Moon in Leo: dignity by chart, and what the texts say

The Moon in Leo is the Moon in a sign ruled by Sun. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 12-13 makes the Moon the mind, and the sign it occupies at birth is the moon sign, or Janma Rashi - the sign this app counts transits and Sade Sati from. So this one placement is read twice: as a planet in a sign, with a dignity and a classical description, and as the reference point for much of the rest of the chart. What it does in a given chart depends on the house Leo occupies, the house the Moon rules from your Lagna, and the planets that aspect it.

This page covers only the combination. For the Moon as a graha - significations, strength, phases and its Mahadasha - start with the Moon in Vedic astrology. For the sign - its element, its nakshatras and what it means rising - see Leo, Simha Rashi. The short definition of the moon sign itself is under moon sign. This page is a map of rules, not a forecast about anyone.

Moon in Leo: dignity, and how this app decides it

The neighbouring placements are Moon in Cancer and Moon in Virgo; the dignity terms used below are collected under dignity.

Leo is neither the Moon's exaltation, its debilitation nor its own sign. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 49-50 puts the Moon's exaltation in Taurus, deepest at 3 degrees, and its debilitation in Scorpio; Sl. 51-54 gives its Mooltrikon in Taurus after the first 3 degrees; its own sign is Cancer. Those cases have their own pages: Moon in Taurus, Moon in Scorpio and Moon in Cancer.

So the Moon in Leo is judged by its relation to the sign's lord, Sun. Saravali Ch. 4 Sl. 28-29 names the Moon's natural friends as the Sun and Mercury and says the Moon has no enemies. Sun is one of the two friends, so by the natural relation alone Leo is a friendly sign for the Moon. The term is explained under naisargika maitri (natural friendship).

How the engine decides

dignityOf runs its tests in a fixed order: exaltation, then Moolatrikona, then debilitation, then own sign. The Moon in Leo passes none of them, so the label comes from the last step, the fivefold relation (panchadha maitri) between the Moon and Sun. That is the natural relation combined with a temporary one read from your own chart: by BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 56, a planet in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th or 12th sign from another is its temporary friend, and in any other position its temporary enemy. BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 57-58 then combines the two. So the degree of the Moon never changes the label in Leo, but where Sun sits does. The same Moon at the same degree can be Friendly sign in one chart and Neutral in another.

The engine gives Friendly sign a score of 1 and a sthana strength of 6.25, Neutral 0 and 5, and Enemy sign -1 and 0, so the difference shows up in the strength figures too. The temporary relation has its own glossary entry: tatkalika maitri.

The nakshatras the Moon moves through in Leo

Leo holds all four padas of Magha, all four padas of Purva Phalguni and pada 1 of Uttara Phalguni. For the Moon the nakshatra matters especially: the birth Moon's nakshatra sets the first Mahadasha of the Vimshottari sequence, whose lord this engine takes from the nakshatra's place in the cycle of nine. So a Moon in Leo can open with any of three different Mahadashas, depending on its degree. The nakshatra pages go further: Magha, Purva Phalguni and Uttara Phalguni.

What the classical texts say about the Moon in Leo

Saravali Ch. 23 Sl. 30

Saravali Ch. 23, "Effects of the Moon in Various Rasis", gives each sign one descriptive line for the Moon and then six lines for the Moon in that sign aspected by each other planet. In paraphrase, the Leo line lists charity, valour, a sense of duty, respect for the mother, a broad chest and majestic looks, alongside harshness and few sons. It also mentions hunger, thirst, stomach and tooth complaints and an aversion to women - the text's claims, reported only as that and not as medical advice. It is a catalogue of qualities, not a single verdict.

Saravali Ch. 23 Sl. 31-36: the aspect lines

These six lines are where the reading turns. In paraphrase:

• Aspected by the Sun: equal to a king, with excellent qualities, a majestic voice, valour, a taste for intoxicants and wide fame.
• Aspected by Mars: an army chief with an excellent spouse, sons, wealth and vehicles, superior among people.
• Aspected by Mercury: a gentle, feminine grace, serving and kept by women, and enjoying money, happiness and pleasure.
• Aspected by Jupiter: eminent among one's own community, widely famous, highly virtuous and equal to a king.
• Aspected by Venus: a spouse, wealth and high knowledge, but sickly, and in the service of women.
• Aspected by Saturn: a cultivator without wealth, untruthful, a guard of forts, without happiness from the spouse.

The Sun, the lord of Leo and the Moon's natural friend, gives one of the best lines, and Mars and Jupiter - both friends of the Sun - read nearly as well. Saturn gives the weakest.

When Saravali says the results come to pass

Saravali closes the chapter with a condition (Ch. 23 Sl. 88): the effects described come to pass fully only when the lord of the Moon sign, the Moon sign itself and the Moon are all strong, and they vary with the dignities of the dispositor and of the aspecting planet. For a Moon in Leo the dispositor is Sun, so Sun's own condition is part of the reading. The same book's chapter on dignities adds a general line. Ch. 45 Sl. 12-14 says the Moon in a friendly sign makes one happy and very honourable; Sl. 19-21 says the Moon in an inimical sign brings a loss of brightness and heart complaints - the text's claim, not medical advice. Since the fivefold relation can drop the Moon in Leo from friendly to neutral, but never to enemy, only the first of those lines can apply here.

BPHS and Bhrigu Sutras

BPHS supplies the dignities, relationships and ratios used above (Ch. 3 Sl. 49-60). A search of the BPHS file found no sign-by-sign description of the Moon of the kind Saravali gives, so for the sign itself Saravali is the only text in the corpus with a character line.

