The Advantages of Divisional Charts in Vedic Astrology
The biggest advantage of Vedic Astrology is how divisional charts and dasha periods mirror the complexity of human psyche. Every person has many sides to them, that resurface in different situations, and we all also have many layers of depth to ourselves.
It’s very visible when you try to compare a rasi chart, arudha lagna and a navamsa chart. If you compare all three, arudha lagna is the most superficial layer of the effect of “how people perceive you” no matter what you do and how you feel about it on the inside. Rasi chart is what you aspire to be, and how you want to perceive yourself and your life path in general, especially while thinking of other people’s reactions, but it is only in Navamsa that our true needs and fundamental reactions and karmic patterns come out. You really have to “peel off” different layers of personality, to get a feel of who a person really is In this way, you can be surprised when you view someone through their arudha lagna, or even their rasi, and then as you move in together, their d9 activates, and the cat is out of the bag.
All of this makes it perfectly understandable, why in Vedic circles, astrologers often look at the d9 first while drawing a chart analysis for marriage. It’s safe to say if you’re looking at compatibility, you won't get a complete picture without comparing the d9 and d10 charts between people. It could be useful to do so in any kind of long-term arrangement with anyone, friend, business partner or romantic partner. If people face similar blockages, or even their shortcomings can somehow work with each other, aspects or not, then it promises more for a lasting partnership.
Let’s say a person has karma that makes it so, that their personal relationships, especially their spouse, affect very strongly their professional situation also. Then, they also have a strong focus on a need for professional accomplishment as well. It creates a domino effect, where with a flawed romantic partnership, their whole life can fall apart like a house of cards.
People have such subtle, contradictory needs. They want someone to dominate them in one area, while they need to have authority or freedom in some other ways. They want an illusion of control, while in fact they subconsciously need someone to exert their will strongly at the same time. On the other hand, they can become unconsciously manipulative in different circumstances, if certain chart configurations occur - this I saw especially in the d10, because it's such a karmic chart, and because of the focus on public image. No matter who a person enters into a partnership with, it is not gonna change how they are at the core, unless some chart modificators say so - I have seen “move your problematic partner into a faraway foreign land” as a solution many times, not just with 12th house placements, but at the end of the day, you can't change a person's nature or their karma.
When you meet someone new, ask yourself after looking at their chart, both positive, and negative aspects “can I work with that?”. Life is not about finding a perfect partner, because that doesn’t exist, but about being around people, whose flaws you can work with. For example, I compared a number of charts of my friends, exes, those I got along with, those I was close with, and most people I get along with best, shared the same pattern that I do of their divisional charts pointing to being self-made in their work due to lack of proper guidance and support from parents, gurus or bad energy with potential bosses or coworkers. So in a way, even though we had different placements and aspects, they all pointed to a similar pattern in our lives, which made the mutual understanding possible.
Look also at your own chart, and notice if there are some patterns that indicate, that it is you yourself that attracts partners that all behave in a specific way. If there is a pattern of people mistreating you, it is a karmic pattern you carry within you, that needs resolution. An interesting fact I noticed, is that usually for this pattern to activate, synastry has to “confirm” your own d9 chart tendency to attract this sort of person. For example, in my previous relationship, my exes Jupiter in 3rd squared my Jupiter in the 12th, and they always wanted to talk a lot precisely in the moment when I needed my alone time to regenerate, which made me perceive their communication more and more as “mindless chatter”, feeling that they were draining me. As I was studying my d9 chart, I discovered I have a 3rd house stellium there with Sun, Venus and Saturn, which according to some interpretations I've found “may karmically attracts partners that are perceived as talking too much or talking over you, at a younger age”. And while I have met other people, with whom I could talk all day, and I know it wouldn’t happen to me in just any relationship I enter in the future, it was very visible that my previous relationship simply activated this karmic pattern that I carry within me, because of our mutual synastry.
You can't avoid fate, but you can try to “bypass” difficult karmic patterns by studying charts and seeing if the other person’s tendency is not going to negatively play into an area, where you have some tough karmic patterns going on.
For example, let's say your d9 has placements, that say you need relationships with people who can hold their own in interactions and express themselves strongly - I have seen this mostly with 7th house d9 placements, who need people's strong energy to reflect. In that case, you could check if the other person’s Sun in mutual synastry makes some sort of building aspect to your chart, so it can fulfill that need for you, or if that person activates your Sun in turn, which could make you feel more self assured and independent.
I also found checking synastry between d1, d9 and d10 useful. How a person approaches their work/karma/duty to society (d10) is going to make an impact on your relationship (d9) and your life in general (rasi). Sometimes, people may have difficult Rasi chart aspects, but building cross-aspects between divisional charts, which leads to building a better foundation in a partnership.