Leona Helmsley was a very successful realtor. In her life she made a fortune and was considered, “a genius in turning over property.” Unfortunately, as the title suggests, she was known for other things besides her ability to make money.
By focusing on this chart it is possible for the reader to be introduced to two concepts commonly used in Jyotish: the warmth of a person’s heart and the presence of a curse.
For the benefit of those learning how to read a chart, both the Rasi and Navamsa charts are presented below in the two most popular formats.
The all-important Navamsa, also called the D-9, is presented below.
With both Jupiter and Mercury in the 1st house it would be natural to think she was a very blessed individual and one with a very high intellect. She was indeed very blessed in material terms, however as her 4th house shows, generosity and compassion were not her strong points.
Among other things, the 4th house in a birth chart shows a person’s physical and emotional heart. In this woman’s chart her 4th house is severely afflicted. The affliction is not simply because of planetary placements alone, but also because of accumulative influences.
For example, her son and his family had been living in a residence owned by her. Unfortunately her son suffered a heart attack and passed away at an early age. Once he was gone, Leona had her daughter-in-law and grandchild evicted from their home. It was this action, coupled with, “a reputation for tyrannical behavior” , that earned her the title Queen of Mean.
The Fourth House: Libra ruled by Venus the planet of beauty mark her 4th house, so she had beautiful homes. The first mark of a problem shows with the lord Venus going to the 12th house, shared with the Sun, the enemy. In this particular case the placement of the Sun is showing a very strong, and not necessarily positive, ego. Undoubtedly this provided much of her drive; but at what cost? The two malefics, Rahu and Saturn, also sit in the 4th house, both of which would have created challenges around her basic sense of happiness.
The Curse: The word curse can be difficult to understand. Often in Jyotish there seems to be scary words applied to various concepts. For instance, one pattern may mean death. When we read these heavy terms we must remember the intention of the phrase is not to mean someone will physically die. Rather, the stated pattern will bring serious challenges. If that can be remembered, some of the fear associated with terms like ‘curse’ and ‘death’ can be appreciated in a more accurate way.
Another thing to remember when a ‘curse’ is present is that the negative action is not caused by some external influence, but rather has its roots in the person’s previous actions. The patterns formed by the planets are merely sources of information for us to learn about ourselves, so we can understand the changes we need to make within ourselves.
How is a curse formed? This situation occurs when the malefic planets Saturn, Mars and Rahu all aspect one house. The influence of the malefics naturally affect all matters ruled by the house, as well as the matters ruled by any planet sitting in the afflicted house. This was the situation of the 4th house in Leona’s case. This major affliction turned her heart to stone, limiting her compassion and caring for others, among other issues.
Rahu and Mars in her 4th house with Saturn aspecting as well, complete the curse. One of the traits of Rahu is greed. The planet conjoined Rahu indicates the nature of the greed, and in her case Mars being the significator of property certainly was demonstrated in her life. Mars rules the 8th house lord of other people’s money. Given the strength of Mars as a result of being exalted in the Navamsa chart, it’s no wonder she was so successful at getting other people’s money. Unfortunately the greedy influence of Rahu accompanied it.
Mars rules her 10th house of social status and her 5th house of purva punya (blessings). She had little success with her child and although she made vast amounts of money, she was not respected. When these factors are put together it’s easy to see why she was eventually charged, jailed for a period of four years and fined 7 million dollars for tax evasion.
Had Leona had her chart read she would have been told of the importance of opening her heart, and to be less demanding and selfish. Obviously she hadn’t had her chart read.
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