Bhrigu Sutras' commentary on the Moon in the 1st house quotes Chamatkar Chintamani listing Leo among the eight signs in which a rising Moon reads poorly. The commentator does not single out Leo, so this page adds no reading of its own.

How the sign changes the houses the Moon rules and sits in

The Moon rules one sign, Cancer. Counting whole-sign houses, the table gives where Leo and Cancer fall from each Lagna, and the role BPHS Ch. 34 (Sl. 19-44) gives the Moon there, as coded in this app's Yoga Karaka table. The house pages - for example Moon in the 1st house, Moon in the 4th house and Moon in the 10th house - go further.

In Leo the Moon sits in the 2nd sign counted from its own sign, so in every row the house it occupies is the 2nd from the house it rules. BPHS Ch. 34's roles turn only on lordship, not on the sign the Moon is in.

Worked example: 10 January 1985, 08:37 IST, New Delhi

An illustrative birth, not a real person, computed in this app's engine. Capricorn rises at 17.6 degrees. The Moon is at 5.43 degrees of Leo, in Magha pada 2, in the 8th house, not combust, and labelled Neutral. The Moon is never retrograde, and the engine marks it combust only within 12 degrees of the Sun.

Dignity. Sun, the lord of Leo, is in Sagittarius, the 5th sign counted from the Moon, so by BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 56 it is the Moon's temporary enemy. Combined with the natural relation (friend), BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 57-58 gives equal, and the engine labels the Moon Neutral. Had Sun stood in a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th or 12th sign from the Moon, the same Moon would read Friendly sign.

Lordship. With Capricorn rising, Leo is the 8th house and Cancer, the Moon's own sign, is the 7th, so the Moon here is the lord of the 7th sitting in the 8th. In the engine's BPHS Ch. 34 table for a Capricorn Lagna, the Moon is listed as functional malefic.

Aspects. Using the aspect rule this engine applies (every graha aspects the 7th sign from itself; Mars also the 4th and 8th, Jupiter the 5th and 9th, Saturn the 3rd and 10th, as in SPECIAL_DRISHTI in relationshipIntelligenceEngine.js), the Moon in the 8th house is aspected by Mars (in the 2nd house, the Moon being the 7th sign from it) and Jupiter (in the 12th house, the Moon being the 9th sign from it) and Venus (in the 2nd house, the Moon being the 7th sign from it) and Saturn (in the 11th house, the Moon being the 10th sign from it). So Saravali Ch. 23 Sl. 31-36 brings the Mars and Jupiter and Venus and Saturn lines into play for this chart, as listed above. The text gives no rule for combining two aspects; this page does not invent one.

Company. No other graha shares Leo with the Moon in this chart. The Moon's nakshatra, Magha, is ruled by Ketu in the Vimshottari cycle, so this chart opens in a Ketu Mahadasha.

Any reader can check every figure: enter 1985-01-10, 08:37, New Delhi in the Birth Chart calculator or the Moon Sign calculator, and the same positions come back.

How often the Moon is in Leo

In this app's sample the Moon was in Leo in 312 of 3,000 sampled birth moments 1985-2060 (10.4 per cent). That figure needs a warning. The sample steps 9 days, 2 hours and 37 minutes from one moment to the next. Bhrigu Sutras gives the Moon's round of the zodiac as 27 days, 7 hours and 43 minutes, so one step moves the Moon about four signs and successive samples keep landing in the same three signs, four apart. The table shows all twelve signs from the same run.

So for the Moon the sample says more about the sampling grid than about the sky. Over any real month the Moon passes through every sign; the engine's own transit table gives it about 2.25 days in each.

Checking the Moon in Leo in your own chart

1. 1.Cast your chart with the Birth Chart calculator and confirm the Moon is in Leo. Note its degree and nakshatra.
2. 2.Find Sun, the lord of Leo. Count from the Moon's sign to Sun's sign: the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 10th, 11th or 12th makes a temporary friend, anything else a temporary enemy. That decides the label.
3. 3.Note the house Leo occupies and the house Cancer occupies: those are where the Moon sits and what it rules.
4. 4.List any graha in the 7th sign from Leo (Aquarius), Mars in the 4th or 8th from it, Jupiter in the 5th or 9th, Saturn in the 3rd or 10th. Only those bring a Saravali Ch. 23 Sl. 31-36 line into play.
5. 5.For timing, see the Vimshottari Dasha calculator and the Moon Mahadasha page; for Saturn's transit around the moon sign, Sade Sati.

Is the Moon exalted or debilitated in Leo?

Neither. The Moon is exalted in Taurus and debilitated in Scorpio. In Leo it is in Sun's sign, which is a friend's by nature. See Moon in Taurus.

Why can my chart call the Moon in Leo "Neutral" when a table says "friendly"?

The table gives the natural relation only. Your Kundali page uses the fivefold relation (BPHS Ch. 3 Sl. 57-58), which adds where Sun sits from the Moon in your chart. That is why Friendly sign or Neutral both occur.

What does Saravali say about the Moon in Leo?

Ch. 23 Sl. 30 gives the sign line and Sl. 31-36 six aspect lines. The Sun, the lord of Leo and the Moon's natural friend, gives one of the best lines, and Mars and Jupiter - both friends of the Sun - read nearly as well.

Is the Moon in Leo the same as a Leo moon sign?

Yes. The sign the Moon occupies at birth is the moon sign, or Janma Rashi. The Moon Sign calculator finds it, and this app counts transits and Sade Sati from it.

How common is the Moon in Leo?

In this app's sample it was in Leo in 312 of 3,000 sampled birth moments 1985-2060. That sample steps about four signs of Moon motion at a time, so the figure reflects the grid, not the sky; the Moon spends about 2.25 days in each sign every month.