Question 1

How does an astrologer judge whether a chart is strong or weak other than having good yogas?

Accepted Answer

Yes, I personally do that analysis as a first step. Judging the foundation of the horoscope is very important to access the overall strength of the horoscope. All yogas will work to the extent in which the foundation is strong. Let me give some thumb rule here,

Trine(1st house, 5th house, and 9th house) are like the foundation of the horoscope. Unless the foundation is strong, a building can’t survive long. In a similar way, strong Trine lord or benefic aspection of Trine house indicate that native will have an overall good life.
Kendra(1st house, 4th house, 7th house, and 10th house) are like pillars of the horoscope, Kendra occupied by benefic is considered auspicious. So benefic planet occupying or aspecting Kendra is another point to consider to see if the horoscope is strong.
Lagna represents self, a strong Lagna lord itself is a clear indication that native will come up in life without much odds. Dusthana houses(6th house, 8th house, and 12th house) without any planet itself is a good sign. There is a popular saying that “Without illness is the greatest wealth”. So 6th house(represents disease) free from affliction is much better than having Dhana Yoga and afflicted 6th house.
Last but not least dasha bukti, even if some of the planets are afflicted and the corresponding dasha doesn’t come for the native then native will not see much impact of bad dasha. On other hands if one planet(say Venus) is much afflicted and comes in middle life(say for 20 years) then most of the time in precious age will be difficult.

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Question 2

What are some indications of a strong willed person in a birth chart?

Accepted Answer

If you look back history, all the success people without any exception had a strong willpower. Many think willpower to make a strong decision lies at conscious level but it mainly depends on subconscious programming.

The scientists show that most of our decisions, actions, emotions and behavior depend on the 95% of brain activity that is beyond our conscious awareness, which means that 95 – 99% of our life comes from the programming in our subconscious mind.

Neuroscientist now proved that affirmation of one particular thought for a long time can create new neural connections and thus the subconscious mind is programmed to act accordingly.

To understand this, let me give a simple example. When you learn to drive a car, for the first few weeks you will be consciously pressing the clutch, changing the gears in traffic. But after you become profilic in driving, you may be thinking about something else but still without your awareness you would be pressing the clutch and changing gears in the traffic. The same holds good for willpower. If someone practice to have a strong willpower for quite some time then it will become a habit.

Moon is the karaka for Mind. The strong moon will make a person to strict to affirmation and thus to develop a new habit. Even if the chart has number of afflictions including many debilitated planets, a strong Moon and strong Lagna lord is sufficient to have strong willpower to overcome all the hurdles in life.

In addition to the Moon, Mars rules courage and Jupiter rules wisdom. So well placed Mars and Jupiter in the horoscope will give additional strength in executing the plan with courage and balance.

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Question 3

If astrology was true, why aren't the astrologers the most successful people?

Accepted Answer

You have presumed that astrology will make someone to be successful without any effort. Thinking astrology as a magical tool to achieve success in life is no more than ignorance. Think about following scenarios,

If modern medicine is flawless then why doctors get disease?

If priest in temple takes care of daily rituals of god then why they can’t magically get anything?

If teachers would know answers to every question, then why don’t they go and clear all the tough exams in the country?

In all the above scenario, people are doing service. Doctors have compassion for patients, teachers have great intention for their students success and astrologer have great wisdom to help people to understand their karma.

Secondly do you think successful is all about acquiring material things?

If having wealth is the ultimate success in life then why suicidal incidents happen for billionaires.

In my personal experience, anyone who practices astrology(with right spirit) will have strong Jupiter which is the planet of wisdom. A good astrologer will always have great wisdom of life, they will be matured enough to differentiate material success and content that comes through compassion and caring.

There are few unethical astrologer who may be making lot of money by cheating common people, which is true in any other profession like doctors who fears his patients, teachers who abuses his students etc.

So In summary, astrology is not magical tool to get success with short cuts and it is never meant to be. Astrology is a wonder tool to understand our past karma, so that we can alter our present act to create beautiful future and the true astrologer would help their client to identify the same.

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Question 4

How can I strengthen my astrologically weak moon?

Accepted Answer

First of all, please understand that you should always focus on strengthening yourself, not the Moon(or in fact any planet). So it is appropriate to rephrase the questions like this “How can I strengthen myself in case of the weak moon in the horoscope?”

The Moon is the karaka for the mind. Every human has tremendous potential,infinite potential that is necessary, which is waiting for development and expression. The strong Moon taps the potential inside through positive thoughts and emotions, whereas weak Moon usually drains your energy by thinking about worst case scenarios.

People with weaker Moon and afflicted Moon will usually have a magnifying glass to picture the worst case scenarios, thus the negative thoughts would normally take over the situation. The weak Moon afflicted by Rahu would create depression and anxiety problems. The depression is usually created when a person constantly rewinds his bad past incidents in the mind's eye. The anxiety or fear is usually associated with thinking about worst-case scenarios of the future. In either case, the problem is mainly due to not living in the present. So developing consciousness in the best way to strengthen yourself.

How to overcome depression problems due to weak and afflicted Moon?

The body is an unconscious mind, it will not know the difference between the fear or anxiety created by the real situation or by thought alone. When your mind constantly rewinds a past incident then your body will think that the bad incident keep happening every day and hence it will be preparing you for the survival mode which may produce tremendous amount of stress on you.

Nature has given a capability for every creature to pass through stress for a short period of time. If you watch zebra in the forest, it will run for 20 to 30 mins to save itself from Lion, once escaped then it will start eating grass and its body will go into growth mode. But we humans are generating stress by thought alone(ex: thinking about the past incident, thinking about our boss in the office, etc) and hence the body is always be working in survival mode which is one of the primary reason for all health issues accompanied by depression.

