The First House of Your Birth Chart

Vedic Astrology is a powerful science that can predict the course of one’s destiny by studying the movement and transits of celestial bodies. Since this is a vast topic, there are many aspects to be understood before one can analyze and decipher the effects of planets on the individual. However, there are certain basic facets to be taken into consideration for rightly interpreting planetary effects in day-to-day life. One important and powerful aspect to be taken into consideration is the Houses in an individual’s birth chart and the alignment of the planets with respect to these Houses. A total of twelve Houses are found in the Natal Chart, each of them pertaining to a different characteristic of human life. The first House in the natural Zodiac is ‘Aries’ which is ruled by planet Mars/ Mangal. This refers to the ‘Self’ and the cusp of this house is the natural home of your Lagna or Ascendant star. It generally relates to the psychological and physical aspects of a person’s life and influences the scope of realizing one’s true potential. The first House exercises a strong impact on the success and dignity one enjoys in life. It can also have a significant effect on the social life and status of a person. Many general attributes of a person’s physical appearance are influenced by the first House, which includes the complexion, head, hair and pituitary glands.
Many a time, a weak first House accounts for certain physical shortcomings like headache, nausea or mental stress, whereas the presence of a strong Sun or Mars can enhance vitality and strength. Introduction

A birth chart is a unique karmic map that presents an opportunity for a person to know about his or her past and present, and delve into the future. Also called the natal chart, it holds the key to understanding yourself on physical, mental, emotional and spiritual levels. What is the Structure of a Birth Chart? The zodiac is a zone or a belt in space through which the planets move. There are twelve zodiac signs, represented by figures of animals. The ‘houses’ of a birth chart are a series of twelve sectors or divisions of the plane of the ecliptic, which represents the sun’s celestial path for a year. The positions of the zodiac signs remain fixed in these 12 houses, while the planets move through the signs over the course of months or years. The houses are numbered starting from Ascendant (As) or Lagna and marked clockwise till 12. The chart thus begins with a framework of these 12 houses, upon which the zodiac signs are superimposed. After establishing the relative positions of the zodiac signs in the houses in a chart, the planets are plotted at their celestial longitudes, as they are at any particular time and place of birth. A birth chart is thus an astrological chart or diagram representing in it, the positions of the planets considered in Vedic Astrology – Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, and Ketu. Popularly known as the horoscope, it serves as a map of the heavenly bodies over a specific location at a particular moment, based on the place and time of the birth of an individual. All the planets are placed in various positions in the chart, as they are astrologically located during your time of birth. How to Read a Birth Chart? A correct reading of a birth chart or horoscope is the key to knowing almost everything about an individual. While analyzing a chart and arriving at predictions is an elaborate process, chart reading can be stated very briefly, as under Ascendant, marked as “As/Asc” in your birth chart denotes the first house, from where it is counted clockwise till the 12th house each house is marked by a zodiac sign, starting from Aries till Pisces. These zodiac signs are fixed and never change their positions in a birth chart counting clockwise around the chart, identify the houses where all the nine planets – Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu, Sun and Moon are located in your birth chartFinally, find out which zodiac signs each of these 9 planets are placed inThese are the basics of a birth chart, after ascertaining which, you can use your knowledge of astrology and start interpreting, what each piece of the data contained in the chart, means and indicates.ConclusionLet the study begins with the reading of your own chart, which can be used as a reference for understanding yourself, in relation to the world. It can then be seen that a birth chart would remain at the core of your awareness about yourself and shall help to unlock your inner knowing.