Mundane Astrology — Calendars, Chart Types & Live Analysis (US + India)

Mundane Astrology — Introduction

The Telugu lunar New Year was about to come, and students had asked how to judge the fortunes of a country for a year. Mundane astrology deals with countries, communities and groups of people.

Why It Differs from a Person's Chart

• In a natal chart a particular soul is trapped in a particular body with a particular mind, and the moment the body starts its independent existence decides the fortune of that existence
• For a country, a company or an institution: what is the soul? the body? the mind? These are tough to define
• Still, scholars have long held that a chart can be made for such entities

The Birth Chart of a Country

• India has existed for millennia, but on August 15, 1947 at midnight a new entity with a new set of principles began. Treat that moment as a person's birth. For India there is no controversy, and the annual charts from it make sense.
• That does not work for every country. Usually it is the independence chart, or the moment separate states came together — the definition itself is disputed.
• US: scholars use 10 or 15 different charts on different dates. Even on July 4, 1776 the time of signing is not known; the proposed times range over ten hours. PVNR tried all the charts he could find and was not happy with any.
• Iraq, Iran: when was the country born? Hard to define.

Vimshottari for a Country — Questionable

• Parashara: 120 years is the paramayush of human beings in Kali Yuga. He gives other paramayush values for horses, elephants, donkeys, crows; for them the nine dashas must be compressed into that span. The values also differ from yuga to yuga.
• So why 120 years for India or the US? Why not 200, 360 or 1000?
• PVNR and many astrologers do use the 120-year Vimshottari for countries and get some results, but the basis is questionable.
• Annual charts are not questionable. Tithi Pravesha and the Tajika solar return focus on one year, and all dashas are compressed into that year, so the paramayush question does not arise.

Charts That Need No Birth Data

Because the birth of a country is often not a well-defined event, scholars gave techniques that time events in a year, a month or a fortnight with no birth details at all: New Year charts, cast for the capital of the country.

• Two capitals (summer and winter)? Use the one in use at the time of the chart.
• Use the current capital, not one from 100 or 200 years ago.

"There are some other techniques which do not rely on the birth of a country."

Mundane Calendars — Complete Overview

Use the right chart for the right purpose. India has 10 or 15 calendars popular in different regions. The common practice is to take the New Year chart of one's own region and read everything from it. Better: take each New Year chart for its own kind of event, then combine.

"It's not that people of Tamil Nadu are the most brilliant people and people of Andhra are idiots. All these calendars have a purpose. Everything has a clear purpose."

Solar Calendars (Saura Mana)

In the solar calendar of Tamil Nadu and Kerala a month is the stay of the Sun in one sidereal sign, from one sankranti to the next (Mesha masa, Vrishabha masa, Mithuna masa…). The New Year comes around April 15.

• Which day is the New Year if the Sun enters Aries at 3 PM? Conventions differ: the sign of the Sun at sunrise, at noon, or at sunset. Sunrise and noon are the common ones. The choice is arbitrary.
• At least the day has to do with where the Sun is. In the Western calendar the lengths of the months were fixed arbitrarily; in the Indian solar calendar a month has 30 or 31 days according to how the Sun moves that year.
• Side point — noon as a muhurta. The Sun is strongest around noon because he is in the 10th house, the Indra sthana, and he is a karaka of that house. The class notes call it Abhijit muhurta. Some hold that if no good muhurta can be found, act at noon. But this is a thumb rule: with Capricorn rising the Sun in Libra is the 8th lord debilitated in the 10th. Take such rules with a pinch of salt.

Some take Capricorn as the most important of the four movable signs for Kali Yuga, and so take the Sun's entry into Capricorn as more important than his entry into Aries.

Amanta Lunar Calendars (Month Ends with Amavasya)

The month starts when Sun and Moon conjoin (Shukla Pratipada) and ends on Amavasya. The month is named from the sign of the conjunction. Telugu and Kannada people use it.

• The lunar New Year does not fall on a fixed day. It shifts by about 10 days a year and then jumps back, but always falls while the Sun is in that sign (Chaitra: roughly March 15 – April 15; Chinese New Year: roughly January 15 – February 15).
• Conjunctions in other signs may start New Years of their own. PVNR has not researched them.

Why Libra for finance? Libra is the 7th sign of the natural zodiac and the 7th is the house of business. Its symbol is the balance, and two people hold a balance: the goddess of justice and the businessman.

