Western versus Vedic Astrology (Jyotish)
By Alan Annand
Jyotish is generally considered to be the mother of all astrology, dating back 5,000 years.
From India, the practice of astrology fanned out into the rest of the ancient world, evolving en
route into its Chinese, Arabic and western variants. Western astrology likely arose as a
result of Jyotish having migrated over time and distance through the Arab world and then
into Europe, courtesy of Gypsies, the Greeks, and Moorish invaders .
Because western astrology has developed far from its original source, some original
principles and techniques have undergone transformation or outright loss. Although the
differences in the two systems are many, they can be summarized as follows:
WESTERN
- Western astrology uses the tropical
zodiac, which is based upon the
seasons. Essentially, this system
says that on the first day of spring,
when the Sun appears to move from
south to north of the equator, the Sun
enters the first degree of Aries. As for
the other planets, their zodiacal
positions are determined relative to
that of the Sun.
- Western astrology uses all of the
known planets in the solar system, ie,
the visible ones as well as the outer
planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.
In addition, many western astrologers
use several of the asteroids, eg,
Pallas, Athena, Juno, Vesta, and
Chiron in their charts.
- Western astrology principally makes
use of only the birth chart (the map of
the heavens that shows where all the
planets were positioned at the
moment of birth relative to the specific
place of birth) to analyse and interpret
the character, health, relationships,
career, etc, of the client.
- For predictive purposes, most
western astrologers rely heavily on
transits, or the motion of current
planets through the zodiac relative to
the original birth chart, to make
predictions. Some astrologers,
depending on their level of expertise,
use other techniques called
directions or progressions (eg,
equating each day after birth to each
year after birth) to supplement the
indications of transits.
- Western astrology is oriented
principally toward psychological
understanding of the client, with a self-
empowerment approach that
assumes anyone with adequate effort
can make the best of a bad situation.
JYOTISH
- Jyotish uses the sidereal zodiac, or
the starry background of the
constellations, to determine the
zodiacal position of any planet. On
the first day of spring, a Vedic
astrologer would look beyond the
Sun and see it in the constellation of
Pisces, roughly 24 degrees earlier in
the "zodiac" than suggested by a
western astrologer.
- Jyotish, which existed for millenia
prior to the invention of telescopes,
uses only the two luminaries Sun &
Moon, the five visible planets Mars,
Mercury, Jupiter, Venus & Saturn, and
the moon's nodes Rahu & Ketu,
which are accorded the status of
planets.
- Jyotish uses the same birth chart in a
different form, but also employs
sixteen or more other amshas (sub-
divisional charts) to cover a range of
specific subjects such as career,
relationships, etc. Among these, the
navamsa is considered so vital that
no Vedic astrologer conducts a
serious analysis of the birth chart
without it.
- Jyotish uses a scheme of planetary
periods whose sequence is triggered
by the Moon's position at birth. These
dasas (major periods of 6-20 years)
and bhuktis (sub-periods of several
months to a few years) provide the
background against which individual
karma unfolds. If transits are the
actors on a stage, dasas and bhuktis
provide the stage setting, without
which the drama has no context.
- Jyotish has an undeserved reputation
as being fatalistic when in fact it
recognizes karma comes in three
forms -- fixed, unfixed and mixed --
and that some people are inherently
lucky or unlucky no matter what they
do, while others are truly balanced,
and capable of tipping the scales in
the direction of their efforts.
Bottom line, although these two forms of astrology co-exist in modern times, one of them
has evolved far from its original sources, while the other has remained faithful to its roots,
despite the passage of the centuries. Western astrology as commonly practiced today
generally provides a psychological understanding of the client, but is less capable of what
Jyotish has to offer -- a perspective contextualized by an understanding of karma, and the
ability to make predictions from the mundane to the sublime.
We must acknowledge, however, that just as there are many fine carpenters who work
without modern power tools, so too are there many astrologers who achieve good results
with the western system. Based on my experience with both systems, Jyotish has a greater
array of techniques, and in the hands of equivalent practitioners, offers greater capacity to
render results for the client.
Alan is a Vedic astrologer and palmist with 24 years experience in consulting, teaching, lecturing, and media work. He regularly provides helpful insight and counsel to his clients regarding self-actualization, relationships, career, health, family, finances, relocation, travel, spirituality, sexuality, etc. His work encompasses birth chart analysis in either Vedic or western formats, compatibility analysis, question and answer scenarios, as well as short- and long-term predictions. Aside from consultations, he is available for individual tutoring, group classes, public lectures or media work on palmistry or any facet of astrology, both Vedic and western. More can be found on his website at www.navamsa.com
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