strologers read horoscopes by judging the results of each house in a chart.

I will
explain how to do it. This is not exactly an entry level article, but I will try to write
it in such a way that you will come away with important knowledge regardless of
your current level of understanding astrology.
It would, however, be very helpful if you knew what the houses mean.
These principles might not work reliably well on charts cast using a tropical
zodiac and using a modern house system, but they will be extremely sound and
reliable if you apply them to birth charts cast using a sidereal zodiac and the
ancient whole-sign house system.

Background Knowledge
Before we start, you need to be perfectly comfortable with house lordship, house
types, and the definition of benefic and malefic planets.

Lords of Houses

You have to understand how this works before you can do anything else, so lets
start here. If you find this too confusing you should first go read my explanation
on how astrology works, and then return to this article.
Whichever zodiac sign is rising in the east becomes the first house.
The next sign is the second house, and so forth. So, if you have Aries rising, then
Aries is the first house. The next sign, Taurus is the second house. Gemini is the
third house, etc. If Cancer, instead, is rising then Cancer is the first house, Leo
the second, Virgo the third, and so on. This is how the whole-sign house
system works. If you use this simple system with the accurate sidereal zodiac,
it works.
The zodiac signs are places owned by planets just like people own land on
which they build a house. Each sign has a specific owner. You should already
know this, but here it is anyway:
Ownership of the Signs

Cancer Moon & Sun Leo

Gemini Mercury Virgo

Taurus Venus Libra

Aries Mars Scorpio

Pisces Jupiter Sagittarius

Aquarius Saturn Capricorn

Lets say Cancer is the first house. The Moon would therefore be the owner of
the first house the lord of the first house because the Moon owns Cancer. If
instead Leo were the first house, then the owner of Leo the Sun would own
the first house. If Capricorn were rising, Saturn would own the first house. The
second house would be Aquarius, so Saturn would also own that house. Jupiter
would own the third, Pisces. Mars the fourth, Aries, etc.
This is how you figure out which planet is the lord of which house. It
is fundamentally important to know which planet owns which houses. For
understanding the results of a house in a chart, the owner of that house is as
important as the house itself!

Types of Houses

There are 2 types of houses: good and bad. Good really means abundant
and bad means scarce. A good house is abundant, so planets living in such
houses get supported and pampered. A bad house has scarcity. Planets in bad
houses have to work and embrace deeper principles to be happy.
The good houses are the triangles and square corners of the sky. The
triangles are houses 1, 5 and 9. The square corners are houses 1, 4, 7, and 10.
(Yes, the first house is both a triangle and a square corner. It is the
most important house in the horoscope.)
Altogether there are 6 good houses: 1, 4, 5, 7, 9, and 10. In the rest of the
article, whenever I say good house I am talking about these.
The other 6 houses are bad houses. Three of them are OK, though. The three
that are really bad are 6, 8, and 12. Whenever I say bad house I am talking
about these. If you want to know why these are bad or scarce houses you can
just contemplate my description of the 12 Houses.

Benefics & Malefics

Good and bad are not perfect synonyms for benefic and malefic. Understand
that benefics are gentle and malefics are harsh. Gentle things are more pleasant,
so they feel benefic or good on the surface but harsh things are also
important and have good, important roles in our lives, even though they feel
difficult, bad and malefic on the surface. If you want to explore this in a little
more detail you can read my article on Male vs. Female / Malefic vs. Benefic.
With that out of the way here are the benefic and malefic planets.
Benefics & Malefics

BENEFICS MALEFICS

Venus Mars

Jupiter Saturn

Mercury Sun

Bright Moon Dark Moon

It is really quite important to note that not all benefics or malefics are equal in
strength, so please pay attention to the order I listed them in. Those closer to the
top of the list are more strongly benefic or malefic, those closer to the bottom are
more mild and neutral. There are two planets not included here the lunar
nodes: Rahu and Ketu. These planets are huge wildcards more than they are
specifically benefic or malefic.They will significantly amplify the benefic or
malefic nature of whatever they planet they contact in a chart.
Another important bit of background information to grapple with for a novice is
the idea that planets get in different moods depending on what houses they own.
So you can have a benefic in a really bad mood if they own difficult houses in
the chart. Visa versa, you can have a malefic in a very good mood. For
example when Capricorn rises, Jupiter owns a bad house (the 12th), and this
puts him in a bad mood. Jupiter is always a gentle and benefic planet, but for
some rising signs he is in better moods then others.
I am going to give you a practical example of how to apply all this info later on in
this article.

