Put the pieces together
Today you’ll learnDescribe the labels on a supplied chart accurately, and tell a completed lookup apart from an interpretation that needs more study.
Aries lord: Mars · Bharani, pada 2
Read the sign labels
- Ari
- Aries
- Tau
- Taurus
- Gem
- Gemini
- Can
- Cancer
- Leo
- Leo
- Vir
- Virgo
- Lib
- Libra
- Sco
- Scorpio
- Sag
- Sagittarius
- Cap
- Capricorn
- Aqu
- Aquarius
- Pis
- Pisces
Header first, then lagna
Before you read any placement, read the worksheet header. It should say whether the chart is real or fictional, which birth data it uses and which conventions apply, such as whole-sign houses. A label read without its settings is easy to misread.
Next, find the lagna, the rising sign at the stated moment. In whole-sign counting, the lagna sign is house 1, the next sign in zodiac order is house 2, and so on through all twelve signs. Remember to count the lagna sign itself as one.
Read one placement in order
Read a placement as a short chain: graha, then sign and degree, then house, then sign lord. The sign lord is the graha traditionally said to rule that sign, and for Aries the cited text names Mars. Each link in the chain is a lookup, not a judgment.
If you like, add the finer labels from earlier days, all taken from the same degree. Day 7 gives the nakshatra and pada, and Day 9 gives the Navamsha. For 18° Aries, the sixth slice of Aries is Virgo, which matches Bharani pada 2, the sixth pada counted from 0° Aries.
- Graha → sign and degree → house → sign lord
- Optional: nakshatra and pada, or D9
What is established and what is open
After the lookups, list what is established: the house number, the sign lord, and the nakshatra and pada under the stated convention. Each of these follows directly from the inputs and the counting rules you have practiced.
Then list what is still open. One placement is not a chart reading, and interpretation in this tradition draws on much more than these labels. Write down one question to take to a teacher or explore in further study, such as how the rest of a chart would be considered.
Worked example
Fictional worked example: Sun at 8° Aries, Capricorn lagna
This worksheet is invented and is not a calculated birth chart. It uses whole-sign houses.
- House: Capricorn 1, Aquarius 2, Pisces 3, Aries 4, so the Sun is in house 4.
- Sign lord: Aries is ruled by Mars.
- Nakshatra and pada: 8° Aries is Ashwini pada 3, as worked out on Day 7.
- Factual sentence: ‘In this worksheet the Sun is at 8° Aries in the fourth house.’
Your turn
Try it yourself
Use the fictional worksheet with Capricorn lagna and the Moon at 18° Aries. Find the Moon's house, the lord of Aries, and the nakshatra and pada. Then write one factual sentence describing the chart and one question for a teacher.
Show the answer
Under the stated whole-sign convention, the Moon is in house 4, Aries is ruled by Mars, and the Moon is in Bharani pada 2. One factual sentence would be: ‘In this worksheet the Moon is at 18° Aries in the fourth house.’ A useful question is how an interpretation would take the rest of a real chart into account.
One quick check
With Capricorn lagna and whole-sign houses, which statement is a correct lookup?
See the explanation
Counting Capricorn as 1 gives Aquarius 2, Pisces 3 and Aries 4. Leaving Capricorn out of the count gives the wrong house. A lookup records a position; it does not by itself settle any meaning.
Take these three ideas with you
- Read the header and the lagna before reading any placement.
- With Capricorn lagna, Aries is house 4, and the lord of Aries is Mars.
- A lookup is established; interpretation needs further study.