The Houses Impacted by Saturn
Part Two
by Hank Friedman
[Note: Without the tutelage of Hart de Fouw, I would never have progressed in Jyotish, and these articles could not have been written. I am forever grateful to him.]
(Please read Part One of this article, if you haven't already.)
One of my students pointed out that in the first part of my article I didn't explore the effect of yogas on Saturn's placement.
I am therefore dedicating this article to her: Michelle, my student, bodyworker, healer, and clear friend. Thanks!
Yogas: The Central Principles
One of the core premises in Vedic chart analysis is that the presence of Yogas in a chart is more potent than the meanings of house placement.
In addition, for a positive yoga to be impactful, (at least) one of the yoga-forming planets must be strong (own sign, exalted, Vargottama, Dig Bala, and/or Retrograde/Bright Moon.)
When a yoga is formed by one or more planets, the results of the yoga primarily affect one or more of the themes of the house occupied by the planets.
If the yoga is a positive one, it will enhance one or more of the positive themes of the house occupied; while if it's a negative yoga, it will magnify one or more of the negative themes of the house occupied.
Here are some examples:
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence is the highest paid actress in the world and a very wealthy woman. Most astrologers would look to the Second House for wealth, where ironically Saturn resides.
But the Ninth House is also a wealth-signifying house, and it is here that we see an exalted Jupiter forming a Raja Yoga (as 5th lord) with the 10th lord the Sun.
Donald Trump
Donald Trump made huge fortunes in real estate, and when we look at his 4th house, we see a very powerful Neecha Bhanga Raja Yoga with the Moon in Scorpio aspected by Mars. (Note that the Moon is also Bright and has Dig Bala, I.e. is doubly strong)
Saturn as a Yoga-forming planet in the houses
When we consider Saturn in the houses, therefore, its effects can be very different if it is yoga forming.
That's because if Saturn forms positive yogas in the house it occupies, then the yogas can overrule the expected malefic nature of Saturn in that house. (But always remember that both positive and negative effects are most likely, just more positive ones because of the yoga.)
I love the paradox in Jyotish that the same planet can give both good and bad results. In fact, that often happens because there are so many ways that a planet can be strong and weak, rule good and bad houses, etc.
As each house has its own themes, the type of yoga (e.g. Dhana, Spiritual Raja Yoga, etc.) also becomes significant in influencing a specific house theme, as do the significations, attributes, and rulerships of the yoga-forming planets.
We are looking for, in a word oft used by my Vedic guru, is confluence. Where do we find a match-up between the yoga-forming planets and the themes of the house in which they reside.
For example, in Jennifer's chart, Jupiter is both the universal significator of wealth, and also the ruler of her 2nd house, so there were multiple reasons why Jupiter's yoga would specifically make her rich.
But also notice that both the Sun and Jupiter are Sattvic, and the 9th house is Sattvic, and so Ms. Lawrence is also incredibly high principled and a crusader against corruption, and has her own eponymous foundation to help those in need.
So we see that at least two of her Raja Yoga planets' attibutes contribute to major positive themes in her life (wealth and Spirit).
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The situation becomes even more complicated, requiring careful powers of blending themes, when contradictions exist between the house position and the yoga in that house.
Helen Nearing

Ms. Nearing has the "agnostic/atheist" placement of Saturn (I.e. since it resides in the 12th house of Enlightenment and aspects the 9th house of Spirit and religion). Often people with this placement have some issue with believing in Transcendence or God. That might be the result of exposure to a rigid religion or bad guru, or experiences that caused a loss of faith, or adherence to scientism (when science turns bad and becomes a materialistic belief system instead of an objective method of arriving at the truth), or simply having many fears and doubts.
But she also has the three major Spiritual Raja Yogas in her chart: Lord of the 1st with Lord of the 5th, Lord of the 1st with Lord of the 9th, and Lord of the 4th with Lord of the 9th. And since Saturn is in its own sign (strong), these are fully functional yogas.
The Sattvic themes of the three Dharma houses ruled by the yoga forming-planets in the 12th house manifested in several ways in Ms. Nearing's life:
Typical of the 12th house, she pioneered the back-to-the-land movement, shunned materialism, was a lifelong vegetarian, and was very thrifty. In her early life, she studied Indian mysticism with Krishnamurti (whom she dated as a young woman), and traveled the world in search of truth. She and her husband became the gurus of many of the disenfranchised youth of the late '60s and wrote "the bible" for those returning to the country, "The Good Life".
Others might wonder about living in such isolation, doing so much farm work without machinery, and not even owning a telephone until in her '90s, but these are also 12th house themes of renunciation, withdrawal, and relinquishment.
Typical of the 12th house, much of her life was lived in poverty, and she didn't
even want to know her neighbors!
Which illustrates another very important point: if you embrace the themes of your chart, you don't suffer them!
I was once struck by one of my astrology student's very challenged 5th house. She had managed to live the karma of those placements by teaching disabled children, while having perfectly healthy children of her own!
Conclusion
Therefore, one cannot take the delineations in Part One of this article as the absolute truth because many factors, including Saturn participating in yogas, can at least significantly modify those interpretations.
Vedic astrology demands understanding as many factors about the chart as possible, and how they interact.
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