How to Interpret a House

Every house governs a subject area. For example, the first house specifically
governs the tangible things in life, including ones body, strength, and level of
material success. When reading a horoscope you start by getting a general
feeling of how positive or negative a house is so that you can start to interpret
how positively or negatively the topics of that house will manifest.
When a house is very positive it will be an important part of your life an
important source of things that come more easily and amply to you. When a
house is very negative it will also be an important part of your life an important
source of things you will work on and strive to improve and understand in your
lifetime. The more bland a house is, being neither positive nor negative, the less
important it is in your life.
Here is how to determine the basic positivity or negativity of a house:
Positive Factors

1. Does the house lord occupy a good house?

2. Does the house lord occupy good sign(s), etc?
3. Do benefics influence the house?
4. Do benefics influence the house lord?

Negative Factors

1. Does the house lord occupy a bad house?

2. Does the house lord occupy bad sign(s), etc?
3. Do malefics influence the house?
4. Do malefics influence the house lord?

Does the House Lord Occupy a Good or a Bad House?

This one is mercifully simple. Lets say Pisces is rising. So the lord of the first
house is Jupiter. If Jupiter is in a good house, this is a positive factor. It means
the First House will be positive you will have a good body and good material
success.If on the other hand Jupiter is in a bad house, it is a negative indication
you will not be so pretty or sound in body and will lack in material success.
If you think you can stop there, you are nuts. You are just beginning to begin to
understand the horoscope. Keep that in mind. But this first step does give you
the first overall vision of the positivity or negativity of the house.
You can also take notice of the specific house involved. Lets say Pisces rises,
and Jupiter is in the 7th House this indicates that the first house is positive
(because the 7th house is one of the good places) and also indicates that the
goodness of the First House is connected fundamentally to the nature of the 7th
House which is all about the ability to relate with other people and form
relationships. So in this case you can interpret that the person will have material
success and physical happiness as a result of their ability to interact with other
people and form good, healthy relationships.

Does the House Lord Occupy Good or Bad Sign(s), etc?

For this you have to learn which signs cause exaltation, debilitation, etc. for each
planet. Here is a quick table of the two greatest extremes:
Exaltation & Debilitation

EXALTATION D E B I L I T A T IO N

Taurus Moon Scorpio

Virgo Mercury Pisces

Pisces Venus Virgo

Capricorn Mars Cancer

Cancer Jupiter Capricorn

Libra Saturn Aries

Aries Sun Libra

If the lord of the house is in exaltation, or in a sign he owns, it is positive. For

example, lets say Aries rises. That means Mars is the lord of the first house. If
Mars is in Capricorn (exalted) or in one of the signs he owns (Aries or Scorpio) it
is a positive indication for the first house.
If the lord is in debilitation, or in the sign of a planet who is his enemy it is
negative. You need to know about planetary friendship and enmity, of course,
before you can figure out if a planet is in the house of a friend or an enemy.
I use the word sign(s) with a parenthetical s why? Because a planet is in
more than one sign! The space within a single sign contains many subdivisions
where other signs are prominent within it. To learn more about this, start with my
article on variations within a single sign. Luckily, the main sign in the normal
zodiac is the most important. You should also at least also consider the sign the
planet occupies in the navamsha subdivision when you are assessing if the sign
occupied by the lord of a house is positive or negative for that house.
I also use the word etc. That is because there are other considerations that fall
into this general principle. Combustion of a house lord is a negative indication, for
example as is placement in certain degrees of a sign (baalaadi avastha). It is
a bit beyond the scope of what we can immediately teach and learn, though.

