Astrological Peculiarities of Female horoscopes

Dr E.S.Neelakantan

While astrology, as a science, makes no distinction between the two sexes, the founding fathers of the subject, the Rishis of infinite wisdom, who had knowledge over the past, present and future have delineated a few areas of distinction between the horoscopes of Women to distinguish the features when compared to the charts of Men.

To cite an example, let us recollect the effects of Adhi yoga.This yoga can occur either in a male chart or in a female chart. A person born in this yoga, will be polite and trustworthy and will have an enjoyable life; the chart holder will be long-lived, healthy and will inflict defeat on his enemies. From the last point mentioned, it is easy to infer that Adhi yoga is one which finds application only in a male chart. Books on astrology were written centuries earlier and, in those times, only men were warriors. Today you have women in Army, Navy, Air Force or even Police.

According to Brihat Jataka, in the horoscope of a female native, whatever is applicable to her, will happen to her; whatever is inapplicable to her, should be ascribed to her husband.

The views of Varahamihira in Brihat Jataka indicate that the effects of a female chart fall under three categories:

1. Those that concern women alone
2. Those that concern men alone
3. Those that concern both men as well as women

Matters relating to appearance, beauty, fame and fortune of a girl should be analyzed from the first house or the Ascendant. Prosperity, happiness and the husband's longevity should be judged from the 8th house. Children and good fortune should be judged from the 9th house.The qualities of husband should be judged from the 7th house.

In a male chart, the 8th house stands for longevity while in a female chart, the 8th house stands for husband's longevity. In a male chart, the 5th house denotes children, while in a female chart, the 9th house denotes children. In Men, eminence is judged through ability, courage, character, so on and so forth. Beauty is largely a feminine attribute, which is perhaps why the lagna in a female chart is evaluated in order to judge the physical appearance of a girl.

One more observation, I wish to make here is that by and large, in the animal kingdom it is the male of the species which has an attractive appearance and this is true of a lion , a cock or a peacock. It is only in the human species, beauty is regarded as a feminine attribute. Chastity of a girl should be judged from the 4th house. A girl will possess excellent qualities, be truly feminine in character, beautiful and also of pleasing qualities if the lagna and moon, occupy even signs and receive the aspect of benefics.

While interpreting charts of women who excel in sports and other disciplines which require physical prowess, one should not mechanically apply the above rule. In women who prove their mettle in artistic and other skills which require patience and compassion, the even signs should be associated with Moon or Lagna, while odd signs and natural malefics tend to make women excel in disciplines where they are required to compete with men. So, the text book rules tend to be applied with discretion. While judging the character of women, much importance is given to Trimsamsa. Compare the strength of the Ascendent with Chandra lagna and ascertain the stronger of the two signs. Let us assume that the above sign belongs to Mars. Then based on the Trimsamsa sign the effects are as follows-

The native's husband will be a coward if the 7th house is without a planet and is bereft of benefic aspect. The husband will always be travelling, if the 7th house falls in a movable sign. The husband will not be virile if Mercury and Saturn occupy the 7th. If the Sun occupies the 7th, she will be abandoned by her husband. Widowhood is given rise to by Mars occupying the 7th. One becomes a spinster if Saturn occupies the 7th: one becomes a widow if the 7th is occupied by a malefic. The female will be chaste and blessed with marital happiness, if a benefic occupies the 7th. If there is an exchange of signs between Mars and Venus, the girl will have illicit relations. The consent of her husband will also be there for her, if the abovementioned planetary disposition is there in her chart and Moon occupies the 7th. For a girl born in Capricorn Ascendant, the yoga of Saturn and Mars is auspicious should both the planets occupy the 7th house being the sign Cancer.
The sign or the lord of the 7th house in Navamsa is also a crucial factor in determining the character of husband. This can be understood from the following table;

Visha Kanya Yoga

A female who brings misfortune is termed as Visha Kanya. According to Jataka Alankara, “A girl is a Visha kanya, who is born on Ashlesha, Krithika or Satabhishek, on a Bhadra thithi, when the day lord is Tuesday, Saturday or Sunday. If at the birth of a girl, two benefics are in lagna, one malefic is in the 10th and two malefics are in the 6th, then that girl is a Visha kanya.

According to Sage Purasara, a girl is termed as “Visha kanya” if she loses her progeny or is deprived of good clothes and ornaments and is given to sorrow and melancholy. Further the depiction of Visha kanya in his opinion is that she is a girl born in Dwiteeya, Saptami or Dwadashi, in Aslesha, Krithika or Sadabhishek stars on a day coinciding with Tuesday, Saturday or Sunday

The second rule for a Visha kanya as defined in Jataka Alankara, also undergoes a slight modification in the opinion of Sage Parasara. In Parasara's view, a natural malefic in lagna in conjunction with a natural benefic coupled with two malefics in the sixth, produces a Visha Kanya.

