House lords explained
A house lord is the graha that rules the sign on a house's cusp. The lord of a house is found from the sign of that house, using the lord table.
What it is
For example, if the Lagna is Karka, the first house lord is the Moon, and the lord of the tenth house (Makara) is Saturn. The lord's position in the chart says how the house's themes are expressed.
How it is worked out or read
House lords are one of the main tools of chart reading. They are found by the sign table, and the site shows the sign of each graha, from which the lord can be read.
Where it appears on this site
The lord table is in the rashi index, and the houses are in the birth chart.
Finding the lord of a house
The lord of a house is the graha that rules the sign on that house's cusp. In whole-sign houses the sign is the house itself, so the lord of the first house is the lord of the Lagna sign, the lord of the second is the lord of the sign after the Lagna, and so on. The reader finds the lord by looking the sign up in the lord table, which lists each sign's ruler.
Because the lord table is fixed, the lord of every house can be found from the Lagna sign alone. Once the Lagna sign is known, all twelve house lords follow in order.
Where the lord sits
Once the lord of a house is known, the reader looks at where that lord sits in the chart, which sign and which house. The house in which the lord is placed shows where the energy of the first house's theme is directed. A lord in the tenth house, for example, links the themes of the house it rules with the area of career. This link is the classical method of connecting one house to another.
The sign of the lord shows its dignity and quality, and the house shows its context. Both are read together.
Lords as connectors
The main use of house lords is as connectors. A reader follows a chain: a house, its lord, the house where the lord sits, and the lord of that house. Following this chain shows how the themes of different areas of life are linked in one chart. The chain should be followed step by step, checking each link against the table.
Keeping lords in proportion
A house lord is one factor in the reading, not the whole reading. A lord that is well placed supports its house's themes, and one that is weak suggests more effort. The reader should weigh the lord alongside the grahas in the house, the aspects it receives and its own dignity, and should avoid treating the lord as a verdict on the house's matters.
Lords across a chart
A chart often contains lords that rule several houses at once, which creates links across many areas of life. A planet that rules the second and the eleventh, for example, connects resources with gains. Noting these multiple lordships helps the reader see which themes are most connected in a particular chart.