Do Benefics or Malefics Influence the House and House Lord?

First thing you have to ask yourself is, how does one planet influence another?
Primarily by:

One planet joining another in the same sign

One planet aspecting another

As far as aspects go, to put it really simply and quickly, every planet influences
the sign it is opposite from. For example, any planet in Aries will influence Libra
because Libra is opposite (7 signs away from) Aries. Three other planets have
additional aspects.

Mars also influences the 4th and 8th signs from it. So Mars in Aries, for
example, influences Libra (like normal) and also Cancer (the 4th sign from
Aries) and Scorpio (the 8th sign from Aries).
Jupiter also influences the 5th and 9th signs from it. For example, Jupiter
in Aries influences Libra (of course) as well as Leo (the 5th sign from
Aries) and Sagittarius (the 9th sign from Aries).
Saturn also influences the 3rd and 10th signs from it. So if Saturn were in
Aries, he would influence Libra, Gemini and Capricorn.

There is a very important rule: The lord of a house is never going to be

negative towards that house. For example, lets say Aquarius rises. Saturn
would therefore rule the first house. Saturn is a malefic, yes. But when you are
assessing the first house, if you see that Saturn influences it, you must not think
of Saturn as a negative influence, because he is the owner of the house. The
owner of a house will never intentionally damage that house. So whenever the
owner of a house interacts with that house, it is always a positive indication
regardless if the planet is benefic or malefic, etc.
Positive + Negative = Neutral?

Never, ever make the mistake of thinking that a house with 3 positive factors (for
example) and 3 negative factors is a house with 0 total factors! Positive and
negative do not cancel each other out in astrology. Rather a house with both
positive and negative factors is going to have some positive effects and some
negative effects. To know which effects will be positive and which will be
negative you need to advance further in your study of astrology and know how
the various planets and signs and combinations involved will affects different
themes of the house under evaluation. That is out of the scope of this article. We
need to stick to the basics, one step at a time.

The Moons Houses

After you have evaluated a house the normal way, you should repeat the exact
same process on the house in relation to the Moon. Lets say for example you
want to evaluate the fifth house of a chart where Pisces rises and the Moon is in
Aquarius. The 5th sign from Pisces is (Aries is 2, Taurus 3, Gemini 4, Cancer
5) Cancer, so you do this whole system on Cancer, like I just described. Then,
when you are done, you examine the 5th House from the Moon. In this case the
Moon is in Aquarius, so the fifth house from the moon is (Pisces is 2, Aries 3,
Taurus 4, Gemini 5) Gemini. So you repeat the process now focusing on
Gemini.
Now I hope to clarify and unify all this information with a practical example.

Simple Example
Lets evaluate the first house of
this example chart using the
principles of this article.
The first house is Capricorn. So
Saturn is the lord of the first
house.

Does Saturn occupy a good

or a bad house?

Saturn occupies the 4th House,

which is one of the good ones. So
far so good! You can interpret this
to mean that much of the persons physical good fortune and material success
must come from his basic emotional nature (the 4th House).
Is Saturn in a good or bad sign?

Saturn is in Aries, which means he is debilitated, so this is bad. Now, you would
want to look next at the persons navamsha, and you would also want to check
how much modification (cancellation) of debilitation there might be. But lets
stay simple for now. The first lord is debilitated, period. So we can interpret this to
mean that the first house suffers as a result of Saturn being debilitated in Aries.
This means: the person experiences practical unhappiness and lack of material
success due to his lack of patience and prudence.

Do malefics or benefics influence Saturn?

