The main purpose of writing this blog is to simplify understanding of a birth chart and explain basic predictive astrology. I wish astrology was as simple as reading a book, but it isn’t.. No one can really put together all the combinations together. The reason astrology is termed as a Divine Science is because only the one blessed with the divine (a person truthful at heart) can truly get answers reading a Janampatri. But nonetheless it is a science. The most important thing of all is one must be able to see and judge all the elements in the chart individually and together. This comes with a lot of practice. So I would suggest, along with the theory start seeing horoscopes of your near and dear ones. See for any particular incidence in the past and try and understand why it must have happened. This is the simplest, most effective and easiest practice.
Birth Chart
Let’s start with understanding the constitution of the birth chart.
Zodiac Signs
With earth at the centre, the zodiac is the belt around the earth forming the pathway for all the planets to move along. This belt is limited by lines on either side extending to about 8°. This Zodiac is divided in twelve parts on the basis of certain fixed stars. In reality these stars are not fixed but there motion in so slow that for all practicality purpose we can count them as fixed. These 12 parts constitute the Zodiac Sign (Rashi’s). These Zodiac signs form the 12 houses of our kundli.
The movement of these signs are not a straight line but elliptical. Hence the distances are calculated in degrees. 1 degree is further divided in 60 minutes and 1 minute into 60 seconds. Each house occupies 30 degrees of longitude, thus completing full 360 degrees (30 x 12). The ruling planets of Zodiac signs is mentioned in the table below.
Constellations
As mentioned earlier that these zodiac signs are formed by certain fixed stars, these fixed stars are called constellations or Nakshatra. We have a total of 27 such constellations. 27 divided by 360° so each constellation occupies 13 degree 20 minutes. Below is a list of constellation with their individual ruling planets. We will understand the concept of ruling planets little later
| Zodiac Signs | Ruling Planet | Constellation | Ruling Planet | Degree – Minutes |
| Aries | Mars | Ashwini | Ketu | 00-00 to 13-20 |
| Bharani | Venus | 13-20 to 26-40 | ||
| Krittika | Sun | 26-40 to 30-00 | ||
| Taurus | Venus | 30-00 to 40-00 | ||
| Rohini | Moon | 40-00 to 53-20 | ||
| Mrigashira | Mars | 53-20 to 60-00 | ||
| Gemini | Mercury | 60-00 to 66-40 | ||
| Ardra | Rahu | 66-40 to 80-00 | ||
| Punarvasu | Jupiter | 80-00 to 90-00 | ||
| Cancer | Moon | 90-00 to 93-20 | ||
| Pushya | Saturn | 93-20 to 106-40 | ||
| Ashlesha | Mercury | 106-40 to 120-00 | ||
| Leo | Sun | Magha | Ketu | 120-00 to 133-20 |
| Poorvaphalguni | Venus | 133-20 to 146-40 | ||
| Uttaraphalguni | Sun | 146-40 to 150-00 | ||
| Virgo | Mercury | 150-00 to 160-00 | ||
| Hasta | Moon | 160-00 to 173-20 | ||
| Chitra | Mars | 173-20 to 180-00 | ||
| Libra | Venus | 180-00 to 186-40 | ||
| Swati | Rahu | 186-40 to 200-00 | ||
| Vishakha | Jupiter | 200-00 to 210-00 | ||
| Scorpio | Mars | 210-00 to 213-20 | ||
| Anuradha | Saturn | 213-20 to 226-40 | ||
| Jyestha | Mercury | 226-40 to 240-00 | ||
| Sagittarius | Jupiter | Moola | Ketu | 240-00 to 253-20 |
| Poorvashadha | Venus | 253-20 to 266-40 | ||
| Uttarashadha | Sun | 266-40 to 270-00 | ||
| Capricorn | Saturn | 270-00 to 280-00 | ||
| Shravana | Moon | 280-00 to 293-20 | ||
| Dhanishta | Mars | 293-20 to 300-00 | ||
| Aquarius | Saturn | 300-00 to 306-40 | ||
| Shatabhisha | Rahu | 306-40 to 320-00 | ||
| Poorvabhadrapad | Jupiter | 320-00 to 330-00 | ||
| Pieces | Jupiter | 330-00 to 333-20 | ||
| Uttarabhadrapad | Saturn | 333-20 to 346-40 | ||
| Revati | Mercury | 346-40 to 360-00 |
[The above table is also very important while you are reading the Panchang]
If you see the line up of ruling planets of Nakshatra it is always in the following sequence Ketu, Venus, Sun, Moon Mars, Rahu, Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury. Starting from Ketu and ending at Mercury. One such set of Nakshatra’s comprise of one quadrant or a set of 4 houses. So from Aries to Cancer is called 1st Quadrant, Leo to Scorpio is called 2nd Quadrant and Sagittarius to Pieces is called 3rd Quadrant. Also I would suggest to by heart the sequence of planets from Ketu to Mercury as this sequence would be really beneficial for knowing the Dasha and Antardasha in the future.
We will learn about the characteristics of every zodiac sign in the next blog. If you have any questions feel free to comment below and I will try my best to get back to you.
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