Why Gemini for weather? The 3rd house is the most important house for natural calamities and natural matters, and Gemini is the 3rd sign. Both weather charts — Ardra Pravesha and Ashadha Shukla Pratipada — fall in Gemini.

Why Capricorn for Kali? It is a tamasic sign ruled by Saturn, and Mars — the other tamasic planet, the planet of Kali Yuga — is exalted there. Jupiter is debilitated there: dharma is debilitated.

"There are clues everywhere. If only we read those clues."

Shuklanta Lunar Calendar (Month Ends with Full Moon)

The month starts with Krishna Paksha and ends at the Full Moon, when the Moon is exactly opposite the Sun.

• New Year chart for people of Orissa and Bengal (a student adds that some Tamil people use it too).
• Month names point to the Full Moon even in the Amanta calendar. Chaitra starts with a conjunction in Pisces, yet is named after Chitra, 180° away: on the Full Moon of that month the Moon is in Chitra. Next month it is in Vishakha (Vaishakha), then Jyeshtha. So Purnima matters in both calendars. Sanjay Rath holds that the Full Moon calendar was the original and the New Moon calendar was derived from it later; PVNR has no rigid view.
• Sanjay Rath's teaching: the Amanta calendar is for material, mundane events; Full Moon calendars are for spirituality.
• Why the Full Moon is spiritual: Sun is the karaka of atma, Moon of mind and desires, and the 7th is the house of desire. Whatever is in the 7th from Moon is what the mind desires. At Full Moon the Sun is in the 7th from Moon — the mind desires the soul. Hence Purnima is auspicious for pujas.

Aside: What the Signs Stand For

A student asks why pujas at a seashore, in caves or on mountains are held auspicious. PVNR is not sure of the reason, but uses it to ask which signs show these places:

• Pisces — seashore, the middle of the ocean, watery places, anything to do with liquids; prisons and hospitals (12th house, bandhana); the hermitage of a maharshi
• Aquarius — mountains, hills
• Capricorn — marshland. Makara means crocodile: an earthy sign tied to a water animal, so land with some water in it

These lists matter in prasna. Sources he names: his own book, Brihat Samhita and Brihat Jataka of Varahamihira, and the book on prasna (horary astrology) by Gayatri Devi Vasudev, daughter of B.V. Raman — one of the best lists he has seen.

Summary: Which Chart for Which Purpose

Casting the Charts in Jagannatha Hora

• Set the place to the capital of the country. The date entered only fixes "previous" or "next".
• The Mundane tab has buttons for: solar New Year (Aries), solar New Year (Capricorn), solar new month, meteorological New Year (Ardra Pravesha), annual and monthly Full Moon (Shuklanta), lunar New Year (Chaitra Shukla Pratipada), lunar new month, financial New Year (Kartika Shukla Pratipada). Pick a sign and press "new moon" for any other conjunction, e.g. Gemini for Ashadha Shukla Pratipada.
• The chart is cast for the moment the Moon is just ahead of the Sun, not behind. In the 2004 chart both are at 6°45'03" Pisces, the Moon ahead by 0.02".

Mundane Chart House Meanings

Very similar to a person's chart.

• A country going to war involves both the 3rd and the 6th: initiative and overcoming.
• Dharma is upheld at the material level by the courts and at the spiritual level by churches and temples. Judges and religious and spiritual leaders are both seen from the 9th lord.
• 5H came up only in passing: the house of emotions, and of power.

House, Lord, Occupants

A student suggests the occupant of the 10th is the president. PVNR's view (he says there is no clear classical guidance):

• 10th house = the administration — the governance given to the country. Inanimate.
• 10th lord = the administrator — the people who give that governance. The lord is the one whose agenda it is to promote the house, the intelligence behind it. Whether he governs well is a separate question.
• Occupants and aspectors of the 10th = other people involved, with agendas of their own: judges, legislators, businessmen, lobbies. Mars as 9th lord in the 10th could be an aggressive judiciary intervening in governance.

How a planet acts:

• House owned = its main agenda
• Graha drishti = the special desires it nurtures
• Rasi drishti or occupation = the influence it readily has

Analyzing the Mundane Chart

US Lunar New Year 2004 — Chaitra Shukla Pratipada, Washington DC

March 20, 2004, about 5:42 PM Eastern Standard Time. Leo lagna. Sun, Moon and Mercury in Pisces (8H); Jupiter in Leo (1H); Venus and Rahu in Aries (9H); Mars in Taurus (10H); Saturn in Gemini (11H); Ketu in Libra (3H).

