The Study of Jyotisha · Chapter 7 of 54 · Part Two · The building blocks

#The twelve signs

#Learning the signs

In Chapter 2 the signs were simply measurements — twelve equal pieces of the zodiac, each 30°. In this chapter they come alive. Each sign has a ruler, a shape, a place in the body, a sex, a kind of movement, a direction, a time of day when it is strong, a colour and a set of places on Earth that belong to it. The astrologer uses these qualities all the time: to describe a person, to judge the strength of a planet, to answer questions about places and directions, and much more.

Almost everything in this chapter comes from the first chapter of the Brihat Jataka, where Varahamihira defines the signs in a few dense verses (Brihat Jataka I.4–I.20). Where a quality comes from a later book instead, the chapter says so.

A word of advice: do not try to memorise this chapter in one sitting. Read it once for the shape of the whole. Then learn the first table — numbers, names and lords — until you know it without thinking. The other qualities will settle in as you use them.

#The cosmic person

Varahamihira begins with an image. The twelve signs, he says, are the body of Kalapurusha, "the Person who is Time": Aries is his head, Taurus his face, Gemini his chest, Cancer his heart, Leo his belly, Virgo his navel region, Libra his lower abdomen, Scorpio his organs of generation, Sagittarius his two thighs, Capricorn his two knees, Aquarius his two calves and ankles, and Pisces his two feet (Brihat Jataka I.4).

So the zodiac, read from Aries to Pisces, runs from head to foot. This image is used in medical astrology (which part of the body a sign or house describes), in the description of physical features, and in questions about injuries. It also helps you remember the order of the signs: start at the head and walk down to the feet.

#The core table

Notice the shape of Capricorn. In Indian astrology it is not a goat-fish as in Western pictures, but a makara — a sea creature, often drawn as a crocodile — with a deer's head. And Virgo is not only a maiden: she is in a boat, with grain and a lamp.

#The lords of the signs

The lord (adhipati or swami) of a sign is the graha that "owns" it. You will use the lords in every chart you ever read, so learn them perfectly. Varahamihira gives them in one line: Mars, Venus, Mercury, the Moon, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Saturn and Jupiter, for the twelve signs from Aries (Brihat Jataka I.6).

There is a beautiful pattern in this list. Write the signs in a circle and you will see it:

• The Sun and Moon each own one sign, side by side: Leo and Cancer.
• On either side of them, Mercury owns the next sign out each way: Virgo and Gemini.
• Then Venus: Libra and Taurus.
• Then Mars: Scorpio and Aries.
• Then Jupiter: Sagittarius and Pisces.
• Then Saturn: Capricorn and Aquarius, side by side, opposite the Sun and Moon.

The order going outward — Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn — is the order of the planets' distance from the Sun. The two lights sit together in the summer signs, and Saturn, the slowest and farthest visible planet, sits opposite them in the winter signs. Once you see this pattern you will never forget the lords.

Rahu and Ketu own no signs in the Brihat Jataka. Some later authors assign them signs (for example Aquarius to Rahu and Scorpio to Ketu, or other choices), but there is no agreement, and this course does not use node rulerships unless it says so.

#The Greek names

Varahamihira also lists another set of names for the signs: Kriya, Tavuri, Jituma, Kulira, Leya, Pathona, Juka, Kaurpi, Taukshika, Akokera, Hridroga and Antyabha (Brihat Jataka I.8). His translator points out that almost all of them are Greek words — Kriya from krios (ram), Tavuri from tauros (bull), Jituma from didymoi (twins), and so on — and that this shows the close contact between Indian and Greek astronomers in the early centuries of the common era. Chapter 48 tells that story. You do not need these names except to recognise them in old texts.

#Male and female, gentle and harsh

The signs alternate, starting with Aries (Brihat Jataka I.11):

• The odd signs — Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius — are masculine (purusha) and krura, "harsh". Chidambaram Aiyar translates krura as "malefic".
• The even signs — Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces — are feminine (stri) and saumya, "gentle". Aiyar translates this as "benefic".

Do not read "malefic" here as "bad". It means energetic, forceful, outgoing; "benefic" means mild, receptive. A masculine sign is not a bad sign. These words describe a quality, and the quality is used in many rules — for example, in judging whether a child will be a boy or a girl in the old rules of conception, and in the hora division (Chapter 12), where the odd and even signs are divided differently.

#Movable, fixed and dual

Each sign has one of three kinds of motion, again going round in order from Aries (Brihat Jataka I.11):

The movable signs begin the four seasons (the Sun enters them at the equinoxes and solstices in the tropical zodiac, and roughly so in the sidereal one at the time the system was made). They signify movement, change, beginnings and travel. The fixed signs stand in the middle of the seasons and signify stability and endurance. The dual signs close the seasons and share both natures.

