Jyotish Houses – Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth

We have looked at the first to third, fourth to sixth, and seventh to ninth houses of the Jyotish horoscope. Which leaves the houses ten, eleven, and twelve.

Tenth House

If  the ninth house is the pinnacle of the trinal dharma houses, the tenth house stands as the pinnacle of the angular karma houses. It represents status and achievement, through which a person’s actions are made public.

Along this same theme, the tenth house represents fame. A strong connection between the first house and the tenth house, for instance, is a promise of great fame, provided the planets involved in the connection are not blemished.

This house is especially significant for people who pursue a career in politics, as it represents the position accorded by a political seat. The actual seat of power is the fourth house, as we saw earlier. A strong emphasis on the tenth house in general signifies a career that is in the public eye.

Mars in the tenth house or aspecting the tenth house gives a boost to the career, but could also bring controversy and conflict. Jupiter connected to the tenth house could bring one to the limelight as the leader of a large enterprise, or a spiritual/religious leader, or one who is extremely idealistic.

This houses has several significators, or karakas: the Sun, Jupiter, Mercury, and Saturn.

In the previous post on the houses seventh through ninth, I analyzed Einstein’s horoscope with regard to the 9th houses. I want us to look at the horoscope again, with a focus on the 10th house:

We noted earlier that there is a parivartana yoga between the 9th and 10th house rules, Jupiter and Saturn: his work on understanding the cosmos (9th house) brought him global recognition and fame (10th house) to the point of being a household name. Other factors that light up the 10th house: Mercury is a karaka of the 10th house in the 10th house, Mercury is the ruler of the all-important 1st house or lagna, and is in the 10th house (connection between 1 and 10 for fame), Saturn is a karaka of the 10th house in the 10th house, Sun is a karaka of the 10th house in the 10th house. Jupiter is a karaka of the 10th house, and also rules the 10th house, plus exchanges signs with karaka Saturn so as to make it a resident of the 10th house by proxy. In other words, every single karaka of the 10th house is in the 10th house.

Since the 10th house has a strong affiliation with politicians, let’s take a look at the 10th house in the horoscope of Angela Merkel, former chancellor of Germany who led the country over a long period of stability and prosperity. Here’s her Jyotish chart:

Venus is in the 10th house in Leo. It is not a karaka, and it does not have any aspects to it. Not much going on there. The ruler of the 10th house is the Sun, which is place in the 9th house of Cancer. And this Sun is lit up like a Christmas tree. To start with, the Sun is also a karaka of the 10th house. And, of course, the Sun in any horoscope gets special importance by virtual of being the primary driver of the life agenda. The Sun is aspected by Saturn, another karaka of the 10th house. It is also aspected by Moon, which is as important as the Sun for any horoscope.

Next, Mars, another karaka of the 10th house, aspects the Sun. So now we have 3 out of 4 karakas of the 10th house acting on it by occupation or aspect. Of these the Sun gets three times the credit because it also rules the 10th, and is the Sun. Mars gets double credit because it also rules the langa, and thereby acquires tremendous significance. Note that this Mars-Sun aspect sets up the 1-10 connection that portends fame. Mars also aspects Mercury, the remaining karaka of the 10th house – an aspect from the lagna lord is always a sign of elevation of the planet’s importance.

All indications here back up Merkel’s rise as a politician all the way up to lead of the country.

Eleventh House

The eleventh house stands for gains, both material and spiritual. To analyze wealth, the eleventh house is crucial because it represents, in business terms, the return on investment (opposite fifth house). But whether this actually leads to accumulation or not depends on the second house. One can make a lot of money but the gains could be overrun by expenses (which are signified by the twelfth house).

Friends are signified by the eleventh house, as in Western astrology. Mars influencing the eleventh house could mean that the person picks arguments with friends and therefore drives them away or breaks contact with them, or that the friends are assertive individuals; Saturn’s influence could mean that the person is critical of friends or they are critical of him, or that the friends are wise and mature; Ketu could mean that the person’s friends are spiritual in nature; etc.

One of the specific Jyotish significations of the eleventh house for which there is no modern Western counterpart is recognition, in terms of certificates, or awards. Another signification is distinction, which typically brings recognition. Yet another related signification is victory or achievement. These are all gains, but of a non-monetary nature.

Being a kama house, i.e. a house of desire, this house signifies ambition (desire to do better) and motivation. A strong eleventh house can lend a lot of vigor and drive to the chart, as would a strong third house, and to a lesser extent, a strong seventh house, both of which are also kama houses.

