Astrology
Astrology, also known as ‘Jyotish Shastra’ means a guiding light into the dark unknown future. Basically, astrology is all about interpretation of position or placement of planets in 12 zodiac signs (constellation of stars) and houses (arc of the horizon) of a horoscope. The horoscope is nothing but the map of sky for a particular event at a particular time that can be the birth time, death time, marriage time or separation time etc at a particular place. My astrology consultation or the spiritual practice started with the principle that the best and the worst of astrology prediction is not useful in anyway, without the necessary spiritual awareness, because once something is said, and if it happens to be true, then what to do about it, there is no answer to it, except the spiritual awareness.
For example, if I say that it is good day, then what to do, although it seems to be fine without any advice, but if it is going to be a very bad day, then it becomes an important question, but just the prediction is not helpful in anyway, because to be able to understand what must be done, and to have the necessary discipline and commitment to make the best out of the day, whether it is good or even a bad day, it is missing, but when the necessary awareness is there, then the day and the time will be used consciously, to be more careful & disciplined when it is a good day, and not to be desperate or depressed when it is a bad time.
Basic is the Best – sometimes we may feel that whatever we may do, in terms of personal-professional life & responsibilities, but nothing is enough, and the best way to deal with it, to focus on completing the basics every day, basic is the best, because doing the basics also means not doing whatever may not be needed at present, which is also very important to save the time, energy, money, opportunity, resources, etc., and to have at least 1 spiritual-practice as part of the daily life, it can be anything, and that must be done every day to connect with the God or Guru within.
- Date of event
- Time of event
- Place of event
Finally, everything comes down to individual personality & perception of life, and the understanding & interpretation of life, and the life-science of astrology, based on zodiac signs, numbers, houses & symbols of the horoscope etc., depending on following 3 factors –
- Knowledge and understanding of these concepts of astrology.
- Intelligence, Logic, and reasoning ability to correlate these concepts with real life events & experiences.
- Spiritual awareness – it is above all the rest, the humane sense
It is also important to understand that astrology is always applicable to the contemporary lifestyle, culture & tradition. It is just like the spiritual aspects of life which are always contemporary and we must identify & recognise the relevant & practical aspects of astrology. The sages & rishis of ancient Bharat lived & worked as per the life & living environment of olden days. The Kings & their families lived wealthy life & there were common people and some poor people also as per the standards of living of those times. Everything changes with time and in the same way the ancient texts, meanings & interpretations of astrology need to be studied as per the relevance of current times & new age of people, society & system.
Fundamentally, the spirituality by itself is a living experience, which cannot be taught by someone or learnt by reading some books. Its meaning and realization will be different for every individual person just like the meanings of success, failure; humanity & happiness are different for different people. And all of it is governed by the eternal laws of Universe & Mother Nature. Astrology is meant to know and understand these rules of life, to be aware of individual limits and boundaries and to begin with spiritual life.
Karma decides the future & destiny.
Astrology is useful to understand the time.
There are many aspects to understand the divine science of astrology even superficially but it is relevant to take a few examples from practical life in current social system to understand basic concepts. The basic concepts of astrology are related to basic understanding of life & environment.
The Sun – Culture & Tradition
It is not because of great knowledge of an astrologer to predict life & living of people in today’s modern world but the degraded level of human consciousness to live like social animals in terms of modern science where obvious lies are social trends while the obvious truth needs to be proved with evidence. Astrology is no more a social service with necessary devotion and commitment to humanity but just another way to make money and the people expect all the valuable guidance about their entire life only when the life seems to go out of control but nobody wants to learn or support the study and research of astrology.
It is very well known like an open secret that every politician, bureaucrat, celebrity, businessman and any other such successful person has some astrologer or spiritual guidance available to them. Many such people do not even start their day without spiritual advice while many common people who are in problems-hardship, they struggle to find good advice and correct spiritual guidance even during most difficult time-period or critical situations of their life. Many people are ignorant of spiritual living practices and they work hard to improve their life & living conditions but with some basic practical spiritual knowledge the same damn hard work can be changed into intelligent, efficient, and smart work.
