Chapter 2 · राशि Rashi
The 12 signs
The zodiac is the backdrop against which every planet in a chart is read. This chapter takes you round it sign by sign: what each sign is, how the signs fall into simple patterns, and which planet rules each one.
- How the zodiac is divided into 12 signs of 30° each
- The three patterns that organise the signs: element, modality and odd/even
- Which planet rules each sign, and the symmetry behind it
- Where each sign sits in a South Indian chart
1. A circle of twelve
The zodiac (bhachakra, the wheel of the stars) is a circle of 360° along the path the Sun, Moon and planets travel across the sky. Jyotish divides it into 12 equal signs of 30° each, beginning with Aries (Mesha). Jyotish uses the sidereal zodiac, measured against the fixed stars.
Select any sign on the wheel to see what it is. Then move the slider: it places a planet at any point on the zodiac and shows which sign, and which degree of that sign, it falls in.
In a South Indian chart the signs never move: Pisces is always top left, and the signs run clockwise from there. The ascendant is marked inside whichever sign it falls in. In a North Indian chart, by contrast, the houses stay fixed and the signs move; we cover that in chapter 4.
2. The patterns behind the signs
The twelve signs are not a random list. Three simple patterns run through them, and each repeats around the circle. Switch between them below.
3. Who rules each sign
Each sign has a ruling planet, its lord. The Sun and Moon rule one sign each; the other five visible planets rule two. The pattern is symmetrical: start from Cancer and Leo, ruled by the two lights, and move outwards in both directions. The planets follow in order of their speed, from the fastest to the slowest.
Press play to watch the pattern unfold, or choose a planet.
Rahu and Ketu, the two lunar nodes, are not given sign rulership in this scheme. We meet them in chapter 3.
Worked example · Albert Einstein
Einstein’s ascendant is Gemini
Einstein’s ascendant is 19°28′ Gemini: the 3rd sign, an air sign, dual, odd, and ruled by Mercury. His Moon is in Scorpio (water, fixed). Four planets, the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Saturn, all sit in Pisces: a water sign, dual, and ruled by Jupiter.
Try it: place the slider in section 1 at 355° to see where Venus sits.
Birth data: 14 March 1879, 11:30 local time, Ulm, Germany; Rodden rating AA (from the birth record), as listed by Astrotheme from Astro-Databank. Positions converted by LotusAstro to the sidereal zodiac (Lahiri ayanamsa, about 22°10′ in 1879), whole-sign houses. One famous chart illustrates a technique; it proves nothing on its own.
Worked example · Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi’s ascendant is Cancer
Her ascendant is 27°23′ Cancer: the 4th sign, a water sign, movable, even, and ruled by the Moon. Her Moon is in Capricorn (earth, movable), and the Sun and Mercury are together in Scorpio.
Birth data: 19 November 1917, 23:11 local time, Allahabad (now Prayagraj), India; source given as her own account (Rodden rating A), as listed by Astrotheme. Positions converted by LotusAstro to the sidereal zodiac (Lahiri ayanamsa, about 22°42′ in 1917), whole-sign houses. One chart illustrates a technique; it proves nothing on its own.
Check what you have learnt