EYE ON ASTROLOGY:Â THE SCHOOLS OF KARMA–DOING YOUR WORK
I often find people lamenting the state of their planets or boasting about them. Oh, my Venus is debilitated or have an exalted Mars. The rules around these strong or weak planets are very complex depending on the ruler of the chart, what houses and constellations they are located in, what planets are aspecting them etc.  I like to liken reading charts to reading strands of DNA–very complex always.
But what is clear, so often the planets that are strong in our chart are a result of lessons of that planet learned in past lives and inherited and brought as gifts into this life to help others. For example, I am Scorpio rising and have Mars in Aries in the 6th house which is a wonderful placement and means I have probably had a lot of military lives and learned the highest meaning of service in that life and that has helped me this life in being of service to others and offering spiritual service and sacrifice without expecting anything in return.
Lets say you have a debilitated Venus in your chart and even if it has some good placements or is good for your rising sign, you probably have come to the planet to learn major lessons around relationship and not being too critical and analytic around them.
As is always the case in Vedic astrology, there are so many colorations. So often, an exalted planet Mars in Capricorn for a good sign like Mars for Aries rising gives too much power and may create a “general” who is so competent that no one can handle his power. I see this often with Leos with exalted Suns, they are so powerful, they burn others up and suffer their “kingship” as people want to usurp them. . Sometimes a debilitated Sun for certain rising signs, including Leos, may create a beautiful devotee at an ashram or a very sweet shy person. It is thought that the most balanced planets are when they are in their own sign or Moola Trikona like having Mars in Aries for a Scorpio or Venus in Libra for a Libra but always, there are so many different combinations that one cannot generalize.
Hence the strong planets that are well places in  in our charts suggest that we have learned the lessons of those schools while the weak planets or afflicted planets are the ones we need to focus on. Hence if you are a good athlete because you have a strong Mars in the 5th house for the right rising sign, you may tend to spend your time boosting your ego and feeling good about yourself by competing and winning in sports. But if you fall on your face in relationships and have gone through 2-3 marriages, you might even give up on this area and say “why bother?”
We are here on this planet to bring up the weaker planets and to learn the lessons of their schools. We tend to take the easy way out and do things that are easy for us to get our ego stroked and shy away from the things that are hard for us or that we tend to fail in.    We want praise rather than the failure that comes with our difficult lessons.
Do your work and the next time you come around, that planet will be stronger. One can often see this in comparing the placements in the rising sign to the D-9 or navamsha chart. If you have a debilitated Venus in the natal chart, but it is exalted and in a good sign in the navamsha chart, it may indicate that as you mature after the age of 40 or just by getting married that difficult placement may get alleviated. But in some charts it gets worse later in life.
My point is “go for it.” Do your work.  Lift up your weak planets and placements so that you do not have to come back and repeat those same errors and tendencies. Again I come back to Bill Murray in the movie “Groundhog Day.”   If you are jerk, learn to be a gentleman, a contributor to the community, an artist and a love of life so that you can wake up out of your personal nightmare.  Placements and connections to the 3rd house, a growth house, give you max. ability and courage to make those changes. Connections to the 12th house can often be the most difficult and in fact if you can liberate the 12th house planetary lessons where you are really stuck, you have a chance to gain moksha or enlightenment because that which imprisons you (12th house is prison or hospital or ashram) also enlightens you.
My fall class on Vedic Psychology will have a lesson devoted to this material. (see: https://www.appliedvedicastrology.com/webinar-register/vedic-astrology-live-webinar/)  Â
I have also developed personal transformational counseling work using astrology and have formed a team of professionals to help you transform your deepest issues.  See my website at : https://www.appliedvedicastrology.com/transformational-counseling/.
While we all want a magic bullet with a puja or mantra or gem to take away our suffering, these remedies can clear the smoke in your mind so that you can act and make changes in your life– but you have to make the changes. With Saturn weak in transit til March 15th, there are no free rides, so do your work–but do it with love. God does not want us to beat ourselves up. Have fun with it and enjoy. Happy Valentine’s Day!
Om Tat Sat.