This classification is used everywhere: in muhurta (a fixed lagna for laying a foundation, a movable one for starting a journey), in prashna (will a lost thing be found nearby or far away?), in the navamsa (whose starting point depends on it, Chapter 12) and in the Jaimini system (whose periods depend on it, Chapter 38). Even Varahamihira's rule for the place of birth uses it: if the rising sign is movable the birth is on the road, if fixed then indoors, if dual then in a verandah (Brihat Jataka V.13, with the translator's note).

#Directions, triplicities and elements

#Directions

Varahamihira assigns the signs to the four directions, three at a time (Brihat Jataka I.11):

The three signs of each group are 120° apart — they form a triangle in the zodiac — and are called trikona signs, "triangle" signs, of one another. Each group is a triplicity. The directions are used to answer questions such as "in which direction is the lost object?" and in the old rules for the direction of a journey.

#Elements

Western astrology gives each triplicity an element: fire, earth, air and water. Varahamihira does not. In the Brihat Jataka the triplicities have directions, and only the planets have elements (Brihat Jataka II.6). Later Indian books, such as the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra in its chapter describing the signs, do give the signs elements, and they match the Western ones:

Most modern Indian astrologers use the elements. When you do, remember that they come from the later tradition, not from Varahamihira.

#Day signs and night signs; rising by head and by back

Varahamihira divides the signs into those strong by night and those strong by day, and separately describes how each sign "rises" over the horizon (Brihat Jataka I.10, with Aiyar's notes):

The two lists almost match: the night signs rise by the back, and the day signs by the head. The exceptions are Gemini, a night sign that rises head first, and Pisces, a day sign that rises both ways.

Varahamihira uses the manner of rising in timing. Divide a planetary period into three equal parts. If, when the period begins, its ruling planet is in a head-rising sign, its results come in the first part; if in a back-rising sign, in the last part; and if in Pisces, in the middle (Brihat Jataka XXII.5, with Aiyar's note). Chapter 22 returns to this rule.

#Footed classes

The signs are also grouped by the kind of creature their shape shows (Brihat Jataka I.17, with Aiyar's note):

(Aiyar's printed note puts "the first half of Capricorn" in both the quadruped and the aquatic lists. That must be a slip: the quadruped half is the deer's head, so the aquatic half is the second half, as later books also have it.)

Varahamihira uses the footed classes to judge the strength of the four angular houses: a human sign is strongest in the 1st house, a water sign in the 4th, the scorpion in the 7th and a four-footed sign in the 10th (Brihat Jataka I.17, I.19 note). He also says human signs are strong by day, four-footed signs at night, and the many-footed sign at the twilights (Brihat Jataka I.19).

#Colours, measures and places

#Colours

Each sign has a colour (Brihat Jataka I.20):

The colours are used to describe things — the colour of a stolen object, of a person's clothes in a question chart — rather than people's skin.

#Measures

Each sign is given a "measure" (mana) for judging which parts of the body are long or short: 20, 24, 28, 32, 36 and 40 for Aries to Virgo, and the same numbers in reverse — 40, 36, 32, 28, 24, 20 — for Libra to Pisces (Brihat Jataka I.19). So Virgo and Libra are the "longest" signs and Aries and Pisces the "shortest". This is used in the old rules describing a person's build (Brihat Jataka V.23).

#Places

Each sign also stands for certain places (Brihat Jataka I.5 says each sign's dwelling place suits its creature; the translator's note to V.13 lists them):

Varahamihira uses these places to say where a birth took place (Brihat Jataka V.13), and they are used in prashna to find lost things and missing people.

#A summary card for each sign

Putting the qualities together, here is each sign in a line. Read these as a memory aid, not as a description of any person.

• Aries — Mars; movable, fire, east, masculine; head; night sign rising by the back; quadruped; red.
• Taurus — Venus; fixed, earth, south, feminine; face; night sign; quadruped; white.
• Gemini — Mercury; dual, air, west, masculine; chest; night sign but head-rising; human; parrot green.
• Cancer — Moon; movable, water, north, feminine; heart; night sign rising by the back; aquatic; pale pink.
• Leo — Sun; fixed, fire, east, masculine; belly; day sign, head-rising; quadruped; pale.
• Virgo — Mercury; dual, earth, south, feminine; navel; day sign, head-rising; human; variegated.
• Libra — Venus; movable, air, west, masculine; lower abdomen; day sign, head-rising; human; dark.
• Scorpio — Mars; fixed, water, north, feminine; genitals; day sign, head-rising; many-footed; golden.
• Sagittarius — Jupiter; dual, fire, east, masculine; thighs; night sign rising by the back; half human, half quadruped; husk-coloured.
• Capricorn — Saturn; movable, earth, south, feminine; knees; night sign rising by the back; half quadruped, half aquatic; white and red.
• Aquarius — Saturn; fixed, air, west, masculine; calves; day sign, head-rising; human; mongoose brown.
• Pisces — Jupiter; dual, water, north, feminine; feet; day sign, rises both ways; aquatic; fish-coloured.