- The life of an individual is almost pre-decided without astrology. After birth there is pre school, school, college education up to the age of 21years or struggle for survival for majority of children from poor & middle-class families. Then time to find a job or business and get married. On an average people become parents between the ages of 30-35 years while they are yet to understand themselves properly. From 35-55 years of age there are efforts to understand life and oneself if the life is not already exploited or destroyed by one’s own Karma. Between 55-65 years an average common man is already in retirement mode or old age psychology to spend the rest of living days with limited possibilities acquired during lifetime.
- Now let us imagine a life with certain basic knowledge of astrology & spiritual consciousness. An individual must be taught about some basic principles of life up to the age of 12years when the Jupiter return happens which means that Jupiter makes transit over the same position as per the birth chart. Between 12-28 years a person should have better understanding of nature of life and the Sanatan Dharma which are nothing but the eternal laws of Mother Nature. With this knowledge and understanding a person learns about all the abilities, options & resources available in life. The Mother Nature gives a unique ability to every individual and it must be used to maximum potential in positive way to live a successful life that would serve the purpose of soul.
- Around the age of 28-30years Saturn return happens for every individual. Saturn energy is all about the system of rules & regulations, i.e., the Law of universe and it is worshipped as lord of Justice. It is the last planet of solar system and in spiritual sense it signifies the boundaries and the limitations or the rules of life that is applicable to all the life on earth and must be followed & practiced by everyone. With this knowledge and understanding a person learns about the weaknesses and he must learn to accept them and use the support of humanity & spirituality for evolving further.
- With the help of astrology, a system of education can be established that gives necessary tools to understand all the possibilities-abilities for an individual. Once an individual whether man or woman is equipped with such knowledge & wisdom then it is not possible to predict how the people will live their life because the people will have options to make conscious choices decisions. In today’s world the people in general know nothing about themselves or nature of life. The definition of success is only financial wealth, name-fame or wining some awards, recognition or credit which is also not lasting for lifetime for many people. The life of such unconscious degraded human race can be predicted with common sense because there are only few possibilities of success and failures in terms of education, career, marriage, children or other social factors.
- Astrology is divine science. It is basically a tool for better understanding of all aspects of life for any individual so that a person can do good Karma by using their abilities effectively and accepting weaknesses. It is not meant for predicting the future because it is human to not know the future. Nobody can ever know the future or even predict what will happen in the very next moment but it does not mean that predictive astrology does not exist. Like any science that holds true in the universe there are some rules and procedures that needs to be learnt & practiced for predictive astrology also. Miracle & magic is not prediction but the life itself and proper Sadhana is the backbone of life to use the tools of Astrology, Ayurveda, Yoga-meditation etc. to live a good life.
The Excitement and Entertainment Business of Future Prediction
The understanding and the use of astrology in present times is all about future prediction. Since everyone knows very well that no astrologer can predict future or the future possibilities without necessary spiritual awareness so nobody is interested in astrology guidance in regular life when things are going normal or favourable. Generally, the people go to an astrologer only when they cannot make sense of the problems or unfavourable situations in their lives. The important point to note is that the necessary knowledge and understanding of the concepts of astrology is actually very useful & helpful in regular life to avoid the surprises or shock of life. The different situations of ups & downs in life are like weather seasons – we cannot stop the rains or the storm but we can plan, prepare & protect ourselves with necessary awareness.
The business of future prediction is not useful or helpful to any person in any way possible but it is exciting and entertaining to predict the future and to hear the predictions. It explains the business of astrology – astrologers focus on predictions because people expect and ask for predictions and the people are attracted towards such astrologers who can make accurate predictions because it is very exciting. But only with certain spiritual awareness we can understand clearly that there is no such thing as prediction and there is no such thing as remedy.
