🌟 Key Terms for First-Time Readers
🪐 9 Planets (Graha) — Nine forces that determine your personality and destiny
☉ Sun = Self, father, authority, confidence (Who you are)
☽ Moon = Emotions, mother, mind, daily life (How you feel)
♂ Mars = Energy, courage, action, anger (How you fight)
☿ Mercury = Intelligence, communication, learning, business (How you think)
♃ Jupiter = Luck, wisdom, wealth, teacher (What blessings you have) — The most auspicious planet
♀ Venus = Love, charm, art, marriage (How you love)
♄ Saturn = Trials, patience, responsibility, karma (What is your life's lesson) — Slow but the most powerful
☊ Rahu = Desire, obsession, innovation, foreign lands (Unfulfilled desires from past lives) — A shadow planet with no physical form
☋ Ketu = Liberation, spirituality, detachment, past (What was already achieved in past lives) — The opposite shadow of Rahu
🏛️ 12 Houses — Twelve areas of life. Which house a planet occupies determines which area of your life it influences.
1st=Self · 2nd=Money/Family · 3rd=Communication/Siblings · 4th=Home/Mother · 5th=Children/Romance/Creativity · 6th=Health/Enemies · 7th=Spouse/Partner · 8th=Transformation/Death/Inheritance · 9th=Luck/Foreign/Father · 10th=Career/Fame · 11th=Income/Wishes · 12th=Foreign/Loss/Spirituality
⬆ Lagna (Ascendant) — The zodiac sign rising on the eastern horizon at the moment of your birth. It determines how others see your personality and appearance. In Vedic astrology, the Lagna is more important than the Sun sign used in Western astrology!
🌙 Nakshatra — One of 27 lunar mansion divisions where the Moon is positioned. It analyzes personality more precisely than the 12 Western zodiac signs. It represents your deepest nature.
⏳ Dasha (Planetary Period) — Life period fortune by phase. The energy of whichever planet rules that period becomes stronger. The full cycle spans 120 years with 9 planets taking turns.
🔮 Yoga — Special planetary combinations. When two or more planets form specific relationships, they create special destinies. (e.g., Gajakesari Yoga = Moon + Jupiter → Wisdom and fame)