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 11Choosing the moment
CHAPTER 36

Prashna: the chart of a question

Can astrology answer a question without a birth chart?

A birth chart asks "what does my life hold?". A prashna (horary) chart asks "what is happening with this question right now?". It is cast for the moment a sincere question is asked and understood by the astrologer, so it needs no birth time at all. Kerala has a famous tradition of it, written down in the Prashna Marga.

How a prashna chart is judged

  • The question must be clear, specific and sincere. "Will I get this job I interviewed for last week?" works; "tell me about my life" does not.
  • The lagna is the person asking; its lord is their main significator.
  • The house of the question and its lord: the 7th for marriage or a dispute, the 10th for a job, the 5th for pregnancy, the 2nd for lost money, the 4th for property, the 9th or 12th for travel abroad, the 6th for illness or a lawsuit.
  • The Moon shows the flow of the matter; a strong, waxing Moon helps.
  • Connection: if the lagna lord and the question's lord meet by aspect or conjunction (an applying link), the matter tends to come together.
  • Timing is read from the distance (in degrees) still to go before the link completes, converted to days, weeks or months by the signs involved.
Yes or noBenefics in kendras and a link between the two lords: yes. Malefics on the lagna and the question's house with no link: no.
Lost objectsThe 2nd house and its lord, the 4th (where it is) and the Moon's sign (direction).
MarriageThe 7th house, Venus, and a link between the lagna lord and the 7th lord.
Career and legalThe 10th for work; the 6th (opponent) against the 1st (you) for a case.
PregnancyThe 5th house and its lord, Jupiter, and the Moon.
AshtamangalaA Kerala method that also reads eight auspicious objects and signs (nimittas) seen at the moment of asking.

KP astrology has its own horary method using a number from 1 to 249 (the KP chapter), and Western astrology has a long horary tradition of its own (the Western horary chapter).

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