Timing in Relationships

[swetha]

Relationships, especially marital relationships, take time to develop and time to unravel. Relationships simply don't begin fully formed nor does a relationship suddenly shift from a state of solid commitment to disregard and even contempt. Rather, the formation or disintegration of a relationship is a process and to a large degree is dependent on each person's attitude toward marriage and their individual karma.

What is interesting is that given the processes involved in relationship building or destruction the timing of a commitment, a marriage, shows very clearly. This marking of the importance of making a commitment underscores the importance of the act. In liberal societies people often live together, in a sort of pseudo marital state, sometimes for years before actually taking, or making, any vows.

The charts used in this article are of two people who indeed did live together before marriage. For neither party was this relationship their first. So what we will see below is how transits and the Vimshottari dasa leading to marriage shifted in their charts and led them to the wedding altar.

Gathering the tools…..
Naturally when we begin to speculate about marriage we need birth charts. Given that some countries have redefined marriage to include bonds between people of the same gender I must specify that in this case the two charts are for one man and one woman. These people lived together for about a year before they decided to marry. They also died together, in a plane crash, a few years after marriage.

The people in this example come from what can be considered a privileged class.

The man represented here was the son of an American President, John F. Kennedy and bears the name of his father who was assassinated when young John was only 3 years of age. As can be assumed, his man was born into wealth. His birth details are:
November 25, 1960 at 0:22 in Washington, DC 77W02'12" 38N53'42" 5 hours W.

chart1

The woman, Caroline Basset Kennedy, was born in White Plains, NY and according to the biography published by Astrodata bank "grew up comfortably in Greenwich and New Canaan, CT and was voted Most Beautiful Person by her high school class". Her birth details are:
January 7, 1966 at 8:45 in White Plains, NY. 71W41'10" 42N12'10" 5 hours W.

chart 2

Before comparing their charts or showing when they married let's look at their individual charts and answer the following questions:

1. At first glance do these charts appear to be correct?
2. What would be their attitude and karma toward marriage?
3. Will they have children?

Once these questions have been answered we can then move on and examine factors that led up to their marriage. Additionally we can explore the quality of their relationship by looking at some factors which play a role in producing harmony or discord within a marriage.

Finally, the stellar patterns formed at the time of the accident which terminated both their lives will be reviewed.


Do these charts 'look' accurate based on things said about these two people?


It has been said that John was "Easy-going and well-bred, with intense physical charisma, he was known as one of the world's most eligible bachelors, called the Sexiest Man Alive" by a popular magazine.

Likewise she was thought to be beautiful and was voted "Most Beautiful Person by her high school class".  She was 6' tall, blond, slender and like John was very much into physical fitness.

Looking at their charts the description of John, who had a Leo ascendant, and Caroline who had a Sagittarius ascendant, it is easy to see why they were deemed to be good looking and with all that fire it's no wonder that they met while jogging. According to Parasara she too has the classical mark of a beauty…Venus in the first house.

John's Sun is sitting in Scorpio with his Arudha lagna, a pattern that does wonders for a person charisma and we can be sure, with this placement he would not look as if he were a celibate. It's no wonder woman were attracted to him.

Further confirmation has been provided in COVA on pages 55 and 56 where Pt. Rath has written about the height and physical characteristics of each lagna.

Summarizing Rath's comments John with his Leo lagna would have a good stature, a full body, be well framed and upright, well-set shoulders…be dignified and have royal bearing. Caroline with her Capricorn lagna could be either short or tall. Indeed, at 6 feet, she was tall for a woman. She had a thin face and body also fitting for this sign. It was the Venus in her first house which neutralized the notion that she would be plain looking.


What promise did their individual charts hold for marriage?

To answer this question there are a number of areas requiring examination.

Before doing that let's go over the rules for checking one's karma regarding marriage. To gather these rules the classic Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra will be referred to. In fact, all comments will be gleaned from the chapter on the 7th house which is found on pages 241 - 250 in the translation done by GC Sharma and published by Sagar Publications in New Delhi, India.

Parasara tells us to check if the lord of the 7th house is in its own sign or in the sign of exaltation the native will have full happiness with his or her spouse. In the cases where the 7th lord falls into the 6th, 8th or 12th and is not exalted and not in its own sign, the native's spouse will be sickly. In brief Parasara goes on to say that the 7th house may be regarded as the ascendant of the spouse and the 12th house will be the 6th house from the 7th, indicating illness.

