Vedic Street Astrologer a poem
Originally uploaded by firoze shakir photographerno1
The public is often amazed to learn that in the realm of astrology, the Sun sign column found in their local newspaper is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There are many systems of astrology emanating from such diverse cultures as the Babylonians, Chinese, Egyptians, Greeks, Mayans and Hindus. All have developed extensive astrological systems. Jyotish astrology springs forth from the ancient Vedas of India, and is reportedly thousands of years old.
What is Vedic astrology?
Vedic astrology originally comes to us from the Rig Veda, the oldest of the four Vedas, the spiritual Bible of ancient India. The Vedas were an oral tradition passed down from family to family, generation to generation. These works contain the spiritual teachings of Hinduism. Much later in their history the Vedas were put in a written form, and so it is with Jyotisha as well. We also find astrological references abound in the great oral Epics of India, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, particularly in the most famous portion of the Mahabharata, the Bhagavadgita. Such ancient works as the Vedanga Jyotish and the Surya Siddhanta shed further light on both the astronomy and astrology of ancient India.
Later in history, about the 5th century AD, many of the previous oral astrological teachings were put into written form. Many of India's most well known Astrologers-Sages lived during this time. Such personages as Parasara, Vaharamihira, Kalyana Varma and Mantreswar and their masterpieces on Vedic Astrology, e.g. Hora Shastra, Brihat Jataka, Saravali and the Phaladeepika, are still readily available today, having been translated into English many times over. In our times, such prolific Indian authors as the late Dr. B. V. Raman have popularized Vedic astrology in Western culture. In the last decade there has been a resurgence of Vedic Astrology in the United States facilitated by such American authors as James Braha, David Frawley and Ronnie Gale Dreyer, and their books; Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern Western Astrologer, The Astrology of the Seers, and Vedic Astrology: A Guide to the Fundamentals of Jyotish.
How is Vedic Astrology different from Western Astrology?
The astrology of India is different from Western astrology in that Vedic astrologers use a different Zodiac. There are two Zodiacs: the Tropical and the Sidereal. Western astrology uses the Spring Equinox as the starting point of Aries in the month of March. Meanwhile, Vedic Astrology uses the precessed constellation of Aries, currently in the month of April, to start the Sidereal Zodiac. The difference between the two Zodiacs is currently 22 to 24 degrees. So, if you were born up to 22 to 24 degrees into a particular sign in the Tropical Zodiac, say the sign of Aries, you will now become recognized by the previous sign, in this case Pisces. In this manner all the planets, as well as the ascendant, in your astrological chart will move backward into the previous degrees of the same or earlier sign. This major difference between the two systems shocks many new and old comers to astrology alike.
Western Astrology uses the Spring Equinox in the month of March to start the Tropical Zodiac in the constellation of Aries. Meanwhile, Vedic Astrology uses the precessed constellation of Aries, currently in the month of April, to start the Sidereal Zodiac.
How can there be two Zodiacs? Which one is correct?
There really is no correct Zodiac. The answer, of course, depends on our perspective. Relative to your point in the universe, the world reveals itself to you. For instance, viewed from the earth the heavens have a particular order and appear to be moving through zodiacal signs that are very different than if viewed from the Sun. This is the difference between geocentric astrology, from the Greek words meaning earth-centered, and heliocentric astrology, from the Greek words meaning Sun-centered. Your vantage point can be said to determine your perceptual reality. This is true also of the two Zodiacs, depending on the vantage point of the seasonal equinoxes, which characterizes Western astrology or the vantage point of the fixed stars, which characterizes Vedic astrology. Reality is indeed a relative construct that can best be described in the adage what you see is what you get! It all depends on your point of view.
