Jyotish — "Light of God" — is the ancient Indian astrological system using the sidereal zodiac (unlike the tropical zodiac in Western astrology). Based on exact birth data, : Lagna (Ascendant), Rashi (Moon sign), Nakshatra (lunar mansion), D1 chart (Rashi Chart) and Vimshottari Mahadasha period (planetary ruling cycle). The analysis explains soul purpose, karma and current life period through the ancient Vedic perspective.
Where it comes from
Jyotisha, the Indian astrological tradition, is one of the six Vedangas, the auxiliary disciplines attached to the Vedas. Its earliest surviving technical text, the Vedanga Jyotisha, dates to roughly the fourteenth to twelfth century BC and deals with calendar calculation. The horoscopic form appears later, after contact with Hellenistic astrology around the second century AD, and was consolidated in the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra. It is a continuous living tradition, taught and practised without interruption for around two thousand years.
How the method works
The central difference from Western astrology is the zodiac. Jyotisha uses the sidereal zodiac, measured against the fixed stars; Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, measured from the spring equinox. The two have drifted about twenty-four degrees apart since they coincided, which is why a Western Aries is commonly a Vedic Pisces. Jyotisha also uses the twenty-seven nakshatras, lunar mansions of thirteen degrees twenty minutes each, alongside the signs, gives the Moon greater weight than the Sun, and employs the dasha system of planetary periods for timing.
What a reading covers
A reading gives the chart in the sidereal zodiac, the Moon's nakshatra, the ascendant and the house lords, the planetary strengths, the yogas formed by particular combinations, and the dasha sequence showing which planet governs which years of life.
Common questions
- Why is my sign different from my Western sign?
- Because of the twenty-four degree offset between the two zodiacs. Neither is wrong; they measure from different starting points and are read within different systems.
- Which system is more accurate?
- They are not comparable in that way. They use different zodiacs, different house systems and different timing methods. Practitioners of each report good results within their own framework.
- What is a dasha?
- A period ruled by one planet, running from a few months to nineteen years depending on the planet. The Vimshottari system, based on the Moon's nakshatra at birth, covers one hundred and twenty years in total.