What is Vedic Astrology?

“There is no better boat than a horoscope to help a man cross over the sea of life.”

Ever since the first person looked up at the night sky and wondered of the stars, astrology has been a part of our human journey. Since that time, astrology has waxed and waned in prominence as a tool for knowing ourselves in relation to the greater cosmos that both surrounds us and is within us.

Vedic astrology or Jyotish is the traditional system of astrology of India. Jyotish is Sanskrit for the “study of light”. Vedic Astrology is the study of the influence of the celestial lights of the planets and stars that shine down on us and set the trajectory of our life path and the experiences we will have through their influence.

Life is as much about the concrete events we experience as it is our subjective response to them. When an astrologer consults with the planets, what they are doing is looking at the promise that each planet has to give towards or interfere with the agendas that shape our life.

Like gravity, the planets are unseen forces that exert their influence upon our life experience in both great and small ways as they move through the ring of stars that encircle us. And like gravity, this influence can be measured and evaluated. This is essentially what an astrologer spends a great deal of their life perfecting. Evaluating and understanding the strength and nature of a planet’s capacity to influence our lives here on Earth.

The psychologist Abraham Maslow believed that each of us is capable of reaching a level of life fulfilment that lies beyond our basic physical, emotional, and psychological needs. An ideal life where each of us is living our life to its truest and fullest potential.

This is the highest aspiration of astrology. When an astrologer has mastered these techniques of evaluation, they can help a person set the best course for their life based on the potentials that are seen in one’s birth chart.

The goal of every astrologer is to shine a light on an individual’s life path. To give them insights into their unique life trajectory and help them to reach the goal where one is able to express themselves to live the life that has been created for them to the fullest.

“All of life is education and everybody is a teacher and everybody is forever a pupil.”

      - Abraham Maslow