Jyotish - Vedic Astrology
Jyotish, or Vedic Astrology, is the oldest divination system, "Jyoti" in Sanskrit means light and "ish" can be translated as "lord" or "God" or "be master of". Jyotish is often translated as the Science of Light, but I prefer Lords of Light because we can observe the planets in our solar system due to the reflection of light from the sun. The atma, or soul, according to Vedic philosophy is also the light, the pure light of awareness.
Thousands of years ago our ancestors looked up to the stars and observed patterns useful for localization, counting hours and days, relating days to seasons, and navigation over open ocean. From about 500 to 1500, astronomy and astrology were a required field of study. In the early 17th century, Samuel Champlain crossed the Atlantic 27 times navigating by the stars.
Jyotish uses the sidereal zodiac, which is the fixed positions of the constellations as we see them in the sky. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac based on the relative and changeable position of the sun. Because of a wobble in the Earth's axial spin, the tropical zodiac has moved away from the fixed, sidereal position by about 24 degrees.
Jyotish places great importance on the Ascendant. The Ascendant is the constellation rising on the Eastern horizon at the time of birth. The charts one sees in newspapers and magazines report the constellation where the sun is placed, Whatever planet rules that constellation of the Ascendant is said to be the captain of the ship. Jyotish also looks at placement of the sun,and the moon as the two luminaries.
Thousands of years ago our ancestors looked up to the stars and observed patterns useful for localization, counting hours and days, relating days to seasons, and navigation over open ocean. From about 500 to 1500, astronomy and astrology were a required field of study. In the early 17th century, Samuel Champlain crossed the Atlantic 27 times navigating by the stars.
Jyotish uses the sidereal zodiac, which is the fixed positions of the constellations as we see them in the sky. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac based on the relative and changeable position of the sun. Because of a wobble in the Earth's axial spin, the tropical zodiac has moved away from the fixed, sidereal position by about 24 degrees.
Jyotish places great importance on the Ascendant. The Ascendant is the constellation rising on the Eastern horizon at the time of birth. The charts one sees in newspapers and magazines report the constellation where the sun is placed, Whatever planet rules that constellation of the Ascendant is said to be the captain of the ship. Jyotish also looks at placement of the sun,and the moon as the two luminaries.
The horoscope is a template made up of the 7 inner planets plus the two nodes, Rahu and Ketu. (More about this later). The horoscope is divided into 12 houses and 12 signs. The birth chart is a map of where the planets are positioned at the exact moment of birth. The light coming from the stars and planets are surrounded by their own magnetic and gravitational fields influencing that light. The Vedas teach that we and everything in the universe comes from the same source, that what we think is "reality" is an illusion. The yoga sutras of Patanjali help practitioners to reach this Oneness, their true nature. The macrocosm of the universe exists within the microcosm of the individual self. It is interesting that this view is being proposed by modern quantum physics: the universe is just energy.
The ancient seers felt the vibrational influence that the planets exerted on life on earth and studied how each planetary body resonated with distinct qualities.
The ancient seers felt the vibrational influence that the planets exerted on life on earth and studied how each planetary body resonated with distinct qualities.
The Phala Deepika is one of the ancient texts of Jyotish
Ten years ago, I considered astrology more or less hocus-pocus. It wasn't until 2015 when I studied with Dr. Lad in India that things changed. Often in Dr. Lad's clinic he would have an assistant cast a chart for a patient. I became curious and realized that Jyotish was a sister science to Ayurveda and Yoga. The pandemic offered me the opportunity to study both Sanskrit and Jyotish.
In the words of the song "Que sera sera" - will I be pretty? will I be rich?, people often come to astrology for answers to those sorts of questions. But Jyotish's greatest gift in my view is to help us understand our unique nature and to help us determine the vital contribution we are meant to make in this life. A teacher once told me that we come into life with the chart that is perfect for us. Perfect in the sense that we all have gifts, talents, opportunities, tendencies, predispositions as well as challenges. Jyotish can make us more aware of our strengths and weaknesses and help us make wiser choices. One of my favorite yoga sutras is the one that tells us that suffering will come in life, but it is to be avoided if possible.
