Eat, Drink And Be Merry! Combinations for Conviviality

By Deborah Allison

Jyotish reflects life in all its endless manifestations. At the holiday season, many of us will gather for good food, good company and probably a lot of bad jokes! What combinations in a chart boost the capacity for enjoying oneself this holiday season?

The time honored sources for finding these contemporary correlations are the classical Jyotish texts. Festivity, fondness of joking and merriment are attributed to Venus in several texts. Mercury, too, is correlated with humor and a jocular nature that can turn tricky and sarcastic depending on other influences on it -- notably Mars. The Moon is classically related to food and hospitality and at least one text also links it to merriment. Jupiter is the signifier for joviality, as the derivation of this English word clearly demonstrates. It also represents a magnanimous nature, generosity and sometimes too much of a good thing (like sweets)!

When the food factors favorably relate to the 2nd and 6th houses, we can more comfortably predict that enjoyment of cooking and eating will be a strong interest. When the 11th house is favorably activated, we can get the opportunity to party with the upwardly mobile "beautiful" people and lots of sparkle and gifts. The jokes will fly when witty Mercury configures with the 2nd house or in the lagna itself as part of the person's nature.

The richness of the Jyotish tradition shows itself in the many ways a particular theme can be brought forward. Not only do the planets and the houses bring forward life's endless variety, but so do the constellation and nakshatras. For example, humor is also seen with those that have prominent placements in the nakshatra of Hasta. Hasta's Sanskrit root is has, and one of its important meanings is "to laugh."

Let us look at some charts to see these factors (pardon the pun) at play!

Chart B1 is that of Simone Beck who was a close collaborator of Julia Child. Ms. Beck co- authored parts of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and wrote cookbooks of her own. Her family was an old wealthy French family that was noted for a fine liqueur from their vineyard. She has an amazing second house with Venus, the lord of the lagna and the sixth in the 2nd. The house is loaded with many combinations for preeminence. Though there is no biographical information specifically saying so, it is more than likely that she had flowing conversation and a wicked sense of humor.

While we are on the subject of food, Paul Wittamer (Chart B2) is a Belgian chef, and known as one of the finest pastry chefs in his country rewarded especially for his exquisite black chocolates. A Cancer ascendant (predisposed to hospitality, food etc.), his bright full Moon is in the 6th bhava of cooking in a wealth yoga with the Sun and exchanging with the exalted 6th lord Jupiter sitting in the ascendant. Jupiter is the planet of sweets and Venus is the planet of luxury. Rahu joins them, adding the necessary obsession to be the Chocolate King!

Peter Sellers (Chart B3) has a remarkable chart for humor -- especially in a quirky, off-beat way with debilitated Venus in the second. Mercury, the lord of the second, is powerfully placed right in the ascendant, forming a major wealth yoga with the lagna lord Sun and doubling up the humor significations. All of the planets in the lagna are supported by a powerful Jupiter from the 5th house of creativity.

The final chart (Chart B4) is that of a society hostess. She loves the glitter of charity balls, art openings and delights in being part of the "right" crowd. She is very clever with a sparkling sense of humor and sophisticated conversation. Her Moon is the lord of her very notable 11th house and it comes right to the lagna in the nakshatra of Hasta. In addition to her socializing, she has a sincere interest in helping others and is a very effective fund raiser with clubs and societies for many good causes. Note the exalted Jupiter forming a powerful yoga in the 11th with the 9th lord Venus.

Let's all eat, drink and be merry this holiday season!

From the December 2006/January 2007 issue of Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish Newsletter. Click to subscribe to this free Jyotish newsletter.