Vitiligo (Leucoderma)

-Explained through Astrology

Vitiligo (pronounced vit-ill-EYE-go) is a pigmentation disorder in which melanocytes (the cells that make pigment) in the skin are destroyed. As a result, white patches appear on the skin in different parts of the body. Similar patches also appear on both the mucous membranes (tissues that line the inside of the mouth and nose) and the retina (inner layer of the eyeball). The hair that grows on areas affected by vitiligo sometimes turns white [2]. Appearance is what is affected the most here. The native will not experience any pain or any other physical discomfort.

There are several theories made by doctors and researchers regarding the cause of Vitiligo [2]:

• There is strong evidence that people with vitiligo inherit a group of three genes that make them susceptible to depigmentation.
• The most widely accepted view is that the depigmentation occurs because vitiligo is an autoimmune disease - a disease in which a person's immune system reacts against the body's own organs or tissues. As such, people's bodies produce proteins called cytokines that alter their pigment-producing cells and cause these cells to die.
•  Another theory is that melanocytes destroy themselves.
• Finally, some people have reported that a single event such as sunburn or emotional distress triggered vitiligo

However, till date, the real cause for this disease is not fully understood by the medical fraternity and none of the above theories are medically proven. Here is an effort to explain the causes for Vitiligo using astrology!

There are references to Vitiligo in some of the astrological works. Prashna Marga (an ancient work from Kerala, Ch. 12, Verse 72) puts Vitiligo (Pandu) disease under the portfolio of Venus. It is quite common for the authors of olden days not to be very explicit. Hence, the author might have not made any mention of Mercury for Vitiligo, as it is basic knowledge in astrology that Mercury is the karaka for the skin. BPHS states that karaka for skin is Mercury. And, skin problems are caused due to badly placed Mercury is also mentioned in Prashna Marga (Ch. 12. verse 71). Vitiligo only causes cosmetic problems. Since appearance (beauty) of an individual is destroyed, it is only appropriate that affliction to Venus (in addition to affliction to Mercury) would cause Vitiligo. Dr. Charak, in his book “Essentials of Medical Astrology”, lists Vitiligo under both Mercury and Venus. For disease related to both these planets to crop up, it is necessary for them to be afflicted or weak (so that they are unable to protect their significations, skin and beauty in the current context). Also, to see the beauty in the context of skin, it is necessary to look for a sambandha between Mercury and Venus. As skin is the outermost physical layer for the body, it is signified by the farthest 7^th house from lagna. A sambandha between Venus and 7H should be checked for when Venus does not have a close sambandha with Mercury.

As most popular cause for the disease is believed to be the auto immune reaction that destroys the melanocytes, it is important to look for a sambandha between Mercury and Rahu (Rahu is the karaka for auto-immune reaction). Instead of Rahu, one can also look for the sambandha with the 8^th lord, which behaves like Rahu.

Summarizing the factors

Taking the above discussed factors into consideration, susceptibility of the native to Vitiligo can be seen from the following factors:

- Afflicted/Weak Mercury

- Afflicted/Weak Venus

- Afflicted 7H/lord or Libra

- Sambandha between Venus and Mercury

- Sambandha between Venus and 7^th house/lord

- Sambandha between Mercury and Rahu/8^th lord

The degree of susceptibility would depend on whether some or all of the above factors are playing out in a chart and also based on the strengths of Mercury and Venus in that chart. If lagna/lagna lord has a strong sambandha with Mercury, the coverage could be all over the body when the susceptibility his very high as well.

The location where it first starts will generally be the body part indicated by the house occupied by Mercury/Venus and/or the house owned by Mercury/Venus or the house owned by a planet having close sambandha with Mercury/Venus.

Remedies

The problem is mainly caused due to the affliction/weakness of Mercury and Venus. Hence, it is necessary to strengthen Mercury and Venus energies in the native. These could be done using one or more of the following:

-          Taking suitable medical treatment from a qualified dermatologist

-          Worshipping Lakshmi and Narayana

-          Wearing Emerald and Diamond

There could be more upayas depending on the person suggesting it.

Example Charts

These examples demonstrate the severity of the problem, location of the body part the patch first appeared and the timing of the first appearance based on the description above. During my study, some people came forward and shared relevant charts with some details. I take this opportunity to thank all those people.

1. Young Boy

This is the case of a young boy who got the first small patch around 4 years of age in January 2002. The first patch appeared below the right eye and as on date it covers almost 90% of his body.

