People seek help from the divine science of astrology when they are in suspense and distress and are hounded by uncertainties in life. Not only do they want to know about the duration and the result of the uncertainty but also to seek advice in order to redress their concern, as well. Help seekers are from all walks of life, crossing the bars of caste, creed and religion. Though the divine science was used by Indians since time immemorial, it is not concerned with Hinduism or for that matter with any other religion. As the Sun gives light and energy to one and all across the world so is its influence based on its position in the horoscope drawn for a person for the time of his/her birth.

A man is troubled by ill health, insolvency, disputes, accidents, obstructions, hospitalization, punishment by the state, enmity, etc. We all know that these aspects are governed by the malefic houses, viz. the sixth, eighth and the twelfth houses. The results pertaining to these houses are felt during the sub-periods of the planets placed in these houses depending upon their respective strength and the lords of these houses causing close afflictions in the chart. Based on this simple technique, not only can the divine science foretell the incidence of the difficult times and the areas of difficulties but it can also suggest ways and means to reduce the impact of the difficulties to a large extent. The wisest creation in humankind of God, has learned to augment the potentialities in his/her chart. A happy and contented individual is an asset for the society as he/she can help people in distress during the spare time available to him/her.

All planets placed in malefic houses indicate trouble. The trouble is to the significations ruled by these badly placed planets. The troubles come in their operating sub-periods and during the course of transit afflictions by malefic planets.

The functional malefic lords indicate trouble when they cause exact or close afflictions in the birth chart. The trouble pertains to the significations of the houses or the planets under the close affliction for the functional malefic lords.

The functional malefic lords give results concerning the positive aspects of the houses ruled by them as per their strength. When weak they give the results of a lower order. When the functional malefic lords themselves are weak and afflicted, the significations ruled by them are lost.

The two key areas for the analysis of the horoscopes are the functional nature of the planets in a particular nativity and the relationships developed by the planets with other planets and houses through conjunction/aspects/placements.

While the placement of a planet affects the significations ruled by it, its impact on the house of its placement would be only applicable if it forms a close conjunction/aspect with its most effective point. Any planet posited within 5 degrees (on either side) of the most effective point of any house would be making its significant impact on the said house, depending of course upon the strength and functional nature of the planet under consideration. This planet also fully influences the house(s) aspected by it.

A malefic planet is considered strong when it is not weak. A malefic planet is considered weak due to infancy, old age, combustion, bad placement in houses other than its own, debilitation, affliction, placement in an afflicted house, debilitation in navamsa and due to weakness/affliction of its dispositor.

The positive traits of evil houses, which contain mooltrikona sign(s), fructify when their lords are strong, well-placed and unafflicted.

The positive traits of the evil houses are as under:-

The Sixth House-
Sound financial position, victory over enemies and no apprehension of losses through theft and fire.

The Eighth house-
Long life, financial gains to the father, gains through inheritance, draw of lots and unearned wealth, continuity of marital tie, etc.

The Twelfth house-
Good sleep, staying together with the spouse, gains from foreign lands, no apprehension of imprisonment and hospitalizations, comforts and a luxurious life.

The subject will be discussed further with the help of case studies.

Female born 14th May 1967, 1725 Hrs. Jalandhar, India. (Click here to see Chart)

Three planets are placed in malefic houses. These are Saturn, Mars and Mercury. The significations ruled by these badly placed planets are rendered weak. The functional malefic planet, Mercury, closely afflicts the most effective point of the eighth house. Venus rules health in general and longevity. Inter alia other things, Saturn rules the digestive system and progeny matters; Mars is a significator for health in general and rules the health of the spouse; Mercury rules comforts; the eighth house rules longevity inheritance and the second house rules wealth, continuance of family line, and status. The Sun, significator of vitality and stomach, is very weak in the nativity due to extreme old age. The native was not blessed with a child, she had bad health and during the sub-period of Mercury in its own main period the native was diagnosed for a tumor in stomach in advanced stage, endangering her life. In such severe afflictions while the preventive astral remedies could have been of a great help, the curative astral remedies are not of much help or any help.

