurate
10. Yogas for spirituality -certain combinations of planets create 'yoga' which are regarded as good for spiritual life. These include hamsa yoga, tapasvi yoga, parivrajaka yoga, sadhu yoga, sannyasa yoga, dharma-karma adhipati yoga (these are well-described on other sites so I will not elaborate here).
Om Namo Narayanaya.
Hari Aum Tat Sat
P.S. I use the Raman ayanamsa for my vedic astrology readings. I have analysed some of the other ayanamsas including Lahiri, Pushya paksha and Yukteswar and find Raman ayanamsa works best for me. I appreciate that each astrologer has their own preference with regard to ayanamsa and wish everyone the best with their work (have no wish to debate with anyone regarding this topic - each to their own).
Update: July 7, 2022:
I had used my chart in this post as an example to illustrate how to apply some of the principles described above. Based on some new information that has recently come to light, some important elements of my chart have changed while many things have remained the same. As a result, I am removing the section on my chart from this post for now (as the old version is no longer accurate). I will write another post using my chart to explain these and some other principles of vedic astrology.
Please see the article below which explains some of the key principles of seeing spirituality in the chart along with the concept of the bhava chalit chart:
PLEASE NOTE:
June 28, 2024
Dear Readers,
The comments section on this post is already very long and it is not easy for me to keep track of your queries on ishta devata here. Therefore, I will not be publishing any further astrology ishta devata/other personal reading queries on this page from now onwards.
However, if you would like to share your thoughts related to spirituality/astrology in general, you are very welcome to do so here.
If you wish to send me a query regarding your ishta devata, please do so via the contact page on my free Vedic astrology site (see details on this blog; currently, it can take me 1-2 months to reply due to work and other commitments).
Thank you for your understanding.
Om shanti
Vishnupriya
