The Nine Planets (Navagraha)

Vedic astrology uses nine "grahas". The word means "that which grasps" — something that takes hold of the mind and of events. Seven are visible bodies; two, Rahu and Ketu, are the points where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's.

The nine grahas

• Sun (Surya) — the soul, father, authority, government, vitality and self-respect.
• Moon (Chandra) — the mind, mother, emotions, comfort, public and fluids.
• Mars (Mangal) — energy, courage, land, younger brothers, sports, surgery and quick action.
• Mercury (Budh) — speech, intellect, trade, accounts, writing and adaptability.
• Jupiter (Guru) — wisdom, teachers, children, wealth, faith and good advice.
• Venus (Shukra) — love, marriage, beauty, art, comfort, vehicles and luxuries.
• Saturn (Shani) — discipline, patience, labour, delay, old age, service and justice.
• Rahu — ambition, foreign things, technology, sudden rise and unusual paths.
• Ketu — detachment, research, spirituality, past habits and sudden separation.

Natural benefics and malefics

Jupiter, Venus, a bright Moon and a well-joined Mercury are called natural benefics: they tend to support what they touch. The Sun, Mars, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu are natural malefics: they bring pressure and effort. But this is only the first layer. A malefic that rules good houses for your ascendant can give excellent results, and a benefic that rules difficult houses can bring problems. Always read a planet by the houses it rules for your chart.

Friends and enemies

Each planet has natural friends, neutrals and enemies. A planet placed in the sign of a friend works comfortably; in the sign of an enemy it feels restricted. This is one of the five checks used before suggesting any gemstone.

No planet is simply "bad"

Saturn teaches patience and rewards steady work. Rahu can give great success abroad or in technology. Ketu gives depth and insight. The right question is not "is this planet bad?" but "what is this planet asking me to learn, and when?"

Planets as karakas

Each planet is also the natural karaka (significator) of certain things, whatever house it rules:

• Sun — father, authority, the soul.
• Moon — mother, the mind, nourishment.
• Mars — younger siblings, land, energy.
• Mercury — intelligence, trade, communication.
• Jupiter — children, teachers, wisdom; the husband in the traditional view of a woman's chart.
• Venus — the spouse, love, vehicles, art.
• Saturn — servants, longevity of effort, discipline.
• Rahu — foreign matters, the unusual.
• Ketu — spiritual release, research.

When reading any subject, astrologers look at both the house and its karaka. For children, for example, the 5th house and Jupiter are read together.

Planetary aspects

All planets aspect the 7th house from where they stand. Three have special extra aspects:

• Mars — the 4th and 8th houses from itself.
• Jupiter — the 5th and 9th houses from itself.
• Saturn — the 3rd and 10th houses from itself.

Rahu and Ketu are often given Jupiter-like aspects (5th and 9th) by many astrologers.

A worked example

Take a Leo ascendant chart with Saturn in the 7th house. Saturn rules the 6th and 7th houses for Leo, so it is the 7th lord placed in its own house (Aquarius) — a stable placement for marriage, often with a mature partner. Saturn's 3rd aspect falls on the 9th house and its 10th aspect on the 4th house, so it also brings duty towards father, teachers and home. One planet thus touches four areas of life.

Common mistakes

• Calling Saturn "bad" and Jupiter "good" without checking lordship. For a Taurus ascendant, Saturn rules the 9th and 10th houses and is the best planet; Jupiter rules the 8th and 11th.
• Ignoring dignity. A benefic in debilitation may struggle to give its results.
• Ignoring Rahu and Ketu's sign lords. The nodes act through the lord of the sign they occupy.

Frequently asked questions

Why are there no Uranus, Neptune or Pluto? Traditional Vedic astrology uses only the planets visible to the eye, plus the two nodes. Some modern astrologers add the outer planets, but the classical system does not need them.

Which planet is most important in my chart? The ascendant lord, the strongest planet by Shadbala and the lord of the running dasha usually matter most.