It is useful & helpful to know all the many future possibilities and to make conscious choices decisions. It is the choice of an individual of what to expect from astrology predictions because it is just an interpretation which is a single or few possibilities, while there may be other unknown possibilities also. A planet in a particular zodiac sign, house of horoscope, nakshatra, pada and relative position with respect to other planets, it can give innumerable possibilities of life. In this article let us explore and understand the true & real divine science of astrology in comparison to distorted perception & practices in current times.
Concepts of Astrology – Basics of Space, Time & Direction
It is mentioned about the planetary transits of Jupiter & Saturn that affects our life in many ways but the most important planets are the 2 luminaries of solar system i.e., the Sun & the Moon. As mentioned earlier that we will explore & understand the basics of astrology in this article and the most basic thing to learn about astrology is the Sun-Moon movement. It is necessary to have basic understanding about Space, Time & Direction. The Muhurta shastra & Vastu shastra are related to luminaries because they are main deciding factors for energy flow at a particular place & at a particular time.
- The Earth is moving around the Sun like all other planets. Because we are living on earth we experience the movement of Sun, Moon, and other planets in the sky as if they are revolving around the Earth. It is the apparent motion of the stars, planets, and other heavenly bodies with respect to Earth. These facts were very well known by ancient sages- scientists or the Rishis of Bharat.
The apparent motion of the Sun around the earth is very interesting to know. The path of apparent movement of the Sun around the Earth is known as Ecliptic which is having all the zodiac signs or constellation of stars or fixed star patterns in a sequence. The study of energy of these zodiac signs & constellations, the energy of Sun, Moon & other planets, and the combined effect of combination of energy of planets while moving through these different zodiac signs is known as astrology.
Astrology is a spiritual science to study, explore & research about the possibilities of life. Since we observe the movement of Sun, Moon, and other planets from the Earth – we study their relative movement and relative speed as seen from the Earth. It is important to understand everything in the universe is inter-related and inter-connected and even our lives are also inter-dependent on each other.
- Astrology is an ancient science which includes these zodiac signs – 12, constellations of stars – 27 and the map of the sky with the movement and position of these planets through the stars. The Sun moves approximately one degree in geometrical arc of horizon in the sky each day. It completes 360 degrees around the Earth in approximately 365 days as seen from the Earth.
During the apparent movement the Sun makes transit through the 12 zodiac signs in the sky. The zodiac sign with the Sun in transit rises in the East and sets in West along with movement of the Sun. During the day and night time the remaining 11 zodiac signs rise & set in the same sequence and this cycle continues with the everyday Sunrise & Sunset.
In the same way the Moon and other planets also make transit through the 12 zodiac signs as seen from the Earth to complete a revolution of 360 degrees around the Earth. But the time taken by different planets to complete revolution is different because in-reality the planets are revolving around the Sun in different orbits and the time-period of revolution depends on the distance of the planet from the Sun. The cycle of planetary movement in the sky has deep connection with the movement of energy on the planet life-energy to continue life cycle. The knowledge and wisdom of this spiritual science is known as astrology.
- The movement of earth on its axis is known as rotation which causes day & night phenomenon. The movement of earth around the sun is known as revolution which causes the seasons. The Moon is also making revolutions around the Earth. But there are some more basic points related to these phenomena –
The axis of the earth is not exactly vertical but it is tilted by 23.5 degrees. Because of this tilted axis the path of apparent motion of Sun in the sky is also not crossing directly overhead. It causes the position of Sun to shift from the East towards the North and South directions in a year during the 6 months interval which can be clearly observed at Sunrise time. It is known as Uttarayan & Dakshinayan, respectively. Also due to this fact the Sun is not always exactly overhead in the sky at noon everyday but it happens only on specific days in a year.
The modern science is still learning about the movement of Moon around the Earth. The phases of Moon – waxing & waning and effect of full Moon and new Moon Day have a significant impact on our thoughts and emotions. The Moon represents the water element and there are significant visible changes in water bodies during the full Moon, new Moon days and during the time-period of eclipse. Moon is connected to our intuitive personality in spiritual sense and it affects our psychological health. We need to understand the qualities of Moon in spiritual sense to understand the effects and impact. It is helpful and useful to enhance our sensitivity & experience of life.
