All 52 chapters
  1. Part 1 · The sky and the chart
  2. The sky above us
  3. Time and place of birth
  4. Two zodiacs
  5. How a chart is drawn
  6. Part 2 · The building blocks
  7. The 9 planets
  8. The 12 signs
  9. The 27 nakshatras
  10. The 12 houses
  11. The lagnas
  12. Part 3 · How planets work together
  13. How planets interact
  14. Friends, dispositors, exchanges
  15. House lords
  16. Reading one placement
  17. Part 4 · Strength and condition
  18. Dignity in depth
  19. A planet's mood
  20. Planetary strength
  21. Ashtakavarga in depth
  22. Part 5 · Patterns: yogas and doshas
  23. Yogas
  24. Doshas
  25. Part 6 · The nakshatras up close
  26. Reading a nakshatra
  27. Tara Bala
  28. Part 7 · Divisional charts
  29. Divisional charts
  30. Navamsa in depth
  31. Part 8 · Timing
  32. Dashas
  33. Transits
  34. The annual chart (Tajika)
  35. Part 9 · Relationships
  36. Compatibility
  37. Marriage in depth
  38. Part 10 · Advanced systems
  39. Special points
  40. Jaimini astrology
  41. Arudha padas
  42. KP astrology
  43. Nadi astrology
  44. Part 11 · Choosing the moment
  45. Panchanga
  46. Muhurta
  47. Prashna (horary)
  48. Part 12 · Life areas
  49. Career, money and business
  50. Travel, abroad, spirituality
  51. Health and longevity
  52. Karma and past lives
  53. Remedies
  54. Rectifying a birth time
  55. Part 13 · Western astrology
  56. Western astrology basics
  57. Aspects and chart shapes
  58. Western prediction
  59. Synastry
  60. Horary and electional
  61. Part 14 · The wider world
  62. Mundane astrology and eclipses
  63. Astrocartography and branches
  64. Part 15 · Putting it all together
  65. How it all fits
  66. How AstroMatch4u scores a chart
  67. Using astrology well
Part 12Life areas
CHAPTER 40

Karma and past lives

What does tradition say a chart carries from before?

Indian philosophy holds that each life continues the story of earlier ones, and astrology reads that story in symbols. Treat this as a way of thinking about your patterns, not as a record of history.

KetuWhat you have already mastered and are ready to let go of: natural talents that can feel oddly unsatisfying.
RahuWhere this life wants to grow: a hunger for what feels new, and the area of greatest learning.
The Rahu–Ketu axisTogether, the movement from the familiar (Ketu's house) to the unfamiliar (Rahu's house).
Atmakaraka and KarakamshaThe soul's main lesson and its deepest wish.
D60 (Shashtiamsha)The chart Parashara says shows past karma in the finest detail. Each of its sixty parts has a name, gentle or harsh.
5th and 9th housesPurva punya: good merit brought forward, shown as luck and grace.
8th and 12th housesHidden debts, endings and release.
SaturnThe planet of karma itself: what must be worked through with patience.
Retrograde planetsOften read as unfinished business returning for another go.

a school year that continues from last year. Some subjects you already know (Ketu), some you are taking for the first time (Rahu), and the report card from last year (D60) explains why.

the Past Life & Karma page reads your D60, Rahu–Ketu and karmic houses.

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