CANCER ASCENDANT/RISING : The Crab

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Welcome back to our series of ascendants, up next is the Watery crab- Cancer. After their predecessors the chatty Geminis, the Cancerians can be quite the contrast. Before we start with that, just a quick note, the qualities and aspects mentioned in these articles may or may not resonate with you depending on your whole chart. Just describing the ascendant qualities does not in anyway completely describe a personality. Each individual is so much more that one article or even thousands maybe.

Coming back to the Crabs. The fourth sign in the zodiac belt is Cancer. This is also the first water sign and so lets delve a little more into that aspect first. Almost everyone irrespective of whether they read on astrology or not will agree that emotions have always been linked to water bodies like oceans, the moon, femininity etc. All the water signs have these qualities associated with them in one way or the other. In Jyotish, the 4, 8, 12 houses are called the Moksha houses. Moksha is the last Purusharth among the four defined in Hindu Vedic scriptures. Corresponding to these houses are the water signs in the natural zodiac belt cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. To not digress too much, would not go in more details of this aspect but this itself explains a great deal about these water signs. They are the healers, dis-solvers, empaths, mergers of the zodiac. They love to feel everything that the nature and universe has to provide.

We will come back to the other two later, but starting with Cancer some most common traits associated with a Cancerian are their sensitivity, strong desire to nurture, and care towards all. They are great memory banks, remember almost anything and everything.  Due to their highly sensitive psyche they have the ability to understand the other person. This can be their biggest boon or their biggest weapon depending on how they choose to use it. People always categorize cancer to be the softest sign of the belt, although that may be true, but we cannot neglect the other side, which if they decide to can use this softness/sensitivity to manipulate people. Because of their inherent nature to understand human beings so well, they can very well use this to their advantage and manipulate others with their cunning tactics. As soft and impressionable as cancers can be they have the tendency to go on the opposite side of the spectrum becoming shrewd and cunning.

As I always do, would like to remind all the readers that everything in this world has two sides it is on us to choose which side we would like to see or manifest. So if you are a person with dominant cancer traits, you could be the sweetest or the shrewdest person on the planet that power is on you. I believe in destiny but also in free will. The decisions we make the path we choose is on us, the destination it leads us to is our destiny which we must fully accept.

Looks like writing about the first moksha sign has made me talk a little more along these lines of spirituality. Anyhow coming back to the ascendant.

If you ascendant is in Cancer, that is at the time of your birth cancer was rising on the eastern horizon the timidity of the sign will probably be more prominent in your looks that for any other planet placement here. Cancer is primarily represented by the sign of the Crab. This aspect, I think best describes the ascendant feature. Like a crab which has a hard shell to protect itself, cancerians also might appear pretty reserved and cold on the outside. It is their defense mechanism to protect themselves from getting hurt. They may appear unfriendly or aloof when you meet them for the first time. It is very easy for people to misunderstand them an take their quiet nature for arrogance. But once these people start to get comfortable with you, you will find them to be the most caring and nurturing people you would have ever met. They give utmost importance to their home and family. Depending on where their moon is placed what areas of life they most focus their care for can be determined. This is because Moon is the ruler of this sign.

This is pretty clear as to why moon has been assigned to the softest and the most sensitive sign of the zodiac. Moon governs our emotions, our heart. All personal decisions that we make have a very heavy influence of where our moon is placed. And for cancer ascendants that’s even more important as it becomes their ascendant lord as well. This too gives them the moody nature that is most often associated with them.

Cancer ascendants especially can appear moody because this rules their first house, the one we show to the world. They can be happy and loving one day and sulking the next. I have mentioned them as the softest sign but that can also make them the biggest cry babies as well. So if you do have a cancer ascendant in your life, or you are one these are some things to keep in mind. The whole purpose of this series is to help people understand themselves and their dear ones a little better.

This article became a little longer due to some digressions but what else can you expect from when you start talking about the crab. The next in line are the fierce leos. Pretty sure that one will be crisp to the point. So stay tuned…

GEMINI ASCENDANT/RISING: THE TWINS

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Hello everyone, continuing with our ascendant series, let’s start talking about the Gemini ascendant. Boy, are these people talkative. One major aspect of these people is that they love communicating. You will always find that there is some strong Gemini connection in the chart of people who love to talk and interact be it their sun, moon or other planets there.

Having an ascendant as this implies that as a first impression they will appear to be among the social butterflies. Their personalities have this charming, witty and intellectual touch. This sign is ruled by the planet mercury. Unlike Venus, the ruler of Taurus ascendants Mercury does not focus too much on the material aspects of one’s personality. It is important for us to know what mercury is about to truly understand Gemini ascendants.