Parasara's definition of Visha Kanya is as follows;
A girl is a Visha kanya if she is born on a) Saturday, Dwitiya and Ahlesha nakshatra (or)
b) Tuesday, Saptami, and Sadashishek (or)
c) Sunday, Dwadashi and Vishaka nakshatra
In addition, a girl born with Saturn in lagna, Sun in the 5th and Mars in the 9th is a Visha kanya

Cancellation of Visha Kanya Yoga

Visha kanya Yoga gets cancelled when a benefic or the 7th lord, occupies the 7th house from the lagna or the Moon.
So, we have two yogas which can nullify visha kanya yoga. They are
a) A benefic in the 7th
b) The 7th lord in the 7th
Why I consider the above yoga as an important one is that Pandit Ganesh Kavi has devoted one entire chapter viz., Chapter 4 of Jataka Alankara for a detailed discussion on Visha kanya yoga. As the 7th house in a female chart denotes her husband, any such adverse yoga, stands nullified, when a benefic or the 7th lord occupies the 7th. Incidentally this yoga also drives home the point that the most important house to be reckoned in a female chart is the seventh house.

If the setting navamsa (or rather the 7th navamsa) be that of Mars, the husband will be fond of other women. If owned by Mercury, the husband will be clever. If owned by Jupiter, the husband will have good meritorious qualities and will possess self-control. The husband will be good looking, fortunate and also liked by women, if the 7th navamsa belongs to Venus. If the same belongs to Saturn, the husband will be aged and also will be foolish. If the 7th navamsa is Leo, the husband will be of soft disposition and will be hard working. If the 7th navamsa is Cancer, the husband will be gentle and love-sick.

If in a female chart, the Sun occupies the 8th, the native will be unhappy, poverty stricken, bereft of faith in religion and of deformed limbs. If the Moon were to be in the 8th, there will be defect in private parts, will be sickly and will be infamous. The female will be full of sorrow if Mars were to be in the 8th.

If Mercury were to be in the 8th, the female will be quarrelsome, without faith in religion, timid, devoid of wealth, self respect or good qualities. If Jupiter were to be in the 8th, the women concerned will be without virtue, will be gluttonous and will be abandoned by her husband. If Venus were to be in the 8th, the girl will be devoid of wealth, sympathy or religious merit and will be deceptive. The girl will be deprived of conjugal harmony, if Saturn were to be in the 8th. She will also be of wicked disposition and will be deceptive. If Rahu were to be in 8th, the female would be sickly, unchaste, cruel-hearted and devoid of marital happiness. From the above discussion it becomes clear, that no planet yields beneficial effects in the 8th. Therefore, a planet in the 8th in a female chart behaves as a functional malefic.

Malefics in the 8th can cause widowhood. The said event will take place in the dasa period of the lord of the navamsa occupied by the 8th lord. A benefic in the 2nd will prevent widowhood and she may predecease her husband.

Unchaste behavior

1. If Venus and Mars, exchange signs, the female will be fond of other men.
2. Should Moon be in the 7th, she will be close to other men, with the consent of her husband.
3. Should the Ascendant fall in a sign owned by Mars or Saturn, with Venus and Moon in the Ascendant, she and her mother will be both unchaste.

A female will be given to extreme lust if

1. Lagna falls in Libra or Taurus and
2. Lagna falls in a navamsa owned by Saturn and
3. There is exchange of signs between Saturn and Venus in navamsa.

Certain fortunate combinations find mention in Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra. These are as follows:

1. Gemini or Virgo Ascendant with Moon and Venus in lagna
2. Moon, Mercury and Venus in the Ascendant.
3. Jupiter in the Ascendant

Barrenness is given rise to under the following considerations

1. Sun and moon in the 8th, being Leo or Cancer.
2. Moon and Mercury in the 8th in Gemini, Virgo or Cancer.
3. Moon and Venus in lagna aspected by malefics, subject to the lagna rising in Aries, Scorpio, Capricorn or Aquarius
4. Mars and Saturn in the 8th
5. Jupiter, Venus and Mars in the 8th.

