ASTRO NOTE

Sidereal astrology is not supposed to be a psychic reading; for those who are attracted to that, there are many psychics available in the marketplace. Sidereal astrology is, instead, based upon astro-text (shastra) and intelligence (buddhi), combined with experience. A competent astrologer consults the Vedic texts that he considers the best, applies their rules, and employs his intelligence and judgment in order to make clear communication to his client, in terms of individual analysis.

There are any number of astrological texts (some with rather fancy Sanskrit titles) supposedly created by esteemed seers from lore, but, in Integrated Occult Studies, we emphasize only two of them: The Brihat Parashara Hora (BHP) and the Brihaj-jataka of Varahamihira. Of the two, the Brihaj-jataka is given pride of place, and there are reasons for this.

First of all, BHP is fifty centuries old, i.e., there has been a great deal of time for interpolation to have entered into it, as well as outright change and censorship (parts culled out). Over and above this, there is an excellent English translation available that includes word-for-word transliteration and commentary. That edition is immensely helpful, although it does contain some errors here and there. The various English translations of BHP are a bit suspect, because the transliteration is not presented in them.

To be more specific--and as an example--there are many different systems for determining individual length of life presented in BHP, and every one of them (but one) requires painstaking calculation. After making all of these computations, they produce different results. We could list all of these methods, but doing so at this time would only serve to divert attention from what needs to be conveyed here.

All of them-all of them but one, that is-calculate length of life to an exact number of years, months, and days. The one that does not do this is called vimshottari, and it is very popular. It is probable that you have heard it. Actually, vimshottari (the 120 year cycle) and ashtottari (the 108 year cycle) are, in many respects, almost identical, so they both can be listed under one heading: Vimshottari. We do not know of any Western sidereal astrologers who are using ashtottari at this time, although it is certainly possible some may be employing it. In the vimshottari system, which is very simple, you do not attain a certain length of life after computation. For more on all of this, we invite you to purchase Advanced Primary of Sidereal Astrology from the kalapurusha.com website.