Mercury in astrology governs one’s intelligence, communication skills and grasping power. For people, who have an adept mind and are quick learners will inherently have a strong mercury placement. What this means for Gemini ascendants is that like its ruler, these personalities are always ready to grasp knowledge. They are very inquisitive and curious of what goes around them. This makes them talk about everything and anything that comes in their mind. Like, I have said before the same feature can have a positive or negative connotation to it.

Similarly, this inquisitive nature makes these people good learners, well-educated and excellent information handlers. On the other hand, this same habit can make you too intruding in others life. They tend to over analyze each situation rationally, which at times may make them less tuned to other’s emotions. If you have a Gemini ascendant, some qualities to watch out for are anxiety and nervousness. Because you have so much going on in your mind most of the time, you tend to get fidgety and restlessness very easily.

The symbol of twins is often associated with the sign Gemini. In this scenario of a gemini ascendant it can manifest itself as a person having contrasting personalities. What I mean by this is, being so outgoing and social they tend to have large social circles. Now it may very well be the case that different set of people describe them differently and these versions might be pretty opposing to each other. This does not imply that they are fake or trying to conceal something, it simply means they reveal different aspects of their personality based on their environment and the set of people they deal with. So, while someone might describe them as an extrovert another person might consider him/her as an introvert. This characteristic of a Gemini can most clearly be seen in case of ascendants more than other planetary placements.

Since the ascendant is a mask one wears, Gemini ascendant people try to cover all their anxiety and emotions by talking things out. For them, to protect or cover up something they will try to rationalize their ideas by trying to explain it to others and ask suggestions from them as well. Being able to put their thoughts across is the most satisfying thing for them. Can you know think of a friend/coworker or family member who resonates with this. Most probably, they have a strong Gemini aspect in their chart.

This is just a brief introduction of what a sign, a planet a location holds for you. We will keep delving into details as we proceed. Coming up next is the fourth sign of the zodiac belt – Cancer. So wait for all that water and emotions heading your way…

TAURUS ASCENDANT/RISING: The Bull

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Welcome all to this next article in the ascendant series. Lets start talking about the second zodiac sign in the belt- Taurus. For people who are remotely interested in astrology will remember the bull symbol associated with Taurus and that exactly what a Taurus ascendant person is.

For people who have the sign of Taurus falling in their ascendant have a very calm and composed aura. They are very different from their preceding ascendant. Some basic characteristics associated with Taurus are calm, loyal, reliable, not easy perturbed, stable and stubborn.

Taurus is ruled by the planet Venus. Venus is all about beauty, luxury, art and everything that soothes the senses. This is exactly what a taurian likes. They are big time admirers of beauty and art. They themselves will always want to be stylish in their dressing and general surroundings. This doesn’t mean they are spendthrifts but will most definitely be classic.

One of the most prominent one would be their fixed personality. Meaning that, when you meet a person with Taurus ascendant they will look like those people who love to do routine work and do not like to have any changes in their life. Since ascendant itself describes how the person appears to the world Taurus as ascendant further signifies this aspect. Having your sun, moon or any other planet in here but not the ascendant will be hugely different. Ascendants are easily those traits that one can guess if they acutely observe a person.

Just as an exercise for your curious mind, try observing a person close to you maybe a friend, co worker or family member. In some days you will get some distinct qualities of them with which you can categorize them into one sign. Its very likely that you will guess their ascendant versus their sun or moon sign.

Coming back to our bull, like their symbol, these people also mind their own business most of the times. If you don’t poke or irritate them they are always calm and happy to be around. Unlike, the aries who get angry fairly quickly and cool down as fast, its hard to get a Taurus fuming. But once agitated they can be really dangerous. So let’s just say keep the muleta away from the bull.

Another major characteristic you can notice about these people is their resistance to change. They love their permanent routine. This may seem to some as stubbornness and inflexibility, but this is the same quality that makes them reliable as well. As I have said earlier as well, No quality is good or bad, the same behavior under different perspective is taken differently.

I guess, now maybe when you come across a Taurus ascendant you will be able to understand them better. The whole purpose of these articles apart from learning astrology is how one can try understanding others a little better and improve interpersonal relations. These are very important in our current time.

So this is all for now, stay tuned for the next ascendant – Gemini and mind you they are poles apart from the Taurians.

ARIES ASCENDANT/ RISING: The RED RAM

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Welcome to the first part of the ascendant series. The first sign in the zodiac belt is the fire sign ARIES. We will begin with discussing how a person’s personality is affected if Aries falls into your ascendant. We already saw what ascendant means in the last edition. This is perhaps if not more than, as important as anyone’s sun sign or moon sign. Ascendant governs one’s outward appearance and personality. How a person projects oneself to the world.

For an Aries, he/she will ooze out confidence and optimism. Recollect meeting someone who you thought of as a very confident and daring personality always ready to take up challenges, he/she is probably an Aries ascendant. One point to note here is, having an ascendant as fierce as Aries does not mean one cannot be scared or apprehensive. The placement of other planets play a very big role in developing the overall individual. Ascendant in short just describes how the world sees you.