Lagna and lagna lord — 1st/8th exchange

• Lagna lord Sun is in the 8H; 8th lord Jupiter is in lagna. An exchange of the 1st and 8th is always a Duryoga. It shows anxiety.
• Asked at the start of that year whether the economy would take off and people relax: no — the country continues to be anxious.
• Sun and Jupiter are friends and are in friendly signs, so it is far better than, say, Mars and Saturn making the same Duryoga. Still not good.

Finances — 2nd lord in 8H

• 2nd lord Mercury is in the 8H with the lagna lord. Mercury in the 8th is good; the 2nd lord in the 8th is not.
• 8H = inheritance, borrowing, big debts — material and karmic.
• Would the borrowing stop and the country turn fiscally responsible that year? No. Debt is on top of people's minds.
• This chart shows how people feel. How the finances and the stocks do is better seen from the Kartika Shukla Pratipada chart.

9th–10th exchange — Raja Yoga with friction

• 9th lord Mars in the 10H, 10th lord Venus in the 9H: a Raja Yoga, good for the ruler. A strong 10th lord = the executive wing does well that year. (Had the 10th lord been in the 8th in an election year, expect a change.)
• But Venus and Mars are terrible enemies. Enemies told to work together do it, with enmity.
• So: friction between the judiciary and the executive during the year; in the end things work out.

War — the 3rd house

• Ketu is in the 3H: aggression of the headless, thoughtless kind — and probably a mistake.
• Mars and Jupiter both aspect the 3H by rasi drishti. Mars reinforces the aggression. Jupiter brings second thoughts: thinking of peace and of the long term.
• So the country continues its war and its aggressive posture, but starts making some amends.

Friends — 6th lord in 11H

• Saturn, 6th and 7th lord, is in the 11H of friends. His agenda is war and a selfish foreign policy; in the house of friends he goes to them saying "this war is good, come and help us".
• The 11th lord (Mercury) is in the 8H. Not a great year for friendship in the world.

12th lord in 8H

• The 12th lord Moon is in the 8H. The 12th lord in the 8th is good.

Timing with the Compressed Vimshottari

The software compresses the 120 years into the length of the year — from this New Year to the next, found to the second. The class notes add that the dasha tab shows Narayana Dasha compressed into the year in the same way. The dashas run on the same dates for every country; the lagna differs.

• Jupiter dasha — from February 1, 2005 (February–March): a relatively better period. Jupiter is in lagna and is the 5th lord: some calm, a new beginning. His aspect on the 3H gave the wish to get other countries on board. Bush went to Europe to explain his position; Rice toured Europe and Asia. This is read from lagna, not from arudha — so the change in stance is there whether or not people come to know of it.
• Sun dasha: Sun is in the 8H — turmoil and anxiety. And Gulika is within half a degree of the Sun (Sun 6°45', Gulika 6°16' Pisces).

"If you see a planet very closely afflicted by Gulika, in that planet's dasha you can see some problems. And if the planet happens to be Sun or Moon, it's even worse."

On Gulika and Mandi: two sons of Saturn — one shows giving poison to others, the other receiving it. PVNR was taught that Mandi is what you receive and Gulika what you give; a student had heard it the other way. Some scholars hold the two are one, since no classic mentions both. Either way some poison is involved. He is like his father and worse: Saturn at least has some dharma; Gulika and Mandi do not have even that.

Foreign Policy — Use the Navamsa

Navamsa is the chart of relations and dharma, so foreign relations are judged there. Navamsa lagna is Sagittarius.

• Jupiter, navamsa lagna lord, is in the 10H: karma done by the country about its relations with others. Jupiter's period is good for it.
• Moon is the 8th lord in the 10H of the navamsa. Moon dasha ran October 12 – November 13, 2004: a bad time for a goodwill tour.

The Election Does Not Come Out of This Chart

• The election of November 2, 2004 fell in Moon dasha, Mercury antardasha. From the 10th lord these do not show the President returning. One can twist the logic to explain the win, but it does not come out naturally.
• Conclusion: the general lunar New Year chart is not the chart for an election.

PVNR's observation: in the US lunar New Year charts of the last six elections, the dasha at election time changed but the antardasha was always Mercury's. He does not know why. Mercury is the karaka of the election process in a democracy — counting votes, taking all views and forming one.

Election Analysis — Makara Sankranti Chart (Jan 14, 2004)

Why this chart? Mesha Sankranti shows high-level politics — the intrigues of the big parties, who leaves the administration and who comes in. An election is the masses reacting to politics: that is the Makara Sankranti chart.

