Simple Astrology Calculations

Hi Friends,

As I was driving my motorcycle on the way to office I was collecting some thoughts that people say regarding Astrology. The issue was more with the calculation part; people say it’s very difficult to calculate the position of planets etc. Then a thought struck to me whether there are some simple ways present to approximately arrive at the planetary positions based on the velocity of the planets. The following idea came to me and any one reading this particular article should be in a position to understand the ease with which the calculations can be made.

Please read properly, patiently, and try to remember this after some more re-readings on your part.

HOW TO CALCULATE DEGREES OF THE SUN AT BIRTH APPROXIMATELY WITHOUT REFERRING EPHEMERIS (Panchanga)

1) Every Planet is moving for us who are on Earth as we see them. So is The Sun (Actually not a Planet but treated like one. Its actually a star or Luminary). All these planets when they move within each sign, the starting point is measured at 0 degrees and ending at 30 degrees Which means that if we count the 12 signs and multiply by 30 degrees we get the figure of 360 Degrees. Don’t we say that My Moon is at 6 degrees Sagittarius or Jupiter is at 25 degrees Cancer etc… Well, all these planets have their daily motions, like we know that each planet travels daily at this speed (This knowledge comes from past observation from Observatories and astronomical Statistics) some planets have very fast speed like The Moon which
takes around 2 and a half days to enter and leave a sign., some have very slow speed like Saturn which takes two and a half years to enter and leave a sign. We will come to the daily motions of the Planets in our
Forthcoming articles.

At the moment we will concentrate on The Sun. The Sun travels approximately at speed of daily motion of 1 Degree. It takes therefore one month to stay in a sign and cross over to next sign. (Remember this)

The Sun changes sign every month approximately on 15th or 16th 0r 17th (Remember this).

Which also means that on 15th the Sun would be at 0 degrees, in any sign which it has just entered,
and 1 degrees on 16th and 2 degrees on 17th and so on till next 15th when it is at 30 degrees and
then has to cross over to the next sign and again would bestarting at 0 degrees. For example a native born on the28th of January of any year would be having Sun at approximately 14 degrees ( 0 degrees on 15th +14 days ). In this way one can know the degrees of the Sun at birth approximately.(Calculate Your own Sun degrees first in mind then check Your Chart).

HOW TO KNOW THE SUN SIGN WITHOUT REFERRING EPHEMERIS (Panchanga)

Giving below the Dates each Month when The Sun normally changes and to which Sign? (The best way to remember this is to first remember your Own Sun sign and start from that month )

Jan 15th to Feb 15th - Sun enters and remains in Capricorn
Feb 15th to March 15th -Sun remains in Aquarius
March 15th to April 15th- Sun remains in Pisces
April 15th to May 15th - Sun remains in Aries
May 15th to June 15th - Sun remains in Taurus
June 15th to July 15th - Sun remains in Gemini
July 16th to Aug 15th - Sun remains in Cancer
Aug 16th to Sept 16th- Sun remains in Leo
Sept 17th to Oct 16th - Sun remains in Virgo
Oct 16th to Nov 16th - Sun remains in Libra
Nov 16th to Dec 15th- Sun remains in Scorpio.
Dec 15th to Jan 15th -Sun remains in Sagittarius.
(The above are approximate dates -maybe not exactly same days as mentioned 1-2 days here n there)

(The above position would be shown in Charts made for all those staying in India or who have made their charts calculated here-for western people the Sun sign may be one sign ahead and they have to deduct the ayanamsha to get the above Sun sign)

Example - if I am born on June 28th as per above table, my Sun sign would be Gemini.
Note- (When any of Your friends is born on say 15th or 16th don’t predict his Sun sign without referring the Ephemeris)

HOW TO PREDICT WHICH HOUSE SUN WOULD BE WITHOUT REFERRING TO THE ACTUAL CHART OR EPHEMERIS (Panchanga).

(Remember this By Heart) If the Birth is at time of-
Sunrise- then Sun would be in 1st House or Ascendant.
At Noon - The Sun would be in 10th House
At Sunset - The Sun would be in 7th house
At Midnight - Sun would be in 4th house.