Following factors can be seen from the above chart:

-          Afflicted / Weak Mercury

o   Deeply combust

o   Conjunct Ketu

o   In Rasi Sandhi

-          Afflicted / Weak Venus

o   Venus is weak as its dispositor Jupiter is combust

o   Venus is in trines to Rahu and is closely aspected by Saturn

-          Afflicted 7H/lord or Libra

o   Rahu is in 7H

o   6^th lord Moon is in Libra

-          Sambandha between Venus and Mercury

o   Venus disposits Mercury in Navamsha

o   Dispositor of Venus is conjunct Mercury

-          Sambandha between Venus and 7^th house/lord

o   Venus is in the nakshatra of Sun who is the 7^th lord

-          Sambandha between Mercury and Rahu or 8th house/lord

o   Mercury is the 8^th lord

o   Mercury is in Rahu-Ketu axis

o   Mercury is disposited by Rahu in Rasi

o   Rahu is disposited by Mercury in Navamsha

The above chart satisfies all the necessary conditions and hence the problem is severe in nature with 90% of the skin already affected as on date.

Location of the first spot: The first spot appeared below the right eye. This part of the body belongs to the second house. It can be seen that 2L Jupiter is closely conjunct Mercury. Jupiter is in Parivartana with Saturn and is in Rahu-Ketu axis. Jupiter also disposits Venus. One can see that Jupiter is in centre of the storm having connection to all the players (Mercury, Venus, Saturn and Rahu) and the first spot appeared in a body part related to the house it owns.

Timing: The first spot appeared during January 2002. This timeframe corresponds to the Vimshottari dasha of Rah-Jup-Mer. All these three planets are connected to the problem as seen from the factors listed above and the chart in question.

2. Young Lady

For this lady, the white patches started appearing around the age of 16 and then it has covered the entire body and now she looks like an Albino.

Following factors can be seen from the above chart:

-          Afflicted/Weak Mercury

o   Disposits three malefics – Saturn, Sun and Ketu

o   Mercury is in the nakshatra of Ketu

o   Aspected by debilitated, retrograde Jupiter

-          Afflicted/Weak Venus

o   Debilitated in Navamsha

o   Disposits Rahu in constellation

-          Afflicted 7H/lord or Libra

o   7^th lord Moon is conjunct and disposits 6L Mercury

-          Sambandha between Venus and Mercury

o   Mercury and Venus are in conjunct in Cancer

o   Mercury disposits Venus in Navamsha

-          Sambandha between Venus and 7^th house/lord

o   Venus is in 7H and is conjunct 7L Moon

-          Sambandha between Mercury and Rahu/8^th lord

o   Mercury disposits 8L Sun who is in the nakshatra of Rahu

In this case as well, all the factors are satisfied and hence the case is a severe one.

Location of the first spot: There is no information about this. It should be noticed that the Lagna Lord Saturn is in the thick of things as it is placed in the 6^th house and is disposited by Mercury, and is conjunct 8^th lord Sun. This has caused the skin to get affected over the entire body.

Timing: The first patch appeared around the age of 16. This corresponds to the period of Sat-Rah. Saturn is disposited by Mercury in Rasi and Rahu is in the constellation of Venus. Saturn and Rahu both are fully involved in the problem as could be seen from the list of factors.

3. Elderly Lady

This is a milder case as the patches are only few and isolated and don’t affect many parts of the body. One should notice that Mercury though afflicted is not inherently weak in the chart.

Following factors can be seen from the above chart:

-          Afflicted/Weak Mercury

o   Disposits two malefics – 8L Mars and 12L Sun

o   Is in the nakshatra of 6L Rahu

-          Afflicted/Weak Venus

o   No severe affliction

o   Disposits 6L Saturn and Rahu in constellation

-          Afflicted 7H/lord or Libra

o   7^th lord Jupiter is conjunct 6L Saturn and also disposits it

o   7^th Lord Jupiter is aspected by 8L Mars

-          Sambandha between Venus and Mercury

o   Mercury and Venus are conjunct in Libra

o   Mercury is disposited by Venus in Rasi

-          Sambandha between Venus and 7^th house/lord

o   Venus is in the nakshatra of 7L Jupiter

-          Sambandha between Mercury and Rahu/8^th lord

o   Mercury disposits 8L Mars in Rasi

o   Mercury is in the nakshatra of Rahu

In this case, some of the conditions are not severe as Venus is not highly afflicted. Hence, the patches are restricted to a portion of the body. However, there is potential for the other parts of the body to get affected as Mercury is the lagna lord.

Location of the first spot: First spot appeared on the head and then it spread to some areas of the face. It may be noted that Mercury is the Lord of the Lagna (represents head) and both Venus and Mercury occupy 2^nd house (representing face).

Timing: The first spot appeared around 1981-1982. This period corresponds to Rah-Sat period. Both Saturn and Rahu lord the 6^th house of diseases. Saturn is in the nakshatra of Venus and Rahu is in the nakshatra of Mercury.

4. Small Child

This is a case of the native who is affected by Vitiligo during infancy itself.

