Śāpas: past life curses

Through the Jyotiṣa we can unveil curses that

the individual brings with them from past lives. These curses are nothing more than
negative reactions to be experienced due to damages that have been caused to a particular
person in an earlier birth. Parāśara deals with this subject in the BPHS, in a chapter
entitled purvajanmaśapadyogādhyāyaḥ . In it a series of curses that cause absence or loss
of children are described, including their causes.
Parāśara talks about eight kinds of curses that may be caused by: (1) sarpas , (2)
father, (3) mother, (4) brother, (5) maternal relatives, (6) brāhmaṇas , (7) wife, and 8)
evil spirits.However, although he addresses the curses only in the context of children, the
principles presented here give us an idea of how to analyze this subject also in relation to
other subjects of the map.
Basically, Parāśara defines a curse as follows:
(1) The house, its master and the kāraka (significator) of the subject must be afflicted.
(2) The relation of the factors mentioned in point (1) when connected to houses eight,
twelve and their masters are also past-life curses.
(3) When a bird is afflicted by more than one evil bird, this is also a curse.
(4) The occupation of the graha in malicious signs and vessels (aries, lion, scorpion,
capricorn and aquarium) added to the previous factors also indicate curses.
To illustrate, the map of a person who had a troubled relationship with his mother,
which later also affected the family that constituted, and has brought problems related to
property and injuries caused by women, is below.
 On your map we note the following:
(1) The fourth house of the mother, family and properties contains Saturn retrograde, which
is also the ruler of the twelfth house, that is, a karmic ransom is pointed out.
(2) The regent of the four is set to the regent from eight to eight from four, which indicates a
debt to his mother.
(3) The Moon, kāraka of the mother, is in the sixth house, a dusthāna (place of suffering)
joined to Ketu and receiving the gaze of Saturn. Such a combination speaks about
suffering caused to the mother in past lives.
All the factors necessary for a curse are present on the map. However, as Jupiter
who is a great benefactor is looking at the fourth house and the moon, this woman has
been seeking forgiveness and healing in this life. I met her in 2012 and at that time she
was experiencing difficulties in family and professional life. When I read her map she
told her that she should return to her spiritual life and seek forgiveness, that the moment
was favoring this, since she was already living the Ketu period which will only end in
2017 and which is marked by a series of trials. Ketu talks about liberation and he is set
the Moon under the gaze of Saturn, but also to receive the look of Jupiter, therefore,
this daśā (period) is ideal for the search for emotional liberation. I told her about it and
shortly after the consultation she began to attend church and became evangelical, dropped
her cigarette, became a vegetarian, began to make donations, night vigils, religious songs
and little by little she was changing her posture, showing itself to be more emotionally
balanced. However, this did not exempt her from suffering, because due to the placement
of the Moon in a malefic house under the affliction of Ketu and Saturn, she faced
professional difficulties and with enemies, but contrary to what would have been
expected before, this time she tried to be more tolerant and understanding, rather than
bursting and vindictive.
There was even a situation where she could have sued a woman who harmed her at
work, however, she preferred to forgive her. All these changes in their posture show their
emotional maturation and awareness that it is not the external situations that should be
changed, but their attitude towards them, because the reactions would have to come
anyway. The Ketu period has attempted to bring these themes to light, which has been
challenging since she is having to sacrifice many things at this stage of her life and has
undergone a series of deprivations. However, with the end of this period the daśā of
Venus begins , which is a yogakāraka for the map and forms a good yogawith
Mercury.Certainly at this stage she will experience significant improvements in her life,
both materially and emotionally.
This case illustrates how curses can be determined on a map, and reveal the
importance of the influence of beneficial gravens (especially Jupiter) for the relief of
such evils. Obviously, the astrologer should take into account deśa-kāla-patra (place,
time and context) in defining the most appropriate measure, since not everyone is willing
or able to follow the recommendations given by Parāśara, as is the case of this woman whom I used as an
example and whose faith is Christian. The mere fact that I encouraged her in her spiritual life was enough for things to begin, and
no specific practice was recommended.