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 3How planets work together
CHAPTER 10

How planets interact

How do they work together, or against each other?

Planets rarely act alone, and the same two planets can mean very different things depending on where they meet. Mars and Venus together in the 7th house is about passion in marriage; the same pair in the 10th house is about drive and charm at work. There are three big ideas here: how planets see each other, how comfortable each one is where it sits, and whether they are friends.

1. Seeing: aspects

A planet influences the houses it "looks at", called its aspect or drishti. Every planet looks straight across the chart at the 7th house from itself. Three planets have extra, special aspects: Mars also looks at the 4th and 8th, Jupiter at the 5th and 9th, and Saturn at the 3rd and 10th. Planets sitting together in one house are in conjunction: they mix like colours of paint.

Counting from the planet's own house (1): every planet looks at the 7th, and Mars, Jupiter and Saturn look further.

2. Comfort: dignity

Every planet has one sign where it is exalted (at its very strongest), one or two own signs where it is at home, and one sign where it is debilitated (at its weakest). The debilitation sign is always exactly opposite the exaltation sign. A weak planet is not a disaster: tradition has rules, like Neecha Bhanga, that can "cancel" the weakness.

Where each planet is strongest, at home, and weakest. Notice each weakest sign is six signs from the strongest.

3. Friendship

Planets have natural friendships too. The Sun, Moon, Mars and Jupiter form one "team"; Mercury, Venus and Saturn form another. A planet sitting in a friend's sign is happier than one sitting in an enemy's sign.

Natural friendships. Friendship is not always two-way: the Moon has no enemies, but Mercury sees the Moon as one.
MoolatrikonaA planet's "office": part of a sign where it works especially well.
CombustToo close to the Sun: its light is drowned out, so it acts quietly.
RetrogradeSeems to move backwards from Earth: its energy turns inward and intense.
Planetary warTwo planets within a degree of each other: one "wins", the other loses strength.
Mutual aspectTwo planets looking at each other: a strong two-way link.
House lordshipWhich houses a planet rules. The house lords chapter is all about it.

Aspects in more detail

  • Rahu and Ketu: traditions differ. Many give them the 5th, 7th and 9th aspects (like Jupiter); some only the 7th; some none at all.
  • Graha drishti (planet aspects, above) comes from Parashara. The Jaimini school also uses rashi drishti, where whole signs aspect each other (see the Jaimini chapter).
  • Aspect strength: Parashara gives the 7th aspect full strength and the others partial strength (three-quarters, half, quarter) for every planet except the three with special aspects, whose special aspects count in full.
  • Aspects to the lagna, the Moon, a house and its lord are read separately. Jupiter's aspect on the lagna or the Moon is one of the most protective features a chart can have.

the aspects on your chart are drawn when you open "Meaning" beside a chart.

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