The traditional definition of astrology is Jyotish — the eye of the Vedas. The function of an eye is to enable vision, or in physical terms capture light from the objects around the world and pass the message to the brain to make sense of it. Similarly astrology /Jyotish helps us put light on different areas of our life. Seeing something, making sense of it and taking an action on it, are completely different things.
Similarly, astrology or a particular planetary combination at birth does not necessarily guarantee anything. It just shows potential, like a seed. Now someone has to sow the seed right, nurture it, work on it for years for a tree to form, which will eventually give fruits and shade. Today many quack astrologers are selling astrology as the end all solution to everything in life, which is incorrect. Astrology is a guide, a friend, a uncle who wishes well. From time to time it will help us decipher the meaning of things around us, help us understand the timing and times of our life and give us choices on what actions to take.
I always believe it’s a 33–33–33–1 game. 33% is the chart, the potential, the seed. The next 33% is the nurturing, the parents , friends, ecosystem, education, everything that gives me resources to reach my potential. The last 33% is my own actions, my hard work, my Parakram without which all my potential and resources will go to waste. The last 1% is luck, God, Destiny, any name I could choose – things out of my realm of control. Together all of these equations have to work for a person to achieve or not achieve their potential. So is astrology 33%? Yes. But I can still read the condition of the other 66+1 % from my charts to understand how my life dynamics could be.
The biggest answer Astrology helps with, is the Why?. Many a times just knowing Why is probably the best possible outcome in an out of control difficult situation. At times, a mere understanding of the situation and people around you brings a sense of peace and motivation to keep going further in life. Thats something very unique astrology brings to the table. Now, if you meet an astrologer with the right intention and knowledge, they can help convert the Why into the What and How. This is where astrology helps with actions (in today’s world they are relegated to a smaller terms call Remedies). Remedies is a very myopic view of the knowledge of astrology. Just looking at a cause and effect or a Quid Pro Quo kind of relationship. But that’s not what astrology is all about. Working with astrology as a remedial science is akin to swimming on the surface of the ocean and thinking that the surface is the ocean.
If we try to bring astrology in perspective of today’s world, it is very similar to Data Analytics and AI. Similar to analytics, Astrology is the study of Patterns. Patterns which will reveal a possible arrangement of data points, a direction and a possible outcome. AI helps with recognising the patterns, applying logic (rules) to the pattern and taking necessary actions (corrective or otherwise). This is what astrology does for us.
If I find one person with Karka lagna who is emotional, it’s chance. If I find 100 people with Karka lagna who are emotional, chances are my brain will tell me the 101st person with Karka lagna could be emotional one, with a certain degree of confidence. Now based on this information a necessary action can be arrived at, for dealing with emotional issues of a chart with Karka Lagna. This is just a small facet of how patterns can help us.
Astrology is also the study of Psychology of a person. For example, there are many different types of personality tests, example Meyers Briggs test. They give 16 different personality types. At a very basic Jyotish deals with 1296 types of personalities (12 houses, 12 signs, 9 planets). But this is just one method of understanding the charts (By Lagna). If we apply permutations to 12 signs and 9 planets there are 79,833,600 permutations possible. Further there could be innumerable variations by signs, by degrees and much more. The extent of knowledge on the psychology of a person which we can get from this science is immense.
Even a small change in astrological parameters creates a uniqueness in our charts. We need to apply mathematics, intuition, logic and common sense to be able to make sense of the uniqueness and infer useful knowledge out of it. When you are facing a life threatening illness, you don’t need a general physician who will give you a crocin and a painkiller with a ray of hope that things will be okay. You want a specialist who understands the nuances of the disease, has probably helped thousands of patients before you, understands the intricacies of the treatment plan, and is able to guide you with the right medical outlook. This is the same thing you need in an astrologer. Unfortunately, majority of the commerical astrologers keep prescribing Crocin or worse, only selling a ray of hope. This is where the modern world should embrace the traditional knowlege and try to bring it in today’s perspective. The idea is not for astrology to be different from modern science — in nature and intent. There should be a harmonious balance between the traditional sceinces and modern science all striving to help mankind. It’s not a zero sum game between astrology and modern science. It has to be a win win.
There are many examples given by many on how the Moon tides affect the oceans and hence Astrology (solar system) affects human beings. I will not reiterate the example, but would submit a humble opinion that we are all connected. We are all made up of the same atoms and particles. I don’t know what form of energy a Saturn who is light years from me, exudes on me. For now, let’s put it down as my ignorance and scope to learn more. But I can tell you for a fact that since my Saturn Mahadasha (MD) I have faced very different situations than my Jupiter MD. My response to the situations has been very different. And finally the outcomes are starkly different than my expectations based on my previous MD. There is something different about how the time governing this planet is unfolding. From what I know so far, I would say I am not even a drop in the ocean in the knowledge of astrology. So it would be naive for me to attempt to answer how the Solar System affects me. Maybe the Rishis knew. Maybe there are teachers and Gurus today who know. For me, Astrology is a quest, probably from many lives before this, and probably many lives after.
