Career Assessment in Vedic Astrology

The Vedic Paradigm holds that there are 4 essential roles a person can play in society:

• Intellectual – Thinkers, students, philosophers, scientists, teachers, guides and advisors.
• Leader - Rule makers & enforcers, ralliers, and sportspersons.
• Business - Bankers, merchants, and food growers.
• Tactile - Artists, builders, manual laborers

There are other groups as well, subgroups which are recognized as assisting or playing some role in connection with these four main types. These are those who are:

• Assistants
• “Dirty work” doers
• Rebels

I find it extremely interesting that Vedic sociology recognizes these groups as being somehow helpful and important in society, especially the rebels. But mainly we will focus on the main four.

When a person wants to know their ideal career or life-path – the first thing to do is narrow down the general category they are best suited for. Then, within that category one can start to get details on the specific choices. To make this first step one first needs to know how the zodiac represents these categories of social roles. This is what I intend to explain here in this article.

Fundamental Roles of the Signs

At the simplest level you will find (if you explore the classic text of Vedic astrology with a keen eye, Brihat Parashara Horam Ch.4) that the elements earth, water, fire, and air directly correlate to the four social roles. The fire signs are places generating leaders. The earth signs generate people involved in business roles. The air signs generate tactile people. While the water signs generate intellectuals.

If you were to stop here, however, you would not have a very useful or realistic understanding of how the zodiac corresponds to ones career and social role. Let’s go further.

Each sign is owned by a specific planet, and each planet represents a specific one of the four social roles. Let’s map those out to the signs now.

Roles of the Planets who own the Signs

The Sun and Mars are leaders so their signs – Leo, Aries and Scorpio – gain this trait.

The Moon and Mercury play business roles. Their signs – Cancer, Gemini and Virgo – acquire this trait.

Jupiter and Venus are intellectual they are the teachers of the heavens. Their signs – Pisces, Sagittarius, Libra and Taurus – take on this quality as a result.

Saturn is solid and  tactile. His signs – Capricorn and Aquarius – become infused with this social role.

Now we have two divergent descriptions of the social roles played by the various signs of the zodiac – as you can see the two diagrams above paint different pictures. You will make a big step forward in astrology when you see simultaneous realities rather than “either / or” situations. So let’s combine the two diagrams into a single overlay.

Combination of Signs and Rulers

Now we are starting to see some variation and “full spectrum” which more accurately reflects the true nature of life. We see Aries and Leo remain strongly leadership oriented. But Sagittarius has changed to orange. Indeed is not the “Philosopher-King” the very often used archetype to describe the nature of Sagittarius? A combination of the yellow intellectual with the red leader creates this orange.

Scorpio is a deeper orange. It has more red. It is more about leadership than philosophy, but is similar to sagittarius in that it is a blend of the two.

Virgo remains pure green – pure business. Cancer has become greenish, indicating a sign where intellectualism moves towards practical results helpful for sustaining the home and family. Taurus has moved similarly – a sign where business advising and philosophy is favored.

Capricorn becomes a teal. Combining blue and green – a sign where one works practically, solidly and hard for financial ends. Libra is most interesting. Blue blends with Yellow creating brown, a balanced color – anything is possible here!

Pisces remain the only purely yellow, intellectual sign. And Aquarius remains the only purely blue, tactile sign.

Qualities of the Lunar Mansions

Now we will look at the qualities possessed by the lunar mansions. If you don’t know what lunar mansions are, you can start with this article –  The Beautiful Math Behind the Zodiac Divisions.

The lunar mansions are the only places in the zodiac which take into account the three sub-roles in society which I defined in the outset. I represent them here as follows – light grey is the assistant, medium grey is the dirty-worker, and dark grey is the rebel. To be fair there are two planets which also represent the rebel role in society – these are Rahu and Ketu. But since they own no signs, they do not yet come into our discussion.

This data – which roles are played by which lunar mansions – that I have made a visual representation of here, comes from the authoritative book, Light on Life, by Heart de Fouw. I am not aware of the original Sanskrit source.

Combining the Lunar Mansions

When we overlay the lunar mansions traits with the traits of the signs we start to get very interesting and useful information.

There is too much to point out in words here. A pleasant and relaxed consideration of the graphic (which you can enlarge, btw) with your eye will reveal all details. I will point you to look at how the lunar mansions change the areas of the signs they occupy. Look at leo, for example – The front part of it is a more practical, tactile sense of hands-on leadership (represented by red combining with blue, making purple) to a more philosophical, ideological leadership in the second mansion of the sign (orange, the yellow of the lunar mansion blends with the red of leo). To a small section at the very end of leo which is the purest red place in the entire zodiac (so far, at least)!

Go on and examine the interplay of colors in this way and let the knowledge come easily into your mind through your eyes.

Navamsha

Next we should consider the navamsha. Again, if you are uncertain what this is, the article I cited above is a helpful place to start. The Beautiful Math Behind the Zodiac Divisions. That article also links to two further articles to give you more details if you desire them.

