The Horoscope : Fifth House

Pursuing the chart of our chosen subject we now proceed to the Fifth House, the House of progeny, intelligence, romance and repository of credit earned from past lives. It is also the House that speaks of capabilities in meditation, spiritual practice, Msntras and Yatras (pilgrimages) and possible authorship of epics.

We note that the constellation Scorpio located here is owned by Mars. this falls within the ‘Holy triangle’ consisting of the region comrising the First, the fifth and the Ninth houses, all therefore auspicious Houses. The house is further empowered by the fact that in Cancer ascendants ( those having Cancer located in the First House) Mars has ownership of an ‘Angular’ House at the centre ( that is, the tenth House – Aries being located there). A planet which is the owner of both a triangular  House ( Fifth in this case) and a Central House ( Tenth in this case) becomes greatly auspicious for the chart. The fact that Mars is furthermore located in the most auspicious and powerful part of the Holy traingle, the ninth House, further empowers Mars as a Karak or benefactor. Such benefits therefore accrue to the fifth House in this chart. This would make the subject highly creative, profecient in music, and learned and help him attain a high position in life, being well thought of by the authorities, wealthy and well placed in life. He would also write books and be of a religious bent of mind.

Yet there is an element of dischord. The Sun loctaed in the Fifth House is aspected by Saturn from the eleventh House. this is indicative of dischord and friction between the subject and his father, replicating the relationship between the Sun and his ‘son’ Saturn. Moreso if they live together, less if they do not.

Scorpio in the Fifth House may also subject the native to face unfounded and baseless charges in life.

A malefic planet like the Sun located in a House in the Holy triangle renders it quite beneficient. It no longer is a ‘killer’. Furthermore the Sun is in a constellation which is friendly on account of the Sun’s friendship with Mars, the owner of Scorpio. It is also in the company of a generally benefic planet, Mercury, in the same House, which affects its attitude.

We also note that there is a mutual aspecting between planets placed in the Eleventh House , namely Saturn and Jupiter and the Fifth House, namely the Sun and Mercury. They are viewing each other. This has its implications. Jupiter’s aspect on the Fifth house and the Sun indicates that the father of the subject is learned and wise and that spirituality will therefore be inherent in the subject. It also will make the subject wealthy, learned, a lover of culture and make him famous. Likewise conjunction of the Sun and Mercury will amke the subject intelligent, famous, fortunate, an artist, thinker and writer. Saturn’s aspect on the House again indicates a philosophic bent of mind. As circumstances are generally positive there is a liklihood of progeny of both sexes. The House has all the circumstances for general happiness and well being and in sum is quite positive despite the forecast of differences between the subject and his father.

 

Finding God

Many people both spiritually inclined and ordinary folk wish somehow to have a vision of God. In India this desire is called DARSHAN. Worshippers and ordinary people also who have no great faith, visit temples, engage in prayer, visit centres of pilgrimage, take baths in rivers during the Kumbh festival, perform rituals, meditate in the hope of having a vision but more ordinarily to ward off  the inauspicious circumstances that are a constant reminder of the need to seek divine protection and blessings. The great saints of India hankered after vision as expressed in their songs ballads and poetry. In the Gita Arjun asked his friend Krishna to reveal to him his eternal cosmic form not satisfied with all the truths revealed to him and the grand philosophy of the Gita – he had to see to believe. There is a beautiful Sufi song sung by the great sufi singer Abida Parveen which complains to God not to hide behind the veil of  the world, for she is a seeker and lover who yearns to have a vision ( Ghungat ole na luk sajana main mushtaq deedar da hoon)  Courtesy You tube below is the prayer song.

 

The poet saint Kabir similarly asks seekers not to visit places of worship, engage in rituals, go on pilgrimages or meditate in distant tranquil spots for what you seek is within you. This poem by Kabir is a kind of revelation where God asks where are you seeking me? The beautiful song has been sung by Mitali Banerjee Bhaumik  :And I present it below courtesy You tube.