- The zodiac sign rising in the east at the time of birth is known as ascendant. The Ascendant is very closely related to the personality and behaviour of a person. Depending of the transit of planets if a planet is present in the ascendant, then the energy of these planets also has a great influence on the personality and behaviour of a person. These details should be known to the children while they are growing up to have self-awareness which is necessary & very important for self-awareness & self-development.
- An individual personality is very closely related to Sun sign, Moon sign and the ascendant.
- The time-period going on in the life of a person also has great influence.
My Horoscope Analysis – I am sharing the detailed analysis of my horoscope as an example which may be useful & helpful for others to understand the concepts of astrology.
Life against me – The navamsa-lagna is the 8th house of my birth chart- it took something more than ‘available-astrology’ to figure it out by myself about myself. Rahu in the 4th house of navamsa- in Scorpio, where ascendant lord Saturn is placed in birth chart.
RAVIYOG is the story of life & learning about Spirituality in Practical life through Astrology, along with other aspects of Dincharya & Yoga-meditation. Spiritual education of Astrology is the most fundamental & important science & mathematics which must be available to the younger generation to improve the lives of future generations. An important message & meaning of Spiritual education is that it should be done without the intentions of ‘Business of Astrology’ for any kind of future predictions or individual astrologers’ interpretations.
जीवन एक साधना है।
ज्योतिष एक साधन मात्र है।
Future Possibility Vs Prediction
Future prediction is nothing but individual astrologers’ interpretation. Future possibility is simply the spiritual awareness. Spiritual awareness is based on Sanatan Dharma which are the eternal laws of Mother Nature or the fundamental principles of life.
The Spiritual awareness gives a clear & correct perception of life so there is no fear of unknown uncertain possibility. Individual astrologers’ interpretation is based on certain expectations so there is fear of uncertainty. I have already shared it with some people that – what if I say that I went to jail by choice? Further I can only say that spiritual awareness helped me to understand future possibilities, actions & consequences, sacrifice & grace beyond individual likes or dislikes. In every possible way & in every sense there is nothing more profound as the spiritual sadhana.
When I began to understand my own horoscope in a better way, I started saying to people that I’ve ‘RAJYOG’ in my chart. It makes some other people smile-laugh which is very amusing. The different kind of people may have different understanding but there is no other ‘RAJYOG’ better than ‘BHAKTIYOG’ or the Devotion which I feel blessed to have already received by the grace of Devi with the new life. Spiritual Education of Astrology helps us to learn & understand –
✔ Everything in this world is perfectly aligned & designed as per scientific principles & accurate mathematical rules.
✔ Everything in the universe is relative – everything is related to each other and everything is inter-connected & inter-dependent on each other. Fundamentally, the entire concept of celestial geometry is based on relative-apparent motion of Sun & Stars.
✔ The study & research of Outer Space, stars & planets, the relative motion & speed of planets with respect to each other & the fixed stars and the direct & retrograde motion in their orbits.
Birth Time – The birth details are given by the parents but while reading the horoscope how to confirm the birth time? It is very important to know that the horoscope changes in a few seconds but
what are these changes and how to identify & understand them? By the-way, there is already a good business of birthtime rectification going on apart from the main ‘Business of Astrology’ of the future predictions. Although, my birth-time was given as 2210 hours, but the correct birth time for my horoscope is 2215 hours, and it can be confirmed with the help of D1, D9 & D12 charts and some real-life events-experiences.
To begin with let us understand some very basic but very important points of Vedic Astrology using my birth horoscope as an example –
Birth details – 18 June 1987, 2215 hours, Kanpur, UP
The name ‘ravi’ means the Sun. It is a synonym but is it a coincidence that I was named ‘Ravi’? Astrology is a spiritual science which gives a practical way of understanding many different aspects of life with the help of some very fundamental scientific concepts of stars-planets & energy systems, which does not make sense any other way. The purpose of learning and understanding these details is to learn and use it as a reference to understand the basic concepts of your own life energy. It is important to correlate the energy of stars, planets, astrology houses, zodiac signs and Nakshatras with the real-life events and experiences.
