Houses
There are 12 Houses, simply called Houses 1 to 12. They are always around you at all times. Look up, that is the 10th. Look east, that is the 1st.
There are 12 Houses, simply called Houses 1 to 12. They are always around you at all times. Look up, that is the 10th. Look east, that is the 1st. Look West, the 7th. Look straight down, and under you, on the other side of the Earth, lies the 4th House.
The Houses are always in the same place. The East is always the 1st House, and so on. They start on the Eastern Horizon, then proceed to go down under the horizon until you reach the 4th, which is straight down, and then the 7th on the Western Horizon, then on up to the 10th above you, and then the 11th and 12th complete it coming back down to meet the Eastern horizon again.
The above is true for each and every location. Since the Earth is a ball, this means that for New York the exact degree and Sign rising will be further ahead in the Zodiac than the Sign and degree rising for San Francisco at that moment. Since the Earth rotates once a day, every location on Earth sees all 12 Signs rise through the 1st House once a day, one roughly every two hours.
Therefore, when someone is born, as usual, the 1st House was on the Eastern horizon like it always is, and some Sign and degree was rising there, and the Planets all were at different degrees in different Signs, and so the chart is drawn.
The Houses rule different parts of the life. They are VERY important in Vedic astrology. The Houses are as important, and possibly more important than the Signs.
Each House is occupied by one of the Signs. For example, if someone is Taurus rising, then Gemini, which always follows Taurus, becomes the 2nd House, since Taurus is the 1st House and Gemini follows it. Cancer follows Gemini, and so Cancer becomes the 3rd House. Whoever the Lord of the Sign is, that Lord becomes the “Lord of the House”. For example, if Taurus is in the 1st, then since Venus is the Lord of Taurus (always), then Venus is the Lord of the 1st House.
SIGN | LORD |
| Aries | Mars |
| Taurus | Venus |
| Gemini | Mercury |
| Cancer | Moon |
| Leo | Sun |
| Virgo | Mercury |
| Libra | Venus |
| Scorpio | Mars |
| Sagittarius | Jupiter |
| Capricorn | Saturn |
| Aquarius | Saturn |
| Pisces | Jupiter |
Here again is the Lords of the Signs
The above order and Lords is always true and never varies. So, memorize this list!
Now, any of the above 12 Signs could be rising at the time of as birth (or any chart since they are not always just for people). So, any one of these Signs could be “in the 1st House” or the “rising Sign”., whichever one is rising occupies the 1st House, and the rest in order occupy the rest of the Houses in order.
So here for example is what we get if Libra is rising:
| 1 | Libra | Venus is Lord of the 1 |
| 2 | Scorpio | Mars is Lord of the 2 |
| 3 | Sagittarius | Jupiter is Lord of the 3 |
| 4 | Capricorn | Saturn is Lord of the 4 |
| 5 | Aquarius | Saturn is Lord of the 5 |
| 6 | Pisces | Jupiter is Lord of the 6 |
| 7 | Aries | Mars is Lord of the 7 |
| 8 | Taurus | Venus is Lord of the 8 |
| 9 | Gemini | Mercury is Lord of the 9 |
| 10 | Cancer | Moon is Lord of the 10 |
| 11 | Leo | Sun is Lord of the 11 |
| 12 | Virgo | Mercury is Lord of the 12 |
Notice that the order is the same as normal, only it begins at Libra and therefore ends with the Sign before Libra or Virgo. So remember, the order is constant, just the starting Sign can change to any one of the 12.
Also remember: The Lords are constant, the Lords of the Signs will never ever change in all of creation, period. So, memorize them. They too then simply rotate in a fixed order. By the way, this order is highly significant and full of divine truth and wisdom, and as you learn Jyotish, one of the greatest gifts it will give you is realization upon realization about the truths of God built into nature. For example, I explained in the Signs section, in the Pisces section, about the relationship of Venus to Pisces. This rather makes clear the truth about the final stages of spiritual life. It is unarguable and fixed (the relationship of Venus and Moksha being the example as Venus rules the 3rd and 8th Signs from Pisces, which tells us much).
Where did the Lord Go?
When we look at a chart, we first want to see immediately where the Lords of the Houses have gone to. This means, for example, if Taurus rises, then where has Venus, the Lord of Taurus, gone? We find what House it is in, say it is in the 10th House, so then we say, “The Lord 1st is in the 10th”. Then we would look at Gemini, the Sign in the 2nd House, and looking at the above table, we see that Mercury is it is Lord, and so we look to where Mercury has gone in the chart, and then, if it is the 9th House, we would say, “The Lord of the 2nd is in the 9th”.
This is one of the most important techniques in Vedic Astrology. So now, lets practice. Looking at the charts and the reference table below, write down on a piece of paper where the Lords of the Houses have gone. It is all right here, you do not have to look anywhere else, but you need to get good at this.
