ORIGINS OF VEDIC JYOTISH:
ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE FOR MODERN TIMES
Recently it has come to light that the original calculations of ancient Surya Siddhanta book, basis of Vedic Astrology calculation, may be within 1 % accuracy of NASA regarding diameters of planets distance of Earth to Sun, etc.
A Professor from Dartmouth has also stated based on the dating of a Southern as well as Northern pole star that this text of astrological calculation is at least 14,000 years old and contains Kepler’s laws of motion of true orbit of planets around Sun. Vedic calculations include speed of light.
This means that for 1000’s of years, the ancients studied precise effects of stars and planets on humans, countries, weather. Our modern science is relatively new... only 200 years old. Astrology therefore could be said to perhaps be more of a complete science than given credit.
The reason in West astrology was not given proper credit by some as science was because it was thought to be a carryover from Middle Ages.
Modern thinkers viewed the Middle Ages as having lost the ancient knowledge replacing scientific principles by religious faith… so they took astrology to also be just mystical religious or metaphorical.
The advanced civilizations of ancient times―possibly even surpassing our own, which gave rise to Astrology, may have ended through a series of major catastrophes... the latest may have happened approximately 12,850 years ago, when it is hypothesized a 4 kilometer wide meteor hit the arctic area of Canada and would have melted the entire North Pole icecap.
Under such major melting of ice as well as impact, every major coastal city in the world would have been flooded and it perhaps earth may have even tilted on its axis (some ancient Vedic texts have stated there were 2 Springs in ancient times).
Some researchers and geologists have described the Gobekli Tepi ancient monuments in Turkey and even the pyramids of Egypt, astronomically and geologically as dating from that very time of global change approximately 12,900 years ago.
Looking yet at another earlier point in time, if there was an even more ancient advanced civilization as stated in Vedic texts, that also may have been destroyed about 72,000 years ago when a super-volcanic eruption near Australia occurred.
Archeologists, geologists, researchers and historians have to still fill in the blanks re such cataclysmic events...but evidence for this may be there, as major temple cities appear to be found off the coasts, deep in sea by every major continent.
It seems from all this that every so often human civilization may reach a peak of advancement and then natural catastrophes destroy it, and humanity starts all over again.
Our own civilization is no different. At some future point an asteroid, super volcano or supernova may bring global destruction forcing humanity to recreate civilization all over again.
It is very fortunate for us in these present times, that an accurate oral tradition of recitation, in India particularly, has preserved the astrological and other knowledge of prior advanced civilizations. These entire texts that were committed to memory father to son had been eventually written down —so are still available.
And this ancient knowledge appears to also have been globally shared in the past thousands of years moving from South and Eastern Vedic civilization to Sumeria and Europe and possibly even to the Americas.
Copyright 2021, 2022,2023 Henry Herzberger
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REDISCOVERY OF EAST AND WEST ASTROLOGY PRINCIPLES
As most of the principles, signs of zodiac, elements of signs, and quality of cardinal-fixed-mutable sign meaning, planetary meanings, house meanings, progressions, transit meanings, etc. are identical in both Eastern Vedic as well as Western astrology—I sought out to find out if they were truly different.
The last year I had been trying to clarify a major question of the last 2000 years:
‘What is the real structure of both Western and Vedic astrology which makes it work?’
After studying ancient cultures such as Sumerian Egyptian, Greek, and Puranic, Vedic literature as well as the brilliant work of Ptolemy, Greek astrologer at Alexandria, Egypt almost 2000 years ago, in addition to reading insightful astrological works of C.G. Jung (a founder of Western Psychology)—it became much clearer as to why astrology East and West was set up the way it is.
All Astrology is attempting to unify the heavenly macrocosm with the the individual microcosm in our lives. It was originally based on equinoxes and solstices… the seasonal path of Sun at the equator as well as above and below it.
This original cognition was both in Puranas, Vedas as well as in Ptolemy’s Hellenistic astrology, basis of Western Astrology.
