Message #2923

[o-polly]

OK well, first I'd better tell you it's a fact that I did a lot of comparing the two systems, but that was over 20 years ago. I think astrology is the type of profession where it's better not to use a 'moonlighter' or a 'hobbyist'. To stay sharp, it needs to be practiced every single day.

I don't know the state of the predictive art now, but there was a time in India where becoming an astrologer meant about 8 years of school and 4 years as an apprentice before you could even begin your own practice.

Even though many of the charts I looked at were of famous persons (since they are commonly available), what made them seem to 'work' more clearly in the Vedic system were very clear-cut tendencies towards a single direction in life.

So for people who did not have such a straight path, you might see (for example) "Moon in the 7th house, fairly strong, waxing, with aspects from Jupiter, etc." indicating a strong tendency towards public life, but then "lord of the 1st in the 12th conjoined with the Sun" - indicating exactly the opposite, a inclination towards solitude. (Though then again that could mean someone who is famous for a short time, during the dasha period of his Moon, and then when his ascendant lord's period came up, everybody would be like, "whatever happened to....?").

So basically, the Eastern system seems more a fate-based system. And if anyone of you needs a quick dose of fatalism, look no farther than Hindu Astrology manuals. But after you do, you'll find that for many they foretell such mixed karma that you often won't be able to figure out what to conclude.

I've also looked at indications surrounding Neptune, Uranus and Pluto, which aren't traditionally regarded in Vedic astrology, though some of the younger astrologers may be using them now. Jimi Hendrix was an example of someone with a strong Uranus influence - electric, eccentric, magical. But the things that these three planets are connected with are exactly that - unpredictable by nature. So in my opinion they mostly make for a lot of wonderful after-the-fact prediction making. "Wow, just look at what yer Uranus did".