Lagna

You were born on some day of some month of some year at a particular time and in a particular place with your lagna being one of twelve: Mesha,Vrisha, Mithuna, Karka, Tula, Vrishchik, Dhanu, Makar, Kumbha or Meena. To arrive at a Lagna some calculations are to be done. Since, we are, however, avoiding mathematics, only a rough method of checking the horoscope in a Hindu chart is explained.

In Hindu astrology the Sun changes from one rashi into another in the middle of English months. If you remember this, you will know where your Sun should be at the time of your birth.

Keep calculating at this rate, the lagna changing after every two hours. Four cardinal points are useful to do this exercise easily.

At sunrise the Sun will be in the Lagna.

During the mid-day in the fourth house from the Sun.

At sun-set in the seventh house from the Sun.

At mid-night in the tenth house form the Sun.

Warning
1. Do not apply this blindly. It is a very rough method made use of by astrologers to answer questions (horary or prashna astrology) when they are required to answer question while in a train or an aeroplane where they cannot calculate with the tools which they keep with them.
2. Sunrise and sunset change from place to place and country to country. Still this method will be found to be working satisfactorily. On this basis I predicted the victory of Columbia against Switzerland in June 1994 at San Fransisco. The calculation was done mentally while sitting in the football stadium, watching the World Cup Football (in USA they call it soccer) matches. I repeated it at Santa Fe when I was watching the finals between Brazil and Italy on the television. My prediction was that Brazil would win and one of the Italian players would be injured. This prediction too came out correct, exactly.

3. But how can we apply this to arctic regions where there are six-months of day and six-months of night. I have no answer but I am confident I can solve this problem, if given some astrological data. I am not aware if any Indian astrologer has an answer to it.

4. After making such mental calculations see your computer cast horoscope for an analysis.

5. Keep doing the exercise. It will help you concentrate on a horoscope, which in turn, will sharpen your predictive powers.

See the examples given here. It is a rough method of mentally calculating the lagna when the duration of day and night are more or less equal or do not have much difference.
The position, month by month for 2008 (almost all years) will be as follows –
1. January 14th, Makar or Capricon at 10 am.
2. Februay 12th, Kumbha or Aquarius at 11:02 pm.
3. March 14th, Meena or Pisces at 7:59 pm.
4. April 13/14 midnight at 4:31 am. (In India the day begins at sunrise)
5. May 14/15 at 1:23 am.
6. June 15th at 7:59 am.
7. July 16th at 6:51 am.
8. August 16/17 at 3:14 am.
9. September 16/17 at 3:9 am.
10. October 17th at 3:4 am.
11. November 16th at 2:49 pm.
12. December 15/16 at 4:26 am.
For a birth in the U.S.A. or any other country this will undergo some change by some hours only. A good computer programme will solve this problem.

Calculate your Lagna or the Ascendant of the Rising Sign

Your should still be able to calculate mentally on the basis of your Sun-sign (as given in Hindu astrology) the birth ascendant of yours, at least approximately. It is done thus.
1. See where the Sun is at the time of your birth. Suppose you were born on April 20, you then know that your Sun-sign (in Hindu Astrology) is Mesha or Aries. Roughly each ascendant lasts for two hours. Therefore start form your Sun-sign and proceed thus –
2. Sun at birth is in Mesha or Aries, so for two hours in the morning the ascendant or Lagna will be Mesha. After two hours, the Lagna will be Taurus or Vrishabha.
3. Another easy way of remembering it is, If you were born at sunrise your Sun will be in your Lagna. After two hours it will move to next sign.