What is the difference between Vedic astrology and Western astrology?

There are 3 main differences between Vedic astrology and Western astrology:

1. The sky map is different

   Western or tropical astrology uses the Tropic of Cancer to define the sky map. The result: This means the sky map is about 2000 years ‘off’ from our current skies according to astronomy. See more below for more information on the different sky maps.

   Each sign in the zodiac is 30 degrees.  Western astrology is approximately 23 degrees “later” than Vedic astrology. So your Sun sign might be in a different constellation according to Vedic Astrology! See the blog post here to determine your Vedic Sun Sign.

   For instance, if you have your Sun in Aries in Western astrology, there is a chance your Sun sign in Vedic astrology would be in Pisces.  If your Sun sign is in the late degrees of a sign, later than 23 degrees, then your Sun Sign will remain in the same sign from Western astrology to Vedic astrology.

   For instance, if your Sun sign was at 25 degrees in Aries in Western astrology, you would still have Sun in Aries in Vedic astrology.

2. The Moon is more important in Vedic Astrology than the Sun sign 

   Vedic astrology reads the karmas and karmic timing from both the ascendant and the Moon sign (and the sun sign as a third chart). The Moon in Vedic astrology is a reflection of the mind.

   It is connected with the Sanskrit word ‘manas’ or mind. The quality of mind determines much of a person’s personality, how they will perceive the world, and what their emotional world is like.

   The moon and mind in Vedic astrology is the consciousness within the body. Since this science is what follows a person’s spiritual development, the Moon in your Vedic birth chart informs your conscious experience of the world.
   The Sun is an expression of each person’s soul from lifetime to lifetime in Vedic astrology.

   It determines the vitality, career, and longevity of a person, but ultimately represents the qualities of Atma or Self with a capital “S” which is greater than the individual personality we get caught in believing is “who” we are.

3. Planetary Cycles determine karmic timing

   There is a special process in Vedic astrology translated as Planetary Cycles. This “timing” allows a Vedic astrologer to be able to map when a person’s different types of karmas will be “lighting up” in their lives. The Vedic birth chart is the map of your consciousness and karmas.  And not all karmas come to fruition in your lifetime. Some karmas are stronger than others.

   Planetary Cycles – one of the ways karmic timing is seen
   The more a birth chart indicates a type of karma (say for type of career path, for wealth, children, happiness with a career, relationships, or a desire to immerse oneself on a spiritual path) along with the “timing of karmas” and when the planets might “set off” the same karmas, the more likely a Vedic astrologer can confidently say an event or pattern is likely to occur.

   This is why some people call Vedic astrology predictive. It is because we can see from the moment of birth when certain types of events or ‘states of mind and outlook’ are more likely to be lighting up in someone’s life.

   Jyotisha or Vedic astrology is called the “eye of the Vedas” since it sees a person’s soul, desires, disappointments, and longings and has ways to help the soul to fulfill their spiritual and material path – with the least suffering.

   I often do this in sessions by giving guidance and giving perspective, so that the person can be freed from an old story or pattern and have the sufferings melt away.   At the same time, you can be encouraged to take helpful actions that will bring harmony and peace to your body, mind, and soul.

   The word KARMA comes from the system of Vedic astrology

   Many people speak about karma, but the concept comes from the Indian sciences and the Vedas and Upanishads linked with Ayurveda and Yoga.   Think about that – if someone is speaking about karma, it really is coming from the Vedic astrology system.

   Vedic astrologers, philosophers, and practitioners of the Indian sciences are trained in the karmic system.  The karmic system is not in the Taoist or Chinese medicine system. Taoism and Shintoism is a non-transcendental system.

   Western astrology’s map is different from the older, original Indian or Vedic astrology. Vedic astrology uses the true sky map of the heavens, identical to what astronomers do.

   This means, when you stand on the Earth and look at the sky and see a planet in a constellation – that is where it really is! Western astrology is called Tropical astrology because it uses the Tropic of Cancer and projects it up onto the sky.

Western or Tropical Astrology

Tropical or Western astrology which originates in Greece and Europe originated in approximately 500 B.C.E. Vedic astrology is much older, is a minimum of 5 – 7,000 years old, and has an unbroken oral lineage which has kept the knowledge intact.

That is also why the sky map has shifted in Vedic Astrology because it has continued to grow and adjust according to the star map of today. Western or Tropical Astrology stopped being used and its star map has not been adjusted to today’s sky. That is the reason that your Sun sign in Western astrology “sounds” different than in Vedic Astrology.

Historically, the Western astrology sky map was identical to Vedic astrology approximately 2000 years ago. As time passes, the sky map shifts significantly every 1500 years. Because Western astrology fell out of use for a long period of time, the sky maps did not get adjusted to astronomy or ‘what you see in the sky when standing on Earth’.

The method of using the Tropic of Cancer and projecting it onto the sky no longer reflects what is actually in the sky when you look up. This is why it is called Tropical astrology because the Tropic of Cancer is projected onto the sky for the star map.
This is why the star or sky maps are different between Western or Tropical Astrology and Vedic Astrology.

Precession of the Equinoxes
Where Spring Equinox occurs shifts every 1500 – 200 years. For instance, in 3000 B.C. the Spring Equinox rose in Taurus.  This was the heyday of the time of the Bull as evidenced in the civilizations and immense trade between Egypt and Crete and the Minoan civilization.

The precession of the Equinoxes continued to shift WHERE the New Moon rose on Spring Equinox over thousands of years.
Today, Spring Equinox actually occurs in Pisces (not Aquarius, like the song says and many Western astrologers call the Aquarian revolution). According to the astronomy, and sky map you see when you stand on the Earth and look to the sky, Spring Equinox will occur in Pisces for many years to come.

Spring Equinox Shifts signs every 2160 years
The wobble in the Earth’s axis means that every 2160 years, the Spring Equinox rises in a NEW constellation. The spring equinox moves one degree within a constellation every 72 years. Since there are 30 degrees per constellation, that is why we have a dawning of a New Age every 2000 years or so.

Astronomers and the sidereal/Vedic astrology sky map track that the New Moon near Spring Equinox is currently in PISCES, not Aquarius.

Western astrology stopped being used for periods of time and does not have a continuous cycle of use and handing down of knowledge from teacher to living teacher like Vedic astrology does.

 

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