Male born 23rd December 1954, 2115 Hrs. New Delhi, India. (Click here to see Chart)

Jupiter and Saturn rule malefic houses due to their mooltrikona signs in the sixth and eighth houses, respectively. The Sun, Mercury, Rahu, Mars and Ketu are placed in malefic houses. Jupiter ruling the house of disputes is in the ascendant and the lord of the eighth house, Saturn, ruling obstructions and death, closely afflicts the lord of the fourth house and the most effective point of the fourth house. The fourth house rules education and mother besides domestic happiness in particular. The lord of the second house, the Sun, ruling wealth and family is badly placed in the house of disputes. The Sun is also closely conjunct with Rahu and afflicted. The main significations in the chart are disputes connected with family, marriage and assets and threatened loss of these. The native faced obstructions in education, has a simple graduation and his mother suffered widowhood early in life. During the main period of the Sun, the wife deserted the native and there is a dispute regarding the assets.

Male born 11th November 1980, 1930 Hrs. Gurgaon, India. (Click here to see Chart)
The planets ruling the third, fourth and fifth houses are badly placed in malefic houses. The functional malefic Jupiter is closely conjunct with the lord of the tenth house, Saturn. The functional malefic planet Mars closely afflicts the seventh, tenth, first and second houses. The well placed but debilitated functional malefic Venus is under the close affliction of Ketu. The weakness and the bad placement of the fourth lord showered numerous difficulties to mother including a divorce within four years of marriage besides spoiling the school education of the child. Lack of good education resulted in difficulties in the area of earning a livelihood, which is indicated by the afflicted lord of the tenth house. The well placed Jupiter, though weak due to weakness of the dispositor, blessed the native with inheritance in the form of a dwelling unit owned by the mother. The astral remedies were sought when the performance of native was very poor in his middle school. Wearing of a Kavach and performance of propitiatory remedies for the afflicting functional malefics resulted in graduation studies though not with good marks. The native is continuing his studies with his job.

Female born on 19th September, 1952, 1510 hrs. in Kolkata, India. (Click here to see Chart)
Mercury, ruling the ninth house, is placed in the eighth house. The functional malefic Jupiter is in the fourth house and is closely afflicting Mercury placed in a malefic house. The other functional malefic, the Sun, is placed in the ninth house and is closely conjunct with the lord of the seventh house. Apart from this, there is a close conjunction (within a longitudinal difference of 5 degrees) of Saturn with Venus and the most effective point of the ninth house. During the sub-period of Jupiter in the main period of Jupiter, the parents of the native and the domestic peace received a great setback. During the sub-period of Saturn, the improvements eluded as the severe affliction of the ninth lord did not allow the well placed and functional benefic Saturn to bestow good results. During the sub-period of Mercury in the main period of Jupiter, the fortune of the native saw many reversals through losses to husband, financial crisis to self and parents, etc. The astral remedies have been able to put a stop to further misfortunes and has developed some good results but find it difficult to make the native happy.

Female born 15th October 1974, 1024 Hrs. 76E01 30N22 India. (Click here to see Chart)
placed in malefic houses. Mars and Venus, being functional malefic planets, cause severe afflictions to the Moon and the Sun besides afflicting each other. The fourth, ninth, twelfth, eleventh and the tenth houses are involved in these afflictions besides a further affliction of the Sun and the Moon ruling parents, general fortune, profession and the heart. The rahu-Ketu axis is conjunct with the most effective points of the houses of its location and afflicts all the houses occupied and aspected. The overall impact of the planetary positions resulted in lack of elder brothers, difficulties to parents, obstruction in education caused by severe health problems of hypertension and fits at a very young age of sixteen years. The father of the native suffered a prolonged illness due to paralysis. The planetary position is indicative of problematic finances and profession. The application of curative astral remedies in the form of wearing a Kavach for strengthening the weak functional benefic planets, charities for the functional malefic planets - Mars, Venus, Rahu and Ketu - and the use of dress strictly as per the suitable colors, have been able to reduce the incidence of fits and hypertension to a large extent. The astral remedies enabled the native to pursue her studies more vigorously.