We will assign to the navamshas the essential root characteristics of the signs they represent. Thus every water sign in the navamsha is yellow (intellectual influence), every earth sign green (expressing it’s business influence, etc.).

Next we will take these and overlay them onto the combination we have created so far!

The Total Picture

This illustration gives you a rich and rather complete visual picture of exactly what influences predominate for each 3º20′ of the zodiac! If you know about how colors combine you will be enjoying all the information you get from contemplating it!

Notice the pure yellow section at the very beginning of Pisces? See how certain lunar mansions and navamshas combine to change the nature of a particular spot within a sign? For example, look at Taurus. It started out pure green (business). Got a brighter yellowish green from it’s owner being an intellectual. Then there is a lunar mansion at the front of it, called Krittika, which makes it still yellower. And within that lunar mansion, the 4th quarter – the navamsha of Pisces within Taurus is quite a bright yellow. In this specific area of Taurus there would be a whole lot more intellectualism than a few degrees down in the Gemini Navamsha, for example.

Now you take the planets in an individuals chart, knowing already what roles they represent. And see how the color of that role affects the specific spot in the zodiac they occupied when the individual was born. Especially take the 10th lord, since the 10th house pertains to career. Look at the “color” created by the 10th lord in the position of zodiac it occupies. What does this tell you about the person’s ideal career? A lot!

Factor in the other planets – especially consider the color occupied by the Ascendent and the ruler of the Ascendant, as well as the Moon.

Now you are ready to give some helpful and clear advice!

Addendum

Updated Varna Wheel

I wasn’t happy with the color fidelity in the first set of graphics. This is the color scheme I am now using. The principles are identical, only the graphic elements have been made more accurate and easily identifiable.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Musical and Artistic Talent in an Astrological Chart

Creative artists, especially musicians have always been extremely charming, attractive and magnetic to their fellow humans. Lets take a look at how to spot and understand the nature and extent of artistic talent in an astrological birth chart.

The two houses which neighbor the 4th House are the anchor points of our creative talent. Why is the 4th house so important for artists and musicians? Because it is the core of our emotional self. Think carefully about what it is which we find attractive and compelling about artists and musicians – it is the way that they make their inner selves emotionally accessible to us.

Therefore the 4th House – the inner, private core of a person – is the main locus of artistic potential. And the two neighbors of that house (the 3rd and 5th houses) are crucially important to artists, because it is these houses which express or give an outlet to the emotions in the 4th house.

The 3rd House neighbors the 4th to its East. The east is where everything rises into the visible sky and becomes “born”, tangible, and real. So the 3rd House holds our ability to take our deep emotions and express them in tangible form.

The 5th House neighbors the 4th to its West. The west represents the terminus, and other people besides our own self. So the 5th House holds the genius and intellect required to take our private inner emotions and transfer them intact to other people.

Additionally, the 3rd house pertains physically to the hands – which are used to play musical instruments, etc. The 5th House pertains to creativity and the creative impulse.

Of slightly less importance, but still significant, is the 11th House – which our ability to enjoy art, and our opportunities to perform it for the public.

Combinations!

As always, you have to look for combinations. Of course, you want to see that the 3rd, 5th, and 11th houses are “strong” and influential first – but the real kicker comes only when they interact in combinations that connect them to one another.

As for the “strength” of a house, that is a subject unto itself, but here are some helpful hints. Don’t just look to see if there are planets in the house. This is like only knowing “A,B,C.” and not knowing the rest of the letters. Yes, if there is an exalted planet (especially a creative one like the Moon or Venus, or the other “benefics” – Jupiter and Mercury) in a house, you know easily that the house has power. But that is not the end of the assessment. Look at the planet who rules the house. Where is that planet, in a position of power, or a position of squalor?

Now, let’s get to the combinations. There are various ways that houses can combine, all of which depend on the planet who owns the house. So you first need to know that a planet will come to own a house when a sign that it owns is happens to build that house. If this is above your head, you can keep reading, but you will need to get some basic background education before this will be totally useful to you.

Lets say that the Capricorn Rises. This means that Pisces is the 3rd sign/ 3rd house, Taurus is the 5th, and Scorpio is the 11th. That means that Jupiter owns the 3rd house, Venus the 5th and Mars the 11th.

So lets say that Jupiter is in the 10th, and Mars in the 7th and Venus in the 8th houses when a person was born. (see chart at left).

First of all the three houses are strong because the 5th has an exalted Moon. The 3rd has it’s owner in the showcase of the horoscope, the 10th house. And the 11th is aspected by the exalted Moon. Of the three the 11th is the weakest. So this individual has more talent than he gets opportunity to perform for the public. If you are good with Vedic astrology you will notice two or three other relevant things generating strength for the 3rd and 5th particularly.

Now, this particular configuration of planets causes a combination of all three to fall in a single place. Can you spot it? You will need to consider the aspects of the planets. Jupiter always aspects the trines. Therefore Jupiter aspects the 2nd House. Every planet aspects the opposite point in the sky, therefore Venus also aspects the 2nd House. Mars aspect the 8th house, therefore he also aspects the 2nd. So this horoscope shows an example where all three artistic lords (in fact also the 4th lord, Mars) combine by aspecting a simultaneous point in the chart.