Romance and Marriage

The fifth house is the house of romance and love-making and a planet in the 5th has a key role to play apart from the lord of the 5th house. When the Moon in a boy's chart aspects the Moon in the girl's chart, they both will love each other and such a relationship could blossom into marriage. The underlying principle here is that the radical moon in the charts of the boy and the girl are in opposition and hence they aspect each other. This is what we call a “union of hearts”. In such marriages houses 2, 4, 7 and 12 are also quite important. In a male chart, physical intimacy is ruled by Venus, whereas in a female chart, physical intimacy is ruled by Mars. Hence, if the radical Venus of a boy is in quadrant or trine from the girl's radical Mars, romance would blossom. The boy would develop attraction for a girl if his radical Saturn aspects the girl's radical Mars. If Saturn in transit, aspects the radical Mars of the girl, she will get married to that boy. In such cases the boy's Venus would be afflicted by Rahu. Venus denotes sensual pleasures and Rahu denotes fantasies and therefore, the combination of Venus with Rahu is a perfect recipe for an unconventional marriage. When Mars of the female and Venus of the male are in mutual quadrants or trines, they will get attracted to each other.

Marriage within relatives

In many cases, a girl gets married to a relative. Usually, consanguine marriages are prohibited in scriptures and there is scientific evidence to prove that such marriages are harmful to pregnancy.

Sagotra marriages are prohibited by scriptures. The second house rules over relatives ; when the 7th lord is connected to the 2nd house or its lord or if the 2nd lord is connected to the 7th house, marriage within relatives becomes an astrological possibility.
The third house rules over cousin sisters and cousin brothers ;when the 7th lord is connected to the 3rd house or its lord, marriage with a cousin brother is possible. In few cases, a person will marry the younger sister of his pre-deceased wife. In such cases the 7th lord of the husband will be connected to the 9th house, since 9th is 3rd to the 7th house, meaning that it stands for the younger sister of his wife.

In a female chart, if Mars is connected to the 2nd house, marriage with a relative is When combinations for romance are absent in a female chart, then the inference to be drawn is that it would be an “arranged” one.
From the Janma lagna of a person, one can infer from which direction, the spouse would come. This could be a useful tool in horoscope matching.

Favorable period for the marriage of a girl

In olden days, girls were married while they were quite young. Today that perception has changed girls wish to study, possess post graduate qualification and become financially independent before they think of marriage .While divorce was an unknown concept say even in the eighties, it is becoming alarmingly high in the present day world, thanks to lack of adjustability and tolerance in the present generation. Further girls pursuing science or medicine and trying to get doctorate degrees take more than seven years to qualify, resulting in considerable delay in marriage and parenthood. They pass on their anxiety to their parents.

So, the onus is on the Astrologer, to determine a favorable period for a girl's marriage. Marriage can take place in the period or subperiod of -
1) The planet occupying the 7th house
2) The planet aspecting the 7th house
3) The planet owning the 7th house
4) The sign-dispositor of the 7th lord
5) The navamsa sign-dispositor of the 7th lord
6) Lord of lagna is navamsa
7) Moon or Venus
When transit Jupiter moves over the 7th lord in Rasi or if Jupiter transits the sign, which is occupied by the 7th lord in navamsa, then marriage occurs.

For instance let us assume the lagna of a person is Aries. Assuming that the 7th lord venus is in Gemini rasi and Scorpio navamsa; then transit of Jupiter over Gemini or Scorpio can give marriage to the native. Further even if Jupiter in transit aspects Scorpio or Gemini, it can confer marriage.

Wedding Muhurthas

While fixing a nakshatra for a girl's wedding, only the following eleven are considered auspicious. These are (1) Rohini (2)Mrgashirsha (3)Makha (4)Uttaraphalguni (5)Hasta (6)Swati (7)Anuradha (8)Moola (9)Uttarashada (10)Uttara bhadrapada (11)Revati.
According to Vidhya Madhaveeyam, Makha and Moola are just about “Madhyama” or average and may be considered if there are no alternatives.

Exceptions in Muhurtha

In Kerala, there are a couple of exceptions with reference to marriage muhurtha in the case of females
1. As for nakshatras for males, their Janma nakshatra and its Anu-janma and Trijanma nakshatras are not auspicious for wedding. This rule does not apply to females as per a popular Malayalam verse quoted in “Poruthasagari”. It would appear that this exception is observed only in Kerala and not in other regions
2. Chandrashtama is not auspicious for men, but it is admissible for marriage for women as 8th rashi happens to be a mangalya bhava. This exceptional treatment in respect of women, as mentioned in “Poruthasagari” also appears to be followed in Kerala only, as no reference to this is found in other books on astrology.(Guide to Horoscope matching N Kameswaran, Page 389)

Inter caste marriages

Jupiter stands for customs and traditions. So also ,houses 5 and 9 stand for tradition. The unconventional planets are Saturn, Rahu, and Ketu. The 2nd house denotes one's own family while the 8th house denotes the family of the spouse. If 5,8 or 9 are afflicted by malefics( mentioned above) , inter caste marriage becomes possible. In a female chart, if the 7th house is afflicted by malefics, without the saving aspect of Jupiter, then also inter caste marriage becomes possible. The more the afflictions to these critical houses, the more varied the customs and traditions of the boy and his family would be.

The End