How to read your horoscope without the help of an Astrologer : Part 1

Before we begin lets start the journey with a prayer because Astrology is so much to do with Karma and learning Astrology itself may be blocked by bad Karma from a past life. 

This is the first Chapter of the most magnificent book of Vedic Astrology Brihat Parasara Hora Sastra (BPHS) Volume 1. Maharishi Parasara starts off with the most popular prayer to Lord Vigneshwara the remover of obstacles in your life. I suggest that you memorise this shloka first before anything else in Astrology. 

Then please bow down to your Gurus, Rishis, Lord Shiva and your favourite Gods. Teachers are universal. Praise the Lord and the Guru. 

Guruḥ sākṣāt paraṁ Brahma tasmai śrī gurave namaḥ.  please recite Sri Gurave Namaha 3 times.

Even before getting to read your horoscope you need to know why should you learn this ancient art of divination? Is ignorance really bliss? 

Many times clients told me during an Astrology consultation, "Guruji, please do not hide anything... I want you to focus on my problems only, tell me the bad side of my chart because the good will take care of itself". There are others who say "Guruji tell me only the remedies, do not discuss the problems because I know m problems". So Astrologers are different types and clients are also different types. When you have problems with the Astrologer and you really wan to avoid them then the best way is the learn Astrology and do-it-yourself. 

The most important negative side is that you may become subjective and emotional. Have you come across medical students worrying a lot about their health? The word Hypochondriac is a term that is used to denote a person who is always worried about their health and believes they are ill, even when there is nothing wrong. On the other hand, self examination can help you discover a serious health problem like Stage 1 Cancer based on symptoms that you read somewhere. 

While self-reading is highly empowering, it comes with unique psychological challenges. The wise may often warn you against looking too closely at your own horoscope. It is very easy to endlessly analyse a difficult transit like Sade-Sati (7.5 years Saturn phase) and accidentally trigger self-induced anxiety, paranoia and insomnia. Astrology is meant to prepare you for the journey, an attempt to give you a comfortable journey and instead it only adds to your existing worries and fear. 

We always start any journey with a prayer because out there anything can happen. Life is filled with twists and turns. The rich becomes poor, the poor becomes rich, the healthy becomes sick. A murderer becomes a saint. Well, it is all unpredictable. This is how it seems to you and that is only before you learn Vedic Astrology. 

Looks the picture of Muhammad Ali the legendary boxer. Known for his speed and cat like reflex. We also know that Muhammad Ali suffered from Parkinson's disease that is just the opposite of speed and reflex. Which is of these is Muhammad Ali? Will his horoscope reveal both these opposite experiences by the same man. 

This science is so much to do with God, Divinity and Karma that unless the person learning Astrology believes in all these there is no way he or she will understand Vedic Astrology. In India most people pray to Lord Ganesha who is a particular form of GOD who represents the removal of all obstacles on the path of the seeker. If you belong to any other belief system you can pray to your favorite God or Guru. When an Astrologer prays and begins his work it does not mean that Astrology is connected to a religion. A doctor may also begin his work after a prayer to his personal God. We see many of the sportsmen praying to God. Does this mean that medicine, sports etc are connected to a religion?

So Astrology is just like any other science and you can understand many things from Astrology even if you are an atheist. However when it comes to predicting the future you may not be able to do it if you are an atheist. If you believe in rebirth, karma and God then you have the potential to become an Astrologer, all you need to do is hone your skills.

All computer programmers know the term Garbage in, Garbage out. They use the acronym GIGO. Let us change it to CICO meaning correct input, correct output).

This is all you need to cast the horoscope of any person born in this world. So every time someone says he wants his horoscope cast for the 1st time don’t forget to ask him “Do you know your DTP“? Without one of these 3 inputs there is no way you can create a horoscope. 

Apart from this you need to know the name and gender of the person. The sex of the person should be known because pregnancy, menstruation, childbirth, menopause, uterus etc applies only to women. In certain calculations like Beeja Sphuta (Sperm Point) or Kshetra Sphuta (Egg Point) we need to know the gender.

In the late 1970s when Astrology software made a beginning, most people had less faith in computer horoscopes. People in India attach special sentiments to their horoscope called the Janma Patrika because it was done by their family Astrologer who resembled a yogi or a saint. Slowly all that has changed over these years. Today even the traditional Indian Astrologers use computer software to cast the horoscope. Moreover many of the modern Astrologers look like people working in the MNCs.

