Ashwin - Astrosys - Knowledge is Power; the Power to change your Future !

Experience Sharing

2011-03-17T15:23:00.001+05:30

It has been sometime, but I can totally explain ! I have been busy serving people. Broadly categorized, I have been successful in predicting

a. at least 5 cases of progeny

b. 5 cases of job changes

c. a couple of cases of business entrepreneurship

d. a couple of cases of health issues/ surgeries

There are more to the list, but you get the idea.

I keep my clients confidential in my dealings and I do not charge a penny for all this. So it is basically free astrological counselling or advice !! Interested in knowing what were the predictions and what do I mean by success ? Watch this space...

Interesting Article...

2009-04-11T14:35:00.000+05:30

After a rap from my dear friend, here I am, back again.

During a discussion in one of the groups on the net, a link was posted, which I reproduce here.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Autobiography_of_a_Yogi/Chapter_16

I am amazed at the succinct nature of the way things are explained, especially - "A child is born on that day and at that hour when the celestial rays are in mathematical harmony with his individual karma."

If you refer to my earlier posts - I had given an example of how a prediction can be like a polynomial expression. Again - the combination of planets in a chart - is purely astronomical equations. So, when the values substituted for the variables balance the equation, life is given to the horoscope. That is birth for you ! Awesome right ?

So, if everything is pre-determined, why should anyone bother about astrology ? Question that is posed by laymen and amateurs alike.

You can compare this with the end of year marks card given in school/college. Only when you know your standing in the current year's performance - will you know what to do next. You still need the university/college/school to tell you how you have fared. That is just for education. Can anybody judge life like that ? Nobody can. And that is why this beautiful tool. People who make use of it, tread the path of higher planes.

In the story given, did the suffering go away ? No, but it got reduced and the knowledge of the timeframe of when it will happen better prepares a man. That is destiny and astrology for you.

I felt vindicated with my understanding of astrology after reading this piece. Would like to read it from the beginning....

Enjoy reading that while I get ready to serve you more.

Where was I ?

2009-02-16T13:54:00.000+05:30

I apologize for the break in between. I was trying to settle down in life ! How unsettling can that be ? Anyways, since I knew this was bound to happen, I feel I should have talked about this earlier. I will bring this up again later....

So, we will continue now. Whats the next post?

Keep guessing...

Source of Knowledge

2008-08-29T23:25:00.000+05:30

It is sometimes interesting to go back in time and think whatever knowledge I have, where has it come from ? Well, I started off with www.brihaspati.net and they have a wonderful collection of all the classical works. I started reading the Brihat Parashara Hora Saara (BPHS) and got engrossed, but after a while, it became too much to remember. Then I chanced upon the yahoo groups of the System's Approach (SA)to Vedic Astrology( SATVA101). I got the link to the main site, www.yournetastrologer.com and began understanding this approach. It was fairly straight forward, simple and accurate. Now, I do not recall any methodology that I was using earlier to being introduced to this system.

I have had success in predicting numerous events like marriage, promotion, foreign jobs etc. Thanks to Prof. Choudhry for giving us this wonderful gift. All credit to him.

Benefics and Malefics...contd.

2008-07-30T14:18:00.000+05:30

We have seen who are the benefics and who are the malefics. Now, let us analyze for each rising sign ( Ascendant) - which planets are malefic. The others will be benefic, of course.
1. Aries - Mercury, Rahu, Ketu
2. Taurus - Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Rahu, Ketu
3. Gemini - Rahu, Ketu
4. Cancer - Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu
5. Leo - Moon, Rahu, Ketu
6. Virgo - Saturn, Mars, Sun, Rahu, Ketu
7. Libra - Mercury, Rahu, Ketu
8. Scorpio - Mars, Venus, Rahu, Ketu
9. Sagittarius - Moon, Rahu, Ketu
10. Capricorn - Sun, Jupiter, Rahu, Ketu
11. Aquarius - Moon, Mercury, Rahu, Ketu
12. Pisces - Sun, Venus, Saturn, Rahu, Ketu

It is difficult to remember these planets, just remember that malefics are owners of 6,8,12th houses and only when they have MT signs in them. The most malefic planet (MMP) - each house has one - is the owner of the 8th. If not him, then the 6th, 12th or Ketu will take the place of MMP.

Benefics and Malefics

2008-07-15T10:51:00.001+05:30

A lot of argument goes on regarding this topic. First let us understand these two words.

Benefics: Planets which are owners of good houses.
Malefics: Planets which are owners of bad houses.