If you have an Aries ascendant, you are surely an energetic, spontaneous and an enterprising person. However, with all good points come the, I wouldn’t call it bad but not so good qualities. Aries is ruled by the aggressive planet MARS. Mars is the soldier in the solar system. Referred to as the masculine energy, he is always ready to take things head on. This brings in an aggressive quality to these Aries personality. Since they are always ready to challenge and compete, they may become impatient and egoistic.

One major trait of an Aries personality is they impulsive behavior. They are at times too hasty in taking decisions or demonstrating their personality.

With Aries falling in your first house, this also fixes the other signs in the respective houses. Since Aries is the natural first house in zodiac, these people have natural signs in their respective houses. The overall personality of these people is that they take themselves (1st house), their creativity (5th house) and their religious belief and learnings (9th house) in a very headstrong way. They are always on the go when it comes to chasing their dreams and what they want. These are the people who will make things happen if they want.

This is a very short description of what an Aries ascendant personality may look like. As mentioned earlier many other factors need to be taken care of before analyzing any personality. Coming up next will be Taurus ascendant people, how they behave and appear like. So stay connected.

Ascendant .. when and where it all starts..

Vedic Astrology – Ascendants:
Diving in this vast ocean of Astrology, perhaps one of the most essential part to start with would be the ascendants. To begin with any kind of analysis we first need to have some basic information about that person in regards to his/her date of birth, time of birth and place of birth. This information is mandatory to get the ascendant and birth chart of that person.

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I follow the north Indian style of birth chart representation. With the above details, and using any online software we can get the birthchart or Kundali as we call it of that person. This is calculated using the latitude and longitude of the location and time provided.
A birth chart is divided into 12 parts namely twelve houses. Each house is associated with a particular sector of our life.
These houses are different from the signs that we generally talk about. Based on what one’s ascendant is which sign occupies which house is decided.Let’s take an example, if your ascendant is say Leo that implies that leo occupies your first house and governs your physical outward appearance. This also decides the other flow of signs occupying the remaining houses. The signs always follow an order starting from Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. So Leo in the ascendant would imply Virgo in second house, Libra in third house and so on. This constitutes of the basic chart for any individual.
Another thing we should discuss before starting the ascendant series is the planets considered in vedic astrology and their lordship. Since vedic astrology is thousands of years old, when people would gaze stars to get the location and time and other mathematical details instead of softwares. This takes only the seven planets visible from naked eye and two luminary nodes into consideration. Saturn is the farthest planet that is visible to us. This also differs from the western astrology which takes into account Pluto, Uranus and Neptune and others. For the lordship, each planet rules two signs while sun and moon rules just one.

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Later we will see how the planets gets placed and what their effects are. I will start with each ascendant characteristic and how it gives the general path of life starting from the next article. Interesting things coming up so stay connected..

WHAT THE STARS SAY…

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Do you believe in destiny or hard work? How do you feel when people say both. That to me used to seem contradictory, but now a lot of things make sense. Welcome to this series of articles where we can together dig into this domain of unkowns.
Vedic Astrology is in itself a whole world full of questions and answers. Our roots go deep into the past when we did not have any technological help. Back then, astrologers and mathematicians use to calculate and predict things by actually calculating astronomical details. To me astrology is not contrasting to science but in fact a part of it.
In a gist, Vedic Astrology divides the sky and our solar system into 12 parts namely the 12 zodiac signs. And no its not just the horoscopes you read in the newspaper or online. In fact, Vedic system(sidereal) defers from the western (tropical) by 23 degrees. So, you might have a different sun sign in both.

collection-zodiac-signs-horoscope-elements-image-contains-lot-content-your-design-purposes-very-editable-65103325To provide some structure, the 360-degree sky is divided into 12 parts of 30 degree each. These are further grouped into a set of four and three elements.
We have a set of three signs in one of the four elements- fire, water, air and earth. And also a set of four signs in one of the three types- movable, fixed and dual. These form the basis of each sign and its overall characteristic. Giving one example of the first sign Aires- This is a fire sign that is movable as well. Being fire in nature the sign itself is very impulsive and active. It takes on things spontaneously and with zest. Since its movable, its easy for this sign to adjust to new situations and circumstances.

Once we get a hang of what each sign means and brings in to the chart we can delve deeper into each person astrologically. More that the individual signs, the houses and the planet positions in a vedic chart also known as Kundali is what defines the person.
There are so many intricacies in astrology that it can’t be summed up in one page. Each person is a combination of these signs arranged in specific houses and planets occupying them. This makes every person unique.

This is not even the tip of the iceberg of what vedic astrology holds. Going forward we will look at houses, whats an ascendant, planet placements, nakshatras, Chandra kundali, langna kundali and a lot more. Stay tuned..