Travel is a common query for an astrologer. Movement or lack of movement are universal parts of the human experience. Will there be movement? When will this happen? Will it be a pleasant or harsh experience? Why will one move? Blending the themes and meanings of the planets, houses, signs and nakshatras can be used to answer these questions.
Long distance travel can be seen by the 7th, 9th and 12th houses, and H3 (i.e. 3rd house). For short distance travel, local travel we look to the 3rd house. For example, if the lord of the 9th goes to the 7th or 12th, travel may occur during the dasa bhukti (time periods) of the planets involved. Their connection with H10 can mean travel for work. Connections amongst these 4 houses of long distance travel are perhaps the first best place to look. The more they interconnect, i.e. the lord of one goes to the house of another, the more likely they will result in travel, if the dasa bhukti of the relevant planets are running.
The 12th house is connected with foreign places, so travel abroad can be indicated. If factors for education are connected with the 12th, perhaps one gets education in a foreign land. If factors for residence go to H12, perhaps one emigrates. Rahu and Ketu, as well as Saturn can indicate things foreign, like a wife who comes from foreign lands, or foreign travel.
The 8th House can play a major role in leaving your country and distant travel, strange adventures, crossing large bodies of water, dangerous/obstructed/fruitless journeys, sudden changes, e.g., death is the end of something. It could be the end of a job or a home and moving is the result.
Another factor to add to the mix is signs, aka rashis. There are 12 signs, each is assigned an element and a ‘quality’.
The Qualities:
The Cardinal / Chara signs are associated with Rajas and signify movement, change and dynamic activity.
The Fixed / Sthira signs are associated with Tamas and signify inertia, no change and suggest no movement.
The Mutable / Dwisvabhava signs are associated with Sattva and signify a balance between change and stability.
Nakshatras
The movable/ephemeral nakshatras are Punarvasu, Swati, Shravana, Dhanishta and Shatabhisha. They incline one to movement, e.g., career change, residence change, and travel.
Other nakshatras that are connected to movement and travel:
Ashwini – light/swift – horse, transportation, movement, quickness.
Migashira – journeys, moves, roads and paths, suspicious and prone to wander, deer roam around on predictable trails hunting.
Punarvasu – like the arrow in the quiver, always prepared for travel.
Anuradha – travel frequently, people who reside in far-off places, is rarely satisfied with its place of residence.
Revati – associated with protection, shelter and hospitality while traveling, especially the journey from this world to the next. Connected with anything to do with roads.
As an example, let’s look at the chart of a woman who was adopted at the age of 14 months old and flown half-way around the world to start a new life in a foreign country. Her trip occurred during her Rahu / Venus / Mars periods.
In her natal chart, we see Rahu and Mars in her 8th house of big transformations and sudden endings. This was a very dramatic change to every aspect of her life. Note that Mars is also the lord of H3, a travel house. One of Rahu’s meanings is foreigners. Meanwhile Venus is the lord of the 9th house of long distance travel and has gone to H12, the house of foreign travel and foreign residence. Note that Venus is also the lord of the 4th house of home. The 4th lord going to the 12th is a common placement in the charts of people who immigrate.
Looking at the transits for that day, her dasa lord Rahu was in her 7th house of travel. Venus the sub-period lord, and the lord of her 9th goes to the first house with Ketu, who signifies foreigners. She was surrounded by them, including her new mother. Finally Mars, the sub-sub lord, was in the 3rd house, another house of travel.
A side point is that 6 planets were vargottama in their transiting position when she got on the plane to leave her place of birth! Vargottama is a very special placement that brings a special positive energy to the planets involved. There is a rule in Jyotish astrology that Rahu will act like his dispositors. Rahu’s sign owner and nakshatra owner are both vargottama, as well as Rahu. Venus, the sub period lord, was also vargottama in her lagna where she aspected Rahu. The lagna lord Saturn is vargottama, as well as Sun. This is rather extraordinary and perhaps points to the great fortune she experienced to be suddenly with a home and parents.
Now let’s look at the chart of the woman who adopted her.
The dasa bhukti time period was Jupiter / Jupiter / Saturn. Jupiter sits in the 7th house. Saturn is the lord of the 12th house and aspects into the 12th as well as onto Jupiter the period lord. Saturn is in the nakshatra Anuradha in the birth chart and by transit was in Revati. If we look at her chart from the Moon, we see that the dasa lord Jupiter is in the 9th house from the Moon, while Saturn, the sub sub lord is LH3 in H12.
Now let’s look at the chart of a woman who immigrated to a foreign country in her Jupiter / Saturn / Rahu period. Saturn is the lord of her 12th house and Rahu in in the house of the home H4. Rahu will act like his dispositors and here we see the lord of the 4th house goes to H12, connecting foreign to residence. Both Rahu and Saturn are indicators of things foreign, as well as times of transformation and ‘death’. One could say her home ‘died’ or was transformed when she immigrated.
With Vedic astrology, we often ‘rotate’ the chart to view the planetary placements from different perspectives. First we look at the chart from the first house. It is common to then look from the Moon, i.e. make the sign the Moon is in the first house and read the chart again from there. If we do that with this chart, we see that Jupiter now is the lord of H7, Saturn is the lord of both 8 and 9th houses, and Rahu is in H12. So again we see the travel houses are profoundly aligning with travel.
So in our examples we see a confluence of indicators pointing to the likelihood of travel. Look for lords of your dasa and sub periods connecting with the travel houses and their lords. The more connections you see, the more likely travel is indicated.
