Reflections on the Thema Mundi and Jaimini Astrology

Recently I’ve been trying to learn something about Vedic astrology and have been comparing the basic concepts of the Vedic approach with those of early Hellenistic astrology. Fundamental to the Hellenistic approach is the teaching device known as the Thema Mundi, which is a hypothetical chart for the beginning of the universe. Usually the Thema Mundi is depicted with Cancer rising (often 15 degrees of Cancer), as opposed to the Aries-rising chart which is common in both Western and modern Indian astrology.

Some scholars have argued that the astrologers of Egypt chose Cancer rising because it reflects the appearance of the sky at the annual flooding of the Nile, which was the beginning of the life cycle in ancient Egypt. If we follow this logic, it might be more fitting to have the boundary between Leo and Cancer (the summer solstice as seen in the sky in ancient Egypt) on the Ascendant of the Thema Mundi chart because that region signifies the union of the Sun and Moon which generated the universe as we know it. In other words, the sun-god of Leo had intercourse with its reflection in the Moon of Cancer, resulting in the conception of our world. The Thema Mundi modified to fit this conceptualization would look as follows:

[image error]Thema Mundi with the line of intersection between Leo and Cancer as the Ascendant.

The advantage of this modified Thema Mundi diagram is that it clearly divides the zodiac into a solar and a lunar portion, the solar hemisphere ranging in zodiacal order from Leo through Capricorn, and the lunar hemispere ranging in reverse zodiacal order from Cancer through Aquarius, with the lunar signs ruled by a particular planet reflected across the horizontal (0 Leo – 0 Aquarius) axis in their corresponding solar signs ruled by the same planet.

In a recent video which will be posted at the YouTube site of Vedic astrologer Levi Cosign, I hypothesized that this modified version of the Thema Mundi might be related to the fundamental ideas behind the Rasi aspects of Jaimini astrology. In reading Ernst Wilhelm’s translation of the Jaimini Upadesa Sutras, it also occurred to me that this modified Thema Munda could shed light on the concept of Argala found in Jaimini astrology.

For example, the Argala positions are the 2nd, 11th and 4th from the Ascendant. Planets found in these positions are considered to be “pinned” to one’s fate. Looking at the modified Thema Mundi diagram, we wee that the 2nd house is the next sign after Leo in zodiacal order and the 11th house is the next sign after Cancer in reverse zodiacal order. If the universe came into existence at the 0 Leo – 0 Aquarius “horizon,” then the 2nd and 11th signs act as guardians, hemming in this region our world was conceived by the union of the divine Sun and its reflection in the Moon. In fact, the positions of Mercury and Jupiter with respect to the birth of the universe in the union of Cancer/Leo (opposed by Capricorn/Aquarius) could well be related to the Jaimini concept of second strength.

Returning to the idea of Argala, one could also argue that the 4th sign from Leo is pinned to our fate because it is the Angle or Kendra (kendra refers to the fastener or stake that holds the corner of a tent in place) related to the solar hemisphere of the birth of the universe. By analogy the 9th house from Leo, which is the 4th sign or Kendra from the Moon in the lunar hemisphere, in which counts the signs in reverse zodiacal order, could also be an Argala postion, which is linked to our fate by analogy with the solar half of the zodiac.

Another advantage of this scheme in viewing the Argala positions is that in this modified Thema Mundi diagram the 2nd and 11th Argala places from Leo as the 1st receive full aspects from the benefic Jupiter across the wheel. In addition, the 4th and 9th Argala places from the Leo Ascendant receive full aspects from the benefic Venus across the wheel. Thus, planets in the 2nd, 4th, 9th and 11th places from the Ascendant receive the benefit of aspects of the two most benefic planets in the Thema Mundi.

Jaimini also has a concept of positions which obstruct the Argala planets. These obstructing positions are the 3rd, 10th and 12th places from the Ascendant. Note that the 12th place receives a full aspect from malefic Saturn across the wheel, and the 3rd and 10th places receive full aspects from malefic Mars directly across the wheel. If we were to again adjust the Thema Mundi so that 15 degree of Leo fell on the horizon and then folded the chart in half from top to bottom, we would seen that the obstructing positions are reflections across 15 Leo of their corresponding Argala positions. In other words, the 12th place would obstruct its reflection in the Argala 2nd place, the 3rd place would obstruct its reflection in the Argala 11th place, the 10th place would obstruct its position in the Argala 4th place, and the 5th place would obstruct its position in the Argala 9th place. All in all, there is a beautiful symmetry in this formulation.

As a novice at Vedic astrology, I must confess that I may have misunderstood the sutras and my understanding may be way off base. For this reason, I look forward to feedback from astrologers with much more knowledge and experience than I have with these concepts.

P.S.: For a clear explanation of Argala I recommend the video by Ryan Kurczak at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCJidRN-2Pw&t=548s