Naturally there are exceptions to this rule and this time the exceptions are logical. If the native has Cancer ascendant and the lord of the 7th house falls into the 8th house, it would be falling into its own house thereby neutralizing the negativity. Likewise if the native's ascendant is Leo making the 7th lord Saturn, and if it falls into the 6th house it will be in its own house and again the negativity is neutralized.

-If Venus is in the 7th house, problems within the marriage can arise due to the lusty nature of the native.
-If the 7th lord is conjoined a benefic the native will be wealthy, honorable, happy and fortunate.
-If the 7th lord is weak, in the sign of debilitation or an enemies sign or even combust the natives spouse will be sickly.
-If the 7th lord is in the sign of Saturn, of Venus or exalted the person will have many marriages.
-If the Sun is in the 7th house the spouse may be sterile or barren. In Parasara, it is stated that the wife is barren but nowhere is information provided for the identification of a sterile man. Therefore I have taken the liberty of re-translating 'wife' to spouse which covers both genders.
-If the Moon is in the 7th house the spouse will have the nature of the sign ruling the 7th house.
-If Mars is in the 7th house the spouse may be barren and sexual activity may take place at inappropriate times.
-If Mercury is in the 7th house the spouse may come from a business/trading caste or a lower rung of society.
-If Jupiter is in the 7th house the wife may be pregnant at the time of marriage. Parasara also states that with this pattern the individual may have sexual relations with the wife of their guru.
-If Saturn, Rahu or Ketu fall in the 7th house he says there will be relations with base people and at inappropriate times. Once again I have taken the liberty of neutralizing the gender here for obvious reasons: A base nature is possible in either gender.

These rules are sufficient to begin the examination of John and Caroline's charts to examine what the future held for them in terms of the spouse they would have. In addition Venus in John's case and Jupiter in Caroline's case will be viewed as these planets are the karakas of their potential spouses. The Arudhas and the ashtakavarga contributions can not be ignored so they too will play a role in what follows.

John's Chart
His 7th house, ruled by Aquarius, holds both the Moon and Ketu. As per the above rules the Moon's placement here indicates that his wife will have the nature of the sign of the 7th house. Aquarius being an air and earth sign, his spouse's nature will be cerebral and fixed, which could account for her independence among other things. In addition the Moon is moving toward darkness which does not auger well.

The ruler of his 7th house falls in the 5th a house ruled by Jupiter. This neutrality offers neither additional challenge or support but may play a role in other matters, as will be discussed below.

Ketu in the 7th house is saying his spouse may not be of sterling quality, and for the moment we will leave that alone.

In John's case we see his Lagna is strong holding 32 bindus [see chart] but his 7th house is much weaker holding only 23 bindus, although not ideal, by itself certainly isn't all that bad. Some difficulty comes through the lord of the 7th house which, although falling into a house with 28 bindus, Saturn itself has only 2 bindus in that placement, which weakens it considerably. This too will account for a delay in his marriage and may have played a role in his mother's disapproval of the woman he earlier had wanted to marry.

The ruler, Saturn, frequently called a planet of delay and obstruction, goes to the 5th house Scorpio. From this position, in terms of argala, Saturn gives obstruction to the 7th house. This pattern indicates a delay in marriage. Such was the case as John was 36 when he finally married. This pattern will also have a role to play when it comes to looking at future children.

In addition we can look at the arudhra of the 1st, called the AL, the 12th which is commonly called the Upapada (UP) or UL, and the arudha of the 7th house called A7.

The relationship between the rasi lagna and the UL will describe the relationship a native is likely to have with their spouse. In John's case his lagna and UL are in a stressful 2/12 relationship. This pattern doesn't support the ideal of a perfect marriage and unfortunately this situation proved to be true. According to the media that likes to follow the private lives of public people, John and Caroline had a very rocky marriage and separated more than once.

For men Venus is the karaka of their spouse and John's Venus is strong in terms of Shad bala however for Leo rising Venus becomes a malefic for that chart. Here now we have another indication that marriage will be a challenge for him.