The best practical solution to overcome depression is shifting focus from “What do you don’t want” to “What you want”. It is common to have minor problems in life even if you get the best resource. Based on what you focus on, you will attract the information from every corner. If you focus on the problem, then no doubt you will attract negative and disempowering information. If you are optimistic and focus on the solution then you will get tonnes of information on how to come out of the problem.

It is important to note that the situation doesn’t drive the solution but our understanding about the situation and focus decides the solution we are heading.

When you are facing a problem in life, getting away is not the only solution. It is important to note that every suffering has meaning if you don’t learn from suffering then there is less chance of seeing a positive outcome in the future.

Viktor E.Frankl in his Man’s search for meaning says that

We must never forget that we may also find meaning in life even when confronted with a hopeless situation when facing a fate that cannot be changed. For what then matter is to bear witness to the uniquely human potential at its best, which is to transform a personal tragedy into a triumph, to turn one’s predicament into a human achievement.

How to overcome anxiety problems due to weak and afflicted Moon?

As noted earlier the anxiety or fear is usually associated with thinking about worst-case scenarios of the future. The fear is the man’s greatest enemy. The fear is the master behind the failures, failed relationships, and bad decisions in life.

Do the thing that you are afraid of and the death of fear is certain

The best way to overcome anxiety is to visualize the positive outcome of the future through conscious effort. For some period of time, your mind will try to go to comfort zone(thinking worst case scenarios, that will be a comfort zone for now) but you have to consciously pull back to present. After some consistent effort, you can completely come out of anxiety problems.

You may wonder how positive thinking can change the future reality. Faith is the most important parameter to convince your subconscious mind. When your desire and imagination are sync with each other then the body and Mind will work together to get the end result. But in case, if you picture worst case scenario in your mind’s eye but desire to get positive outcome then your conscious mind and subconscious mind will not be in sync with each other, hence the subconscious mind will quietly reject your weak belief.

When your desires and imagination are in conflict, your imagination invariably gains the day – Dr. Joseph Murphy

So visualizing a positive future will be the key eliminate anxiety and to see the positive result.

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Question 5

Is astrology true OR a waste of time?

Accepted Answer

This question was originally asked as, "How do some people not realize that astrology is a complete waste of time?"

Mrs, Elango's response over it was as follows..

From the tone of your question, I guess you have following presumptions

You have concluded astrology is not a useful tool.
You have concluded that nobody in the world uses astrology as a corrective tool.

Of course, you have the freedom to criticize the misusers of this subject but at the sametime, any premature conclusion without subject knowledge is also ignorance and dangerous.

Why do some people still follow religious principle if there is a group that supports atheism?

Why do people take alternate medicines when allopathy has become popular all over the world?

The world will always have people with a different school of thought, it is important to understand the other school of thought to become a wise person.

All popular subjects come with a bunch of myths, and astrology is no exception. More than understanding what astrology is, it is equally important to know what astrology is not. Since many answers already covered what astrology is, let me talk about what astrology is not so that I think it will break some myths around you that would have caused you to raise this question in the first place.

I am reproducing the points which I have explained in one of my earlier blog post

***Astrology is not a tool of escapism

***Astrology is not magic, mantra or tantra

***Astrology doesn’t support fatalism

***Astrology is not just a predictive tool

***Astrology is not a curative tool

***Astrology is not a tool to defeat your enemies

Astrology doesn’t focus on remedies (But on understanding your karmic history)

Many still believe that astrology and remedies are inseparable. Astrology doesn’t focus on remedies but some astrologers do. As mentioned earlier, the planetary set up in the horoscope is due to our own past karma. So, if we are the ones who created past karma, then it is evident that we can alter it through conscious actions. Remedies are just a way to remove psychological impediments.

***Astrology is not a science

There are two sections in astrology, first mapping the planetary positions with respect to time of birth, which is called horoscope, and secondly predicting life events based on planetary placements. The former is mathematics, while the latter is an art. Art is different from science, similar to how an artist will have his own perspective in his creation every astrologer may have a different perspective for the same horoscope. Hence predictive astrology can never be a science, but one of the highest forms of art.

***Astrology is not a limiting tool

So it is not about achieving the goal, but all about finding a goal that is aligned with your core purpose. Any goal linked with passion will never fail, whatsoever. If you have a clear purpose, no one can stop you, including your past karma. When your passion is not indicated in your horoscope, it simply means that you need to create new karma with consciousness.

Source: From my book “Achieving success through astrological guidance”

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Question 6

What are some serious life questions one should really ask an astrologer except generic questions about marriage, job and children?

Accepted Answer

Thanks for asking a very good question. Most people go to astrologers without any concrete question to ask, this is primarily due to the fact that most people visit astrologers while things are not going in the right direction. When things are not going as per wish usually a person will be stumbled on multiple issues, so mostly they would go to find one answer for all their problem.

One of the fastest ways to find the solution to an issue or challenge you are facing is to ask the right questions - Robin S. Sharma

In my view, astrology is a wonderful tool to know when to accelerate in life and to be aware of pitfalls well in advance. So asking the right questions to the astrologer would help you to get the right indication and develop a mitigation plan.

Some of the powerful question that you can ask apart from asking specific questions to your problem. As follows.

What is that one most valuable advice you would give analyzing my horoscope?

What would be the most satisfying and rewarding career according to my horoscope?

What is the most critical financial decision I should make in my life according to the planetary setup?

What kind of lifestyle is most suited to keep my health in good conditions indicated in the horoscope?

Which area of life should I give immediate attention according to planetary setup?

What should I do to keep my emotional well being?

What one belief I should challenge to make my life more rewarding and fulfilling? (of course, this question can be answered by astrologer only after interaction with clients)

These are some of the questions that quickly struck me.

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