Jupiter is the karaka of the eleventh house.

American actor Tom Hanks is possibly the most liked big star in Hollywood. He is extremely popular and has almost always played characters everyone can sympathize with. Here’s his horoscope, where I want to focus on the 11th house:

Mercury is in the 11th house in its own sign of Gemini. Sun is also in this house, and it is extremely important for two reasons: it is the Sun, and it rules the 1st house or lagna. As a result brings a lot of strength and power to the 11th house. Jupiter, the karaka of the 11th house is in the 1st house. We know by now that the parivartana yoga, where two planets exchange signs, adds a lot of substance to the chart. In this chart, I consider the Jupiter-Sun connection to be akin to the parivartana because Jupiter is the karaka of the 11th in the 1st, and Sun is the ruler of the 1st in the 11th. Jupiter is aspected by Mars which rules the 4th and 9th houses. As the ruler of the auspicious 9th house, Mars is endowed with the power to lend positive energy to everything to touches, and here, this positive energy is transferred to the 11th house via its karaka Jupiter.

The 11th house signification of honors and awards is borne out exceedingly well here: Tom Hanks won two back-to-back Oscars for best actor for his performance in Philadelphia (1994) and Forest Gump (1995), only the second actor to ever do so in consecutive years. In 2016, he received a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. He has also been awarded the French Legion of Honor.

Twelfth House

The twelfth house has many, somewhat disparate, meanings.

The most well-known signification of the twelfth house is intuition and a sixth sense to suss out that which is not perceptible through the regular senses. The twelfth house is strong in clairvoyants and seers who can penetrate the veil of material reality to see beyond.

The twelfth house signifies loss. The placement of the first house ruler in the twelfth could indicate the loss of ego through empathy with the universal; the placement of the twelfth house ruler in the first house could mean the same thing. Loss of money (ruler of second in twelfth, for instance), loss of property (connection between foruth and twelfth), etc. can be inferred accordingly.

Another meaning of the twelfth house that is more modern is international issues. The first house ruler in the twelfth house could mean international name recognition. The Sanskrit word for this is prasiddhi more like a brand recognition rather than a personalized manifestation of fame. Also, the ruler of the second or the eleventh in the twelfth house could indicate income from foreign sources. Thus, the twelfth house need not indicate penury—in fact, if other factors (such as a strong Jupiter which is the karaka for wealth) permit, a lit up twelfth house could indicate a very wealthy person.

The concept of internationalism or globalism derives from the classical signification of remote regions, which in the ancient days spelled doom. A person was ostracized or banished from his or her cultural mileu to far away places – the Hindu mythology including the epic Ramayana is full of stories of banishment and redemption. In the current day and age, a person who emigrates to a foreign land goes away to a remote place, and does suffer separation from family and friends, but for most people this often brings compensating advantages and opportunities.

Finance has to do with the twelfth house, especially when a person is involved in budgeting and controlling expenses, since expense is a monetary loss.

The twelfth house rules bargains, as one aspect of savings. With a strong twelfth house, one may find good bargains on things one buys. For instance, with Mars as the fourth ruler aspecting the twelfth, one may be able to buy property at bargain prices.

Saturn is the natural significator or karaka of the twelfth house.

The following is the horoscope of Caroline Myss, a renowned medical intuitive and author of several highly regarded books on related topics:

We look to the 12th house for intuition. Right away we see that the 12th house is extremely powerful. Saturn is in Libra, which is its sign of exaltation. Saturn is also the karaka of the 12th house. Thirdly, Jupiter aspects Saturn, and the interesting thing here is that the aspect is from the 6th house of health. (Recall that the sixth house is a significator of doctors, i.e. people who are in the business of restoring health.) “Medical intuitive” is a fitting manifestation of the 6th house Jupiter aspecting Saturn in the 12th house. To add even more strength to this reasoning is the aspect of Jupiter on Venus, which rules the 12th house.

Summary of natural significators – karakas – of the houses

In the discussion on the Jyotish houses, I have detailed the natural significators or karakas of each of the houses. The karaka is a crucial factor in interpreting the effects of a house, and must always be considered alongside the specific house ruler depending on the horoscope. For instance, say the 6th house is in the sign of Taurus. Then its ruler would be Venus. But its natural significators are still Mars and Saturn. So to analyze the effects of the 6th house, you would need to look at Venus, Mars, and Saturn.

The following table summarizes the houses for which each of the planets Sun through Saturn are the karakas: