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The First House: Part I

By Michael Laughrin, Michael@jyotish.ws
First of all, as far as I am concerned, the first house and its ruler account for at least 50%
of the "juice" of a Jyotish chart. In other words, the first house is as important as all the
other 11 houses put together.
Why does the first house get so much attention? Well, let us examine it more carefully.
The first house rules the body, mind, personality, self-confidence, and general chances
of name and fame.
Here are some common astrological issues:
1. Health is ruled primarily by the first house and not by the 6th house (Western
astrologers, in particular, have this difficulty). The 6th house rules sickness.
2. Everyone thinks that career is ruled by the 10th house. Well, all angles -- houses
1, 4, 7 and 10 stand for action (Lord Vishnu) and the most important of the angles
is, you guessed it, house Number 1. Therefore, career can also be determined by
the planets in the first house and/or the lord of the first house (especially if it is
strong) or planets aspecting the first house if they are strong.
3. Marriage is ruled by the 7th house and Venus but the tendency to get married and
how one acts while married is ruled, at least according to me, primarily by the
first house.
4. No matter how weak the first house or its ruler is, the first house is YOU. The
first house shows your personal style -- how you dress, how you walk, talk, carry
yourself and act. Embrace it. Enjoy it.
5. When the dasha running in your chart is the dasha of the lord of the 1st, that is the
time for Yourself
A. Dasha of the 7th house - one tends to be dominated by the spouse, or fame,
or the concerns of others
B. Dasha of the 5th house - dominated by children or creativity or mantras
C. Dasha of the 9th house - dominated by the guru or one's teachers, one's
father or one's religious preceptors
D. Dasha of the 11th house - one is dominated by concerns for friends, social
groups or the strong desire for money.
6. One may have all kinds of glorious yogas in one's chart, but if the first house is
not strong, those combinations for power or wealth or fame will not much
manifest.

I mentioned several times in the paragraphs above, "if the first house is strong." How do
we decide if the first house is strong or not?
Here are some possible signs of a strong first house:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Lagna lord in the lagna.

Lagna lord in a friendly sign.
Lagna lord in house 4, 5, 7, 9 or 10 (usually indicates great strength).
Lagna lord in house 2 or 11 indicates moderate strength.
Lagna lord is vargottama.
The exact ascendant degree is vargottama.
Natural benefics (one or more) are in the first house. The natural benefics are the
Moon (but it must be at least 60 degrees away from the Sun), Mercury, Venus and
Jupiter.
8. Natural benefics aspect the first house.
9. The lord of the 1st is conjunct one or more natural benefics.
10.The lord of the 1st is aspected by one or more natural benefics.
11. Subhakartari Yoga means "hemmed in by benefics." In other words, if there are
natural benefics in the 12th house and the 2nd house, that is a great sign of
strength for the 1st house.
12.The closer the rising degree is to the exact middle of the rising sign (15 degrees is
the best degree), the stronger the 1st house is.
Conversely, here are some signs of weakness for the first house:
1. The rising degree is sandhi (either 29 degrees, 0 degrees or 1 degree of a sign).
2. The lagna lord is combust. Narendra Desai, one of my Jyotish gurus, did not
much worry about combustion unless the planet and the Sun were also in the
same Navamsha - in other words, the two planets have to be 3 and 1/3 degrees
apart or less.
3. The lagna lord is sandhi.
4. The lagna lord is in house 6, 8, or 12.
5. The lagna lord is conjunct 1 or more natural malefics (Sun, Mars, Saturn, Rahu
and Ketu).
6. The lagna lord is aspected by one or more natural malefics.
7. Natural malefics (one or more) are in the first house.
8. Natural malefics aspect the first house.
9. Papakartari Yoga is when the first house is '"hemmed in by malefics."' in other
words, the 12th house and the 2nd house each has a natural malefic in it.
Confused? Just add up the strong qualities of the first house, then subtract the weak
qualities and see what sort of number you get.
I sometimes think that you could do a pretty good Jyotish reading simply by a deep,
thorough analysis of the first house (and maybe the Sun and the Moon, if you have extra
time).

My conclusion? Know the first house and you will know the chart (and the person).
(c) copyright 2009 Michael Laughrin.
From the December 2009 / January 2010 issue of Michael Laughrin's North American
Jyotish Newsletter.