(In above, take the movement of The Sun as clockwise and not anti-clock wise)

In India when the Sunrise is almost at same time throughout the year (Except at winter time nearing December when it may be late by 1 hour or so), we can roughlytake the following slots as position of Sun for Local birth time.
Local Mean time or LMT we would be talking in later lessons – But will explain in short. Though the clock will show 4.30 am for a person in Bombay and for a person in Calcutta too, but the sky would show Sunrise for a person in Calcutta in summer, and still night for a person in Bombay. That is known in crude language as local Mean time.

Birth time at :-
Morning 5am to 7am - Sun would be in 1st House
Morning 7 - 9am - Sun would be in 12th House
Morning 9 to 11am - Sun would be in 11th House
Morning 11 to 1 Noon - Sun would be in 10th House
Noon 1 - 3 pm - Sun would be in 9th House
Evening 3pm to 5 pm - Sun would be in 8th House
Evening 5pm to 7pm (Sunset)- Sun would be in 7th House
Evening 7pm to Night 9 pm - Sun would be in 6th house
Night 9pm to 11 pm Sun would be in 5th House
Night 11.00pm Midnight to 1.00 am after midnight - 4th house
Late night 1 am to early morning 3 am - Third House
Early morning 3am to 5 am - Sun would be in 2nd House.

Thus if someone says, that ' I was born on February 28th at 10am morning, in Bombay', you can immediately tell him safely that Your Sun is in 11th House. The above is a very crude method of predicting, not to be used unnecessarily, but when you are traveling or sitting in a group with no means of equipment like Ephemeris, Computer etc. or once in a while when You are sure about the results,
You may try out making a chart on a piece of paper, filling in whatever you know or have found out, and then ask your contact to open his chart and match the same. That would really amaze him and make him
a fan of Your prowess. But do not forget certain countries and places have bizarre (A wrong word actually) Sunrise and sunset timings, not as per India, so better avoid predicting mentally for those cases.

- For those people in whose country/place and that particular season or time of the year, if the
Sun rises late, or early, then you have to shift the timings backward, or the Sun forward accordingly after some study. (The foreign Citizens (i.e.non Indian) can check their Sunrise and Sunset timings throughout the year, in their cities of residence, and prepare such a chart for themselves, after little bit deductions or additions in timings, for their use).


One more advantage - When you happen to see the chart of the native, and check the position of The Sun, you also immediately realize whether the chart is printed rightly or wrongly, as per the time of birth he mentions, cause at times people forget to say rightly- am or pm to the computer chart maker or he does not listen properly and feeds in wrongly, and then the poor native shows around the wrong chart to all astrologers, with nothing matching his own life. I have myself detected a few wrongly made charts by this method.

Okay, now to the last part of thisArticle.

HOW TO FIX ACSENDANT WITHOUT REFERRING TO THE CHART OR EPHEMERIS.

I do not think that this is necessary to explain, You should be able to guess this one for yourself by now, but let me explain, yet.

Once you know the position of the Sun, finding the Ascendant is easy, solving a childs puzzle and gaining
The same happiness and joy.

Suppose one was born at 10.30 am in month of June of say day 20th. Therefore Sun would be in Gemini and in 11th house. Now count anticlockwise till you reach the 1st house.
You will count thus-
11th house Gemini - Sign No. 3
12 th house Cancer - Sign No.4
1st House Leo - Sign No.5
Therefore the ascendant is Leo.

You can do this in your mind without the use of Writing Pad or Pen.

Take another example-
Birth on 10th February Time 10.00pm night.
Sun would be in Capricorn as per previous table given.
Sun would be in 5th house as per previous table given.
Start counting anticlockwise.
5th House Capricorn
6th House Acquarius
7th house Pisces
8th house Aries
9th house Taurus
10th house Gemini
11th House Cancer
12th house Leo
and There You are
1st House Virgo.

Follow the above procedure some amount of practice shall make it more easy for you to calculate.