Washington DC, January 14, 2004, about 1:04 PM EST. Taurus lagna. Venus in Aquarius (10H); Saturn in Gemini (2H); Rahu in Aries (12H); Moon in Virgo (5H); Mercury in Sagittarius (8H); Jupiter in Leo (4H); Mars in Pisces (11H). The election fell in Venus dasha of this chart.

The Ruler

• Lagna lord Venus in the 10H: the governance does something that makes the country feel good. That is about the country. It does not show the President coming back.
• For the President look at the 10th lord. Aquarius has two lords, Rahu and Saturn. Which is stronger? Count aspects from Jupiter, Mercury and the dispositor:
  • Rahu (Aries) — aspected by Jupiter only. His dispositor Mars does not aspect him. Count 1.
  • Saturn (Gemini) — aspected by Mercury, who is also his dispositor. Count 2.
  • Saturn wins.
• Take Saturn as lagna. Venus is the 5th lord from Saturn, placed in the 9th from Saturn. One trine lord in another trine: blessings, things that come easily. The 5th also shows power.
• Conclusion: the President is lucky in Venus dasha.

"He really got lucky. It wasn't even a prolonged election as people were expecting. If you look at the percentage of votes, he has a 3% margin; if you look at the electoral votes, he just made it because of Ohio. But finally he seems to have such a big mandate."

The Opposition

• The 6th house is the opponent of the country, not of the king. The opposition to the government is the 6th from the 10th = the 3rd house.
• 3rd house = the opposition party. 3rd lord = its leader. Here the 3rd lord is Moon, in Virgo.
• From Moon, Venus is in the 6th: the 2nd from the 5th, a maraka to the 5th — the end of the quest for power.
• From Moon, Venus is the 2nd and 9th lord, and Venus in the 6th is in Marana Karaka Sthana. The 9th lord in MKS: his protection is destroyed.
• Conclusion: not only Kerry — the whole opposition party suffered heavy losses.

With this chart nothing has to be twisted. PVNR's caveat: he has looked at a few tens of events in a handful of countries, not hundreds of charts, so some fine-tuning may be needed.

"If you stick to basics and if you think straight and if you think honestly, whatever answers you come up with will actually work, instead of trying to twist things."

Financial New Year Chart Analysis

Kartika Shukla Pratipada — Sun-Moon conjunction in Libra, November 12, 2004. The moment is the same everywhere; the lagna changes with the capital.

US — Washington DC, 9:28 AM EST, Scorpio Lagna

• Both lagna lords, Mars and Ketu, are in the 12H (Libra).
• Mercury, 8th and 11th lord, is in lagna. The 8th lord's agenda is anxiety, debt, borrowing. So the country's financial existence is governed by the principle of borrowing, and it lives with anxiety.
• Conclusion: a terrible year financially for the US.

India — New Delhi, Same Moment, Gemini Lagna

• Lagna lord Mercury is in the 6H. The 6th is an artha trikona and an upachaya (3, 6, 10, 11). Upachaya means growth, accumulation.
• Mercury suits it: the 6th and 8th are good houses for Mercury (the 7th is not). Malefics want to accumulate; Mercury, though not a malefic, is conducive to accumulation.
• The same placement reads differently by chart. Lagna lord in the 6th in the Chaitra Shukla Pratipada chart can mean a year of obstacles and wars. In the financial New Year chart it shows the country accumulating wealth.
• Raja Yoga in the 4H: Jupiter (7th and 10th lord) and Venus (5th lord) are together in Virgo, 7–8° apart — a functional Raja Yoga. Nobody is in lagna, but these two aspect lagna by rasi drishti (Virgo → Gemini). What an aspect does to lagna depends on who the aspector is; here it is a Raja Yoga pair.
• Venus is also the 12th lord. He gives both; the 5th is much stronger here, so those results show more, with some losses too.
• Conclusion: India has the better financial New Year chart — a good year financially.

Annual Full Moon Chart — Spiritual/Dharma Analysis

Vaishakha Purnima 2004

Sun at 20°47' Aries, Moon exactly opposite at 20°47' Libra (May 4, 2004, 20:33 UT). Read for how dharma will be upheld in the country during the year.

The placements PVNR reads — Moon and Ketu in the 9H, Venus in the 4H — are those of an Aquarius lagna, which is the chart for New Delhi (about 2:04 AM IST, May 5), the place left on screen from the India financial chart. Cast for Washington the same moment has Virgo lagna, with the eclipse on the 2nd–8th axis. The reading below follows the class.

