What Is the Purpose of Jyotish (Vedic Astrology)?
Jyotish is the ancient spiritual science and study of light.
Vedic Astrology decodes the meanings embedded within the nine celestial bodies that are visible to the human eye from Earth, their placement within the constellations (12 major, 27 minor), and the planet’s location within 12 houses of the sky (similar to a clock’s 12 hours).
Based on yogic philosophy, including the understanding of karma and the soul’s eternal journey, a Jyotishi synthesizes the above aspects through an individual’s cosmic snapshot, that is the sky’s blueprint at time and place of birth.
Through dedicated study of wisdom (gyana), this spiritual science illuminates what is possible in any given season of an individual’s life. It outlines what challenges are inherent, how to navigate them, and what the highest possible outcome of any circumstance can be.
It’s not a passive approach, however.
While a reading can provide proper understanding around an individual’s potential, the onus of responsibility falls upon the individual to act in accordance with their higher self in order to course correct.
Some questions Jyotish can address:
Relationship troubles?
→ Well, you must first look at how you relate with yourself. When you locate yourself as the source of any discord and resolve that, relating to others becomes much more harmonious.
Want a career shift?
→ This could be because of an uncomfortable transit that’s actually asking you to be patient; or it could be because you are ready to express your gifts for the betterment of all.
Discord in the family?
→ Have you yet generated a sincere lovingness in your heart to hold your family members with greater compassion and see them as the karma your soul needed to learn and grow through?
Is it time to move or travel? And if so, what type of travel / where should I go?
→ The chart provides clear markers towards how to make the most of this time and flow with greater ease and trust.
Why is this happening to me?
→ Jyotish helps reframe this question to seeing how it’s all happening for you, and ultimately through you.
Just as a skilled farmer knows when to plant seeds, how to nurture them, and when to embrace the harvest, Jyotish highlights the current seasons of your life and how to best use time for your progress and evolution.
Through the use of integrated practices following the reading, such as sacred rituals, deeper wisdom + self-study, yogic techniques like breathwork, mantra, movement, and meditation, peace becomes increasingly accessible. Acceptance becomes more readily available.
Ultimately, understanding the vast macrocosm of the cosmos helps one harmonize with their inner (often fluctuating) microcosm. As we learn to broaden our bandwidth and increase our understanding of what has, is and will happen, we can rest into deeper trust and surrender with ourselves.
How Jyotish has helped me personally…
Like many others, I had poked around a bit within Western astrology. While I felt some resonance with the Western chart, it wasn’t until I began to understand my Vedic chart that I felt a sense of deep ease and surrender to the cosmic, timeless wisdom of the Vedas.
For example, understanding the dashas (the flow of time through great transits, experienced as the seasons we all move through—those of expansion or contraction, creativity or asceticism) was eerily spot on with major life occurrences.
It’s now no surprise why I experienced a major career propel one year, followed by a rapid burn out. Or why a significant relationship came to fruition in one season and then fizzled out due to its fundamental misalignment years later.
I believe I can now avoid, or at least accept and surrender into, the hardships and suffering around life’s inherent transitions + changes.
The chart provides such profound insight to the natural fluctuations of life, and when we know how to make the most of a current chapter, we have the potential to experience deep, soulful peace, joy and ease.