Happy Calculations

Ethics of an Astrologer

Ethics of an Astrologer

Ethics of an Astrologer

Parasara states that Maitreya’s questions serve the welfare of the humanity, and this
indicates the motivation with which the disciple should approach the Guru. If he wants to learn astrology in order to gain money, recognition or control over others, the Guru should reject him. He also says that the students should be well-behaved and peaceful, in other words he should be under the influence of the material mode of goodness (Sattva-guna) and he should be respectful towards his Guru. If the disciple is challenging, the Guru will not impart knowledge upon him. The student should also believe in God and follow His laws, and also instruct his clients to do so since this is the best remedy for bad Karma. The student should always speak the truth, even if in some cases he should give a prediction in a way that is acceptable or helpful to his clients. The disqualifications are if the student is lazy, does not believe in God, or wants to use astrology for getting rich.

Varahamihira also elaborates on the qualifications of an astrologer in the Brihat Samhita
(2.2-3.): “An astrologer should belong to a noble family, be good-looking, of modest
appearance and dress, truthful, free from jealousy, impartial, with well-proportioned and strong limbs and joints, undeformed, with beautiful hands, feet, nails, eyes, chin, teeth, ears,forehead, brows and head, with handsome body and a voice deep and sonorous. For, virtues and foibles are generally dependent on good and bad physical features.
The following are the virtues of the astrologer: He must be clean, efficient, bold, eloquent,possessed of genius or ready wit, knower of the time and place, sincere, not timid in assemblies, not to be overpowered by his fellow students, expert, free from vices, well-versed in the art of performing rituals of both curative and preventive types, as well as in that of magic and bathing, engaged in the worship of God, observances or austerities and fast,possessed of great power generated by the wonderful achievements of his scientific knowledge and capable of answering queries made by others and suggesting remedial measures for troubles other than the visitations of God. He must also be thoroughly conversant with works dealing with calculations of planetary positions etc., Samhita andhoroscopy in their details.”

Harihara adds the following:” The exalted and recondite science of astrology is to be studied only by Brahmanas. A proper study of the subject leads one to the acquisition of wealth, merit, salvation, respect and fame. When even Mlecchas and Yava£as well versed in astrology are held in the same esteem as rishis, who would deny respect to an astrologer who happens to be a Brahmana? That person, who has mastery of this science, who has a good knowledge of mathematics, who leads a religious life, who is truthful, who is free from conceit and who is well versed in the Vedas, Mantras and Tantras, he alone can be called a Daivajña or seer. All the predictions made by such a person will come true and will never be false. The learned support this statement. The predictions of one who has studied the ten kinds of planetary motions and who has understood the inner principles of astrology will never be falsified. He who has acquired a thorough knowledge of the different Horas, who is an adept in the five Siddhantas, who has inferential ability and who is initiated into a secret Mantra by a perceptor, can alone know horoscopy.” (1.13-18.)

From the above we can conclude that any astrologer, who wants to develop these qualifications is advised to practice the following habits:

1. Become a vegetarian and avoid eating meat, fish, eggs, garlic, onions and mushrooms.These foods will keep one under the influence of the modes of passion and ignorance (Rajas and Tamas), which is unfavourable for making correct predictions with clear consciousness. One should offer his food to God and thus eat sanctified food.
2. Avoid using intoxicants and drugs, including alcohol, tobacco, coffee and tea. These substances will also contaminate one’s consciousness and prevent him from getting the correct intuition from Param§tm§ (God in the heart).
3. Avoid any illegal activities and try to live a virtuous life. It is best to avoid gambling and sex outside of marriage as well.
4. Make a daily regular study of the Vedas and Jyotisha Shastra, preferably starting at a time when Jupiter is in the Ascendant.
5. Pandita Harihara emphasized the importance of the Jyotisha Mantra received from the Guru. Therefore it is recommended that you chant at least 1 Mala (108 times) of oneof the following Mantras:

Om Krishna Guru
Om Hum Ram Caitanyayai Namah
Om Gurave Namah
Om Hrim Klim Dattatreyaya Namah
Vyam Vyasadevaya Namah

In summary, the qualifications of an astrologer are as follows:
1. He has accepted and practiced regularly the Mantra received from his Guru.
2. He studies astrology under the guidance of his Guru.
3. He has thorough knowledge of the classical Jyotisha Hora Sastras.
4. He has sufficient practice and experience in predictions.
5. He has good intuition, derived from a pure lifestyle and spiritual practices.