Astrology is as fascinating as anything else in the universe can be! The more you learn about it, the more you realise how little you have known about it! Even in today’s age, the emphasis to have a proper “guru” to guide and teach you, speaks a lot about the subject by itself and drives home the point why every astrologer needs to be a continuing student for life- no matter how successful or popular one is! Join me here as we try to understand, why and how charts are decoded and why that works and why at some yet other time that fails!
To begin with one must do away with the complete fog around astrology- that many believe is about knowing you future. This overbearing focus to unravel the future which incidentally plays well to the anxious mind- hardly does any justice to the great depth and vastness of the subject! Astrology is more about unravelling who an individual is as a “soul”and a great pathway to understand what is the karmic connection and action that this soul holds within and how that will manifest! Given the times that we live in, and sure enough not to blame anyone- everything and anything boils down to recording success through the singular aspect of one being rich by wealth! The fact though remains that at the time when the great masters of astrology formulated this path- the greatest richness of an individual has always meant to align and synchronise with the “ability, readiness and progress of the soul on the path of knowledge and salvation by knowing the unknown and connecting with the supreme power”! This can be read through the various translations given for the great yogas which form in astrological charts of the chosen few- If you read them you will understand the emphasis on knowledge and righteousness being the foundation for everything and wealth in terms of material wealth perhaps has always been the least of all that accounted to make an individual to be known as successful, noble or a great human being- the emphasis always was about an enriched human existence through compassion, kindness, sharing, collaboration and service unto others and that is the fundamental truth of all the great yogas that ever have been the hallmark of great humans who have walked on this planet!
So you see the chart, is more about a window to your soul- knowing who you are what your construct is and what is that you want to express yourself as- by choosing to do what and this whole space is what is the essence of the chart that you arrive with- that critical time that you are born at!
Your chart is a great tool to know what tick you and ticks you off, hence in a way helps you to stay focussed on people and activities that help you and keep you away from all that doesn’t serve the purpose of your soul and your journey as the life that you have taken. Now you may want to still ask then what about the future? Well, sure enough it does show, but the important aspect is that the right contextual framework need to be built around even as you attempt to either understand your future or you want to help someone else understand it better- you being their astrologer! Consider this, you may come across some Dhana Yoga in a chat- now to know if this Dhana Yoga will make someone a millionaire or a billionaire is all about the contextual setting of where this person is born- which family what place and what is available to him around his surroundings and what is his support system- sure enough all that can be known through the chart- but- even as you discuss, deliberate- the wise astrologer knows well enough to let the person know what the trim level is- you see all of us are not space rockets that can escape the earth’s orbit and be in space- few of us are equipped to fly a few thousand feet higher than the others and few others more higher than the others- that kind of contextual setting is very important to provide clarity to students and believers of astrology as they approach you for counsel or advise and when you don’t’ know for sure- saying it helps everyone! So if your Dhana Yoga has assured you an x amount which is 10 times what you started with in life- that’s your trim level, if your Dhana Yoga assures you 100 times than what you started your life that’s your trim level- even if you try to break the ceiling go beyond and achieve something incrementally more- that effort will mind boggling and all that incremental acquisition will get wiped off as that is not what is aligned to the progress of your soul! So understanding this fundamental trim level and accepting is the first and foundational requirement for astrology to help you in any manner and get any bearing for the journey of your soul in times ahead!
Once the base has been established and you have made peace by accepting your trim levels, the next space around is about simplifying the approach and the concepts provided in this vast subject of astrology- with so many classics, so many great scholars and proponents coming up with varied findings and so many modern day translations for similar planetary placements and having few times diametrically opposite views comings from different schools of thoughts, it’s but obvious that for astrologers or even for believers there exists a fog looming low and at times throws even the best astrologer off guards and leads to erroneous predictions! So is there a way around this? but why does this happen? Well, read on!