A second vantage point of Vedic Astrology is the cosmological, spiritual viewpoint of the ancient Hindu, or Vedic culture. The sacred writings of ancient India are embodied in the Vedas, Brahmanas, Puranas and Upannishads. Their spiritual and philosophical precepts are deeply ingrained in the concepts of Jyotisha. In fact, Vedic astrology is a Vedanga, one of the six limbs of the Vedas and thus it is a natural extension of the spiritual belief systems of Hinduism. This value system of ancient India is part and parcel of Vedic astrology. This view is very different in its values and conceptual view of life from our modern western cultural viewpoint. For example, the purushartas, or the four pursuits of life, as outlined in the Vedas are: Dharma, Artha, Kama, and Moksha. The Sanskrit word Dharma, means our purpose, or duty in life. The word Artha, reflects our attitude toward the accumulation of money and resources. The word Kama, reflects the desires of the individual. Lastly, the word Moksha, reflects the desire of every soul to enlighten itself from the confinement of this world. These pursuits are qualified and clarified in the fundamentals of Jyotisha. Frameworks, such as this, and the Hindu doctrines of Samsara, the belief in past lives, and Karma, the influence of these past lives on the current life situation, lend a unique perspective to a Vedic astrology reading.
Why has there been such an intensified interest in Vedic astrology in recent times?
This is the question I am asked most frequently and it is the most challenging to answer. From my vantage point as a professional astrologer, I believe that for some time the discerning Western mind has been going through a crises in culture, questioning the very values of the times in which we live. This discontent has long been fermenting and is tragically once again echoed in the continuing conflict of East and West. Sadly, this long standing crisis is no longer just an intellectual debate between respected parties. It has spilled into the streets of every city in North America.
A well respected philosopher and Western astrologer, Richard Tarnas, speaks to the roots of this developing crises in his masterpiece The Passion of The Western Mind. (Harmony Books, 1991) He chronicles the western mind from Plato and Aristotle to Kant and Einstein. The pertinent question being: Has our materially prosperous culture given the Western mind any peace of mind? Perhaps not. There is a growing restlessness in the western mind that is looking for answers beyond the scope of our material and technological breakthroughs and achievements. The search for answers takes many Western minds back to the Eastern mind of the Greeks and Babylonians, as well as the rishis and sages of ancient India. Their view of the cosmos is finding renewed interest in our time. Witness the interest and continuing popularity of Deepak Chopra's books such as Quantum Healing (Bantam Books, 1990). This Indian-born, Western Doctor of Medicine is taking the wisdom of India's past and cross-fertilizing this knowledge with today's Western wisdom and technology.
Likewise, there is a growing number of Western-minded astrologers who are embracing the ancient Eastern mind as defined through the precepts of Vedic astrology. In fact, there are a growing number of Western astrologers who use both systems of astrology in an attempt to answer the often profound and confounding questions that clients pose concerning the development and timing of particular life issues and the purpose the soul has come to fulfill in its earthly sojourn. In fact, in answering this very question, the earliest of the Vedas exclaims: “If you want to know your swadharma (personal purpose in life) consult a jyotishi (a Vedic astrologer).”
With the very Vedas of India backing their astrological work, the practitioners of Vedic astrology have a strong sense of spiritual community. This sense of a diverse but united spiritual community in Vedic astrology deeply draws the passion of Western-minded astrologers, who more often than not suffer a spiritual persecution and the accompanying isolation for their celestial and spiritual beliefs.
There are more questions than answers to why Vedic astrology is becoming more popular to the Western-minded astrologer. But for the western-minded astrologer who wishes to more fully explore the very meaning of life in these difficult modern times, Vedic astrology offers an ancient astrological perspective that asks these very same profound and confounding questions, questions asked some 5000 years ago by the very authors of the Vedas, the Puranas, the Bramanas, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavadgita. Now, that’s not bad company to be keeping in these times.
www.vedicsciences.com/what-is-vedic-astrology.htm
my poem
the street savvy astrologer
hooks passersby wittingly snares
he takes your palm inwardly stares
your swadharma unbares
you new job
your new house
your new wife
your fucked future shares
your not working body part
you overworking spares
overtly scares
astrological
cost effective repairs
till your enemies black magic ,
curse outwears
while he rants and glares
bad luck good luck
dharma karma both in pairs
optimistic janma kundali hope
he begrudgingly dares
with your money in his pocket
his own fucked future his shrewish
wife does tear
navigating astrologically
rahu and ketu
he thus fares
