Astro-Logos: Revelations of a Hindu Astrologer

272 Pages·1996·2.09 MB·English

by  James T. Braha

AsrRo-Locos
Revelationso f a Hindu Astrologer
Formerly Titled Astro-Logos,L anguage, rf Lrfe
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T Braha
James
Hermetician Press
For Lilly Braha,w ho taughtm e to dream.
HermeticianP ress
P.O.B ox 552
LongboatK ey, Florida 34228
Astro-Logos,R evelationso f a Hindu Astrologer
@ 1996b y JamesT . Braha
Formerlyt itled Astro-Logos,L anguageo f Life
(copyright1 989)
rsBN 0-935895-08-6
Library of CongressC ard Numbe r: 96-016661
Coverd esignb y CraigF urgeson
Printedi n Hong Kong by Liang Yu PrintingF actoryL td.
ContactE ric Hui (852D 560-4453
Thble of Contents
Prefaceto SecondE dition vll
Introduction xix
CHAPTER I. BackgroundW; esternA strology
.)
My First Encounterw ith the Stars
J
The Astrologer'sP redictionsC omeT rue 7
MeetingI sabelH ickey;A GreatA strologer ll
Learningt o Interpret;T he JourneyB egins 32
CHAPTER II. Hindu Astrology;T he MissingH alf 41
My First Tasteo f the PredictiveA strology
of the Acients 5l
MeetingM y Mentor 13
AnalyzingF riendsB' irthchartsw ith Santhanam 82
FreeW ill VersusP redestiny 110
More BirthchartA nalysis 117
CHAPTER III. PracticingH indu and
WesternA strology l3l
A Sessiono f Prasna:T he Hindu methodo f
"Horary"A strology 164
More Practicew ith the Public tj2
Astrologizingo n Radio t8l
CHAPTER IV. Strictly Pppersonal 189
Returningt o India andM eetinP .M.P adia 189
Poorvapunyaa nd "Maturity of Planets":
Two PowerfulT echniques 203
Developinga ComputerM ind with Padia 215
RewardedE fforts 225
A SecondB ook 240
CHAPTER V. Workbook 245
PersonallyP rescribedG emstones 246
ChantingA strologicaMl antras 249
How and Whv the StarL anguageW orks 255
SERVICES 266
Preface to the SecondE dition
Seven years have passeds ince the initial publication
of Astro-Logos,w hich appearedt hreey earsa fter my first
text Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern Western
Astrologer. Since then, a new world has opened up for
astrologersa nd for those who enjoy the star language.
The reception of Hindu astrology,a lso called Vedic as-
trology or Jyotish (the Indian term meaning the science
of light), hasb eenp rofound and heartening.W henAstro-
Logos first appeared,H indu predictive astrology was an
exciting, avant garde proposition for Westerners.N ow,
many Westerna strologersa re fervently studying the East-
ern system and thousandso f individuals have already
had their Hindu astrologicalb irthchartsi nterpreted.W ord
of the great benefits of this event-oriented,r ather than
psychological,s ystem is spreadingq uickly and practi-
tionerso f Hindu astrologyi n America have their hands
quite full.
Further, there are now five other important Hindu as-
trology textbooks written by Westernersi n the market-
place: Indian Astrology by Ronnie Gale Dreyer, Astrol-
ogy of the Seersb y David Frawley, How To Read Your
Horoscope by Tom Hopke, Light on Life by Hart Defouw
and Robert Svoboda,a ndThe Astrologlt of Death by Ri-
chard Houck. Also, the American Council of Vedic As-
trology, founded by Dennis Harnessa nd David Frawley,
presents a five-day Hindu/Vedic astrology conference
each year (SeeS ervicesc hapterf or more information on
this).
My purposei n writing Astro-Logos,a sidef rom teach-
ing readersh ow to gain full benefit from their astrologi-
cal birthcharts, was to introduce Westerners,b oth pro-
fessionala strolosersa nd thosew ith onlv a cursorv inter-
est, to the profound benefits of ancientH indu astrology.
Clearly the time for Easterna strologyt o make its way to
the West has arrived. Readersw ho have heard storieso f
the miraculousp redictivea bilitieso f Hindu astrologya nd
want to know more about how the system works now
have their questionsa nd concernsa nsweredi n graphic
detail. Further,t hosew ho want a betteru nderstandingo f
the differences between Hindu and Western astrology
walk away from this text fully armed to conduct their
own discourseo n the subject.
