michael laughrin - combinations that indicate an astrologer

Combinations that Indicate an Astrologer

By Michael Laughrin, [email protected]

Which combinations of planets, and/or which houses, create an astrologer or one who has a talent for

astrology? These are the questions that I will deal with in this article.

First, let us consider what some classical texts say:

Saravali

Mars conjunct Venus indicates either an astrologer or a mathematicianA.

Moon conjunct Venus conjunct SaturnB.

Sun in GeminiC.

Moon in Sagittarius aspected by MercuryD.

Moon in Leo Navamsha aspected by MercuryE.

Jupiter in a sign of Mercury aspected by MercuryF.

Sun conjunct Mars in the 10th house from the MoonG.

Malefics in the 10th house from the Moon and aspected by beneficsH.

Moon in Virgo aspected by MercuryI.

1.

Sarvartha Chintamani

Lord of the Navamsha sign occupied by the Lord of the 10th house is MercuryA.

Lord of the 2nd house is the Sun or Mars and is aspected by Jupiter and Venus and Mercury is

Paravatamsha (in many of its own vargas)

B.

2.

Garga Hora

Mars, Mercury, Venus and Saturn in the 4th houseA.

Moon, Venus, and Saturn in the 5th houseB.

Mars, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn in the 6th houseC.

Moon, Mars and Mercury in the 9th houseD.

3.

Satyajatakam

Lagna Lord is strong in the 3rd house with a benefic yogaA.

Lord of the 5th house is in the 2nd house with a Shubha yogaB.

4.

Bhrigu Sutra

Mercury is in the 1st house and is associated with a benefic or is in the house of a beneficA.

5.

Now, some of you are probably ready to put this article down at this point because it is so dry. Those of you

who have had readings with me know that I do not stress the dry, intellectual approach to astrology too much.

I prefer a healthy mix of basic, logical principles with a very health dose of intuition. And the older I get, the

more I rely on intuition.

However, let us not forget that, traditionally, astrology and mathematics were taught together. People have

said to me, "Oh, I'd be good in astrology. I'm very intuitive." And my response was, "How did you do in math

in school?" And it seems that the classical texts, as quoted above, agree with me. After looking over all the

combinations seen in the previous page, do we find any overriding patterns? You bet.

My main conclusion is quite simple— without a strong Mercury, forget about being an astrologer. What do I

mean by 'strong'? If Mercury is in its own sign or exalted, it is strong. If Mercury is in an angle or trine (houses

1,4,5,7,9 or 10), it is strong. If Mercury has no aspects from, or conjunctions with, any natural malefics (Sun,

Mars, Saturn, Rahu or Ketu), it is fairly strong. And if Mercury is aspected by or conjunct with a natural

benefic (Moon, Venus or Jupiter), that is a blessing and adds to the strength of Mercury. Also, Mercury gains

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some strength from being in the sign of a friend (Venus and Saturn). These signs are Taurus, Libra, Capricorn

and Aquarius. Do not forget to give the Navamsha equal weight in determining the strength of a planet.

In my opinion, several other planets play an important role in producing an astrologer: Jupiter (spiritual

wisdom), the Moon (the mind in general), Ketu (the Enlightener) and Rahu (the planet that digs deeply—past

superficial observations). Ideally, all of these should be quite strong, or, at least, not very weak.

Several houses also play a part in giving us one learned in Jyotish Shastra—the 5th house (house of the mind,

past life credit, mantra, yantra, tantra and discipleship), the 8th house (research and traditional learning such

as Sanskrit), the 9th house (Gurus, higher education, and respect for tradition) and the 12th house of

meditation and Enlightenment. And, for those who earn money through astrology, the 10th house.

Here is the chart of Narendra Desai (Chart H1), the

greatest astrologer I know of. Unfortunately, he is now

deceased. He was also one of my Jyotish teachers.

You will note that Mercury does not have many of the

strengths I spoke of. However, it is the ruler of the 5th

house of intellect placed in the 12th house of meditation.