The most obvious influence on Saturn is Jupiter, who aspects Saturn in Aries
because he is in the opposite sign, Libra. Jupiter is a benefic. No other planets
directly influence Saturn. So we have another positive indication for the first
house of this chart because a benefic and no malefics influence the lord of the
first house.
What does it mean? It means this person will experience happiness and success
as a result of things pertaining to Jupiter, and Jupiters location in Libra and the
10th House. So for example he will be very happy and successful in religious,
philosophical, or counseling (Jupiter) social roles (10th House) which involve the
ability to relate well to the common person (Libra). You could also say that his
sense of truthfulness and equity (Jupiter in Libra) is a very positive factor by
which he can achieve success and happiness in life.
If you want to consider Jupiters mood Jupiter is not in the best mood because
he owns a bad house (the 12th). So this person loses happiness and material
success as a result of being overly renounced (Jupiter is a religious planet, his
ownership of the 12th promotes renunciation). In fact this person lost a fantastic
opportunity for huge success and fame as a result of becoming a religious
renunciate.
If you put the whole thing together, though you see the planet of sound (Jupiter)
owning the house of communication (3rd House) as a basically positive
influence, and you start to think the the person must be involved in music or in
oration as a powerful speaker.

Do malefics or benefics influence the first house?

Three planets influence the first house in this chart: Mars and the Sun do
because they are 7 signs away in Cancer. And Saturn also influences the first
house as a result of his influence on the 10th sign from himself.
You might be tempted to say that Saturn is a malefic, but Saturn is the lord of the
house we are examining, so his influence on the house is never negative. Thus
the physical being of this person, and his material success benefits as a result of
his Saturnian qualities: like detachment, tenacity, work ethic, etc.
The Sun is a mild malefic, so there is a mild negativity about this. You can say
that the native mildly loses happiness and success as a result of being somewhat
too intense or assuming a bit too much authority.
Mars is the strongest malefic, so this person really loses material happiness and
successes as a result of lacking (because Mars is debilitated in this chart) martial
qualities such as a competitive spirit, a strong material drive, and a will to fight.

The same house from the Moon

This is the same chart viewed

from the Moons perspective
instead of the Ascendants
perspective. The first house from
this perspective is Taurus, which
belongs to Venus.

Does Venus occupy a good or a

bad house?

Venus occupies the 4th House

from the Moon. This is good.
Again we feel that this person
should enjoy happiness and
success as a result of his basic inner, emotional makeup.

Is Venus in a good or a bad sign?

She is in Leo, the sign of her enemy, the Sun. But the Sun is close by so their
relationship improves and becomes neutral. This is a null point. There is nothing
to interpret from it, basically.

Do benefics or malefics influence Venus?

Venus shares Leo with a mild benefic, Mercury. This means that the persons
ability to organize and intellectualize and communicate is a mild factor promoting
material happiness and success. She also shares her sign with Ketu a
wildcard. Since Ketu is with two benefics, it amplifies the benefic power. So you
should interpret that the persons mystical insight (ketu) into emotional topics (4th
House) is big factor in promoting his material happiness and success.
When there is more than one influence, you should combine them. The
combination of these planets, sign and house show that the persons material
happiness and success benefits a lot as a result of poetic, artistic ability to
connect with emotions on a mystical and spiritual level.

Do benefics or malefics influence the house?

The only influence on Taurus, the first house of the Moon, is the Moon. Of
course, this will always be the case because by definition the first house from
the Moon is the sign occupied by the Moon. But in this case it is worth noting
because the Moon is exalted. The Moon and the 4th House have a lot in
common, so this further strengthens your interpretation that the power of
emotional expression, etc. is a major factor of this person achieving happiness
and success in their life.

Closing
What I explained in this article was developed in very ancient India. It was
recorded in Sanskrit in Parasharas Encyclopedic Treatise on Astrology. This
article explains the last few verses of the 13th chapter and first few verses of the
14th chapter of that great and ancient tome.
If you think this is complicated, you should hear the insane complexity of the way
seasoned astrologers talk to one another. I actually think that most astrologers
drift off into complicated topics because they havent clearly understood basic
principles. This article may be advanced or difficult for a non-astrologer to
understand. But from an astrologers point of view it is very, very fundamental
and basic. Yet this so-called basic principle and technique yields profoundly
solid and accurate interpretations. If you follow this simple and basic principle
clearly and carefully, not just on the first house but on each of the 12 houses, you
will be able to make sense out of the houses and arrive at interpretations of a
horoscope which are both useful and accurate. By focusing on mastering such
fundamental techniques (insofar as mastery of this subject is possible) one can
actually become a good astrologer.

