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 2The building blocks
CHAPTER 9

The lagnas: different starting points

Why count the houses from the ascendant, and from what else?

The lagna (ascendant) is the rising sign. It is the starting point for every house, because it is the one point of the chart that is personal to the minute and place of birth: two babies born an hour apart in the same hospital share planets but not lagnas. The lagna stands for you: your body, temperament and the lens through which you live everything else.

The planet that rules the rising sign, the lagna lord, is the most personal planet in the chart. Where it goes, your attention goes. A strong lagna lord is read as a strong constitution and a life you steer yourself.

the front door of a house. Every room is numbered from the front door, and a few special readings number the rooms from a different door to see the house from another angle.

Other starting points

Chandra LagnaCounting the houses from the Moon's sign. The chart of your mind and feelings. Transits and Sade Sati are read from here.
Surya LagnaCounting from the Sun's sign. The chart of your soul, father, status and health.
Arudha LagnaYour image: how others see you, as opposed to who you are. Explained in the Arudha chapter.
Bhava LagnaStarts at the Sun at sunrise and moves one sign every two hours. Read for the self and health.
Hora LagnaStarts at the Sun at sunrise and moves one sign every hour. Read for wealth.
Ghatika LagnaMoves one sign every 24 minutes (a ghati). Read for power, rank and authority.
Vighatika and other lagnasSome texts add even faster points, plus Sri Lagna (prosperity), Varnada Lagna and Pranapada. They need a very exact birth time.

The rule of three is common practice: a result promised from the lagna, the Moon and the Sun together is the strongest; a result seen from only one of them is weaker.

your lagna, Moon sign and Sun sign are on the Kundali Overview.

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