Following factors can be seen from the above chart:

-          Afflicted/Weak Mercury

o   Mercury is in deep Rasi Sandhi

o   Occupies a dusthana (12H)

o   Conjunct debilitated Sun

o   Disposits 6L Mars

o   In the nakshatra of 6L Mars

o   In trines with Rahu

-          Afflicted/Weak Venus

o   Placed in its sign of debilitation in Rasi

o   In papakartari in Rasi

-          Afflicted 7H/lord or Libra

o   7L Venus is in its sign of debilitation

o   Libra disposits 8L Mercury and Debilitated Sun

-          Sambandha between Venus and Mercury

o   Mercury and Venus are in parivartana in Rasi

-          Sambandha between Venus and 7^th house/lord

o   Venus is the lord of the 7^th house

-          Sambandha between Mercury and Rahu/8^th lord

o   Mercury is the 8^th house lord

o   Mercury is in trines with Rahu

This appears to be a severe case as well.

Location of the first spot: It is not know that where the first spot appeared. However, mostly the lower part of the body is affected. It is seen that the houses owned and occupied by Venus and Mercury are between 7 and 12 indicating the lower parts of the body.

Timing: The first spot appeared around the age of 1 year. This period corresponds to Sun-Sat period. Sun is conjunct Mercury. Saturn is disposited by Sun and aspects Mercury. 

5. Michael Jackson

Though the exact time of birth is not known in this case, it is worth examining this chart as the native suffered a lot due to the problem. Jackson’s vitiligo covered most parts of his body. Hence, it is quite clear that Mercury should be strongly associated with Lagna or Lagna lord and be weak in the chart. The weakness is apparent from combustion. Strong relationship with lagna or lagna lord gives 3 options for lagna – Gemini, Leo and Virgo. When all the probable times given in Astrodatabank were verified for the above lagnas, Leo lagna looked unlikely. The time of 1:30 am gives Gemini Lagna and the time 7:54 am & 8:47 am give Virgo lagna. However, both 7:54 am and 8:47am look unlikely when verified by Krishna’s BTR Technique. It appears that probable correct time is around 01:30 am. This is one of the probable times mentioned in Astrodatabank. When rectified, the exact time arrived at was 01:28:56 hrs. This rectified time has been used in this example.

Following factors can be seen from the above chart:

-          Afflicted/Weak Mercury

o   Mercury is partially combust

o   Mercury is retrograde

o   8^th lord Saturn aspects Mercury from 6H

o   Mercury is in the nakshatra of Ketu

-          Afflicted/Weak Venus

o   Venus is aspected by  6L Mars

o   Venus’s navamsha dispositor Saturn is placed in 6H in Rasi, Saturn is also the 8^th lord

-          Afflicted 7H/lord or Libra

o   7^th lord Jupiter is in Papakartari between Saturn and Rahu

-          Sambandha between Venus and Mercury

o   Venus is in the nakshatra of Mercury

-          Sambandha between Venus and 7^th house/lord

o   Venus disposits 7L Jupiter

-          Sambandha between Mercury and Rahu/8^th lord

o   Mercury disposits Rahu in Rasi

o   Mercury disposits 8L Saturn in constellation

o   8L Saturn aspects Mercury in Rasi

In this case as well, all the factors are satisfied and hence the case is a severe one.

Location of the first spot: It seems that he got the first patches on his hand. Hands correspond to 3H in the chart. One can see Mercury occupying 3H. People say that he always wore a glove during performances to hide the white patches on his hand.

Timing: It has been stated that Michael Jackson was diagnosed with both Vitiligo and Lupus sometime during 1984. That means the problem could have started a few months earlier. Jackson has himself, in Oprah show during 1993, states that the white patches started appearing sometime after the ‘Thriller’. ‘Thriller’, his famous music album, was released on Nov. 30 1982. Hence, the problem could have started sometime during 1983. It appears that his problem started with the onset of Rahu AD in June 1982, in Jupiter MD. Jupiter is the 7L signifying skin. Hence, it looks logical that he was diagnosed for both Lupus and Vitiligo in 1984. Involvement of Rahu and Mercury is clear and Jupiter shows up due to its proximity to Rahu. However, some sources, including Wikipedia, state that he was first diagnosed in 1986. This may not be correct. Another source states that “There are many myths surrounding the colour change of Michael Jackson in the early 90s. He was widely chastised in the media for turning his back on his African ancestry. He was accused of bleaching his skin in an attempt to look white.” [4]. Michael Jackson announced publicly in a 90-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey in February 1993 that he had vitiligo. This was confirmed by the autopsy report following his death in 2009[5]. It appears that his problem started with the onset of Rahu AD in June 1982.

Conclusion

From the above examples we see that the prime factors for Vitiligo are

Mercury, Venus and afflictions to them. Many more examples have been successfully verified against the factors mentioned in this write-up.

References:

[2] http://www.medicinenet.com/vitiligo/article.htm#tocb

[3] http://www.medicinenet.com/vitiligo/page2.htm

[4] http://skindisease.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_did_michael_jackson_skin_turn_white

[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitiligo