What is Vedic astrology? Is it accurate?

• 1、What is Vedic astrology? Is it accurate?

Vedic astrology is ancient Indian astrology. The so-called “Vedic Astrology” or “Ancient Hindu Astrology” refers to the traditional astrology of the Indian nation. In terms of research, “Vedic Astrology” mainly emphasizes the state of affairs in personal destiny: for example, it studies personal reputation, luck and wealth, and only 5% mentions personality and psychology.

• 2、Steps to learn

Starting with the five basic elements (Bhutas), then progressing through the three doshas of Ayurveda, the three gunas, the nine grahas, the twelve zodiac signs (Rasis), and finally the twelve houses (Bhavas) is a logical and intuitive arrangement. If the person you see and feel is a building, then the zodiac is the blueprint for the building. Just by looking at the person, you should be able to guess the basic structure of the horoscope, and studying the horoscope will reveal more about the person. In this sense, Vedic astrology is the physical science of how humans are constructed from the materials of the surrounding environment. This is not different from modern atomic theory and molecular composition – it just looks at the surrounding objects from a simpler and easier to understand model. The ancients said: “What goes up, follows. What exists in the middle, is formed outside.” This is the relationship between the small things in nature (such as humans) and the larger things (such as the sun, moon, planets, stars and earth).

• 3、Historical background

Le word “Veda” originally means “divine revelation” or “mysterious knowledge” and is the oldest sacred text in the Indo-European language family. The Vedas were written between the 10th and 6th centuries BC, marking the beginning of the Indian religion. Although the Vedas were written at this time, the Vedic period can be traced back to 2,000 BC or earlier.

The knowledge of the Vedas can be divided into six parts, collectively known as the “Vedangas”, which are science (Shiksha), phonology (Chhanda), Vyakarana, Nirukta, Kalpa and Jyotisha or Astrology. Jyotisha is the science of time, including astronomy and astrology. Among them, astrology represents the ability to observe the past, present and future, so it is considered the most important part of the “Vedangas”.

Although Vedic astrology has a long history, it is better preserved than other astrology (Western and Chinese). For thousands of years, it has never been lost due to any political factors, nor has it been affected by foreign Western ideas and despised by the public. In the Indian nation, Vedic astrology has always been considered as advanced knowledge. The government and academic institutions have always tried to preserve its integrity, so Indian astrologers have always had a high social status. Many people who study Vedic astrology are highly educated intellectuals, and there are also many people with doctorates.

• 4、Western comparison

Vedic astrology is similar to Western astrology, but not identical. The two biggest differences are: 1. Indian Vedic astrology does not involve the three outer planets – Uranus, Neptune and Pluto; 2. Vedic astrology uses the positions of the planets at the time of the individual’s birth. This difference between Vedic and Western astrology may change some or all of the signs in your Western astrological chart, pushing the planets back about 23 degrees. This may change your Sun sign and some or all of the planets in your signs.

The third difference between Vedic and Western astrology is that Western astrology has completely divorced itself from its Greek origins and is not supported by a coherent philosophy. Vedic astrology is part of the vast Vedic science and wisdom, adjacent to sister disciplines of Yoga, Ayyvedic medicine, Vedic geomancy (Vastu) and palmistry. Vedic astrology is the oldest astrological system in the world and is still widely used today.

• 5、Six major subjects

Vedic Astrology: Six Major Disciplines Mundane Astrology

Mainly studies celestial phenomena such as solar eclipses, planetary conjunctions, and new moons, and uses their occurrence times to infer possible phenomena in a country or society. Annual Forecast: Used to predict weather and crop yields, and to determine whether the coming year will be auspicious or unlucky depending on the planets crossing the sky.

Genetic Astrology: This type of astrology is the most important part of Vedic Astrology, and is based on the moment and place of a person’s birth to calculate their fortunes. It emphasizes the Lagna, the planetary pattern, and its phase at birth. [Note: The Lagna is called the “Ascendant” by Westerners. If we ignore its degree and only consider the constellation it is in, it is what Westerners generally call the “Rising Sign”. ]

Transit System/Gochara – mainly studies the phases and relationships formed by planets when they cross the innate star chart, to predict the fortune and events of a short period of time.

Horary System – draws a star chart at the moment when the person asks about the matter, and then predicts the good or bad luck of the matter, which is similar to the concepts of Qimen Dunjia and Da Liuren in my country.

Electional System – used to choose an auspicious day to open a business, sign a contract, get married and have an interview. Since the position and state of the stars at a selected time have a significant impact on personal activities, the basic principle of this discipline is to determine the relative position of the planet and the ascendant in the sky at the moment of starting a certain activity, and to select an auspicious day based on the mutual relationship between them.

It should be noted that in the first five disciplines, Indian astrologers use the position of the ascendant and the planet at a certain moment to predict fate. However, this is not the case with auspicious astrology. Unlike the other five disciplines, it believes that the position and aspects of the planets can guarantee a person’s success and provides us with the freedom to choose an auspicious time.

• 6、Academic Ability and Transformation

Vedic astrology is based on two fundamental principles:

1. We all have immortal souls – called “atmas” in Sanskrit (the language of ancient Indian Buddhist scriptures) (from which the English word “atom” comes). An “atmas” is the smallest particle that makes up an eternal and divine life. In this sense, our souls cannot die or be killed because they come from another, non-physical world. However, even though our souls are immortal, we still need to be in this physical world. In other words, we are souls experiencing human experiences, not humans experiencing spiritual experiences.
2. Everything in the world is subject to the law of cause and effect. This means that “for every action, there is an equal reaction.” When you put these two truths together, the result is called “karma.” The root of karma is “kri”, which means “action.” So what our soul does in the physical world will have a reaction according to the laws of physics – they are not some kind of punishment, but the scientific laws of cause and effect accumulated over time. Ancient Indian Vedic astrology is a combination of the soul and the laws of nature. Over time, it masters everything we do. The mystery is that the reaction caused by nature will not be manifested immediately. It will happen to you and me after a long time, that is, “good is rewarded with good, evil is rewarded with evil, and no words will not be repaid until the time comes.” This idea gave rise to the concept of “reincarnation”: the eternal soul will continue to change its mortal body, life after life, and each new body will continue the cause and effect cycle of the carrier’s previous life. To understand it figuratively, it is to compare your free will to a property investment that gathers all your thoughts, words and deeds. The Vedic concept is based on the fact that no matter where you are, the internal system of nature will convert all your “investments” into corresponding returns. Even if you change to a new body, nature still knows how to find you and “renew” with you. Imagine that at the end of your life, after the physical death, you are taken by the Holy Spirit to the “Used Karma Bank”, where they will audit your “karma account”, calculate how many “karma coins” you have used, and then calculate the next mortal body you will be given through complex mathematical statistics. You are assigned parents, family, and siblings, and then you become a new life on earth. Unpaid or unacted karma, or causal influence from past lives, is transferred to the new life, the mortal body, as if we are all born with an invisible karmic baggage.

This is the logic of the “horoscope”. The constellation is the sky pattern at the exact longitude and latitude of your birth. Behind the positions of the planets and stars lies a chart that reveals the causal secrets that accompany each soul. The Vedic astrological chart is a photograph – a snapshot of the “(karmic) investment profile” of the new soul. Because the chart is composed of light patterns, Vedic astrology is also called “Jyotish”, the art of studying the light patterns in the sky at the time of birth.

There are three elements in astrology that reveal our nature the most. The first element is the sun sign, which is the position of the sun in the constellation of stars on the day you were born (please note that Vedic astrology is different from Western astrology). You can also think of the sun sign as yourself. When someone asks you what your sign is, they are referring to the sun sign you were born in.

Another important factor in the horoscope is the moon sign. The sun is in the same sign every 30 days, passing through 12 signs throughout the year. The moon moves a little faster. The moon passes through a sign every two and a half days, and basically passes through 12 signs in a month. The moon represents your mind and emotions. In other words, the sun sign reveals what you convey from the inside out, while the moon sign represents what you receive, express, and are inside. You can also call the sun sign the masculine or energetic side (this will be discussed in depth in the next chapter).

The third element in the horoscope is called the rising sign. Since the sun rises from the east every morning due to the rotation of the earth, the 12 signs corresponding to the planets also rise from the east within 24 hours, so there are 12 signs.

Each sign rises every two hours. If the time of birth is known and the latitude and longitude are accurate, you can find out the rising sign of one of the zodiac signs at the time of birth. If someone asks you about your horoscope at this time, you can say, what is my rising sign, what is the sun and what is the moon. This describes your physique, thinking and emotions, and your basic situation.

• 7、Main differences

Vedic Astrology originated in India, where Chinese and Western cultures met three thousand years ago. Its function is to develop some potential that you may not know, and on this basis, to improve your life. This kind of astrology involves many aspects of numerology and the five elements in Indian numerology, which is very different from Western astrology. Therefore, beginners of astrology must not confuse the two. This article lists several major differences between the two for reference by astrology enthusiasts.

