Learn Vedic Astrology

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A Suggested Learning Path

Astrology is neither as hard nor as easy as it looks. Following the topics in order makes it far easier to understand how a chart is read, and it becomes most rewarding when you start applying it to real charts.

Step 1 — The foundations

• What astrology is, and how Vedic (sidereal) astrology differs from Western
• The 12 zodiac signs and the difference between Sun sign, Moon sign and Ascendant
• The nine planets, their nature, friendships, exaltation and debilitation
• The 27 nakshatras (birth stars)

Step 2 — Reading a chart

• What a birth chart (kundali) is and how it is calculated
• The 12 houses and what each governs
• The Ascendant and the strength of the Lagna lord
• Planetary aspects (drishti) and how planets influence each other
• Important yogas, including Raj Yogas and Pancha Mahapurusha Yogas

Step 3 — Timing and remedies

• The Vimshottari dasha system for timing events
• Transits (gochara) and their effect on the chart, using the current planetary positions
• Which houses and planets govern career, money, marriage, health and other areas of life
• Remedies such as graha mantras, charity and gemstones

The Sky as Astrologers See It

The sky can be imagined as a vast celestial sphere. The stars are so distant that their patterns barely change over thousands of years, forming a fixed backdrop. Against it, the Sun, Moon and planets appear to move along a narrow band around the ecliptic — the zodiac.

In Indian astrology every moving heavenly body used for prediction is called a graha. As the Earth orbits the Sun, the Sun appears to travel through all twelve signs of the zodiac in a year, while the other planets move through them at their own speeds.