Planetary Positions vs Vimshottari Dasas

There seems to be a tendency out and about, to apply the Vimshottari scheme of planetary periods to the timing of events in an over simplistic, mechanical way. Perhaps this tendency is less so amongst those practitioners who were born and raised in families of astrologers where the very family environment was rich with experience and tradition.

Be that as it may, there are more telling factors than just the planetary periods, such as Vimshottari Dasa in explaining events. And the Vimshottari scheme is not absolute even among planetary periods because there are other schemes which, although they are not as efficacious as Vimshottari (according to Parasara), they still count. It has even been observed that sometimes a combination of other schemes of planetary periods have indicated an event although Vimshottari had not done so very clearly.

Surely, though, there is no astrological indicator as strong as the indicators within the chart itself. That is to say, the timing of events is indicated with the greatest authority judging from house position, sign,position, lordship and Karakattwa.

I remember earlier on when I was very new to astrology, I looked at the chart of a friend whose daughter wanted to marry someone, and my friend wanted to know if she would. She was a bit young, but she was passing through the Vimshottari Bhukti of Venus in the 7th. and it seemed well-placed, so I thought that she would. But I hadn’t factored in on Saturn’s aspect on the house and its lord . Well! she  didn’t end up getting married until quite a bit later on. Saturn is the planet of time and delay, so its placement and aspect are also a factor in timing.

And that the planets have ages is another important factor, too. This is defined in the classic literature. For example, the Sun is 50 years old, relatively speaking. In my chart, the Sun sits in the ascendant in Cancer, a sign which relates to beaches, ocean fronts and crabs. I live about 40 miles from a port town which doubles up as a nice beach town where we had an apartment, a block from the beach. Just after I turned 50,1 fancied going there and spend a year of my life in the apartment, where I was exposed to the sandy beach, the Sun, the ocean and crabs. When an individual reaches the age of a planet, the indications of that planet tend to manifest in his or her life.

Also, there are events which occur at certain times during one’s life according to the timing of the planets in their houses, signs, lordships and Karakattwa and these events can take place without there being a corresponding Dasa or planetary period to frankly indicate it. When such events come to the attention of an astrologer, they can communicate that a certain planet’s Karma is becoming activated and suggest that other indications of that planet will be manifesting soon. As such, they can be called indicator events.

For example, the horoscope of the Beatle Paul McCartney (Chart I) is puzzling with regard to the moment of Paul’s transition from a humble status to a life of fame, great success and wealth. His Venus Dasa began on the last day of 1956 and continued until 1976. It encompassed all of Paul’s positive Beatle Karma and his success with his later band, Wings. The question is – why did it take 6 years or so from 1957 until the end of 1963 and the beginning of 1964 – for this great transition to take place?

Before the transition to success, Paul passed through the Bhuktis of Venus-Venus Venus-Sun and Venus-Moon as the member of a rock and roll band which had achieved nothing more than a decent amount of regional fame; and his financial situation was quite bad during those years.

And how could it be that the same major planetary period which oversaw a lack of success and finances for an extended period of years also oversaw the years of a life of fame, status and wealth? A major planetary period which encompasses such extremes for such long periods of time cannot be deterministic in an absolute way, in and of itself. Either things are or they aren’t To tell the truth, the major planetary period of Venus failed to indicate two extremes, although it did indicate his involvement in music per se.

Venus itself is a negative lord of houses when Leo rises, so simply put, the influence of Venus as lord of the Dasa was not enough to bring about the Beatle Karma of fame, success and wealth. It wasn’t Venus that got the job done, and this goes double for the initial Bhukti of Venus in Venus Dasa.

One understanding that we can walk away with is that the Raja yoga super fame millionaire results of the chart were able to manifest through the Dasa of Venus, and this is largely due to the fact that Venus indicated his involvement with music. But Venus did not indicate his level of success and wealth.

The Sun seems to be Paul’s most powerful planet as he owns the Ascendant, and sits in the best house for occupation, the 11th. But although the Venus-Sun Bhukti was positive for Paul and other Beatles, it did not at all bring about the powerful Beatle Karma, not at all. So it may be noted that not even the Venus Dasa coupled with such a strong Bhukti lord as the Sun could make Paul the man that he became.

The Moon occupies the evil 12th house in his own sign, but it was, of course, such a new Moon that it had no strength to life Paul up. The Venus Moon period was a  disaster in its performance due to the loss of a fifth Beatle Stu Sutcliff who passed away due to cerebral hemorrhage.The band had to regroup while Paul became proficient on Stu’s instrument, the bass guitar, in order to take Stu’s place; and here is the saving grace indicator-event in this unfortunate happening. But how about a little bit of background, first?

During the period and sub period of Venus-Mars, the Beatles and Paul achieved a good bit of success on the music charts with a number one song in Great Britain. But since Mars occupies the evil 12th in his debilitation sign, this was as far as it went. Then, during Venus-Rahu, the Bhukti lord Rahu was able to mimic the results of his sign-dispositor Sun. What was the indicator in Paul’s chart that only allowed the transition to manifest itself in the Bhuktis of Mars and Rahu in Venus Dasa? And not before?