However, to my complete surprise I found out that Jyotish (Vedic Astrology) as practiced in the East today needs an adjustment in calculation in terms of lining up with the Rishis’ / Sages’ cognitions of the Solar path, changing devatas (Divine qualities) of the Solar energies and seasons.
Presently the calculations are off by almost one month in terms of the seasons. If this trend is continued, in the East Spring will be celebrated in the middle of Winter!
Obviously if one does not align with Nature’s shifting Solar and Lunar energies, Divine Support will not be 100%. So this needs to be addressed and integrated into what I call the true Kala Purusha Chart—Nature’s seasonal chart.
Then Support of Divine Nature can be maximal.
In the West the astrology zodiac signs used as markers actually still preserve the equinox-solstice framework on which jyotish is based, but the history of how all this came to be and its connection to Vedic Astrology of the East is still has not been completely clear to all astrologers.
Originally in 200 AD Aries was actually the Sun’s constellation initiating life giving creative Spring season. Mars also was in Aries… so it was the basis of saying “Aries” is Mars constellation and the beginning of the zodiac year. So approximately 2000 years ago the zodiac East and West was identical and there was no issue of difference.
(At that time in the Greek time of Roman Empire Vedic astrologers were utilized in court, and astrologers from Greece like Yavaneshwar (Yavana was Vedic term for people from Greece) studied in India. Hellenistic astrology was basically derived from Vedic culture and knowledge. Both East and West shared ideas and astrology became more precise.)
Today after 2000 years because of the wobble of the earth/ precession at that initiating creative cardinal point “Aries” is represented astronomically by Pisces Sun at the equinox. So to preserve the original meaning the tropical zodiac maintains same name “Aries” as start of Spring.
In the East there is now adherence to the Spring energy starting literally at the actual lining up of Sun in Aries constellation as is stated in old texts of jyotish and is celebrated mid April.
This was only true over 2000 years when Vedic texts were compiled and formalized but not true now.
Also this is contrary to the definition in the Puranic literature of the start of the Solar months at the point of Spring equinox. Today that Spring equinox falls approximately March 20 with Sun in Pisces constellation.
So it is important to adjust for this discrepancy in Jyotish.
From another angle, Western astrology would be improved and expanded upon if it also makes use of the innumerable powerful techniques of Vedic jyotish … including dasa time periods, ashtaka varga-shad bala, vimshopak strength of houses and planets, etc.
In fact, virtually all of the concepts and techniques of Western astrology fit in just a few chapters of the huge volumes of the most ancient Vedic astrology.
As a side note— if you know Western astrology, you already have a pocketbook version of Vedic astrology. It just needs to be expanded upon using the astrology of the East.
Copyright 2022, 2023 Henry G. Herzberger.All rights reserved.
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KALA PURUSHA NATURE’S CHART ORIGINS AND MEANING
Here above is Kala Purusha (East Indian) version of chart. Counterclockwise from top, the cross represents 4 seasonal points of Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.
The abbreviations are Su for Sun, Mo for Moon, Ma for Mars, Ju for Jupiter, Ve for Venus, Sa for Saturn, and Ra with Ke for Rahu and Ketu.
You read it also as a normal chart from top of cross going counterclockwise as first house, second, etc.
The cross makes clear the 4 pivotal points of seasonal transformation and where energies are distributed. The top is always Spring Equinox, whether we call it "Taurus", "Aries" or "Pisces" as the 1000's of years pass on.
However in terms of our present word convention established 2000 years ago the word "Aries" represents beginning of Spring when Sun is at equator during Spring equinox.
Each sector / house that follows represents approx. 30 lunar days/ 30 degrees of travel of Sun through circle of Sky constellations.
Then Sun goes once around zodiac belt in a year.
The 30degrees/30 days of Sun travel unit defines each month.