D1 & D9 help us to understand to very significant aspects of individual life. At the time of birth, my parents did not know astrology so my name was decided by freewill. In my birth chart, the position of the Moon is in Pisces Zodiac Sign, Uttarbhadrapada Nakshatra. In the D9 subdivisional chart it moves in Leo zodiac sign, ruled by the Sun, it is also D9 ascendant. The Moon in Leo zodiac sign in the ascendant in the D9 chart is very closely related to my personality and perception of life which can be easily confirmed with some basic understanding of planets & energy.
I am sharing very significant details of my horoscope which helped me to understand very significant possibilities of my life which later helped me to recover with certain spiritual awareness & living practices. In the same way there are significant possibilities of life for each & every individual which can transform their lives positively.
12 Zodiac Signs – It is represented by numbers. Number 1 represents Aries zodiac sign which is the first. Why Aries is the first zodiac sign – we’ll discuss it further. From number 2 to 12 represent – Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius & Pisces, in the same order. These Zodiac Signs are constellations of Stars which can be seen-observed in the sky. In 12 months, the Sun passes through or makes transit through these 12 zodiac signs.
12 Planetary & Zodiac Sign Houses – It is represented by the 12 geometrical shapes with respective numbers of zodiac signs. In the example chart above the Ascendant (As) represents the first house, with number 10 – Capricorn zodiac sign as the ascendant. From the 1st house – counting of houses is followed anti-clockwise which signifies or represents the clockwise movement of zodiac signs in the horoscope. The same pattern can be observed in the sky also which the stars & planets follow. So, the zodiac sign Aquarius – number 11 is in horoscope house number 2 and number 9 represents horoscope house number 12.
Ascendant, Sun Sign & Moon Sign – The zodiac sign rising in the east at the time of birth is known as the Ascendant. There are 12 zodiac signs and each sign of length – 30º arc of horizon. Each Zodiac Sign takes about 2 hours’ time to rise which makes (12 x 2) 24 hours’ time for 1 complete cycle of (12 x 30º) 360º rotation of the sky and this cycle continues every day.
- It takes 24 hours for a single 360 degrees rotation of earth on its axis that makes day & night. Sidereal day is one full rotation with respect to the stars. It takes the Earth about 4 minutes to rotate the extra 1°. Because of difference in sidereal and solar time, stars rise 4 minutes earlier each day.
- The difference of 4 minutes of time becomes 120 minutes in a month, i.e., 2hours which becomes 12 hours in 6 months meaning the star that we see rising in the east is ready to be setting in the west and the star on zenith goes to position of Nadir every 6 months and this cycle continues.
- The zodiac sign through which the Sun is in transit also rises & sets with the Sunrise-Sunset every day. During the Shukla Paksha or the waxing phases of the Moon, it is visible after Sunset until the Moon reaches the zodiac sign opposite to that of the Sun on the Full Moon Day when it rises in the East as the Sun is setting in the west. During the Krishna Paksha or the waning phases of the Moon, it is visible before Sunrise until the Moon reaches the same Zodiac Sign as that of the Sun on the New Moon Day when both Sun & Moon would be rising or setting at the same time.
- The Zodiac sign of Sun transit at the birth time of a person is known as Sun Sign & Zodiac Sign of Moon transit is known as Moon Sign or commonly known as ‘Rashi’ of a person. It is because the Moon represents the personality & perception of life of an individual. It is related to Water element and since the human beings have 72% of water in their physical body constitution therefore the position & energy of Moon is very closely related to physical & psychological health of a person. It represents the Mind & emotions.
- In Vedic astrology there are 27 Nakshatras which are divided in the 12 Zodiac Signs. Each Nakshatra has 4 divisions which makes (27 x 4) 108 unique parts of the sky each of 3º 20’ of arc of the horizon. The astrology horoscope based on the position of Zodiac Sign- Ascendant degrees is known as Birth Chart (D1) but there are 108 types of Divisional Charts which change with every minute of difference in the time of birth out of which there are 16 main types of Divisional Charts.