In this particular case, Rahu is in the 2nd house to receive all these aspects and amplify them. The 2nd house is also significant because it is the “mouth” of the chart. The individual is an orator, singer, and is good with words. He is a moderately famous musician.

Musicianship of the Supreme Being

Let’s take a look at Krishna’s horoscope (the artistic and amorous core of divinity in the Hindu conception) and see how it indicates his unparalleled artistic and musical skills.

First we see that Krishna’s 4th House is occupied by it’s own Lord, the Sun. This is a chart where emotional depth is very strong. This House receives the special 8th aspect from Mars, who is exalted in the 9th House. This combination of Mars and Sun shows a person who is leader in the field of emotions. The fire brought here to the natural water of the fourth house brings steamy passion to this emotional core of this chart.

Next we see that the 5th House is also occupied by its own Lord, Mercury, who is exalted. This chart shows outstanding genius for creatively communicating its passionate inner thoughts and emotions to the world – this is a requirement for artists and philosophers alike, and Krishna is historically renowned as outstanding in both fields.

Looking to the 3rd House we find it to be Cancer, ruled by the Moon – who is in the 1st House conjoined the Ascendant. This shows that the talent required to express internal ideas and emotions in tangible forms is an extremely prominent feature of Krishna’s visible self. Indeed he is rarely depicted without a flute to his lips.

Both the 3rd and 5th Houses welcome the influential aspect they receive from Jupiter, who is the lord of the  11th House – and who confidently and bountifully occupies that house. The result is that we have the chart is an unparalleled guru of the fine arts, especially music – since Jupiter is the planet of the element Ether, which is the element that carries sound, and therefore represents Music.

The ascendant of this chart is Venus’ Taurus – which can amply support and uphold the extreme artistic indications we’ve just interpreted. All together, this chart shows Krishna to be the Supreme Artist as his devoted followers often depict him. An artist of this caliber would be more charismatic and downright sexy than 100 or more Elvis’ at once!

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Birth During an Eclipse

The Sun and Moon align with the Forces of Change

Being born during an eclipse is extremely powerful for good or ill. Several notorious asuras (bad guys) were born in eclipses, and also several great saints (good guys) including Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu were born in eclipses. There are also, of course, quite a few unknowns born during an eclipse. But even these unknowns are rarely very stable, balanced or normal people – for better and/or for worse.

Why are eclipses so influential?

There are two astrological centers of identity: the Sun and the Moon. The Sun generates your conscious self-awareness. The Moon (which has no light of its own, but beautifully reflects the Sun’s light) generates the subjective “me” – the sense of identity which results as a reflection of your consciousness into the material world.

When an eclipse occurs both the Sun & Moon come under the influence of the two astrological centers of chaos, revolution and transformation: Rahu & Ketu. These two “planets” go by the titles of the “north and south nodes” or the “ascending and descending nodes” or even “the dragon’s head and tail” but their Sanskrit names are Rahu & Ketu. They are the two points where the apparent orbit of the Sun crosses the apparent orbit of the Moon.

So what happens in an eclipse is that the forces of transformation & chaos sieze hold of the forces of identity, indicating that the universe is in a configuration to dispense karmas which will cause people born at this time to have their identities places under radical challenges of transformation and evolution.

In some cases, such challenges give rise to great exalted saints and beneficial leaders. In other cases they give rise to persons who experiment with chaos and darkness and become forces of ill. In most cases it simple creates people with significant confusion and trepidation about their self-identity. The differences occur primarily as a result of the rest of the planets being in different configurations relative to each other and to the earth for different people during different eclipses.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Your Best Color

Someone Asked:

Should you wear a specific color based on your Sun sign?

I answered:

First we have to iron out the relative importance of Sun / Moon / Rising signs. I know it’s not convenient, but the rising sign is much more important than the Moon sign, and the Moon sign is much more important than the Sun sign. Though all three are important focal points for reading a chart. So give more importance to your Rising Sign, second importance to your Moon sign, third to your Sun… please.

When determining colors… YES most definitely there is a correlation between the best color and the sign.

Every sign is ruled by a planet. Every planet has a color which it vibrates at.

• Mars (Aries and Scorpio) bright red
• Venus (Taurus and Libra) rainbows and clear crystal colors
• Mercury (Gemini and Virgo) green
• Moon (Cancer) white
• Sun (Leo) dark red
• Jupiter (Sagittarius and Pisces) saffron-yellow
• Saturn (Capricorn and Aquarius) very dark blue-purple

One thing that works is to wear the color of the planet who rules your rising sign (please do this according to your *sidereal* rising sign). Another thing that works quite well, perhaps even better, is to wear the color of the planet in whose sign the ruler of your rising sign would be exalted.

For example, if you are Aries or Scorpio you would favor the color black/dark-blue/purple because Mars (who owns your rising sign) gets exalted in Capricorn (whose ruler is Saturn) whose color is very dark blues and purples, near black.