Difference 1: The choice of the zodiac system

Due to the phenomenon of precession, the vernal equinox moves 50 seconds westward along the ecliptic every year. Therefore, the vernal equinox and 0 degrees of Aries are not at the same point. The zodiac drawn based on the vernal equinox is called the tropical zodiac, and the zodiac divided according to the constellations is called the sidereal zodiac. The current Western astrology usually uses the tropical zodiac system, while Vedic astrology follows the ancient method and still uses the sidereal zodiac system, which means that if Vedic astrology is used for prediction, the precession of the equinoxes has been eliminated from the beginning of the establishment of the natal chart.

The angle difference between the starting points of the two zodiac systems has expanded to 23.5 degrees, which means that the same planet may be in different constellations in the charts established according to different zodiac systems. At the same time, the meaning of the constellation and its connection with various parts of the human body in medical astrology will also be different.

Difference 2: Choice of House System

Western astrology usually adopts the time house system (Placidus House System), while Vedic astrology adopts the oldest quadrant system (Porphyry House System), that is, the ascendant, nadir, descendant, and zenith are the cusps of the first, fourth, seventh, and tenth houses respectively. The arc between the ascendant and the nadir is divided into three equal parts, and the two points obtained are the cusps of the second and third houses. The arc between the nadir and the descendant is also divided into three equal parts, and the two points obtained are the cusps of the fifth and sixth houses, and so on.

Difference 3: Choice of Stars

Almost all astrology regards the positions of the seven stars, the sun, the moon, gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, and the angles between them as the focus of the chart, and Vedic astrology is no exception. But like traditional Chinese astrology, it does not take into account the influence of Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, or it should be said that when this astrology was born, these three stars had not yet been discovered. In addition to these seven planets, Ketu and Rahu also play a significant role in Vedic astrology. They are also what we often call the north and south nodes of the moon.

Difference 4: Different guardian planets

Each constellation has a guardian planet. Due to the lack of the three planets of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, the guardian planets of each constellation have changed accordingly in Vedic astrology. The guardian planet of Scorpio has changed from Pluto to Mars, the guardian planet of Aquarius has changed from Uranus to Saturn, and Pisces is ruled by Jupiter.

In addition, the guardian planets of each house in these two astrology are also very different. Western astrology usually regards Mars, the ruling star of Aries, as the ruling star of the first house, and Saturn, the ruling star of Taurus, as the ruling star of the second house. By analogy, Mercury rules the third house, and the Moon rules the fourth house… In Vedic astrology, there seems to be no pattern in the ruling star of each house: Jupiter rules the second, fifth, ninth, and eleventh houses, Saturn rules the sixth, eighth, and twelfth houses, the Sun rules the first and tenth houses, the Moon rules the fourth house, Mars rules the third house, and Venus rules the seventh house.

Difference 5: Different natures of constellations

Western astrology divides constellations into four phases: water, earth, wind, and fire. Water constellations include Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces, earth constellations include Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, wind constellations include Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius, and fire constellations include Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. Indian numerology divides the nature of things into five phases: wind, fire, water, earth, and ether. Aries, Leo, and Scorpio are fire signs, Taurus, Cancer, and Libra are water signs, Gemini and Virgo are earth signs, Capricorn and Aquarius are air signs, and Sagittarius and Pisces are ether signs.

Difference 6: Determination of good and bad luck

In Western astrology, Jupiter, Venus, and the Sun are lucky stars, Mars and Saturn are unlucky stars, and the Moon and Mercury are neutral stars. In Vedic astrology, the Sun and the Moon are neutral stars, Jupiter, Venus, and Mercury are lucky stars, and Mars and Saturn are still unlucky stars. In addition, in Western astrology, Rahu is called the North Node, and its influence is similar to that of Jupiter, that is, it is a lucky star; Ketu is called the South Node (Lilith), and it is regarded as an unlucky star like Saturn. In Indian mythology, Lord Vishnu cut the body of the demon into two halves with one sword. The half with a head but no body became Rahu, and the half with a body but no head became Ketu. Therefore, in Vedic astrology, these two stars are both evil stars.

Like Western astrology, Vedic astrology also has the concept of temple prosperity and weakness. When a planet is in its own guardian constellation, it is called temple. At this time, its positive effect will cover its negative effect; when it is in the opposite position of the guardian constellation, it is called fall, and its negative effect will be clearly exposed. However, the position of Vedic astrology planets in power and loss of power is different from that in Western astrology.

In addition, Vedic astrology has a unique method of judging good and bad luck. The first, fourth, seventh, and tenth houses are called the quadrilateral houses. It is a very auspicious sign for a lucky star to fall into the quadrilateral house. But if a lucky star becomes the ruling star of a quadratic house, then this lucky star will turn into an unlucky star. On the contrary, if an unlucky star becomes the ruling star of a quadratic house, this star will turn into a lucky star. This is the so-called “good times will come after bad times.”