Understanding the Sun Clock in Vedic Astrology

Vedic astrology, just like the rest of Ayurveda, is connected to the cycle of the sun clock. Calculate your Vedic astrology chart here, and then read on for wisdom from Vedic astrologer Barry Rosen. 

The 24 hour movement of the Sun clock sets up the cornerstones of the chart which are know as kendras in Vedic astrology.  The Sun in the 1^st house is connected to to  sunrise and beginning of our day.  The 10^th house is connected to noon and when the Sun is at its zenith and when success in the public is strong.  The Sun sets in  7^th house when it is connected to  dusk and melting into end of the day where one needs to rest and dissolve into the night.   The 4^th house is connected to midnight and is a weak time for the Sun when mythologically the Sun god is thought to  lay hidden between death and new life before sunrise

How our day is connected to the sun clock

The rhythms of nature, of emotional success and vulnerability are very tied to the rising and setting of the Sun and the way our day gets structured.  When the Sun rises on the Eastern horizon, it sets up the 1^st house for your birth chart and boots your operating system to give you the intelligence to run our day.  All of nature is awakening at sunrise and there is a lively energy in the air.   It is thought that the rays of the morning sun are powerful to observe and some people observe this energy during the 1^st hour of sunrise to absorb the power of the Sun.  If you have ever done Yoga outside on a retreat during the first hour of the Sun, it is a very powerful experience .  Life is more powerful when we get up with the Sun rather than sleeping in.

Mornings are meditative

Just after sunrise, there is  deep time for meditation where nature is waking up and 12^th house can be a deep meditative place to be of letting go and diving into the infinite.  The positive side of the 12^th house is that is a place of seclusion, meditation, retreats and ashrams.   On the more negative side, if we are up after sunrise when the 12^th house is operating, it is difficult to see planets on the horizon.  According to Ptolemy, the 12th house corresponded to that part of the sky, just above the horizon, where stars were obscured by the “thick, misty exhalations from the moisture of earth.” According to the Egyptians, stars here were lost in, and debilitated by, the sun’s light at sunrise.  Planets on the horizon are not seen and all planets in the 12^thhouse are considered subconscious blind spots as we do not understand and their energies and it may take decades to understand how these patterns run our lives.

Afternoons are powerful

At noon the Sun is high in the sky and the 10^th house is operating when we have deep digestive power for lunch and our power is strong to accomplish in the world.  There is a Muhurtha period (depending on where you live and what time is sunrise) here for 45 minutes where the gods are giving extra energy to fulfill our desires and manifest our needs.

Evenings are for recharging

At sunset, the energy is low and the 7^th house is operating.  If we are driving home into the West, we have to put our sun visor down or we are blinded by the rays of the setting sun.  Planets in the 7^th house do not well because they act like combust planets with low energy and also represent blind spots and we often our blind to relationship issues and problems here. Maybe we are ruminating about our business relationships that are not working here as we are driving home. It is thought that no planet does well in the 7^th house.  This is a time to recharge, do some meditation, relax and unwind and if you try to get anything major done during this time, it can be like pulling teeth. Most of us will spend our time frustrated here in a traffic jam.

Nighttime is emotional

If we stay up late, the opposite of noon is midnight where the Sun’s energy is very low the 4^thhouse is operating which is why the Sun does not do well in the 4^th house.  The fourth house is where we find ourselves vulnerable late at night, under the covers and vulnerable to the emotional intensity of our family life and ancestral history.   It is opposite the 10^th house of public life we hide under the covers and unravel our complex emotional baggage from our childhood and our fears and power struggles attempt to unwind.   Its no wonder if we have trouble sleeping that our mind and emotions are churning at this time. It is a moksha house of letting go but also a place of emotional vulnerability where we try to grapple with unconscious fears and insecurities and our family baggage.

In the late night  the 3^rd house and 4^th houses are often operating.  The 3^rd house is operating at about 2 am is connected to,  primal energies such as primal sexual urges, aggressive energies and deep subconscious fears.

How the houses are affected by the sun clock

When looking at a natal chart, I find this perspective fascinating to remember.   If you see Sun in the 4^th house, it has little power to be seen in the world and to accomplish. If you see a lot of planets in the 7^th house, the person has a lot of blind spots around relationships and a lot of weak planets.  If you see a lot of planets in the 3^rd house, there is often a great deal of primal sexual and aggressive energy that has to be mastered. If you see Sun and Mars in the 10^thhouse then there is a lot of power to be successful and achieve and if you see a lot of planets in the 4^th house, there is a lot of emotional vulnerability and maybe only Venus and Jupiter do well here if in dignity in their ability  express a full heart and have emotional fullness. .

This perspective may be a bit simplistic, but I think it is important way of understanding how the times of the day and sun clock are connected to the houses and how we can derive quick meaning from this information.

Special thanks to Dana Gerhart  and Col Raj Kumar  and to all my Jyotish teachers for enlivening some of these perspectives.

Remember if you have afflicted planets, then doing these things may not be easy for you so find the courage to work on the things that do not work in your life.

This article was first posted on appliedvedicastrology.com, and is reposted with permission from the author.