Once you fix the basics, as we discussed above, agree to the trim level and have a greater contextual understanding of the person whose chart you are reading or deliberating upon, the only real and wise approach is to follow the basics as given by the great sages and apply the slokas as mentioned without adding or tweaking your biases beyond a point that things start to fall apart! If the slokas were written anywhere between 5000-10000 years ago and have held ground for that kind of a time period the chances are they still do and what is limiting is your ability to infer or interpret them correctly! The biggest problems happen when astrologers try to come up with explanations to justify what’s’ unfolding by seeing the chart, rather then being able to tell what’s unfolding by seeing the chart and that’s where the big difference lies- both these things look similar but are in reality poles apart! A wise astrologer will be able to see the chart and tell that there is a problem with the chart right away- as soon as there is something amiss and which doesn’t seem to add up to the story- trying to fit into life events by attributing reasons retrospectively, well is another ball game- few find that valid and I dare not comment on that!
If this is not enough, then we have the whole plethora of divisional charts to justify something that was supposedly amiss in the birth chart! Well the real issue with that is – very few and rarest of the rare charts would have that kind of a cryptic birth chart and more expressive divisional chart, which would compel an astrologer to deep dive so much into the things- to give you an analogy- this is like going in for a brain surgery to fix a headache! There are really few and very few charts which are that cryptic which call for that kind of detailed precision to find things that aren’t forthcoming in the birth chart and these charts are really rare! So when astrologers begin to rattle off more reasonings on why events have happened because the way they did by digging on the divisional charts- you know, possibly you need another approach to your chart and life!
Add to all this that space of remedial measures right from rituals, gemstones to temple visits and what not- no wonder you come across many people really tired and more resigned to their fate then you would normally come across! In all this mele, getting more ambiguity to astrology as a subject and something that should have simplified our approach to life seems to be more complicated than our lives! So what’s perhaps the right way?
Astrology is all about simplicity, clarity and practicality. The soul has come to the human form- not asking the permission of any astrologer- that is where from where you begin! The astrologer can only counsel and advise a soul to understand it’s pulls and pushes and allow the soul to decide what is bets for it and that’s what eventually happens- no matter how many times an astrologer says one things, people end up doing the opposite and t time are all fine and few time end up complicated- so this goes to drive the point that- the ability to guide and counsel the soul is paramount and this has to be done in keeping with simple approaches as suggested by the masters and getting into increasing level of complexity of the subject only as required by the soul! It helps everyone when asn astrologer says- I don’t know- because then it’s a big opportunity to learn about a soul and why acts manifest the way they do and that opens up a completely new understanding about the universe as as collective entity of connected souls!
If you ask me, my personal take is that the birth chart and the navamsha are just as fine to solve majority of the concerns of the people who seek guidance. To this add the layer of planetary transits and operating mahadasha and antardasha and you have almost covered up a great aspect to arrive at right suggestions, knowing the nakshatra, the graha avasthas, the shadbalas and the associated aspects complets the holistic understanding and even after knowing all of this, if there’s anything that can’t be deduced, always remember it’s fine to say, “I don’t know” rather then start digging into the charts all over again and running through other divisional charts- just to try and retrofit an event to some indicator in some chart!
Astrology is perhaps one of those few subjects that never allows you to say, “I know it all” and ensures that you are anchored, humble and a student for life and importantly the sheer inability to know all and predict all, reinforces the belief in the supreme power- no matter what belief you follow or not! The great realization that there is a universal connect among all the souls among all humans, animal and plant forms with intertwined karmic connection is the essence of astrology in the real sense of it! Whether it’s the interplay that you have among other humans, animals or plants that you come across, every engagement is a shift of your karmic balances either helping your soul’s progress or creating challenges for you to overcome! Hence the universal philosophy always holds good- to be of service to others and strive for the greater good for one and all at all times! This alone is what the whole essence of guiding and reading through charts is all about- it is about holding people to the path that is walkable, practical and helpful to their souls journey rather them limit the whole practise to finding job, getting married and knowing about kids-all this, when we all know – none of this is permanent; If there’s indeed anything that’s eternal and forever its your own soul and thats about it!
I leave you with these thoughts, urging you to have fresh look and approach to the subject of astrology- both as a student or as as practitioner and experience, for yourself how that helps or accelerates your soul’s journey in the time ahead!
Ciao for now, will be back soon with another article, until then stay safe, stay wise and stay connected! Remember we are all logged into the Universal Soul Network and whether we like it or not- every aspect of what we do- we end up creating pathways to connect and disconnect from each other on one way or the other!
SimplifyAstrology 