Furthermore, it is fully accepted by its good friend Saturn,

which is exalted in the 6th house. Saturn is the ruler of

both the 9th house of the Guru and traditional learning,

and the 10th house of career. Jupiter, that most spiritual of

planets, is strongly placed in the 7th house where it fully

aspects the Ascendant. Also, in this chart, Jupiter is lord

of the 8th house of research. Ketu, the planet of

discernment, is placed the 10th house of career along with

Uranus, the outer planet that Western astrologers say rules

astrology. Narendra, also, said that it is Uranus that makes

(or breaks) an astrologer. Also the nakshatra of Satabhisha

is supposed to be associated with astrologers and

Narendra Desai had Ketu posited there. One more

thing—the Moon, the general planet of the Mind, is

placed in Gemini, a sign ruled by the oh-so-important

planet, Mercury.

Now please look at Chart H2, that of the very famous

Indian astrologer K.N. Rao. Again we have Mercury in

the 12th house, but otherwise the combinations are more

classical. Venus conjunct Mars in the 1st house indicates

an astrologer. Mercury is very strong—exalted and in its

own house of Virgo. The planet of Enlightenment and

discernment, Ketu, is with Mercury and the Sun in the

12th house of Moksha. Jupiter, the second-most-important

planet that shows an astrologer, is exalted in the 10th

house of career. Now let us look at the important

houses—5, 8, 9, and 12. The Lord of the 5th house,

Saturn, is in the 3rd house. From there it aspects the 5th,

9th and 12th houses, so there is a good connection with

most of the important houses. Also Saturn, as ruler of the


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5th house, aspects Mercury and Ketu, two very important

astro-indicators. The ruler of the 8th house of research,

Venus, is in its own sign, Libra, in the 1st house. Also it is

conjunct Mars and the Moon. Also, Mr. Rao has a very

nice yoga whereby all the grahas are in signs ruled by

benefic planets.

Now please examine Chart H3, that of the grandfather of

B. V. Raman, Professor Rao. He is widely considered to

have been the very best astrologer of his day. Here the

destiny to be an astrologer shines.

First of all, the two main planets of astrology, Jupiter and

Mercury, are conjunct in the 10th house of career.

Secondly, they are both in the "astrologer's" nakshatra,

Satabhisha. Third, we have a nice connection between the

lords of the 5th house (Mercury) and the 8th house

(Jupiter). Then there is Mars, the ruler of the 12th house,

in the 5th house of the mind. Also Mars aspects the 8th

house of research and the 12th house of Moksha from the

5th house. Last but not least is the wonderful exchange of

signs with Mercury and Saturn. This directly involves the

2nd, 5th, 9th and 10th houses by rulership. It also involves

the 4th, 8th and 11th houses by aspect. So, taking into

account just the second house and the 10th house, we are

also involving the 5th, 8th, and 9th houses. This is the

chart of an astrologer! And the Sun, Mars, Saturn and

Ketu are all in stars ruled by Mars.

Now please look at Chart H4, of my brother Timothy

Laughrin. According to the classical rules that form an

astrologer, this individual should not only be an astrologer

but should be very famous! Timothy has at least 4 big

classical combinations to create a very good astrologer:

Conjunction of Venus and Mars1.

Moon in Leo aspected by Mercury2.

A malefic in the 10th house from the Moon

aspected by a benefic

3.

Lord of the Navamsha sign occupied by the Lord of

the 10th house is Mercury

4.

But is he an astrologer? No! He is a software engineer.

Now, this does not disprove the classical combinations.

Rather, we must adapt our minds to the time and place

these yogas were written. In ancient India, astrology was

just as complex as it is now. But, there were no computers

or even calculators. Therefore, to do astrology

successfully, one first had to be an excellent

mathematician. And my brother is that. He got an 800 on


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the GRE in Math. Also, Timothy scored an 800 on the

Advanced Math section of the SAT's. So, to my mind,

anyway, this proves the usefulness of the ancient

combinations rather than disproving them. We must have

flexibility to see how things go together. Traditionally,

math and astrology always went together.

This gives you some ideas about combinations you can look for to see if one has the abilities and inclinations

to become an astrologer. It is obvious that one must be flexible in applying the rules, because real life seldom

follows the rules that we humans try to impose upon it.


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