John's AK is the Mars. This tells us that in this life his karma has to do with learning to deal with anger. For him walking the path of nonviolence will be vital. From all accounts he succeeded in doing that, draining the energy off into physical pursuits.

Going now to his A7 we see it falls into Libra and conjoins Mercury. Unfortunately his A7 also receives a rasi aspect from Rahu and the Moon which will create some instability and impulsivity around partners. In addition A7 is held in a papakatari yoga between Rahu and the Sun. This pattern too increases the probability of challenge as a result of his choice.

John's UP falls in his 2nd house with Gulika. This is not a positive position as Gulika poisons whatever it touches. Looking to the charakaraka for his spouse, which is represented by the Moon, we see it falls into his 7th house conjoined Ketu and is receiving a full aspect from Rahu. These patterns do not promise either an ideal spouse or a story-book marriage.

Now let's look at Caroline's promise for marriage.
Her 7th house is ruled by Cancer and holds no planets, it does however, in terms of argala receive obstruction from Rahu and the Moon, and its ruler falls into her 6th house. Now we must look to the advice of Parasara. He said if the ruler of the 7th house falls into the 6th, 8th or 12th the spouse may be sickly. Such is the indication here.

Additionally, any planet falling in the 12th from its rulership denotes loss. In this case it can also indicate a spouse who may have health problems. The placement of Jupiter next to the Moon does not help the situation a great deal given that, for this chart, Jupiter is a malefic and is also the karaka of her spouse.

To add to the strain we see that Rahu is making a 12th aspect to the Moon as well. This pattern indicates that she will have some of her own mood issues. This last suggestion is supported by the placement of Gulika, and exalted Mars in her lagna. Yes, she would have been forceful, and with this pattern she would be quite accustomed to getting her own way. The other point that must be seen here is that with the lord of her lagna going to the 12th house it shows that she will suffer losses concerning her body.

There are numerous threads which could be followed if we examined each planet in this chart. This will not be done, rather we will focus on the task at hand. Looking at the health of her 7th house, it holds 26 bindus which is stronger than shown in John's but her 7th in many ways is worse off than his was.

Saturn's rasi aspect on to her 7th house contributed to her delay in marriage. Caroline's lagna and UL are in a 5/9 relationship which augers well for her marriage and is a bit of a boost.

The sign on a person's 7th house will describe characteristics of their first spouse. In this case the Cancer suggests there may have been a caring but moody element to John, and it is possible that his health was not as good as it appeared. Cancer being a moveable sign is also an indicator that he liked to get his own way.

Natally her Lagna holds only 22 bindus indicating that her body was not as strong as one might expect. In addition her Sun falls into her 12th house which is a position of Marana stanza, indicating loss and weakness.

For women Jupiter is karaka for spouse and when we examine her Jupiter we find some more challenges. One challenge has already been identified, Jupiter as a malefic in this chart is conjoined the lord of her 7th house. Jupiter was also aspected by Rahu as well as being very weak, insofar as it is sitting at zero degrees of Gemini. These factors did not contribute stability to her spouse.

Caroline's AK was the Moon which indicated that she was sensitive and quite likely moody. The down side of having the Moon as AK is that there is a tendency for these people to get lost in their own emotions and it is difficult for them to give as much importance to other people's feelings as they do their own. Is it any wonder that this could cause problems in a relationship?

The charakaraka representing her spouse is called the DK and is Jupiter and this too has all the flaws that were identified above.

Looking at her AL we see it is situated in Pisces, and between the malefics Saturn and Rahu. Chances are she was not always seen as being soft and gentle. Her UP falls in the 9th house which in itself is good however it too is aspected by Rahu which neutralizes some of the good aspects. Her A7 has a similar affliction. It sits in the 5th house, which initially could be considered positive but it is sharing space with Rahu which tends to muddy the issue.

From what we have seen so far neither of these people have what could be called 'good karma' for marriage. Each had their own challenges. Now it is time to see what was influencing their charts at the time of their marriage.

John and Caroline were married in a quiet ceremony on September 21, 1996 with only 40 people in attendance. Although they were both Catholics they were married in a Baptist Church.