Male born 23rd January 1971, 0720 Hrs. New Delhi, India. (Click here to see Chart)
Ketu and Mercury are placed in malefic houses. The most malefic planet Jupiter forms a close conjunction with the most effective point of the eleventh house and afflicts the houses occupied and aspected. The other functional malefic, the Sun, is conjunct with the most effective point of the ascendant and afflicts both the ascendant and the seventh house. The Sun becomes weak due to placement in an afflicted house. The planets placed in the eleventh house become weak due to the close affliction to the MEP of the said house. The weak Mars gets closely afflicted. The conjunction of the eighth lord with the ascendant gives a severe accident. The close affliction to the lord of the fourth house and the debilitation of the Moon – the significator for mother - gave early widowhood to the mother besides playing havoc with the married life of the native. Before application of the astral remedies in the form of a Kavach and propitiatory remedial measures for the functional malefic planets, the Sun, Jupiter, Rahu and Ketu, the planetary influences in this case resulted in early loss of father and a severe accident involving multiple fractures keeping the native in bed for over six months. However, the native found improvements with the astral remedies and has been able to ward off the evils in the matters of happiness in marriage.

Indian Independence Chart 15th August, 1947, 0000 Hrs, New Delhi, India.
(Click here to see Chart)
The functional malefic lord of the eighth house is placed in the sixth house connecting death with inimical relations, diseases and financial difficulties. The country faced four wars, proxy war with terrorism and a number of natural calamities involving mass deaths. The functional malefic lord of the twelfth house is placed on the most effective point of the second house ruling status, harmonious relationship amongst various sections of the society and wealth. During the sub-period of the functional malefic Mars, the country lost its status in the eyes of world due to large number of financial scams and scandals like, hawala, fodder scam, broad gauge conversion, political bribery to MPs, allotment of houses and agencies, etc. besides the continuous unfavorable foreign trade and rising foreign and internal debt. The functional malefic Venus closely afflicts Saturn resulting into various political parties fighting to gain ruling power in the country. The placement of exalted Rahu close with the most effective point of the ascendant explains the loss of moral character by many, incidence of various scams and generation of black money. The transit malefic influence of Rahu/Ketu on the natal Rahu, Ketu and the Moon in end of March, 1997, resulted into a political chaos in the country due to withdrawal of support by a political party to the ruling front. In January 2001 the state of Gujarat suffered from a massive earthquake resulting into great loss of life. In last week of December, 2004, the southern states of India were invaded by the Tsunami in which thousands lost lives.

Male born 8th February 1959, 0700 Hrs. 77E40 28N36, India. (Click here to see Chart)
See the impact of the functional malefic lords in the nativity; the Sun afflicts the most effective point of the ascendant, the most effective point of seventh house and the Moon and Mercury; and Jupiter afflicts the lord of the fourth house. The lord of the second house is placed in the twelfth house, which is a malefic house. The bad placement of the lord of the second house and afflictions to Mars and the lords of the seventh and ninth houses resulted into the early loss of parental happiness, lack of good school education and denied material possessions in life. The main period of Rahu operating from the ninth house gave involvement in a religious organization. Due to the bad health on account of heart trouble and hypertension in early stages of life, the native decided to remain unmarried, and to go in for the life of a religious preacher. The weak lord of the second house and the afflicted lords of the fourth and seventh houses and the severe affliction of the most malefic planet to the most effective point of the seventh house clearly indicate the lack of happiness from marital/family life. The native wears a Kavach to safeguard his deteriorating health.

Male born on 18th November, 1946, 1502 Hrs. 80E25 22N04, TZ 5.30 Hrs., India. (Click here to see Chart)
The lord of the tenth house is placed in the malefic eighth house but its close impact on the most effective point of the second house is indicative of acquiring status in life through self-effort. The functional malefic Saturn is well placed but suffers from the close aspect of Ketu. The functional malefic Sun closely afflicts the functional malefic Venus, in the ninth house. The well placed lord of the second house also suffers from the close conjunction of Ketu. During the main period of the badly placed lord of the tenth house and in the sub-period of the functional malefic Sun, the native was involved in a career reversal and was involved in a scandalous investigation regarding one of the prominent scams of the country. The placement of Rahu in its sign of exaltation, near the most effective point of the third house blessed the native with a short-lived meteoric rise in life. The lord of the house of easy gains is closely conjunct with the royal planet, the Sun. But the weakness of both the Sun and Venus lack retention or protection power.