In Vedic astrology it's important to look closely at the aspects. All planets aspect the 1st and 7th house from themselves. Mars, Saturn and Jupiter also have special aspects. Mars also aspects the 4th & 8th, Saturn aspects the 3rd & 10th, Jupiter aspects the 5th and 9th from themselves. As a general rule, aspects from malefic planets will oppose the indications that are represented by the planet or houses it aspects. For instance, malefic aspects to the 5th house or 5th lord or signficator of the 5th house, Jupiter, will oppose, delay or make child birth difficult. If there are several malefic aspects then it may prevent child birth altogether.

However, it's easy to get into the trap of thinking that malefic aspects are entirely bad. Our life experience shows us that it's never that black and white. Every aspect, no matter how "bad", has some potentially positive effect. For instance, when I was getting my masters degree in counseling psychology I studied the charts of a lot of psychotherapists. I learned that a very high percentage had malefic aspects to the Moon, especially Saturn and the Moon. (Notice how the Saturn Moon opposition is found in the chart of His Holiness the Dalai Lama) This showed me that therapists own emotional challenges increased their empathy and sensitivity towards other's suffering. It also helped them understand the mechanics of the mind/emotions and made them good therapists.

My teacher, K.N. Rao, points out that the malefic aspects from Mars, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu indicate technical skill especially when aspecting the 5th house, 5th lord and/or Mercury. They may deny child birth but there are other gains like a career in engineering for instance. Also malefic aspects to the ascendant, ascendant lord, Moon, Sun add to this technical inclination.

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