Before going any further let's review the rules pertaining to patterns indicating marriage. As this process is begun we must now introduce the Navamsa or D-9 as this is the varga chart used to assess marriage. The dharmic importance of marriage is the reason why the Navamsa or D-9 is examined for marriage even though marriage has to do with the 7th house. Likewise when it comes to examining different Vargas we have to consider the whole chart. Just as we look at the 9th varga to see the act of marriage, which is considered a 7th house matter, we look to the 7th varga to see the fruits of the marriage, which are children. Put in simpler terms the 7th house is the house of gains from the 9th and the 5th is the house of gains from the 7th. Later on the 7th varga of these people will be examined.
.
Unfortunately there is no one pattern that indicates marriage. Like all things we need to see the coming together of numerous factors before we can speak with confidence.

Transits are the first thing to be looked at followed by the two Dasas, the Vimshottari, which focus on a person's attitude and Narayana dasa which highlights where activity is actually taking place.

Always check the age of the people involved. No longer can a child marry and it is unlikely someone in their 80's or 90's will be getting married.

-Transits will often be the first clue.
-Jupiter transiting the 7th house, 7th lord or these positions in the Navamsa will be a hint.
-Check the relationship of Jupiter to the UP in the rasi chart as it should be in or aspecting the 2nd house from the UP showing support to the spouse.
-Additionally the lord of the UP, in the rasi chart should be strong in transit.
-Check the transits of Jupiter in relationship to the position of the Moon. If Jupiter is in the 2, 5, 7, 9, or 11th from the natal Moon, this too will be a strong indicator for marriage.
-Look at the SAV totals, signs with 28 or more bindus are considered benefic. Also check the individual bindus value of Jupiter in the transit, it is best if Jupiter has at least 4 bindus in the sign it is transiting.

There are other transiting configurations involving the transiting Sun being in trine to the lords of the 7th house in either the rasi or the D-9 chart. Unfortunately this pattern isn't as consistent as we would like. One possible reason for the lack of consistency may have to do with the fact that in some cultures, people live together prior to marriage. So this pattern may only apply in more traditional situations.

Rules for Vimshottari regarding marriage.
Once again, there is no one pattern therefore numerous patterns need to be examined. However what is a unifying factor is the importance of the 7th house, its lord, the aspects received and planets in the 7th house of the rasi and the navamsa, . When looking at the Vimshottari dasa the importance or involvement of Mars and Venus are also important as are the dispositors of the 7th house lords

-The lord of the Mahadas will likely have a relationship on the lagna of the D-9 along with unobstructed argala on it.
-The Antardasa will associated with the lord of the 7th, again with unobstructed argala.
-The 3rd level of the dasa called the Pratyantardasa, will likely be in one of the kama houses, 3, 7 or 11 in either chart.

Rules for Narayana dasa regarding marriage.

This dasa can only be used when the precise time of a marriage is known. In this case this the time is not known, therefore Narayana dasa can not apply in this case. Nevertheless let's review the rules for using this dasa anyway before moving on to apply the rules listed above to the two sample charts.

Here Pt. Rath has given us rules that are quite straight forward.

-Marriage can occur in the dasas of the signs associated with Venus and Ketu.
-Signs or planets well associated and giving rasi drishti to the UL or in dushtanas from it will give marriage.
-Mahadasas or Antardasa conjoined or aspected by the DK will also give marriage.

Their marriage date:

On September 21, 1996 this couple married. The exact time of their marriage is not available, what is known is that they married in a small town in the State of Georgia, USA. Although they were both Catholics they married in a Baptist Church.

For the sake of discussion the following time and co-ordinates have been used:
September 21, 1996
12 Noon
Crossroads, Georgia, USA
83:01:13 W 34:23:17 N
5 hours West, 1 hour DST

Even though this time and place is not accurate, what we are looking for is the transiting position of Jupiter, 24 hours will not make a huge difference.

Transiting Jupiter on this date was at 14 degrees Sagittarius transiting John's 5th house in his rasi chart and transiting his Venus and well as being 7 houses from his Moon. As if this wasn't enough, Jupiter is also conjoining the lord of his 7th house in his rasi chart.

In his navamsa Jupiter transits his 4th house making rasi aspects to the 7th house and Venus.

Now checking the SAV totals we see that Jupiter transited a sign with a total of 28 bindus and individually Jupiter held 5 bindus crossing this sign.

Based on transits alone, is it any wonder this was his marriage date?