12 Zodiac Signs or Astrology Signs

(Rashis)

& their Lord Planets or Ruling Planets

in Astrology / Jyotish
(Dr.A.S.Kalra Astrologer)
Rashi (Zodiac
Swami Graha
Sign
(Lord Planet
or Astrology
or Ruling Planet)
Sign)

1. Maish
Mangal (Mars)
(Aries)

2. Vrish
Shukra (Venus)
(Taurus)

3. Mithun
Budh (Mercury)
(Gemini)

4. Kark
Chandra (Moon)
(Cancer)

5. Singh (Leo) Surya (Sun)

6. Kanya
Budh (Mercury)
(Virgo)

7. Tula (Libra) Shukra(Venus)

8. Vrishchik
Mangal (Mars)
(Scorpio)

9. Dhanu
Guru (Jupiter)
(Sagittarius)

10. Makar
Shani (Saturn)
(Capricorn)

11. Kumbh
Shani (Saturn)
(Aquarius)

Guru (Jupiter)
12. Meen
(Pisces)
Lordship-Exaltation-Debilitation Lordship-Exaltation-
Table No. 1 Debilitation Table No. 2

(Dr.A.S.Kalra Astrologer) (Dr.A.S.Kalra Astrologer)

Swami Neecha Graha

Uchch Exalted Debilitat
Graha Graha (Planet Lodship
Rashi a on ed on
(Lord (Debilita )
(Zodiac) Graha
Planet ted
(Exalt
) Planet)
ed
 Planet
) Surya 5. Singh 1. Maish 7. Tula
(Sun) (Leo) (Aries) (Libra)

Maish Mangal Surya Shani

1
(Aries) (Mars) (Sun) (Saturn)
Chandr 8.
4. Kark 2. Vrish
a Vrishchik
(Cancer) (Taurus)
(Moon) (Scorpio)
Shukra Chandr
Vrish
2 (Venus a --
(Taurus)
) (Moon)
1. Maish
(Aries) 10.
Budh Mangal Makar 4. Kark
Mithun
3 (Mercur Rahu Ketu (Mars) 8. (Capricor (Cancer)
(Gemini)
y) Vrishchik n)
(Scorpio)

Chandr Guru
Kark Mangal
4 a (Jupiter 3.
(Cancer) (Mars)
(Moon) ) Mithun
Budh
(Gemini) 6. Kanya 12. Meen
(Mercur
(Virgo) (Pisces)
y)
Singh Surya 6. Kanya
5 -- -- (Virgo)
(Leo) (Sun)

9. Dhanu
Budh Budh
Kanya Shukra (Sagittari 10.
6 (Mercur (Mercur Guru
(Virgo) (Venus) us) 4. Kark Makar
y) y) (Jupiter
(Cancer) (Capricor
)
12. Meen n)
(Pisces)
Shukra Shani
Tula Surya
7 (Venus (Saturn
(Libra) (Sun)
) )
2. Vrish
Shukra (Taurus)
12. Meen 6. Kanya
(Venus
(Pisces) (Virgo)
Vrishchik Mangal Chandra ) 7. Tula
8 --
(Scorpio) (Mars) (Moon) (Libra)

Dhanu Guru 10.

9 (Sagittari (Jupiter Ketu Rahu Makar
us) ) (Capricor
Shani n)
7. Tula 1. Maish
(Saturn
(Libra) (Aries)
) 11.
Makar Shani
1 Mangal Guru Kumbh
(Capricor (Saturn
0 (Mars) (Jupiter) (Aquarius
n) )
)
 Kumbh Shani
1 3. 9. Dhanu
(Aquarius (Saturn -- --
1 Rahu -- Mithun (Sagittari
) )
(Gemini) us)

Guru Shukra
1 Meen Budh
(Jupiter (Venus
2 (Pisces) (Mercury) 9. Dhanu 3.
) )
Ketu -- (Sagittari Mithun
us) (Gemini)

1. 1st rashi or 1st zodiac sign is Aries or Maish and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Mars or Mangal.
Sun or Surya is considered as exalted or uchcha on Aries or Maish rashi and Saturn or Shani is
considered as debilitated or neech on Aries or Maish rashi.