The 9th lord

• 9th lord Venus is in the 4H in his own sign Taurus: fairly strong, well placed.

Eclipse in the 9th house

• Moon (6th lord) and Ketu are together in the 9H, within 3° of each other; Sun and Rahu are opposite in the 3H. Sun and Moon are eclipsed, on the 3rd–9th axis.
• Nodal affliction to other planets is not that bad. To Sun and Moon it is terrible.
• It falls in the dharma sthana itself → adharma done in the country during the year.
• Moon is Bhratri karaka. In natal charts BK shows the guru; in a country's chart, the spiritual leaders. BK eclipsed with Ketu → troubles to the spiritual leaders of the country.

Papakartari on the 9th lord

• Take 9th lord Venus as lagna. In the 2nd from him: Saturn and Mars (Gemini). In the 12th from him: Sun and Rahu (Aries).
• Papakartari from four malefics, not two.
• Those who uphold dharma are troubled. Sun and Rahu in the 12th — bandhana — so they can even be imprisoned.
• When in the year: left to the students to find from the dashas.

"If you try to see it from the other chart, you may not be able to see it. But when you see it from the annual Full Moon chart, you see that during this year there can be some troubles to spiritual leaders in the country."

Amanta Chart for US (April 8, 2005) — Gandanta Eclipse Chart

The next Chaitra Shukla Pratipada. The conjunction is on the afternoon of April 8, 2005 at Washington (about 4:32 PM EDT); the festival is on April 9. Leo lagna.

New Year During a Solar Eclipse

• The software's global solar eclipse runs from 12:51:30 PM to 5:18 PM in the chart's time zone. The New Year begins inside it.
• A chart cast for the start of an eclipse shows the events that follow from the eclipse in that country.

Gandanta

• Sun and Moon are at 25° Pisces; Rahu is at 29° Pisces, Ketu at 29° Virgo. The nodes eclipse the luminaries.
• Gandanta = the border between water and fire: Pisces–Aries, Cancer–Leo, Scorpio–Sagittarius. One navamsa on each side is inauspicious; the last degrees are extremely inauspicious.
• Rahu sits in that gandanta and afflicts Sun and Moon. Bad for some countries more than others.

The Rasi Chart

• Lagna lord Sun is in the 8H, afflicted by the gandanta Rahu → the tension is not over. More anxiety at home than in the year before.
• Mars exalted in the 6H (Capricorn) → more aggression from the US, more quarrels and meddling in other countries' affairs. Against whom — look at the other country's New Year chart.

Foreign Policy — the Navamsa

Navamsa lagna is Virgo.

• Mercury (navamsa lagna lord) is exalted and retrograde in lagna, with Ketu. Retrograde in exaltation is akin to debilitation. A weak Mercury shows indecision — doing this, then that. Ketu is confusion and mistake. So: headlessness and confusion about what steps to take.
• Venus exalted with Rahu in the 7H (Pisces). Venus is also the 9th lord. Both are planets of diplomacy: Rahu is the karaka, Venus the secondary karaka.
• So: more diplomacy than before and more cooperation from other countries, with confusion along the way.

"The teacher of demons is exalted, and he is with his favourite demon. Both of them will continue their demonic ways — which is actually good for diplomacy. Diplomacy is a demonic thing."

Bottom line for the year: more aggression, more anxiety at home, but better diplomacy. Details were left for the next class.

Vimshottari Dasha in Mundane Charts

Which Seed?

• In natal charts Moon is the most important seed. Even where lagna is stronger, Moon gives good results.
• In mundane charts take whichever is stronger. If lagna is even marginally stronger than Moon, use Lagna Vimshottari. It gives far better results.
• A seed is stronger when more planets are in kendras from it. The software's "Vimshottari seed strength comparison" lists the count for each candidate.
• In lunar New Year charts lagna rarely wins, because the Moon is with the Sun and so has a better chance of company. In the April 2005 chart the Moon's star has 7 planets in kendras, the lagna star 0.
• Utpanna tara (the 5th star from Moon's): if it has the bigger count, start from it.
• Where its condition applies, a conditional nakshatra dasha can be used as well.

Compression

• The 120 years are compressed into the year, measured from this New Year chart to the next.

"In mundane charts, you have to take whatever is stronger. If Lagna is marginally stronger than Moon, still take Lagna Vimshottari."