Aries (Mesha)
मेष
0° to 30° of the sidereal zodiac
Aries, Mesha in Sanskrit, is the first of the twelve signs, and its name means the ram. In the sidereal zodiac the site uses, it begins at the same point as the nakshatra Ashwini, so the circle of the signs and the circle of the lunar mansions start together here. The ram that charges head first is the picture the tradition keeps of it: beginnings, initiative, courage and the impatience that comes with them. Aries is also the sign the Sun enters in mid-April, the solar new year of much of India, kept as Baisakhi, Vishu, Puthandu and other festivals. In a chart the sign tells you how a planet in it acts, the house it falls in tells you where, and its lord carries the sign's affairs wherever that lord stands. This page sets out what the site's own tables hold for Aries: its lord, element and quality, the nakshatras within it, the planets whose dignity it decides, and what each planet is for an Aries Lagna.
At a glance
Lord, element and quality
Aries is ruled by Mars, who also rules Scorpio. Wherever Mars stands in a chart, it carries the affairs of the house Aries falls in. It is a sign of the fire element and of the movable quality. The twelve signs cycle through the qualities in order, movable, fixed and dual, so every fourth sign shares one: Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn are movable. The birth report describes the sign's theme as initiative and pioneering drive.
The nakshatras in Aries
Each sign holds two and a quarter nakshatras, nine quarters in all, since the twelve signs and the twenty-seven nakshatras share the same circle.
- Ashwini: 0°00′ Aries to 13°20′ Aries, all four padas.
- Bharani: 13°20′ Aries to 26°40′ Aries, all four padas.
- Krittika: 26°40′ Aries to 30°00′ Aries, pada 1, the rest of it lying in Taurus.
Planets whose dignity Aries decides
The site's table of dignities, which follows Parashara's ranges for the signs he divides by degree, gives these in Aries:
- Sun: Sun is exalted throughout the sign.
- Mars: Mars is in its moolatrikona from 0° to 12°; Mars is in its own sign from 12° to 30°.
- Saturn: Saturn is in its fall (debilitated) throughout the sign.
For every other planet Aries is the sign of a friend, a neutral or an enemy, as that planet counts Mars. The table: Moon — neutral, Mercury — neutral, Jupiter — friend and Venus — neutral.
Aries as the Lagna
When Aries is rising at birth it is the first house, and each graha's nature for the chart follows from the houses it rules. The site takes this from Parashara's own list for each rising sign (Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, ch. 34, tr. R. Santhanam), and goes by the chapter's general rules for a graha the verse does not name. For a Aries Lagna:
- Sun, lord of the 5th: auspicious.
- Moon, lord of the 4th: neutral.
- Mars, lord of the 1st and 8th: auspicious.
- Mercury, lord of the 3rd and 6th: inauspicious.
- Jupiter, lord of the 9th and 12th: auspicious.
- Venus, lord of the 2nd and 7th: inauspicious.
- Saturn, lord of the 10th and 11th: inauspicious.
No graha rules both an angle and a trine for a Aries Lagna, so it has no Yogakaraka.
Rahu and Ketu are not classed by the verse: they act for the lord of the sign they occupy and the house they are in.
Varahamihira on each planet in Aries
The Brihat Jataka gives a reading for a birth with each of the seven planets in each sign; the nodes are not given any. The site's birth report quotes these as they are paraphrased here. Varahamihira adds that a sign's effects come in full only when the planet, the sign and its lord are strong.
The Sun in Aries. With the Sun in Aries, Varahamihira describes a capable person of wide renown, given to travel and at home with arms or other hard, active work, though wealth stays modest. (Brihat Jataka 18.1, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))
The Moon in Aries. With the Moon in Aries, Varahamihira describes a quick, restless temperament: fond of travel and of a contest, proud, quick to anger and as quick to relent, and changeable in mind. He sees skill in working under others, and wealth that comes and goes rather than stays. (Brihat Jataka 17.1, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))
Mars in Aries. With Mars in Aries, Varahamihira describes a commander: respected by those in authority, given to travel, able in leading people and in trade, prosperous and fond of life's pleasures, with a body that bears the marks of injury. (Brihat Jataka 18.5, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))
Mercury in Aries. With Mercury in Aries, Varahamihira gives a hard reading: a mind drawn to gambling, debt and drink, to arguing against received teaching and to bending the truth, a course he warns leads to poverty. (Brihat Jataka 18.8, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))
Jupiter in Aries. With Jupiter in Aries, Varahamihira describes a leader of people, wealthy, generous and patient, with good helpers, a happy marriage, many children and wide renown. (Brihat Jataka 18.12, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))
Venus in Aries. With Venus in Aries, Varahamihira warns that desire can lead astray, into entanglements in love that cost property and good name. (Brihat Jataka 18.14, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))
Saturn in Aries. With Saturn in Aries, Varahamihira gives a hard reading: a restless, wandering life, a taste for show, few friends, and judgement that needs care. (Brihat Jataka 18.17, tr. N. Chidambaram Iyer (1905))
Use the tools
- Find your rising sign and Moon sign with a free birth chart.
- Read the Aries horoscope, counted from the Moon sign.
- The panchang gives the sign of the Sun and Moon each day.
- All twelve: the signs.