In the words of the song "Que sera sera" - will I be pretty? will I be rich?, people often come to astrology for answers to those sorts of questions. But Jyotish's greatest gift in my view is to help us understand our unique nature and to help us determine the vital contribution we are meant to make in this life. A teacher once told me that we come into life with the chart that is perfect for us. Perfect in the sense that we all have gifts, talents, opportunities, tendencies, predispositions as well as challenges. Jyotish can make us more aware of our strengths and weaknesses and help us make wiser choices. One of my favorite yoga sutras is the one that tells us that suffering will come in life, but it is to be avoided if possible.
Maharshi Parasara is another classic author
Back to Rahu and Ketu: they have no physical existence at all as they are just mathematical points in space and are called shadow planets. Rahu is the northern intersection, or the North Node, and Ketu is the southern intersection (the South Node) of the plane of the Moon's orbit around the Earth with the plane of the elliptic. The elliptic is the plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun, although it appears to us as though the Sun is going around the Earth. These two Nodes are where solar and lunar eclipses occur.
Myths abound in jyotish and the myth that tells of Rahu and Ketu's origins goes like this. After a great war the gods and demons began to churn the Ocean of Milk to create Amrita, the nectar of immortality for only the gods. One of the demons sitting between the Sun and the Moon took a sip of nectar and Lord Vishnu quickly chopped off his head. Rahu became the head only serpent demon and Ketu became the body without the head. As they were now immortal, Vishnu gave them two specific points in the sky.
Myths abound in jyotish and the myth that tells of Rahu and Ketu's origins goes like this. After a great war the gods and demons began to churn the Ocean of Milk to create Amrita, the nectar of immortality for only the gods. One of the demons sitting between the Sun and the Moon took a sip of nectar and Lord Vishnu quickly chopped off his head. Rahu became the head only serpent demon and Ketu became the body without the head. As they were now immortal, Vishnu gave them two specific points in the sky.
The Sun is our star, the source of all light on earth
Still a student, I sometimes ask people who come for consultations their exact birth times and cast charts, but I am not ready to make it a public offering. Years of study are necessary. I can recommend Jonathan Crews, however. I attended a class he presented almost a year ago on Trauma and how to see Trauma in a chart and I was impressed with his ability as a Jyotish.
His website is: https://jcrewsvedicastrology.com.
Jyotish offers a way to ask questions and get answers, it offers ways to remediate what could be difficult periods or challenges. One of these is pujas.
Pujas are remedial measures that have been prescribed for thousands of years to help improve planetary influences. They keep us in harmony with cosmic forces, thereby removing and overcoming the sorrows of life and bringing spiritual upliftment. By doing these pujas, thoughts and vibrations of spiritual forces are created around us. These spiritual forces work to eliminate the negative influences in our life and help surround us with positive energy which can bring us peace of mind, material prosperity and abiding health and enable us to touch the Divine more clearly, our true nature.
The theory behind Pujas is that each planet represents a particular quality of intelligence that resides within us. Over the course of the many lifetimes, we often use these intelligences in ways that are not in attunement with Wholeness or the natural evolutionary order of things. This creates karma, which obstructs our light and our true nature.
His website is: https://jcrewsvedicastrology.com.
Jyotish offers a way to ask questions and get answers, it offers ways to remediate what could be difficult periods or challenges. One of these is pujas.
Pujas are remedial measures that have been prescribed for thousands of years to help improve planetary influences. They keep us in harmony with cosmic forces, thereby removing and overcoming the sorrows of life and bringing spiritual upliftment. By doing these pujas, thoughts and vibrations of spiritual forces are created around us. These spiritual forces work to eliminate the negative influences in our life and help surround us with positive energy which can bring us peace of mind, material prosperity and abiding health and enable us to touch the Divine more clearly, our true nature.
The theory behind Pujas is that each planet represents a particular quality of intelligence that resides within us. Over the course of the many lifetimes, we often use these intelligences in ways that are not in attunement with Wholeness or the natural evolutionary order of things. This creates karma, which obstructs our light and our true nature.
