Understand the language of houses
Today you’ll learnIdentify houses 1, 4, 7 and 10 as kendras and recognize a few sourced traditional associations.
Position versus theme
In the whole-sign convention used here, a house number tells you how far a sign is from the lagna when you count inclusively, as on Day 4. 'House 4' means the fourth sign counted from the rising sign, with the rising sign itself counted as 1.
A house theme is something different. It is a traditional association that a text links to that position. Themes are vocabulary for describing a chart, not facts about a person's life. Keeping position and theme apart lets you read a chart description without turning it into a prediction.
Three sourced associations
The translator's notes to the Brihat Jataka list topics for each house. This lesson uses only three of them. The second house is linked with family and speech, the fourth with dwelling and education, and the tenth with avocation.
Here we use 'work' as a simple reading of the translation's word 'avocation.' Keep a short reference list with the house number on one side and its themes on the other. That way, you can look up a theme without confusing it with the house's position.
- 2nd house: family, speech
- 4th house: dwelling, education
- 10th house: avocation (work)
The four kendras
Houses 1, 4, 7 and 10 form a group called the kendras, a term the Brihat Jataka uses for these four positions. On a numbered wheel, they sit a quarter-turn apart. Start at 1 and add 3 each time to reach 4, 7 and 10.
For now, the goal is to locate the kendras, not to rank them or draw conclusions from them. Rankings and predictive rules belong to later study. Today's skill is finding all four kendras from any stated lagna.
Worked example
Kendras for a fictional Aries lagna
A fictional chart has Aries rising. Find the sign in each kendra, then write one descriptive sentence.
- House 1 is the lagna sign: Aries.
- Count onward: house 4 is Cancer, house 7 is Libra and house 10 is Capricorn.
- Describe without predicting: 'In the cited tradition, the fourth house is associated with dwelling and education.'
Your turn
Try it yourself
On a numbered wheel, mark the four kendras. Match 'dwelling/education' and 'avocation/work' to their houses, then write one descriptive sentence.
Show the answer
The kendras are houses 1, 4, 7 and 10. Dwelling/education goes with the fourth house, and avocation/work goes with the tenth. A suitable sentence is 'The cited tradition associates the fourth house with dwelling and education.' It describes the tradition and does not predict an outcome.
One quick check
Which set lists the kendras?
See the explanation
The kendras are houses 1, 4, 7 and 10, spaced three houses apart. The other two sets include houses outside this group, such as 5, 9, 2 and 6.
Take these three ideas with you
- A house number is a position; a house theme is a traditional association.
- 2nd: family and speech; 4th: dwelling and education; 10th: avocation.
- The kendras are houses 1, 4, 7 and 10.