Reading a Child's Astrology Chart

When I see parents, I almost always see their children’s charts. As the life of a parent has a huge impact on a child, the life of a child also has a huge impact on the parent. The birth of a child alters one’s life direction and most parents want to know how they can be better parents for their children. There are two main things I look at in these readings. First is problems to remedy, and second is strengths to support.

Note: There is a misconception that a Vedic astrologer is not supposed to look at a child’s birth chart. This is incorrect. The statement is that we are not to predict the longevity of a child (when they will die). In the ancient times, it was considered auspicious for the astrologers to read the chart of a newly born noble, hence the story of the astrologer’s predictions at the birth of Gautama Buddha. In a consultation with a client who is a parent, I will generally spend about five to ten minutes on the child’s chart, according to the interest of the parent.

We need to make sure we acknowledge the weaknesses and give remedies for them. If the Moon is in the eighth house, it makes a very sensitive child. If Moon and Saturn are conjunct it can give a depressed outlook and tendency for depression. If Venus is afflicted (śāpa), it can bring struggles with the opposite sex. Being able to diagnose these issues that trouble a person in childhood, empowers the parent to be able to give advice with possible ways to help. Some may say that we may predispose the parent to look at their child a certain way, but most of the time if the child is more than seven years of age, the parent will not only confirm but will give examples that show how these issues are showing up in the child’s life. Giving remedies such as ways to talk to the child, positive affirmations, imagery to use, gemstones,[1] and such methods benefit both parent and child.

The second thing we look at is the strengths, to ensure that they get the resources they need to flower fully. This is seen in the rāśi and the navāṁśa charts. In the rāśi, we look for beneficial yogas, and well placed planets that will be impacting the nature of the child’s work later in life. If they are going to be software engineers or if they are going to be lawyers, there are different types of summer activities to participate in that might better give them the skills they will need. Nothing is to be forced on the child, if the recommendations are correct, the child will naturally appreciate the knowledge or activities.

In the navāṁśa, we see planets in trine that give inherent skills, as well as the ascendant lord if no planet is placed there. These planets will indicate the skills that allow a child to excel in life. The predominating skills have a multi-level development in the navāṁśa, as they are part of the child’s inherent nature (a part of them that is their core being). For example, if a child has the Sun in the navāṁśa trine, then they will be good at playing an instrument. By learning and practicing an instrument, they cultivate their sense of rhythm, they connect to the deeper part of themselves that makes music; their creative self. This deeper connection teaches them about how to find that which is not given; it shows them the inner world where answers live. This inner cultivation makes them deeper human beings, and more effective in life. The Moon indicates singing, Mars indicates martial arts; other skills are indicated by various planets and planetary positions. 

The inner cultivation of their core skills teaches them to connect to their authentic selves, which helps free them from the hindrances of shame, doubt, and their own projected limitations. The Moon will indicate singing, Mercury will indicate journaling and writing, Jupiter will indicate learning more than one foreign language, Saturn will indicate learning a craft. In this way, the planets there will indicate practices that the parent can focus on being supportive with.

“The discovery that education must be a bringing out of the child's own intellectual and moral capacities to their highest possible value and must be based on the psychology of the child-nature [is] a step forward towards a more healthy because a more subjective system; but it still [falls] short because it still [regards] him as an object to be handled and moulded by the teacher, to be educated. But at least there [is] a glimmering of the realisation that each human being is a self-developing soul and that the business of both parent and teacher is to enable and to help the child to educate himself, to develop his own intellectual, moral, aesthetic and practical capacities and to grow freely as an organic being, not to be kneaded and pressured into form like an inert plastic material. It is not yet realised what this soul is or that the true secret, whether with child or man, is to help him to find his deeper self, the real psychic entity within.” –Sri Aurobindo[2]

I again stress that it is important not to force the child, and to make sure the parent is listening to them. If the child wants to dance, and the parent forces them to do an instrument, they will have failed to listen to the child speak (and taught them that what they feel or intuit has no value). It is important that we become sensitive to our children and help them follow their dreams. Astrology is an aid, particularly when there is doubt or multiple possibilities.

An astrologer’s goal with reading a child’s chart is to help the parent hear the child. Most often they have asked for activities related to the planet in trine. A child with Ketu in navāṁśa ascendant may have asked to get a computer or go to a video game making class, but been told they need to study something else the parent thinks is more important. It is these cases, the astrologer can remind the parent, that the video game class would give that budding programmer the skills they need to blossom and find the place of creativity in themselves.

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[1] For Children, I recommend secondary stones in larger quantity. For example, if Jupiter is weak, the child can wear a necklace (mālā) of the stone citrine instead of a yellow sapphire which a child can lose.

[2] A good discussion of Sri Aurobindo’s thoughts on educating children can be found at http://www.infinityfoundation.com/mandala/i_es/i_es_salmo_yoga.htm