#The Moon in each sign: the old portraits

The Brihat Jataka has a whole chapter on the person born with the Moon in each sign (Brihat Jataka XVII). These portraits were the classical way of describing a person's nature from the sign, and they are still widely quoted. Here they are in short paraphrase, keeping the traits that describe character and leaving out the lists of physical marks.

• Moon in Aries: quick to anger and quick to relent, fond of travel and of activity, eager to lead, restless; a fighter; wealth that does not stay long (XVII.1).
• Moon in Taurus: good-looking and graceful, generous, patient and able to bear misfortune, influential, liked by all, loyal to friends; happier in middle and later life than in youth (XVII.2).
• Moon in Gemini: sharp, witty and learned, a good talker and messenger, able to read other people's thoughts, fond of music and dance (XVII.3).
• Moon in Cancer: devoted to friends, easily won by kind words, learned, owning houses, with fortunes that wax and wane like the Moon itself; fond of water and of forests (XVII.4).
• Moon in Leo: proud and brave, generous, firm in principle, slow to forgive small slights; fond of wild places; devoted to the mother (XVII.5).
• Moon in Virgo: modest, gentle in body and speech, truthful, learned, skilled in the arts — music, painting, dance, the making of books; may live far from home (XVII.6).
• Moon in Libra: respectful of the holy and the learned, honest and not covetous, intelligent, fond of travel, a good trader, protective of the family (XVII.7).
• Moon in Scorpio: strong and broad, independent, honoured by those in power; secretive, and early separated from parents or teachers (XVII.8).
• Moon in Sagittarius: eloquent and inventive, a writer, generous, skilled in the arts, of deep understanding; moved by kindness, never by force (XVII.9).
• Moon in Capricorn: devoted to family, quick to understand, liked by all, steady but slow at work, a wanderer; may be careful with money to the point of meanness (XVII.10).
• Moon in Aquarius: tireless, loyal to friends, fond of flowers and perfumes; fortunes that rise and fall by turns (XVII.11).
• Moon in Pisces: handsome and bright, fond of family and fine things, learned and well-off, able to overcome opponents; connected with the sea and its trade (XVII.12).

Three things to keep in mind about these portraits:

1. They are not a person's whole chart. Varahamihira himself says that these effects come to pass fully only when the Moon, its sign and the sign's lord are all strong; partly if two are strong; less if one; and not at all if none is (Brihat Jataka XVII.13, with Aiyar's note). Every portrait in the classical books is conditional in this way.
2. They reflect their time. The full verses include judgements about caste, women and sexuality that belong to sixth-century society. A modern reader takes the insight about temperament and leaves the rest.
3. They describe tendencies, not destinies. A "quick temper" in a chart is something a person can know about themselves and work with, which is exactly how the tradition meant such knowledge to be used (Chapter 1).

#Summary

• The signs are the body of Kalapurusha, from Aries the head to Pisces the feet (Brihat Jataka I.4).
• Each has a shape (I.5) and a lord (I.6): Mars, Venus, Mercury, Moon, Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Saturn, Jupiter. The lords spread out from Cancer and Leo in the order of the planets' distance from the Sun.
• Odd signs are masculine and forceful; even signs feminine and gentle (I.11).
• Movable: Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn. Fixed: Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius. Dual: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces (I.11).
• Triplicities have directions — east, south, west, north (I.11). Elements (fire, earth, air, water) come from later books.
• Six signs are strong at night and six by day; six rise head first, five by the back and Pisces both ways (I.10). The footed classes judge angular strength (I.17, I.19).
• Signs also have colours (I.20), measures (I.19) and places (V.13 note).
• Brihat Jataka XVII describes the person with the Moon in each sign — conditional on the Moon, the sign and its lord being strong (XVII.13).

#Exercises

1. Write the twelve signs in a circle and fill in their lords from memory. Check that the pattern spreads out from Cancer and Leo.
2. Which signs are both movable and feminine? Which are both fixed and masculine?
3. A lagna is in a dual, earth sign. Which sign is it, and who is its lord?
4. Which signs rise head first? Why is Pisces different?
5. In the example chart of Chapter 6, the lagna is Libra and the Moon is in Taurus. Using this chapter, describe Libra in one line of qualities, and summarise the classical portrait of the Moon in Taurus in your own words.

Answers: 2. Movable and feminine: Cancer, Capricorn. Fixed and masculine: Leo, Aquarius. 3. Virgo, lord Mercury. 4. Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Aquarius; Pisces is two fish facing opposite ways, so it rises "both ways". 5. Libra: Venus, movable, air, west, masculine, lower abdomen, day sign, human, dark.