There are people who say, planets are benefics by their nature - and not necessary by ownership. For example, Sun - is considered a "natural" malefic because he is hot, filled with fire and burns everything that goes near him. But guess what, if it was not for Sun, there would not be life on earth. So from a distance, he can be benefic. Similarly, Mars - its a fiery planet - dry and no life - hence "natural" malefic. The very same people then say, if these two become owners of good houses, they are "temporarily" benefic. So...let us not confuse ourselves. We will stick to the above definition.

The question now is - what are these good and bad houses. Well, the 6th, 8th and 12th houses are all bad. The others are good. The 5th, 9th are among the better houses.More on this later.

How to Predict ?

2008-07-11T10:46:00.000+05:30

Well....thats an interesting topic, isn't it ? Interesting it is, but not simple enough though. Here is a list of things that you need to know before you can predict.
1. Obviously, the date, place, time of birth ( Daylight savings, if applicable) of the "native".
2. Cast the horoscope using the software mentioned in my earlier post. ( I use Junior Jyotish).
3. See the result - and decide on
a. which planets are malefic, which are benefic
b. where those benefics/malefics are placed - how strong are they?
c. are there any conjunctions, aspects on these
d. what dasha, bhukthi is running
e. where the planets are currently in transit
f. do the super imposition on the native's natal chart
g. are we done yet ??????
So, now you know what we are going to talk about in the next few posts. Enjoy !

Casting a horoscope

2008-06-27T10:54:00.000+05:30

Now we have seen the different planets, their sizes, the houses, the signs they own etc. Time now to cast a horoscope. Imagine, if you had a camera with a wide angle lens enough to capture the solar system. At the time of birth of a person, you take a snap of the solar system, which will tell you, the exact points where they were at that point in time. So, you have now "recorded" the positions of all the heavenly bodies - which means you know what star they were placed under...remember the "frame of reference" ?

What next ? You may wonder, if the place of birth does not impact the horoscope ? Most certainly, it does. That is primarily the reason why we have the "Ascendant" or "Lagna". Also, if you notice the sizes of planets, some argued that the size of the earth is so miniscule that the effect of planets can be treated as acting on a point - which is the centre of the earth. Others said, that does not matter, the exact point of effect on the surface of the earth is what makes the difference. Their logic prevails to an extent today. So, the definition of lagna, goes something like this - from the place of birth, if you look in the east direction, the earth seems to rise from a particular constellation and that degree/nakshatra is to be treated as "Lagna". It is difficult to imagine, but you will get used to it.

To make life simpler, we have tools today - mostly software - that can be used to cast horoscopes and focus on the more interesting part of predicting. Are there any free software available? Yes, there are -
1. www.jyotishtools.com - Go to downloads section - you can buy the software or download the free versions for whatever OS you operate on.
2. http://srijagannath.org - go to downloads and download( its free) JHORA 7.1. Keep checking updated versions available from this website. Most comprehensive software I have seen so far.
All credits to the creators of these software. Thanks to them for sharing with the world.

Size !!

2008-05-29T14:15:00.000+05:30

I got these images forwarded and I found it quite fascinating. It gives not only the relative sizes, but also the surface characteristics of the planets. Jupiter can hold 38000 earths in it. See the size of the Sun.

It is very obvious that if you have Sun and Jupiter on your side, you pretty much have the whole system on your side.

Significance of Houses

2008-05-27T11:04:00.000+05:30

Before we start, it is important to understand the difference between the terms "Signs" and "Houses". Signs are absolute positions as discussed earlier. Houses are relative positions from the Ascending sign. The sign in which the Ascendant rises is treated as the "first house". Counting clockwise, the houses will be second, third ....upto twelfth.

So, what does each house signify?

First House: Body, Mind, the identity, head etc.

Second House: Wealth, Money, Family, Speech etc.

Third House: Siblings(younger), Courage, Initiatives, Communication etc.

Fourth House: Residence, Real Estate, House/Property, Family Life, Mother etc

Fifth House: Children, Happiness, Investments, etc

Sixth House: Enemies, Diseases, Conflict, Debts etc.

Seventh House : Marriage Partner, Business Partner etc.

Eighth House: Longevity( hence death), Disappointment, Dejection, Obstruction etc.

Ninth House: Father, Fortune, Dharma(Duty) etc.

Tenth House: Job(Karma), Career , Field of work etc.

Eleventh House: Siblings(elder), Profit (from Job) etc.

Twelfth House: Expenditure, Loss, Salvation etc.