To confirm this situation and once again marvel at the accuracy of this sacred science the Vimshottari dasa will be explored.

The day before his marriage his Vimshottari dasa sequence became SA SA ME. SA as lord of his 7th house more than satisfies the rules. Plus SA is conjoined Venus and aspecting Mars. Interestingly the Pratyantardasa, Mercury is making a rasi drishti to his 7th house.

These patterns more than confirm the event of his marriage. Now let's see what happens to Caroline's chart on her wedding day.

Transiting Jupiter in Caroline's chart makes a full aspect to the lord of her 7th house in her rasi chart, and also makes a rasi drishti to her UP while sitting conjoined the dispositors of her 7th house lord.

The SAV totals in her chart were only 22, this poses something of a challenge yet the individual scores for Jupiter were a healthy 4.

The Vimshottari dasa which was ME VE ME supports the marriage date completely! Mercury is making a full aspect onto the lord of her 7th house. Plus Venus as antardasa sits in the 1st house aspecting the 7th and to cinch the whole matter the pratyandasa is nothing more than a repeat of the Mahadasa.

So, we can safely say, "Yes, these people got married on this date."

Under other conditions where the time of marriage is known it would be possible to apply the rules of muhurta to see the 'stamp' of their marriage date. In this case, that is not possible to do, but another question can be asked.

Could they have children?

In order to answer this question the Saptamsa, or 7th Varga, of each person must be examined.

saptamsa 1- john
saptmasa 2- caroline

In his case we see Sagittarius is the Lagna lord and Rahu is situated there. [see his saptamsa chart] Being a male sign we look to the 5th house Aries to see the role children may play in his life. Here we see this house is aspected by Rahu, an aspect that can frequently block children by itself. In addition Saturn, another blocking influence aspects the lord of the 5th house, which itself is situated in the 12th house. Taken separately these patterns would indicate challenge and obstacles in having children, combined it may be fair to say this individual was not destined to have children.

Looking now at her Saptamsa chart we see the feminine sign Scorpio sits on the Lagna which directs our attention to the 9th house as the starting point. The 9th house is Cancer holding Ketu and fully aspected by Rahu which also makes a rasi graha to the Lagna lord. Once again we see the influence of Saturn making a full aspect on the Moon, the ruler of the 7th house. These combined patterns will deny children.

History has supported both of these assessments.

United in death
On July 16, 1999 many people were shocked to hear on the news that is summarized below and taken from the Astrodata bank biography for this couple. 'While he and Carolyn were flying to Martha's Vineyard, he reported at 9:39 pm that they were 13 miles off the coast and coming in for a landing. Moments later the radar showed the plane dropping. After a full day of searching, debris was found in the water the following afternoon, but no survivors.'

Laureen, Caroline's older sister was also aboard the ill-fated flight.

For people who wish to take the time to see the role these transits played in the death of these two people, here is a reminder: Don't forget to include the badhak, the 22 drekkana and the 64th Navamsa

The transits at the time of the crash have been based on 9:40 pm and are as follows:
Asc: 22 SG 04
SU 00 CA 08
MN 20 LE 41
MA 10 LI 35
ME 15 CA 00
JU 08 AR 44
VE 08 LE 16
SA 21 AR 41
RA 20 CA 06
KE 20 CP 06

John's badhak is Mars and so is Caroline's.
John's 22nd drekkana (Jagannath) is also Mars
John's 64th navamsa is Jupiter
John was running SA ME Vimshottari dasa
John was running TA AR Narayana dasa

Caroline's 22nd drekkana (Jagannath) is Sun
Caroline's 64th navamsa is Mercury
Caroline was running ME MA Vimshottari dasa
Caroline was running LE CA Narayana dasa

Once these patterns are analysis there will be no difficulty seeing why they died together.
There are numerous other techniques that could be applied to these two charts however everything takes time and time is running out. It's enough that we can see with such clarity how these people had to fulfill their destinies.

Relationships can come and go but unless there is the combination of transits and dasa periods we will not be married. And, just because we marry there is no promise that our lives will suddenly become bliss. We must all reap the benefits, positive and negative, of our earlier actions whether we are aware of it or not.

Bless you all.

Phyllis Chubb
astrologyguild.com/timing-in-relationships.htm