This way the ancients could divide the 4 seasons each into 3 parts following the 3 Guna qualities of creation, maintenance and dissolution. These three parts were given names of moveable/cardinal signs, fixed signs and dual or changing signs according to the constellation markers present 1000’s of years ago.
This way they delineated 3 months per season for a total of 4x3 = 12 months or sectors of a year.
The idea to have 30 days/ month came from the lunar cycle which is 15 days increasing to full Moon and 15 days decreasing to new Moon.
Originally the ancients tried to link these lunar and Sun cycles. Conveniently the Sun rises 1 degree above the equator per day… so dividing the circle of the Sun’s path from equator at Spring to highest point in Summer and back to equator in Fall and then lowest point in Winter neatly defined a circle of 360 degrees with 12 divisions each corresponding to 30 degrees.
These 30 degree sectors of the circle defined a total of 12 Lunar months… corresponding closely also to 12 Solar months of our year. And this circle of 12 sectors is the underlying blueprint for the 12 houses of astrology, Sun and other planetary positions, etc.
(Note: the ancients found out, however, that over time 30 lunar days did not quite fit totally with 30 solar days, so the ancients also utilized additions such as leap year etc. where days, weeks or months were added.)
In 200 AD when things in astrology were formalized--at the beginning of the Spring equinox when Sun entered Aries region of Sky, the New Moon also began there. So all Vedic astrology texts of the past 2000 years including Vedic Literature of the Puranas list the star starting Spring as Ashvini, corresponding to Sun in Aries.
At present time, however, after almost 2000 years, the Sun’s constellation marker starting Spring is now Pisces, and the star associated with that time is different than before. So the constellation Pisces now has all the meaning of Aries of the past.
So to maintain the same meaning of energetics of Solar and Lunar energies and stars it is important to adjust for such calculations of position.
The Western scientists like Copernicus, Galileo, Sir Francis Bacon, Isaac Newton tried to preserve the terminology of the original astrology texts. To do so they started to add degrees to the actual positions of Sun and other planets to rotate the chart so the term Aries would always correspond to Spring Equinox, preserving the original Equinox-Solstice structure/ reference point of the circle of the zodiac upon which Astrology is based.
This was an attempt to preserve terms rather than change terminology to say Spring 1, Spring 2, Spring 3 etc. For different sectors of the circle formed by Sun’s travel above and below the equator.
In the East, this was not done… astrologers holding on to Tradition simply revered the old texts and considered them as absolute. Therefore now the seasons as celebrated in the East are off by almost 1 month in calculation. This affects not only the astrological meanings, but also the timing of yagyas or Vedic ceremonies.
Ceremonies designed to be done at the Winter solstice, or Spring equinox celebration are now almost 1 month off in timing.
Additionally days when planets are in very strong in the sky such as exaltation of Sun in Spring in Aries together with Moon’s exaltation position in Taurus (known as Victory Day) are off by 1 month.
All that needs to be done is simply compensate for this change of positions of stars and planets and the accuracy of the true astrological energetics will be restored. And this is quite easy… one simply rotates all the planets and houses in the Vedic chart by 26 degrees, which is how far the past original Zodiac constellation markers deviate from present times.
This adjustment is important in order to line up with Nature’s Cosmic Energies for greater support of Nature/ Divine.
Copyright 2022, 2023 Henry G.Herzberger. All rights reserved.
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Note —regarding a question asked about degree of effectiveness of previous yagya/ Vedic performances, or ongoing Vedic performances done when now we realize the need for Jyotish calculation revision:
Performances of yagyas / Vedic ceremonies to gain Divine Blessings of the Devas or Laws of Nature are always beneficial for a flow of Grace when done with devotion. Yagyas are generally done in a holistic way honoring the Supreme Being.
So nothing is ever lost in appreciating honoring the Divine for Blessings.
However being more specific and accurate with astrological remedies will help bring maximum support.
With the new adjustments in alignment with the Kala Purusha reference point of Jyotish, Vedic Performances can be timed more accurately and be even more effective.
Copyright 2023 Henry Herzberger