4 good reasons to use a computer horoscope are:

Importance of the place of birth: Usually the date and time of birth is easy to enter in case you use a computer a generate a horoscope. However you need to be more attentive when it comes to place of birth because the computer operator may be using the wrong latitude and longitude of the place of birth. In outdated computer software you may be asked to manually enter the latitude and longitude of the place of birth.

For example, there are 3 Patna in India there are many Madras and Salem in the world. You need to get the place right. Also you need to be aware of the various time zones of the world and get used to terms like daylight saving, war time correction etc. Today there are many websites that help you sort out these issues. Remember before you know all these things well enough do not rush to buy computer software for casting horoscopes.

The other reason why an Astrologer should use a computer for casting horoscope is that Astrologers need not waste precious time in doing things that a machine can easily do. The computer software obviously cannot think, listen and react like human beings. So casting a horoscope is best done by a computer and reading it is best done by an Astrologer.

The Astrologer should be intelligent, compassionate, know what is happening in the world, know a great deal of Indian philosophy especially that part which deals with rebirth, should be able to combine Astrological knowledge with practical wisdom. Above all the Astrologer must be aware that he is dealing with the emotions of a human being the most fragile thing in the world.

The next thing you need to make sure is that they have used the right Ayanamsa. Most scientific Astrologers in the world use what is called Chitra Paksha Ayanamsa (True Lahiri Ayanamsha) which is closest to the truth as far as Ayanamsas are concerned. I have used it and found it better than other Ayanamsha. Avoid getting into disputes on which is the correct Ayanamsa unless you have a great deal of time to be wasted away in useless discussions. Many Astrologers in the world waste time in argument about who is right instead of proving that he or she is right. So let us conclude on this topic by saying that it is sufficient if you know that most Astrologers in the world use Chitra Paksha Ayanamsa also known as Lahiri Ayanamsa.

Rarely does a doctor get to treat himself as his 1st patient. A civil engineer never would build his own home as his 1st project. Astrology is the only science that begins with you. You usually get into Astrology because you need to know about yourself because this job no one else can do better than you. This is why I am here trying to teach you Astrology.

Get your horoscope spiral bound so that you can easily turn the pages around. Loose papers make it that much more difficult because they keep flying off and the pages get mixed up. Add extra papers before binding so that you can write down your observation and feedback about the horoscope later on. Once you have prepared your own horoscope you should cast the horoscopes of your family members so that you may start comparing them and such a study will convince you that Astrology explains why children born to the same father and mother are so different from each other. After spiral binding the horoscope book the first thing that needs to be written on any horoscope is the name of the person for whom you have cast the horoscope. You need to do this because sooner or later you are going to have a large collection of horoscopes with you. That’s because Astrology is very interesting and like all interesting things in life it is addictive. A healthy hobby that helps you know more about your current life on planet earth.

Now everything is in place. What next? Look a the main chart in the horoscope. What are all the symbols in your horoscope trying to communicate to you? The more you look into it the more you see. Seeing is believing. You need to decipher what I love to call “The Plan of the Planets“.

To help you look at your own horoscope we have a feature on our website www.astrologyekdk.com. Click on the link "View your Birth Chart" on this website. We allow you to create your horoscope, store it permanently for your later reference and do a lot more. Sky is the limit. 

Turn to the page in which your basic horoscope is printed. Usually there are many charts but this is the main chart. It is the REAL horoscope. It is called D1 or the RASI Chart. All other charts are only derived from this chart. When there are many charts printed usually this chart is bigger than the other charts and is also printed first.  

In this diagram which is the map of the heavens when you were born, search for the word ASC or LAGNA (Ascendant). This is house No.1. In many horoscope you may see this house marked with a diagonal line like the one that you see on the diagram on the left side. The diagonal line tells you where the most important reference point is.

The above horoscope belongs to Lord Sri Ram the 7th Avatar of Lord MahaVishnu. This is a standard horoscope. Many Astrologers who teach astrology begin the class by showing this chart for more than 1 reason. One it belongs to a Great King, a great Avatar, a great human being and so on. 2 you can keep talking about it for days together and know everything about Lord Sri Rama without even reading Ramayana if you were to read the horoscope without knowing whose horoscope it is. The classical books of Astrology may teach you a lot but this one horoscope speaks volumes.

For example having.....

There are 12 zodiac signs (Rasi) inyourhoroscope. They are: