Astrology - What is Astrology

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Most of the human beings are curious to know what their future holds. Most of the questions asked to astrologers are related to marriage, career, financial stability, prosperity and so on. However, there are also many people who may not believe in astrology but read their daily predictions for fun or out of interest. Astrology is so fascinating that people who object to this science in the society may end up using it in their personal lives.

Astrology has existed all over the world and at all times. Astrology is the study of the influence of distant objects, usually stars and planets on human lives.The position of the Ascendant, Sun, Moon and other stars at the time of birth is said to shape the personality, economic fortunes and destiny of the native. Vedic Astrology was composed in India during the ancient times and is probably the oldest astrological system known to mankind. Its base is in ancient Vedas, the original scriptures of India and, perhaps, of all Indo-European societies.

Another name for Vedic Astrology is "Jyotish Shastra", which are Sanskrit words meaning "Science of Light". The basic purpose of Vedic Astrology is to shed light on those aspects of life that cannot be seen by the common man. The past and the future details can only be known with the help of astrology.

What most people know about astrology is the 12 signs, which is the Sun sign astrology. It is the most simplistic astrology with which a Sun sign report is generated which gives very limited results as far as prediction is concerned. All ancient cultures have been practicing their own form of astrology. There is the western astrology, Chinese astrology and Tibetan astrology. In india we have been using Vedic astrology as this is based on Vedas. Moreover astrology has also has various branches which are used for different purposes:

Mundane astrology:

This is the branch of astrology which deals in study of events of a country or world at large. The predictions involve economic, geographical, national and international affairs. Predictions about weather, earthquakes are also covered under this.

Horary astrology:

This is based on specific questions being asked at a particular time for a specific subject within a natives life.This is also called Prashna Shastra.

Natal Astrology:

This is the most commonly used. In this branch predictions are made with respect to the natives birth data.

The difference between eastern and western astrology


  • The basic difference between the two is that the Vedic system is based on the actual position of planets, and thus known as "sidereal zodiac". On the other hand, western astrology is based on the orientation of the Earth to the Sun, and applies to the "Tropical zodiac".
  • Vedic astrology calculations are based on nine planets - Sun, Moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the two nodes of the Moon called Rahu and Ketu. However, the outer planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, as well as the asteroids are not used in Vedic Astrology as they are considered to be too distant from the Earth to have any influence on human affairs.
  • The base of Vedic astrology have remained unaltered since its existence, while Western Astrology has mainly evolved through research into cosmic influences as each new planet or major asteroid was discovered.
  • Western astrology is majorly based on the position of the Sun and its signs - Aries, Taurus, Gemini etc.


    • Moreover, western astrology is primarily concerned with the solar side of our life and predictions are largely focused on the native’s psychology, personality and character traits.

    On the other hand, Vedic astrology measures the relationship of the fixed stars, solar system and covers all aspects of the native’s life including, desires, talents, responsibilities and potential.

    Panchang and Vedic Astrology