Now, there are significations of each of the 9 planets as well. We will see that later. Suffice it to say now that the natural zodiac( starting from Aries as the first "house") owners are general significators of various aspects given above in any chart.

What next ?

2008-04-23T11:39:00.000+05:30

There are some little things to know before we begin the advanced topics.

All planets revolve in clockwise direction in the solar system except the lunar nodes, Rahu and Ketu.
Some idea of how much time it takes for these planets to perform one revolution.
Sun - 365 days to cover 360 degrees. He is at the first degree of capricorn on Jan 14th every year, marking his completion of one revolution ( it is actually the earth that is completing, but for now, between earth and sun, lets see the system as if the sun revolves around the earth, makes it easier to understand). This date is celebrated as "Makara Sankranthi" all over India. Makara - is Capricorn. If this rings a bell, guess why they named "Tropic of Cancer" and "Tropic of Capricorn" as such. Then you will know which area in the world you have summer when it is winter elsewhere and vice versa.
Mercury - I think it is around 87 days ( Earth days), but for our astrological purposes, we always see (visionary phenomenon) Mercury being with the Sun, since it is so close to Sun. At the most, he will be behind or ahead one sign. You can keep an eye when generating horoscopes about this and you will realize this.
Venus - It takes 225 days.
Moon - 27 days to complete the 360 Deg frame of reference.
Mars - 1.88 years
Jupiter - 12 years ( approx.)
Saturn - 29.46 years to 32 years ( approx.)
As you know, the orbits are all elliptical in shape.
Earth rotates on its own axis at a tilt of 24 degrees.

Exaltation and Debilitation

2008-04-18T15:44:00.000+05:30

"Feel at home !" - this is what you are likely to hear from your friend when you visit his place. What exactly is this "feel at home" ? You know it too well.. the liberty to do certain things that you would otherwise not do.

The planets too are continuously moving and once in a while they would love to be "at home". The previous post described the positions/signs of planets which are their "homes" and MT signs. MT - Moola trikona - is a Sanskrit word meaning "Original Triangle". Why Triangle? This will be obvious shortly.

Now, sometimes, there are places where we are more than being "at home". We are just happy to be pub-hopping or shopping in a mall or sitting by the lakeside where you are at a different level - a higher plane. Such a place is called as the place of "Exaltation". Exactly opposite ( 180 degrees apart) would be "Debilitation" - where we are not normal at all. We are "down in the dumps".

So what are the signs of planets where they are exalted and debilitated?

Planet - Exaltation Sign - Debilitation Sign
Sun - Aries - Libra
Moon - Taurus - Scorpio
Mercury - Virgo - Pisces
Venus - Pisces - Virgo
Mars - Capricorn - Cancer
Jupiter - Cancer - Capricorn
Saturn - Libra - Aries

Note that for Mercury - its MT sign itself is its Exalted sign as well. Pretty homely fellow, this one.

Planetary Ownerships, Moolatrikona Sthanas

2008-04-17T10:56:00.001+05:30

Ownerships

The 12 signs are 'owned' by various planets. The owners and the signs are given below.

Moon - Cancer
Sun - Leo
Mercury - Virgo and Gemini
Venus - Libra and Taurus
Mars - Aries and Scorpio
Jupiter - Sagittarius and Pisces
Saturn - Aquarius and Capricorn

The signs marked in bold are the "Moolatrikona"(MT) positions of the planets. As you can imagine, the ownerships are in such a way that the central two belong to the sun and the moon and the other signs are in the order of the planetary positions in the solar system. Also notice that only Mars and Saturn have their MT signs on the other side when counting clockwise from Moon.

Next Post: Exalted and Debilitated Signs

The Signs

2008-03-21T17:47:00.000+05:30

To identify these 30 degree constellations, they were named as:

Mesha(Aries) - 0 to 30 deg
Vrushabha(Taurus) - 31 - 60 deg
Mithuna (Gemini)- 61-90 deg
Kataka or Karkataka (Cancer) - 91-120 deg
Simha (Leo) - 121 - 150 deg
Kanya (Virgo) - 151 - 180 deg
Thula (Libra) - 181 - 210 deg
Vrischika (Scorpio) - 211 - 240 deg
Dhanus or Dhanur (Sagittarius) - 241 - 270 deg
Makara (Capricorn) - 271 - 300 deg
Kumbha (Aquarius) - 301 - 330 deg
Meena (Pisces) - 331 - 360 deg

Based on the previous article, see if you can match the stars and their paadas with the signs.

