Joytish is the science of light, an ancient science, one of the oldest sciences on this planet, 10’s of thousands of years old, tested and tested like no other science. Jyotish theories of light and vibration closely resembles quantum physics and is being recognised by physicists worldwide as relevant. Although, we are a long way off being recognised by formal scientific bodies, even though there is evidence that these Astrological ideas are testable and verifiable. Scientists agree today that the amount of sun light you received at birth is relevant to your personality trait and some physiological variants. Jyotish goes beyond just the light of the Sun, but to the galactic star in the centre of our galaxy and how the planets focus that energy to us on earth.
Jyotish differs from Western Astrology by 23 degrees and doesn’t recognise Pluto or Neptune as having enough light to effect a being here on earth. You might also find that your birth sign changed in a Jyotish reading. Jyotish also works with 27 more constellations called Nakshatras, something we will address later.
Jyotish or Vedic Astrology helps us understand our Karma and the impact it has on our lives under the influence of changing planetary transits. Guidance through Vedic Astrology aims at giving us a greater understanding of ourselves through a deeper appreciation of our destiny. The Vedic Reading by an astrologer who deeply understands the Shakti of the Planets and Stars in its spiritual and healing perspective throws a lot of Light on our spiritual awakenings, specially through the Dasha or planetary period .
Jyotish Astrologers use a chart to map out the positions of the planets and constellations at the time of your birth. It’s like a snap shot of your life and the energies that will effect you during your life. Similar to a seed and from that seed your life evolves, already imprinted with its energy to steer you in the right direction. There are nine planets represented in Vedic astrology, these are the Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the mysterious North and South nodes called Rahu and Ketu, these are shadow planets , energies created by the eclipse of the Sun and the Moon. When the New Moon occurs in conjunction with one of the nodes a solar eclipse occur. When the full Moon occurs in conjunction with one of the nodes, a lunar eclipse occur. There are usually two sets of eclipses every year around six months apart. The nodes are not fixed but move backward in the zodiac in a 18.6 year cycle. The Moon takes 27 days to return to the same node. They are the head and tail of the dragon. There is a story in the Veda (scriptures) Mahabharata, about how these two planets came into being.
When it was decided that it was time to churn the ocean of milk to extract the Amrit (everlasting life potion) the Gods (Devas) and the demons (Asuras) got together, as it was going to be impossible for just the gods to do it alone, they needed the demons help. The deal was that all would take a share in the Amrit equally. They used the tail and the head of the giant serpant Vasuki and used a mountain to churn the water to do it. Vishnu (the sustainer) actually became a turtle so the mountain could sit on top of him and Shiva (destroyer) swallowed the poison that arose with the Amrit (Positive and negative working in harmony) the poison saving humanity from destruction, hence his purple throat, but thats a whole different story. They churned for days and weeks and months , eventually extracting the potion. After it was produced into a jug all the Gods and demons lined up to take their share, but the Gods thought, hold on if we give this to the demons we are going to be dealing with these guys for eternity, it just can’t happen. So it was agreed that Lakshmi with her charm and beauty would seduce the demons away from the Amrit so the gods could partake in it all. As the demons were being lured away, the Gods took the sip of the perfect nectar of everlasting life, but unknown to them one demon got savvy to this ruse and decided to hang out and hide between the sun and the moon. Vishnu passed the jug from mouth to mouth and just as he was giving the nectar to the demon the Sun and the Moon spotted him and said “Hold on thats a demon” and called him out. Immediately Vishnu came down upon the demon with his great sword and cut him in half. Of course he could not die for he had already taken the sip of the nectar. He then forever became the Head of the Serpent Rahu and the Tail of the Serpent Ketu forever the enemy of the Sun and the Moon.
Planets transit around the chart in a anti-clockwise direction except for Rahu and Ketu, they go in the opposite direction of course. Sometimes Planets go retrograde, this means they seem to be going backwards. This gives them a heightened level of intensity. Except for Mercury who is always going back and forth like a prince carrying information. Planets can also be debilitated, exalted and moolitrikona or in its own house, which intensifies the energy of the planet in a positive or negative way. In this new era of Jyotish we don’t call planets malefic or benefic anymore. All planets offer both possibilities.
Each persons chart is divided into 12 parts or Houses (bhvas). each house represents a different part of your physical and psychological makeup including elements like your home 4th house, relationships 7th and professional life 10th house to name a few. 12 constellations encircle the chart at different positions depending on what constellation was rising on the eastern horizon at the time of your birth.
The 12 constellations are similar to the western system but not exactly the same energies are represented. They are Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. They encircle the chart in an anti clockwork direction also. Each sign represents the psychological and emotional behaviour of each house something like its personality.
On top of this Jyotish has another 27 Nakshatras (constellations) divided into 4 Pada (sections), so you can see the detail that we can get to when we read a chart, far more complex than a western reading. We can look at where the planets sit on the chart in which Nakshatra and what Pada and make fairly accurate readings from these placements.
Not only the placements of the planets in the charts but just as important are the Aspects and the conjunctions of the planets.
Aspects are when a planet looks towards another house and kind of looks in the window of that house and gives the house its energy. All planets have a 7th house Aspect, which means it looks into the house opposite. Only Saturn Mars and Jupiter have more. Saturn has the Aspects of 3, 7 and 10th house. Jupiter has the aspect of 5,7 and 9th house and Mars has the aspect of 4,7 and 8th house. Some schools of thought use certain degrees and percentages also, but for our purposes lets say that if a planet aspects the house it aspects the whole house. Rahu and Ketu don’t aspect really as they are twins always working together. Thats why when we look at a chart an empty house is never inactive, there is always something going on .
Conjunctions are when two or more planets are in the same house, they sort of merge their energies together and give a certain level of complexity to the chart depending how close they are to each other and who is the stronger. The strength depends on the degree the planets sits in the chart, the highest degree wins. If two planets have the same degree whether they are in the same house or not then it’s called a war and the level of intensity is heightened in the chart. You can have a multitude of planets in one house, which really makes that particular house and their aspects very complex.
We then come to the Maha Dasha, this is a period when certain planets energy is highlighted, it sort of engages in the chart. The bhva where the planet sits and the Lord, meaning the planet that is attached to the sign in that particular house, and the signs where the planet lords over is activated. This could mean that the 4th house your mother and home , the 7th house your relationships house and the 11th House , rewards for work done, could all light up. The reading depends on which planets and which sign is in the house and if the planets are debilitated or exalted or not. This is why you need a confident competent Jyotish Astrologer to read the chart for you, it’s not a matter of just plugging in the information into a program. Its a complex tantra of information, that needs careful deciphering.
Eventually we get to transits, its where most of the fun just begins. In Jyotish we think of earth being the centre of the solar system and all planets rotate around it. Each planet transits at different speeds and therefore they each have different lengths of transits. For example the Moon is Monthly (27 days) the sun Yearly and Saturn about 2.5 years in each house. When these planets move around your chart they can bring with them very intense experiences, hence the Saturn return story. Mostly these periods are determined by the moon, when a plant transits over your moon on your chart. These periods can be either positive or negative depending on what you are holding on to and sometimes what Karma is present. Fortunately, a good Jyotish will have all the remedies you need to support you through these incredible possibilities.
This has been just a basic paired down introduction so you can understand what we look for in a chart, its not the full science by all means nor does it deal with all its complexities and yogas of astrology. If you’re interested in understanding more about your chart, then drop me an email and we can start a conversation that might just change your life !
Raymond Scott