D2 Hora Chart: Wealth, Resources and the Sun and Moon Halves

The Hora is the second divisional chart and the shortest-lived of the sixteen in the sense that it has only two possible signs. Every planet and the ascendant end up in either Leo, the Sun’s own sign, or Cancer, the Moon’s. The word hora is related to the Greek word for hour, and in Jyotish it carries two senses: a half of a sign here, and an hour of the day in the system of planetary hours.

What the Hora is read for

The tradition links the Hora with wealth: how money is earned, how it is held, and how comfortable a person’s resources are. The Sun’s half is generally associated with wealth that comes through effort, standing and outward activity, and the Moon’s half with wealth that is kept, nurtured and shared. Teachers phrase these associations differently, so they work best as a way of asking a question of the chart and not as a rule.

The Hora is read next to the second and eleventh houses of the Rashi chart, which are the houses of wealth and gain, and with the lords of those houses. It does not replace them. For a fuller treatment of the combinations that point to money in the D1, see the guide to dhana yoga and the wealth chart.

How the Hora is calculated

The rule used by the divisional charts calculator is the Parashari one. Each sign is split into two halves of 15 degrees. In an odd sign (Aries, Gemini, Leo, Libra, Sagittarius, Aquarius) the first half belongs to the Sun, so it falls in Leo, and the second half belongs to the Moon, so it falls in Cancer. In an even sign (Taurus, Cancer, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Pisces) the order is reversed: the first half is the Moon’s, in Cancer, and the second is the Sun’s, in Leo.

Take a planet at 22°10′ of Cancer. Each part is 15°00′ long, so this position lies in part 2 (from 15°00′ to 30°00′). By the rule above, part 2 of Cancer is Leo, so the planet sits in Leo in D2.

Because the chart has only two signs, a Hora chart holds only two houses with planets in them, and it has only two possible Lagnas. Whether a planet sits in the Sun’s Hora or the Moon’s is the whole of the information, which is why the chart is usually read by counting rather than by house.

How the tradition reads the two Horas

A common reading holds that the Sun’s Hora suits the masculine planets and the Moon’s Hora the feminine: the Sun, Mars and Jupiter are said to be at home in the Sun’s half, and the Moon and Venus in the Moon’s half, while the remaining planets are handled in different ways by different writers. Where several planets fall in the half that suits them, the tradition reads this as a favourable sign for resources, and where planets fall in the half that does not suit them, as a call for more effort.

This reading comes from the way later authors summarised the Hora and varies from teacher to teacher. Treat it as a convention and not a law.

Where schools differ

The Hora is one of the vargas where schools differ most. The scheme above, with only Leo and Cancer, is the one found in Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra and used by the site. Other methods exist. Some teachers use a cyclic version, sometimes called the Parivritti Hora, in which the halves of the twelve signs take their signs in rotation, which gives a Hora chart with twelve possible signs. If another program shows your Hora planets spread over many signs, it is probably using one of these alternatives, and neither is a mistake. The page on the calculator states which scheme it uses, so that you can compare like with like.

How much weight teachers give it

The Hora is in the Shadvarga (six charts), the Saptavarga and the Dashavarga, and in the commonly quoted Vimshopaka weights it carries a small share: 2 out of 20 in the Shadvarga and 1 out of 20 in the Shodashavarga. Working astrologers use it mainly as a secondary check on the D1’s indications of money. It is seldom the first chart opened when wealth is the question, and few teachers would forecast anything from the Hora alone. A strong second house, a well-placed lord of the eleventh and a supportive running dasha matter far more.

A practical way to use it

If you want to look at your own Hora, open the calculator, choose D2 and read the table. Count how many planets fall in each half, note where the Lagna and the lords of the second and eleventh houses fall, and compare with the Rashi chart. Then put the Hora aside and look at the bigger picture: the dhana yogas, the dashas and the practical facts of your own working life.

A chart can only describe tendencies. It cannot promise income or loss, and decisions about money belong with a qualified financial adviser. The Ashtakavarga calculator offers one more traditional view of strength in the houses of gain if you want a second angle.

Frequently asked questions