Karmic Astrology - whispers in the winds of time

Today a neighbour not four doors away was laid to rest, I did not know him well but the words of his family struck a deep cord with me, and left me thinking much about my own mortality, life and ultimate passage from this realm of being to the next.



I hope that when the tides of life come to wash away my footprints in the sands of time, that I have being as lucky to leave a trail as half as beautiful as the one he had left entwined in the hearts of his family and friends.



The burial itself was later then most, at eight in the evening when the sun has set and the arms of night had curled around the city, with cloudy breath and frost touched toes I walked to the church, the path was lit with amber street lamps that shone like candles in the chill of night, and as I sat on the wooden chair hearing the words of sorrow for a life lost and tales of joy for a life truly lived, I just couldn't help but ponder how the celestial bodies watch over us in life, and when the earth comes to reclaim its lost children they would shine all the brighter for the future stardust that would course through the veins of eternity.



This has led me allot to the idea of this blog: Karmic Astrology.



Karmic astrology is a branch of astrology based on the concept of the cycle of rebirths and the law of cause and effect. And from such ideals comes the belief that the horoscope can help us recognise the effects of past actions in the present life and how our present may in return affect future lives as well as the future of our present lives.



It is probably one of the closest branches of Astrology linked to religion and spiritual teaching and his highly subjective to the experiences of those that follow such a path of self understanding.



There are a few generally valid guidelines for interpretation:



- A particular emphasis on the importance of the fourth, eighth and twelfth houses which are associated with the water element.



- The eighth house is thought to reveal past Karma, the fourth house present Karma and the twelfth future Karma.



- The planet Pluto, ruler of the eighth house together with the sign of Scorpio, are also thought to reveal the nature of past Karma.



- The Imum Coli (cusp of the fourth house) is thought to reveal the nature of the tasks an individual will have to face in the present life.



- There is also a great significance granted to the Moon and Saturn (which is often known as the "lord of karma")



Finally, the Moons Nodes also play an important role.



-The Moon's South Node:
Represents our karmic ancestry and we are probably familiar with the themes indicated by the South Node.



-The North Node:
Shows our karmic aim in the present life, something which is likely to cause feelings of anxiety because we cannot always rely on past experiences to help us progress there.



Merit Karma


This is the reward for all the things you got right in your past lives, all the lessons you learned, all the insights you put into practice. It is money in your Karmic piggy bank, it often manifests as a talent in the present life.

Chart Indicators:Easy aspects or specific planetary placements, especially linked to the Second House.



Recompense Karma


Recompense Karma is a reward or recognition for all things that you got right in the past, or for the sacrifice you made to help others. If for example, you put your ambitions or a relationship on hold to care for someone who needed your help, then that person could well come back as a good friend who helps you out in the present incarnation.

Chart Indicators:Helpful planetary placements and smooth, harmonious aspects and interaspects.



Redemptive Karma


Some people incarnate to help others or to do something for the world. Other people take on tasks that will help to clear collective karma.

Chart Indicators:People with strong redemptive karma often have an emphasis on the planet Neptune or the twelfth house. Clearing collective karma is often shown in a twelfth house placement of the north node.





Retributive Karma


Karma that boomerangs. The classic "eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" doctrine that says, for instance if someone chopped another persons hand in a former life, they are likely to have a paralysed hand in the present life, or lose the use of their hand in some way. In other words, what you have done comes back to you.

Chart Indicators:Extremely challenging aspects and planetary placements, emphasis on the sixth to twelfth axis.



Attitudinal Karma


Attitudinal karma has usually been present during several lives. An intransigent attitude, ingrained behaviour, or an intractable or habitual emotional stance results in some form of dis-ease, often at the physical level, during the present incarnation. So believing there would "never be enough" could manifest as an addiction. Arterial or heart problems could develop from "hard-heartedness" or a broken heart. Having an attachment to an ideal may also create karma.

Chart Indicators:Reflected in fixed planetary aspects and the sixth house.