2 Main Divisional Charts - D9 & D12
Each Zodiac sign of 30º is divided into exactly 9 parts respectively based on the Nakshatra divisions (3º 20’ x 9= 30º) which is known as D9 or Navamsa Divisional Chart. D12 or Dwadashamsa Divisional Chart is another very important chart based on 12 divisions of each Zodiac Sign.
The Moon completes the transit of each Nakshatra in 24 hours which covers an arc of (3º 20’ x 4) 13º 20’ of the horizon. In this way the lunar month completes in every 28 days from one Full Moon or New Moon Day to the next. In every 28 days the Moon, which represents the mind & emotional energy, passes through all the Zodiac Signs & houses including the natal position of Moon in birth chart. The spiritual education & awareness of such transit of Moon can greatly benefit a person to enhance their personality & perception of life with practical experiences.
- Initially I started observing the effect of Moon transit in all the zodiac signs in a lunar month. Since, I am born with Pisces zodiac sign, Uttarbhadrapada Nakshatra, so I carefully observed the effect of transit of Moon and other planets over the same position.
- To observe the effect of transit of Moon over the other zodiac signs and planets as per the birth chart. The planets continue the transit every moment of time so it is important to study & observe their effects also.
- It is very important to realize that people go to astrologers or try to find spiritual solutions only in desperate situations of life only because they cannot make sense as to how & why they get into serious problems. While it may be very difficult to get any good solutions at that time for various reasons but mainly it happens because of lack of spiritual education & awareness.
I want to share an important life experience here – I was always willing to learn about Spiritual & Life Sciences but I always thought that I did not have the necessary options & resources. So, it was the best thing that happened in my life when I lost everything in materialistic sense, including the physical & psychological sense of wrong identities which helped me to realize that only the necessary devotion to Mother Nature & humanity is required to learn & understand the Spiritual & Life sciences. The sincere & honest devotion will bring the necessary discipline, dedication & detachment to improve our lives and to solve the problems in our lives.
In my birth chart the Capricorn Zodiac Sign was rising at the time of birth so it is my Ascendant. It is very closely related to individual personality & perception of life. Now let us go back to the basic question – how to confirm the birth time? The answer is that the birth time is confirmed with the help of real-life personality of an individual and the real-life events. It means that the main purpose of Astrology is to learn & understand the individual personality-perception and to know about the possibilities of life for every individual.
For my horoscope the birth chart D1 remains the same from approx. 9 pm to 1030pm during my birth time but D9 & D12 change 9 & 12 times respectively. It matches very accurately at 2220 hours and this basic knowledge was significantly useful & helpful to understand a lot of things about my personality & time-period. We all need a mirror to look at our own self and astrology is the same, just like the real-life partner which is also seen from the exactly opposite 7th house. In this way the principles of astrology help us to understand the fundamental laws of Mother Nature & humanity. Astrology is a super-science; it is Divine science because it can open many unknown possibilities which can transform the life an individual but a certain spiritual education & awareness is necessary to use & apply these scientific principles and information in real life. A very basic & fundamental principle of life –
ज्ञान ही मुक्ति का मार्ग-द्वार है।
It means that only the spiritual awareness can lead to salvation, it is the door of liberation. Spiritual Awareness cannot be explained by any kind of academic education or training. It can be experienced only with conscious spiritual living practices. It is possible when the concepts of spiritual education become a part of living reality in thoughts, actions & emotions. Once there is necessary spiritual awareness all the academic knowledge, logic & intelligence, which makes our survival life very difficult & competitive, it can be used much more effectively & efficiently. Life becomes peaceful & happy without unnecessary attachments which gives a good sense of freedom & liberation.
The spiritual program will provide the spiritual education & training in a suitable spiritual environment based on Dincharya, Astrology & Yoga-Meditation. It is important to understand that every creation is special and that every human being has some unique ability with them which needs to be & must be expressed or reflected. The knowledge of astrology & the planetary time-period helps an individual to use their abilities consciously & positively.