Next topic: Planet houses, Moolatrikona, exalted and debilitated signs

The "Frame of Reference" - the 27 Nakshatras

2008-03-15T16:11:00.000+05:30

I am not sure when the geo-centric or helio-centric theories came about, but one of the things that the astrologists back then knew was that neither the sun/earth were stationary nor the solar system. So, to pin point positions of the planets was a difficult task. They observed the skies for a really long time and saw 33 stars in far off galaxies which apparently did not move from its position. Later on, they found that 6 had indeed moved and not stationary as thought earlier. The other 27 were there, where expected. These stars are spread 360 degree around the solar system and when seen from the earth, the positions can be pointed in those directions. Even today, these stars ( nakshatras) are used as the basis for the co-ordinates of planets. The below figure shows the 27 stars, equidistant from each other ( forgive my MSPaint skills).

This 360 deg were divided into 12 parts, each 30 deg. The first star was identified as "Ashwini" which starts from 0 deg, the next Bharani is at 13.33 deg. The distance between Ashwini and Bharani was divided further into 4 equal parts called "Paada"s or "Charana"s. So, was the distance between all the stars.

So, if somebody said, today the nakshatra is "Ashwini", it means that the planet Moon is currently running from Ashwini towards Bharani. More on this later.

Planets

There are totally 9 bodies considered in astrology - Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu. Rahu and Ketu are the North and South nodes of the moon. Rahu is the head, Ketu is the tail. Where is Earth ? It is the subject matter of the whole system. So, any impact of the bodies will be on the earth. In the horoscope, there is something called as Ascendant or Lagna which is the position of the subject determined by the time and place(on earth) of the birth of the native. All references are w.r.t this Ascendant. More on this later.

Why Predict ?

2008-03-14T11:04:00.000+05:30

One of the readers of my blog asked this question. Why predict ? Take life as it comes ! True, a lot of people have that kind of attitude towards life. Then there are people who would want to know how things will be.

I will make it clear in the beginning itself. Astrology does not aim to predict human behaviour. It can predict to a certain extent the kind of situations, environment that person can be in. So, when some astrologer makes a prediction, he will assume the behaviour of the human w.r.t the situation, which is not entirely wrong, because its a tussle between the strength of the planets and the human mind.
To explain with an example, lets say, there is a cricket match on TV. It is India vs Australia and Sachin is in top form. You had decided that you are going to skip the match because your kid has got exams. You are blissfully unaware that Sachin is on 94 and he is about to get his century. Your friend calls you up and conveys this message. What will be your action? Lets freeze the situation here for a minute.

Your action can be
a. not to switch on the TV
b. switch it on and see atleast the century part of the match

Which one do you think is most likely ? b, did you say ? Well, thats the "default" action for most of us.
If however, a divine force, for now, say, an astrologer, says " Do not watch TV today, it will harm your kid's exam results". This, he says, based on his calculations. What will you do ? You are likely to change the "default" action of switching on the TV.

This goes with the belief that "not everything is pre-determined" and "Man makes his own destiny". I feel astrology is to be used to empower people to make the right decisions. Somewhere, the karma theory also fits in. Remarkable that, all the knowledge that was created in ancient India complement each other....

Next Post : The "fixed frame of reference"

The beginning

2008-03-12T15:31:00.000+05:30

Ancient India: Sage Parashara was one of the pioneers in the field of astrology. He is best known for his book "Brihat Parashara Hora Saara". Translated, it means the big book on the essence of day and night ( aho - day, raatri - night, combined as "hora") by Parashara. This book has three sections namely,

Astronomy
Events
Predictive Astrology

Astronomy

This deals with the science and math of the planetary positions, speeds, their orbits etc. This also establishes the "fixed frame of reference" - the nakshatra system used by all vedic astrologers.

Events

Parashara and team recorded major and significant events in the life of thousands of people in their society over a few decades and started correlating the events with the planetary positions. Thus, empirical relations were formulated and verified. Lot of people have doubts if astrology is scientific. Well, the approach is systematic and thorough, but the authors never claimed it to be scientific with events bound by a formula. Like many empirical formulae in today's pure and applied science, this also came into being.

Predictive Astrology

Based on these empirical deductions, strategies were devised to predict events. The number of combinations that lead to one particular event, is itself mind boggling. Anybody who has studied the works, will find it almost impossible to remember and use it, hence failing in accuracy and leading to wrong predictions. It can be compared to a polynomial equation with many constants and variables. Even if one of the values go wrong, the whole equation gives a totally different story.

The correlations and events were just one part of the 'system'. We will try to understand the other components that make the system in the next post.