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VEDIC ASTROLOGY
The Great Cosmic Significators

   According to Vedic Astrology, the planets are relay stations for the reception and transmission of stellar energies. We should not just view them in a local light for what they may be doing within our solar system; they are also bringing to us the forces of the galaxy, of the universe itself. 
       Each planet including the sun and moon governs one portion of the great cosmic ray and upholds its vibration in the solar system. Astrological thinking is largely planetary thinking but according to the planets as cosmic significators, encompassing all domains of life and the evolution of consciousness.
        We are all different COMBINATIONS and DEGREES of the ENERGIES of the planets. Each of us is usually stamped by the rule of one planet as our planetary type. Most of the action we do in life is according to the planet which dominates us. Once we have understood the meaning of the planets, we can comprehend the whole basic field of possibilities of human life.         
        Within this structure arise the three primal soul qualities of Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.
Sattva is the higher quality and is the nature of light, clarity, harmony, balance and intelligence. It is the divine quality and brings about the upward movement of the soul.
Rajas is the intermediate quality and is of the nature of energy, action, turbulence, violence and passion. It is the asuric quality and keeps the soul in the middle worlds.
Tamas is the lower quality and is of the nature of inertia, darkness, dullness, obstruction, heaviness and lethargy. It is the animal quality that keeps the soul bound in the lower and unconcious realms. It brings about servitude, decay, domination and destruction and causes the human being to become harmful, useless, unproductive and unintelligent.

   The purpose of Vedic astrology is not to make us feel subject to external forces but to help us use our life in a positive way for a greater Self-Unfoldment. For this we must first understand ourselves. "KNOW THYSELF" Without some degreee of Self-Knowledge, the astrologer, even if he can perceive the power of planetary influences, will merely impose his own judgements upon his clients. As such he will only serve as another obstacle to the flowering of that individual. Such astrology will be that of the ego, not that of the soul, and will not be of any lasting benefit to the world.
    Another name for Vedic astrology is "JYOTISH,"  which means literally "the science of light." This is its most accurate name.
    Vedic astrology is the traditional astrology of India. It goes back many thousands of years to the ancient Vedic culture, in what is to us prehistoric times, before 3000 B.C. It is based on the Vedas, the original scriptures of India, and perhaps all Indo-European peoples.
    In the Vedas we find references to equinoctial positions of great antiquity. We find many references to the vernal equinox in the Pleiades, or the beginning of Taurus, indicating a date of 2500 B.C. in later Vedic literature. There are references in the earlier Vedas to dates thousands of years before this, to the Gemini-Orion era, c.4000 B.C. and the Cancer era, c. 6000 B.C. and earlier.
    The Vedic culture was based upon an elaborate ritual attuned to the cycle of time, following the cycles of the day, month and year as revealed by the movements of the Sun, Moon and planets. The ancients looked to the heavens as their CLOCK, meditated upon its influences, and so came to discover the cosmic truth of who we are.
    Even the Hebrew scriptures allude to the creation of the solar system, "to serve as signs to mark the seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." Genesis 1:14-15.
    Astrology has been and should again be a spiritual science. Our birth chart is, in a sense, the mirror of our soul and its orientation to our particular incarnation. In our stars we see our destiny as a soul. We see the growth and evolution of our inner being from life to life. This does not mean that we can find truth or liberation just through reading astrological charts. It means that astrology gives us keys to the unfoldment of the SPIRIT, as this is the essence of the cosmic life.
    Vedic astrology, like the science of Yoga, arose from the ancient seers of India, the Vedic rishis. From the meditations of the rishis came the great system of "Vedic Science," an integral spiritual science comprehending all domains of existence. The rishis discovered the universal science of creative intelligence. This they cast in the language of mantra, the human replica of the cosmic sound vibrations at the origin of creation. 

THE FOUR AIMS OF LIFE

    Vedic Science recognizes four legimate aims or goals of human life:
Desire,  Achievement of Goals,  Principle or Law and Liberation or Freedom.

    Vedic astrology recognizes the validity of all four aims of life and is oriented to facilitate the human being in the attainment of each of them.
    Start from where you are, and begin to take the next step in pursuit of the appreciation of the higher goal. For astrology to reclaim its spiritual integrity, it must recognize the right orientation of the goals of life.

Grateful acknowledgement is made to David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri) for his permission to use excerpts from his book "The Astrology of the Seers."