Many people believe as I do that Darshan or a glimpse of God is quite common place and occurs daily even though we do not realize it. When an innocent kid looks up and gives you a bewitching smile – That is a vision He has given you, or when two people deep in love look into each others eyes that too is a vision, or when we behold an extraordinary natural scene of great beauty, that too is a vision, or again when mother and son meet after a long parting both share the vision. Inspired by these thoughts I composed a poem when i came across this beautiful picture of a little boy smiling.

The pristine innocence

Of that look.

Nothing in the lips to suggest

guile,

Eyes that do not blink

Full uninhibited moons,

Like those of a sage,

Piercing through you,

No subterfuge in a gesture,

No craft in a prank,

No device in a smile,

Just trust

Angelic

You could never betray,

As you hold hands

In the little clasp

And relieve  your complications,

Inside its firm grip

Of love.

 

Hold a child’s hand

And look into his eyes

Transcending

All your laborious meditations

Fulfilling

All your remotest explorations,

Surpassing all your knowledge

In one moment

You have found God

As you let slip your mask,

Forego your tricks and treachery,

Shed your skepticism

And transform into a child.

 

MEMORY

 

Some say we should live

In the present.

But what about memory

That make up our thoughts

From remote corners

Of the mind?

And from that deep ocean

Arise whales

Sharks and leaping dolphins,

Octopus changing colours.

Like the producers of theatre

We conjure

 Costumes, protagonists, themes

 In vivid detail 

In fabulous dreams.

Thoughts sprout from nowhere

From the distant past suddenly

Transfix one neuron

Into focus on

A personage long gone

As if he were here,

Juxtapose a face to a name forgotten.

Songs follow one another

Before one closes

We can hear the echoes

Of the next one.

We thrive on the past

The structure and foundation

On which the present stands.

We remember

We recall

The deeply imprinted marks

Of our footprints in fossil

Fingerprints in amber

DNA in genes

Without them the present

Would be as meaningless 

As a seizure

Of Alzheimer’s.

The past is indeed 

The present

The present is the past

We cannot live in a present

Never without the past.

Let no one say

The present is all

For we are what is memory

We are what are thoughts

We are what is the past

The present is thus recast.

Scarves in Kashmir

The snow capped peaks,

Pine laden hills,

And flowing streams

Percolate into

Scarf clad schoolgirls

In clusters of white, yellow and indigo

And contrasting tunics

Like poppies in the park,

Demure, self -reliant, radiant,

Holding hands together.

 

When I look

Islam stares back,

With its strict code

Of conduct, finger on lips,

Like the eternal snows.

 

I try to pry,

To fathom difference

In this veiled cloak of another culture

But find the same

Curiosity, mirth and joy flow

Behind the veil.

 

Bleak mountains of the desert

Here only covered in snow,

The cloak of culture

Whatever its colour

Style or impression

All punctuated by the same

Ubiquitous sparrow

Of being,

Singing the same song,

With the same intension

Desire and mould.

CANVAS

White cheeked Bulbul

Aware of your presence

Cocks his proud plume,

Hops close, checks

Expectant, cheeky

Cute and personal,

Calls.

 

Tiny yellow flower

Turns to meet the sun-god

As his glow sweeps across the horizon,

Like a sensor,

Without moving any muscle,

Miracle.

 

Horses blonde and black

Stand pensive

With secret dubious thoughts

Adorn undulating downs,

Cows nibble new shoots

Graze in green meadows.

 

The hills lush with pine

In ranges rise

To snow-capped mountain peaks,

Imperturbable roar

Of the river below

Speak of melting streams everywhere.

 

Clouds nestle here and there

Caught in the bosom

Of mountain valleys,

Meet the blue smoke

Rising from village hamlets below.

 

The great Raven caws

Plunging his beak in cattle-dung,

The blackbird’s song

As pilgrims throng

To the temple,

Beginning the journey

To the Phallic Ling

Of Amarnath,

The eternal Lord.

 

Herdsmen flushed

Chase sheep and mule,

All is still, magnificent

Not a leaf stirs

In this canvas

As twilight descends

And the air is rare

With forest fragrance

Embracing you

In single mindfulness

Without thought, calm

In this eternal valley

Of Pehelgam.

 

Then from the gathering

Cloud cover

It begins to rain

And all is

Obliterated again.