I have been quite interested in the destiny vs free will debate for quite a long time and probably that was one of the reasons that I got inclined to understand Astrology. I have been doing research on different horoscopes for the last 12 years. It has helped me a lot to understand how destiny unfolds and what is the role of free will. To the best of my understanding till date, the unfolding of different situations in our lives is not at all in our control. However, we always have free will to stay aware and maintain equanimity. The moment we switch to reaction mode, reactions will be driven by different forces of nature, as reflected in the horoscope. However, the moment we switch to observation mode, we stop reacting and become peaceful.
There are 9 planets in Astrology. 3 planets are in the domain of matter. They represent causal energy. The causal energy of solidity is represented by Saturn, fire by the Sun, and water by the Moon. Then there are three planets of astral energy. They represent different forms of Prana Vayu. Jupiter represents Prana Vayu that connects us to the entire cosmos and that is why Jupiter represents wisdom and intuition. Mars represents Samana Vayu, which gives energy to the body and that is why Mars represents physical energy. Venus represents Apana Vayu and that is why it represents cellular metabolism and different activities that take place at the cellular level when oxygen reaches there. There are 3 planets in a mental plane which represent space or Aakash in 3 different forms. All the thoughts exist in space. They have no matter associated with them. That is the reason why we can imagine any and everything. In a second, we can reach the origin of the universe in our imagination. Ketu represents past memories, Rahu the thoughts of the future and Mercury represents intellect and logical analysis in the present moment. Thus, these 9 planets are different manifestations of the 5 elements Prithvi, Agni, Jala, Vayu, and Aakash.
There are 12 houses in Astrology. The first four houses are the houses of the past, the nest four are the houses of the present, and the last four are the houses of the future. The first house represents what we are born with which includes personality and health, the second represents the natural expression of what we are born with such as wealth and family, the third represents our natural initiatives and inclinations and therefore represents younger siblings as well, the fourth represents the outcomes of our initiatives and therefore represents property, cars, etc, the fifth represents the new direction that we take in life and therefore represents education and kids, the sixth represents the expression of the new direction and therefore represents the type of changes that we see in our lives and therefore sixth ruler also represents diseases, the seventh house represents the initiatives that we take while exploring our lives and therefore represents spouse and the ecosystem, the eighth house represents the outcomes of those initiatives and therefore is a house of deep secrets of nature since we get to unravel these secrets by taking initiates as represented by the seventh house, the ninth house is the house of external guidance or our potential which nature helps us exploring and that is why ninth house is the house of Guru, teacher and father, the tenth represents expression of ninth and therefore represents respect and career, the eleventh direction by the Guru and therefore represents promotion and new ventures and the twelfth represents the outcome of these initiatives and therefore also represents loss and litigations.
There are 12 constellations owned by different planets and depending upon the time, place, and date of birth, the constellation that is hit by a line drawn from the place of birth to the east is the Lagna and that decides which planets rule different houses. There are infinite combinations and permutations. Some of the planets may be exalted, while some debilitated. They may have different impacts on other planets and houses and depending upon all these calculations, the situations unfold. It is not so that these planets are impacting our lives, rather they are like different tests of the body that can tell so many things about the diseases and deficiencies in our bodies.
Situations unfold in our lives depending upon the Dasha's and the placement of different planets. For example, when somebody passes through Ketu dasha, he will naturally recall past experiences more vividly, and if somebody's lagna is afflicted by Ketu, one will have a tendency to be more governed by past experiences. He will have a greater tendency to depression. Similarly, when somebody's lagna is afflicted by Rahu, he will have more tendency to plan for the future and think of the future and will naturally be more aggressive in his thoughts. However, all these things are different manifestations of consciousness which is always free. It all depends on how we identify ourselves. If we identify with our body, any trouble with the first house will impact us badly. If we identify with our wealth more, any trouble with our wealth affects us badly. If we identify with our kids, any trouble with our fifth house will affect us badly. If we are strongly tied to all the 12 houses, any and every trouble in our life will affect us badly. If we identify with the consciousness, we will be a witness to whatever happens in any of these houses. Thus, we have a complete free will with respect to our responses and we are completely tied to destiny, so long as we identify with the material world. We have no free will as to how situations unfold in our lives and complete free will as to how we respond to them.
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