There are twelve signs of the zodiac. One of the signs happens to be the sign rising at the eastern horizon at the time of birth. This rising sign is called the lagna or the ascendant. The lagna happens to be the first house of the horoscope.By this is meant that the houses and signs do not coincide. The first house has the label of the sign rising at the time of birth, the second bears the label of the sign that will rise next, and so on.
The nine grahas (from the Sun to Ketu) or 'planets' are the occupants of these houses. The houses represent certain characteristics.The signs falling in these houses also represent certain characteristics, and the two intrmingle to indicate something newer.Then the planets which occupy them inflict further modifications.
In order to be able to make any fruitful predictions, it is essential to understand the meanings of the signs, houses and planets.
A Horoscopic Chart
(A) North Indian Chart is the one in which the order of the houses is fixed. It consists of four central rhomboidal houses (which are numbered 1, 4,7 and 10, starting from the upper central rhomboid) and eight triangular houses. The sign rising at the time of birth is marked in the first house or the upper central rhomboid, and the remaining signs marked in regular order in an anti-clockwise direction.
(B) The South Indian Chart has the signs in a fixed order in the chart. The lagna is marked in the appropriate sign. The remaining houses are counted in a clock-wise direction.
(C) An Eastern Indian Chart, often used in
Bengal and Orissa, also has the signs in a fixed order in the chart. The ascendant is marked in the appropriate sign. The remaining houses are counted in an anti-clockwise direction.
Whatever the type of horoscopic chart preferred, the planets are placed in the houses bearing the signs in which the planets are located astronomically.
