Vedic Astrology
Vedic Astrology is one of the oldest forms of astrology, practiced in a more or less continuous tradition for thousands of years. It was originally an oral teaching, a limb or vedanga of a larger body of teachings that formed the Vedas, or scriptures of ancient India.
In India it is called Jyotish, meaning “science of light”. From a mundane perspective, this refers to the light of the visible planets as seen against the starry sky. Spiritually, it implies astrology’s capacity to illuminate what lies within us, ie, our karma for this lifetime.
Although Jyotish has been practiced for millennia in India and other parts of the East, Vedic astrology now enjoys a growing popularity throughout the West, thanks to its ability to address every aspect of the human experience, in a manner that is both insightful and predictive.
This is not sun sign astrology, which is so simplistic that it should be treated as pure entertainment and nothing more. Vedic astrology is unique and extremely specific.
Like western astrology, Jyotish uses a birth chart mapping the planets’ positions at your time of birth. Unlike western astrology, Jyotish also uses many “harmonic” charts, sub-divisions (or fractals) of the main chart that provide additional detail about relationships, studies, career, wealth, family, health, spirituality, etc.
Navamsa means “9th division” and refers to a specific harmonic chart in Jyotish that is so important that no Vedic astrologer would provide a consultation without referring to it. Some say the navamsa represents the fruit of one’s karma in this lifetime, since it reflects both one’s love relationships and spiritual path.
Karma and the Role of the Astrologer
Astrology and palmistry reflect the karma that we’re inclined to experience in this life. Vedic astrology has an undeserved reputation as being wholly deterministic, as if there was only one possible future, and all actions lead inevitably to it. In truth, there are many crossroads in a full life, and at many of them, we make decisions that affect our futures.
Vedic astrology acknowledges that karma may be fixed or loose, that we have more or less free will in some areas of life than in others. My role is to help people understand their credits and debits, where they’re strong or weak, where they’ll experience success or frustration, and to forecast those periods when certain aspects of life will be pleasurable, painful or just plain normal.
I want to help people understand themselves, and to become aware of all the positive possibilities that this lifetime has to offer. I will not discuss death, or frighten anyone with information about things that they haven’t specifically asked to be discussed.
I believe astrology is a map of where your soul needs to go in this life – with your baggage, your itinerary, your experiences en route, and your ultimate destination.