Organic Karma


Organic karma is rather like attitidinal karma. It reflects injuries or conditions from previous lives .Overindulgence for instance could manifest as obesity or liver problems in the present. If you died by too much blood-letting, you could now suffer from anemia. A past life back injury could underlie a chronic back problem, tuberculosis could result in present life lung disease.

Chart Indicators:The sixth house



Karmic Treadmill


Destructive patterns that have not been outgrown are like the karmic treadmill. The same old things go around and around. Alcoholism is one example, relationships can provide many other examples.

Chart Indicators:Difficult aspects and a preponderance of planets in a fixed sign.



Work Karma


How you were employed in the past can have repercussions in the present, and some people incarnate to continue their previous work (vocational Karma) Someone may have been a healer or a doctor and bring with them into the present life the urge to heal. A former monk or nun would feel that they have a religious vocation in the present life, a musician the urge to continue with music.The karma of work arises from several different life causes.





Previous lack of integrity, for instance would manifest as someone who is cheated in this life, is cheated by someone. Having been a factory owner who's inadequate safety measures were responsible for many deaths could underlie an urge to be a safety or fire officer in the present life.Positive work karma could indicate skills to be drawn on in the present life. Technological karma stems from having had to make ethical decisions, about the use or misuse, of technical -or fighting against the introduction of new technology. It can relate to all periods but may go back in time as far as Atlantis or, more recently, to the Industrial and Technological Revolutions and their effects on people's lives.

Chart Indicators:Sixth and Tenth houses. Technological Uranus, especially in the Sixth and Tenth houses are particularly relevant to vocations.



Symbolic Karma


Not all karma is immediately obvious, symbolic karma can take some unravelling. The present life condition symbolizes what was done in the past. A witch ducker in a previous life might be incarnated as a bed wetter, for example.

Chart Indicators:Aspects to the appropriate planets and placements of planets in signs and houses delineate this karma.



Communication Karma


How and what you choose to communicate can lead to karma. Gossiping over the fence, spreading scandal or untruth of all kinds, slandering or criticising people, difficulty in communicating thoughts, feelings, and beliefs can create situations in this life. Included in communication karma are ideology hypocrisy, and mockery.





Attachment to a belief no matter how worthy, can create ideological karma. Imposing beliefs on other people can also create this karma. The beliefs may be religious, philosophical, or purely secular. But the karma has to be met in the current life.Having said or done things a certain way, while believing something different, gives rise to the karma hypocrisy, so does the "anything for a quiet life" approach. Hypocrisy rises from a lack of spiritual conviction and inner truth, or betrayal of truth.





A life arises when that inner foundation has to be regained.Mocking other peoples afflictions, thoughts and beliefs, or actions gives rise to the karma of mockery, it is based on not valuing that another persons beliefs. One such example is when you debase or make fun of someone else so that you can feel superior. The person who mocks often finds him or herself living out in the present life the circumstances he or she despised so much in a past life.



Chart Indicators:Aspects to Mercury and it's house placement point to the source. The ninth house has to do with ideology. The third house with gossip, and the twelfth with slander.





Sins of Omission and Commission


What you do not do can be as karmically significant as what you do. If you have always behaved in a certain way, or consistently refused to take action or learn a lesson, then the karma comes around and around, again and again until you get the message.

Chart Indicators:Difficult fixed aspects or an emphasis on sextiles. Relationship





Karma Relationship


Karma has many aspects. A couple may be brought together by true love, but this is not always so. Some people will not let go of someone they "love" and have come back with that person until they can do so. The lesson can be painful especially when the other person doesn't recognize the "love."


Retribution can be part of relationship karma, as can be recompense and reparation. It operates in families, groups, and work situations.

Chart Indicators:Fifth seventh and eighth houses and aspects to Venus.



Pacts and Promises


The pacts and promises you made in a past life can strongly affect the present. They may involve another person or be personal. If you promised to always be there for someone, you might have to deal with the resulting relationship karma. If you once made a vow to celibacy it could strongly affect your sexual life in the present incarnation and a vow of poverty could seriously affect your material wealth in the present.