Table of Signs and Their Lords
Glyph | Sign | Lord |
| a | Aries | Mars |
| b | Taurus | Venus |
| c | Gemini | Mercury |
| d | Cancer | Moon |
| e | Leo | Sun |
| f | Virgo | Mercury |
| g | Libra | Venus |
| h | Scorpio | Mars |
| i | Sagittarius | Jupiter |
| j | Capricorn | Saturn |
| k | Aquarius | Saturn |
| l | Pisces | Jupiter |
Table of Planet Glyphs (symbols)
Glyph | Planet | Sanskrit |
| A | Sun | Surya |
| E | Moon | Chandra |
| F | Mars | Kuja |
| B | Mercury | Budha |
| K | Jupiter | Guru |
| C | Venus | Shukra |
| L | Saturn | Shani |
| P | N. Node | Rahu |
| Q | S. Node | Ketu |
Here is how to do it:
1. Identify the 1st House, or a House (X)
2. Identify the Sign in that House
3. Identify the lord of that Sign
4. Find that Planet in the chart
5. Identify the House it is in (Y)
6. Construct the sentence:
“The lord of the (X) is in the (Y) House.”
Write your answers for the above chart:
The lord of the 1st is in the ______
The lord of the 2nd is in the ______
The lord of the 3rd is in the ______
The lord of the 4th is in the ______
The lord of the 5th is in the ______
The lord of the 6th is in the ______
The lord of the 7th is in the ______
The lord of the 8th is in the ______
The lord of the 9th is in the ______
The lord of the 10th is in the ______
The lord of the 11th is in the ______
The lord of the 12h is in the ______
Write your answers for the above chart:
The lord of the 1st is in the ______
The lord of the 2nd is in the ______
The lord of the 3rd is in the ______
The lord of the 4th is in the ______
The lord of the 5th is in the ______
The lord of the 6th is in the ______
The lord of the 7th is in the ______
The lord of the 8th is in the ______
The lord of the 9th is in the ______
The lord of the 10th is in the ______
The lord of the 11th is in the ______
The lord of the 12h is in the ______
After you learn to do the above, you can start stringing predictive sentences together pretty easily. Below and later, you will learn “Karakas ” for the Houses. Those are things the House rules. For example, the 9th House rules religion and the 10th House rules work. Therefore, in the above chart, we see that the Lord of the 10th is in the 9th (Saturn in is Sagittarius in the 9th). So, construct a sentence like this: “Your work (10th) is heavily influenced by your faith”. Was that so hard? You just say one work from the House you are looking at, and the other word from the House where the Lord went. Big deal!
Here is a harder one: The 1st lord is in the 12th (in the above chart). The 1st House is body, 12th is donations. “You donate your body”, or said another way, “You give yourself over to things very fully with little reservation”. OK, you are doing great here!
Let us do one more: The 2nd lord (money House) is in the 1st (the self). “You make your money by your own effort”. True, good, hey, I can see your good at this!
If somebody always wants something, does that mean they have it or not? Well, in one sense, longing for something means they do not have it, and that is why they are longing for it. The 11th House rules longing, or dreams and desires, so any Planets in the 11th, if you look back at what Houses they Lord, you’ll know what the person hankers for lifelong.
So in the above chart, we see Moon and Ketu in the 11th House, right? Ketu does not rule any Signs and therefore rules over no Houses, but Ketu rules detachment, so the person longs for detachment for example. However, the Moon rules the 4th House of Cancer in the above, and the 4th House stands for home and emotional comfort. Therefore, combining it all you could say “You long for detachment on the one hand, and emotional happiness on the other”. Then going on to give obvious advice: “Somehow try to find emotional happiness in a detached state of mind, and you’ll have what your chart tells me you want”.
See, you can do this! The trick is to learn lots of things that each Planet, Sign and House rule, but especially start with the Houses, there you’ll find the biggest bank for your learning buck. And then combine in the above way, practice on yourself and well wishing friends, keep studying, and you’ll get there after a good while. OK? No hurry, just practice.
Answers to chart lordships: 1st chart: Lord of the 1st is in the 7th, 2nd in 8th, 3rd in 9th, 4th in 6th, 5th in 5th, 6th in 4th, 7th in 4th, 8th in 5th, 9th in 6th, 10th in 9th, 11th in 8th, 12th in 1st. 2nd Chart: 1st in 12th, 2nd in 1st, 3rd in 2nd, 4th in 11th, 5th in 2nd, 6th in 2nd, 7th in 1st, 8th in 12th, 9th in 9th, 10th in 9th, 11th in 9th, 12th in 9th.
∴ As being affected by tenets/aspects
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∴ As having Karakas
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∴ Body parts
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∴ Relation to Earth at all times
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∴ Rashi verse Bhava types
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∴ Sandhis/Madhyas
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∴ The Houses Themselves
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∴ 1st House
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∴ 2nd House
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∴ 3rd House
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∴ 4th House
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∴ 5th House
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∴ 6th House
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∴ 7th House
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∴ 8th House
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∴ 9th House
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∴ 10th House
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∴ 11th House
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∴ 12th House
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