2. 2nd rashi or 2nd zodiac sign is Taurus or Vrish and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Venus or
Shukra. Moon or Chandra is considered as exalted or uchcha on Taurus or Vrish and no planet (or
graha) is considered as debilitated or neech on Taurus or Vrish rashi.

3. 3rd rashi or 3rd zodiac sign is Gemini or Mithun and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Mercury or
Budh. Rahu is considered as exalted or uchcha on Gemini or Mithun and Ketu is considered as
debilitated or neech on Gemini or Mithun rashi.

4. 4th rashi or 4th zodiac sign is Cancer or Kark and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Moon or
Chandra. Jupiter or Guru is considered as exalted or uchcha on Cancer or Kark and Mars or Mangal
is considered as debilitated or neech on Cancer or Kark rashi.

5. 5th rashi or 5th zodiac sign is Leo or Singh and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Sun or Surya. No
planet or graha is considered as exalted or uchcha on Leo or Singh. No planet is considered as
debilitated or neech on Leo or Singh rashi.

6. 6th rashi or 6th zodiac sign is Virgo or Kanya and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Mercury or
Budh. Mercury or Budh itself is considered as exalted or uchcha on Virgo or Kanya and Venus or
Shukra is considered as debilitated or neech on Virgo or Kanya rashi.

7. 7th rashi or 7th zodiac sign is Libra or Tula and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Venus or Shukra.
Saturn or Shani is considered as exalted or uchcha on Libra or Tula and Sun or Surya is
 considered as debilitated or neech on Libra or Tula rashi.

8. 8th rashi or 8th zodiac sign is Scorpio or Vrishchik and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Mars or
Mangal. No planet is considered as exalted or uchcha on Scorpio or Vrishchik and Moon or
Chandra is considered as debilitated or Neech on Scorpio or Vrishchik rashi.

9. 9th rashi or 9th zodiac sign is Sagittarius or Dhanu and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Jupiter or
Guru. Ketu is considered as exalted or uchcha on Sagittarius or Dhanu rashi and Rahu is
considered as debilitated or neech on Sagittarius or Dhanu rashi.

10. 10th rashi or 10th zodiac sign is Capricorn or Makar and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Saturn
or Shani. Mars or Mangal is considered as exalted or uchcha on Capricorn or Makar rashi and
Jupiter or Guru is considered as debilitated or neech on Capricorn or Makar rashi.

11. 11th rashi or 11th zodiac sign is Aquarius or Kumbh and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Saturn
or Shani. No planet or graha is considered as exalted or uchcha on Aquarius or Kumbh rashi. No
planet is considered as debilitated or neech on Aquarius or Kumbh rashi.

12. 12th rashi or 12th zodiac sign is Pisces or Meen and its lord planet or Swami Graha is Jupiter or
Guru. Venus or Shukra is considered as exalted or uchcha on Pisces or Meen rashi and Mercury or
Budh is considered as debilitated or neech on Pisces or Meen rashi.

Colours of Planets in Astrology/Jyotish

(Dr.A.S.Kalra Astrologer)

Planet Colour

Sun or Surya Red

Moon or Chandra White

Mars or Mangal Red

 Mercury or Budh Green

Jupiter or Guru Yellow

Venus or Shukra White

Saturn or Shani Black

Rahu or Dragon's Head Dark Blue

Ketu or Dragon's Tail Gray

Sarvarth Sidh Muhurata or Muhurta

(Dr.A.S.Kalra Astrologer)
According to the Astrology of so called pandits, there are five days in an year which are considered to
be auspicious for taking any important step in life. These five days are: -

Basant Akshay Ganga Devothan

Dussehra
Panchami Tritiya Dussehra Ekadashi