Chart Indicators:This depends on the vow for example celibacy, Saturn in the eighth house, difficult mars or Venus aspects, poverty Saturn in the second or eighth house, or in Taurus or in aspect to Jupiter. Relationship promises involve personal planetary interaspects with Saturn and Neptune.



Karma in Suspension


As not all karma can be dealt with at once, some of it remains in suspension to be dealt with at some other time- which may or may not occur during the present life.

Chart Indicators:Wide connections between planets may indicate karma in suspension, especially if they will "catch up" and come into close orb at some point during your life.



Karma in the Making


What goes on in the present time creates future karma. Remembering that each of your thoughts, deeds, actions and beliefs creates what you will be is away to bring positive karma into your next life.

Chart Indicators:Cardinal squares and one -way interaspects between charts



Karma of aggression


Chart indicators: square's in cardinal signs ( Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn ), with Mars and it's superior octave, Pluto.





This type of karma shows that the person in the past lifes had a bad use of energy like: instinctive behaviour, aggression, violent impulses, domination and manipulation tenderise used in tiranic ways ( bad leaders ), egocentrism, irrational motivations that led to scandal, wrong canalization of energy, cruelty etc.





Mars in the chart show's how the person manifested this type of karma and it's possible to repeat it worsens in the actual life( still showed by the squares and Mars ). Pluto in the chart shows how this karma can be burned and to use the energy in good way, fighting yourself to beat the instincts and the aggressive impulses, learning the lesson of peace, calm, meditation and love.





Usually this karma gives in the actual life negative events like: frequently occurring accidents, injuries and burns ; being victim of violent and cruel persons; fast and violent breaking of relationships; sexual problems, painful health disorders etc..If a person has square's, T-Square's or Mystic Square's in cardinal sign's this type of karma is enabled.





Karma of possessive attachment.


Chart indicators: squares in fixed signs ( Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius ), with Venus and it's superior octave, Neptune. This type of karma shows that the person in the past lifes had been excessive attached to money, persons and possessions.





Most of the time this karma show's that in past life's, the materialism and satisfying owns desire's was something important, the person was to attached to something that led making the loved ones unhappy because of selfishness.Venus in the chart show's how the person manifested this type of karma and it's possible to repeat it worsen in the actual life( still showed by the squares and Venus ).





Neptune in the chart shows how this karma can be burned and to learn the lessons of detachment, acceptation, compassion, spirituality and to love without asking in return.





Usually this karma gives in the actual life negative events like: losing someone you love, poorness, losing objects you are attached, being victim of selfish persons, lots of personal illusions, long health disorders etcIf a person has square's, T-Square's or Mystic Square's in fixed sign's this type of karma is enabled.Karma of ignorance:hart indicators: squares in mutable signs ( Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces ), with Mercury and it's superior octave, Uranus.





This type of karma shows that the person in the past lives had been to ignorant, to rebellious, he/she wanted to be free and have no duties doing all what he likes even if he/she breaks the freedom of others.





They refused duties, they lie often, sometimes breaks laws by ignoring the consequences and usually this karma is manifested in the most forms in cruel teasing ( laughing on Someones mystakes or physical defects ) or bieng to chaotic and influencial.



Mercury in the chart show's how the person manifested this type of karma and it's possible to repeat it worsen in the actual life( still showed by the squares and mercury ). Uranus in the chart shows how this karma can be burned and to learn how to be disciplined, responsible on duties, practical and to learn the lesson of respect.





Usually this karma gives in the actual life negative events like: errors, bad luck, loosing exams on school, high-school and university, bad luck on social life and career, speech and nervous disorder, being victim of cruel teasing, being victim of lies, bad friends etc.If a person has square's, T-Square's or Mystic Square's in mutable sign's this type of karma is enabled.




While this is not of my own personal perception and allignment when it comes to astrology and its study I still never the less find it a most fascinating topic - worthy of study, review and for some implementation.


References: The wildly witty MsSaturn and the wonderfully gifted Borx.