Rahu was able to reflect solar results on a level that the solar sub period itself had not been able to do. Rahu may be Vargottama, but being Vargottama in the sign of its great enemy and nemesis, Sun, is nothing to write home about. So again, if Rahu was able to reflect the outstanding results of his solar sign lord, why hadn’t such results manifested in the Sun Bhukti itself ?

One indicator was the “event” or happening, of Paul’s taking up the lower-pitch bass guitar, which corresponds to Saturnine influence because Saturn is the planet of the bass cleft. The Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., had a display for the longest time called ‘The Family of the Sun’. There, a person could hear through a headphone the radiations emitted by the different planets. Saturn’s radiation sounded like a very low-pitch hum, while the radiation of Mercury, in contrast, was at such a high pitch that it almost sounded like a whistle.

Notice that Saturn sits in the artistic and musical sign of Taurus in the house of profession. In other words, Paul’s is the chart of a super Beatle who plays the bass guitar as a profession. As long as Paul did not play the bass, it was as if to say that the puzzle was not complete. Thus, the chart did not open up the floodgates of its unique Karma. (After his Beatle years, he did come to play other instruments on stage, more than as a Beatle. But those years were not like the Beatle years, and he had already achieved his main fame and success)

The reader should know that Saturn truly is another of Paul’s great planets who indicates a personality of great success, influence and wealth. That Paul took up the bass guitar was an event that was indicative of the fact that Saturn’s tremendous results were starting to manifest.

This happened irrespective of the Dasa of Venus or of the Bhukti of Rahu, because Saturn doesn’t directly influence either of these planets. And things were no different in the Yogini scheme because the Rahu Dasa was in effect in the Yogini scheme, too. So it is seen even in the timing of events, indications of the chart itself are more indicative and wholly accurate than Vimshottari Dasa is.

It could also be interpreted that, earlier on, being member of a rock and roll band was a way for Paul and the other Beatles, still adolescents, to have fun and make a little spending money for recreation. However, just a bit prior to their success, the Beatles contracted a manager and their attitudes and demeanor took on a more professional aspect. That Paul became more serious about his music as a profession was just another indication that the influence of Saturn was beginning to manifest (because Saturn occupies the house of profession as a very serious planet). Also, Paul was coming into the professional and working period of his life, even age-wise, so Saturn’s results had to begin manifesting.

Of course, for an astrologer to interpret in this way is not always practical, because the astrologer would need to have intimate insight into the life of the native of the chart. But this example just goes to show that there are indications of events and of timing that are found in the chart itself, but that are not evident in the planetary periods. We always have to understand timing through the chart itself as much as by the planetary periods or even more so.

Just to add some icing to the cake, let’s see one more example from the horoscope of Ginger Rogers (Chart 2). Firstly, the mother of Ginger Rogers had constantly trained and cultivated her as an actress, dancer and on-stage performer ever since she was a little girl of six years . By the time Ginger was thirteen, she was traveling with her mother by train from city to city to perform as a vaudeville entertainer. After some time, her mother was able to arrange interviews with important people in the theater and entertainment industry. Eventually, her mother took the girl to Hollywood where she got the young lady some parts in films and carried out the role of the girl’s agent and manager.

Ginger’s bright Moon is in the house of profession as the lord of the 3rd. the house of artistic endeavors, and the lord-of-the- Ascendant, Venus, sits in the house of mother. So her mother’s role is not surprising. What is surprising is that the major planetary period of the Moon did not start until she was 78 years old! In this case, then, the Vimshottari scheme did not indicate the timing of her mother’s role.

But house placement and lordship did indicate he timing. The Moon and Venus occupy and aspect the house of profession, respectively; and the Moon represents her mother while Venus occupies the house of mother. The professional years in a person’s life are-from around 20 years of age to about 55 or 60. So the influence of her mother on her career during the years of her adult life is very obvious according to the chart itself. That she started so early in life because of her mother is an issue of timing, too, and the involvement of the Ascendant lord in the 4th, the house of mother, accounts for this.

Secondly, the first part of her Hollywood career took place during the major planetary period of Saturn; she had already been one of the most famous Hollywood actresses, who could pack a theater all by herself, for a few years or so by the time Saturn ended and the major Mercury period began.

But Saturn didn’t at all indicate such success, nor its timing. Saturn is in the house of loss in her chart, in his debilitation sign of Aries, in the Navamsa of another Martian sign, Scorpio! In defense of Saturn, it is true that he is the Yogakaraka. But usually Saturn in such circumstances can lead one to rightfully conclude that the native of the chart lost her Yogakaraka: not that the person must be a Hollywood actress who can pack a theater all by herself! Also in defense of Saturn, it is noteworthy that the planet does indicate that she was poorly paid during the Saturn years.

Even so, Saturn didn’t at all indicate her success and fame, nor the timing. As we have seen above, the Moon and Venus indicated her success and its timing very well.

Nothing, but nothing in a horoscope is more indicative of an event and timing than the house position, sign position, lordship and Karakattwa.