Astro-Logos was my secondb ook. It was published,a s
already mentioned, three years after my first book, at a
time when those who had been become fascinatedw ith
Hindu astrology were eagerf or more technicalm aterial.
My decision to write a text about Hindu astrologyr ather
than a second textbook, to give readersn ot what they
perhapsw antedb ut what I felt was needed,w as not popu-
lar. But I felt that in the long run, if Hindu astrologyw as
to have afair chancei n the West, someg uidancer egard-
ing its context was both necessarya nd appropriate.T here-
fore, one of the major objectives of Astro-Logos was to
promote the complimentary natureso f Hindu and West-
ern astrology.
Astrologers who use both Hindu and Western
birthcharts for each astrologicali nterpretationh ave a pro-
found advantageo ver those who use only one system.
Although the techniqueso f Hindu and Western astrol-
ogy must never be mixed, for the systemsa re dramati-
cally different, the information gained from the two pro-
vides greaterp erspectivea s well as more essential,r el-
evant data.H indu astrologyi s predictivea nd event-ori-
ented,w hile Westerna strology excelsi n personalityd e-
velopment, habit patterns,a nd personalm otivation. The
Hindu birthchart, being more fate- or destiny-oriented,
reveals what will occur in life while the Western chart
tells how the person experiencest heseo ccurrences.
To be fair, both systemsa rec apableo f predictinge vents
and psychology, but practically speaking each system
clearly excels in one feature or the other. One reasont hat
Easterna nd Westerna strologiesa re so different from each
other is due to cultural needs.H indu astrologyi s born of
a culture schooled in predestiny,k arma, and reincarna-
tion; hence a fate-orienteda strology.W esternersb elieve
in free will and causation and therefore have developed
an astrology more sophisticatedi n analyzing psychol-
ogy, behavioral patterns,t alents,a nd potentials.
By distinguishing the important differencesa nd ben-
efits of both systems,I especiallyi ntendedt o disarm in-
tolerant or small-minded astrologersw ho might take the
position that one system of astrology (theirs of course)
was qualitatively better than the other. I also wanted to
reduce the threat Western astrologersm ight feel about a
foreign systemi nvading their territory. If the benefitso f
Hindu astrology could be made abundantlyc lear and the
misconceptionso f Hindu astrology's complexity dis-
pelled, then everyonew ould benefit.
Fortunately,I have been fairly blessedt o witness the
fruits of my efforts in the above-mentionedm atters.R ead-
ers ofAstro-Logos find it easiert o maintainb alance,f lex-
ibility, and respect for both systemso f astrology. Fol-
lowing the publication of this book, however, I was
shockeda nd saddenedt o learn that there are a number of
Westernersl earning Hindu astrology who seek to deify
the Hindu system and, far worse, are so thoroughly ig-
norant about Western astrology as to unabashedlyd is-
miss its accurucy and profundity before testing its effi-
cacy.T hese are not, generally,p rofessionala strologers,
but members of various Eastern religions who live by
the dictateso f their gurus.T hey are individuals who rou-
tinely and quite indiscriminately glorify anything that is
Eastern,a nd ridicule or ignore anything which is West-
ern.
The irony of this dilemma is that theseW esternd evo-
tional types who seek to romantrcrzeJ yotish are entirely
unaware of the pragmatic and eclectic nature of Indian
astrologers,w ho for the most part are quite willing to
use whatever astrologicalt echniquesw ork. Many Indian
astrologersn ot only respect Western astrology but use
certain Westernt echniquesi n their practice! Further,w ere
it not for the admiration that Hindu astrologersh ave for
their Western counterparts,I might never have met my
second mentor. As told in chapter four, Ghanshyam
Jyoshi, a Bombay astrologerw hom I contactedf or a
birthchart interpretation in 1984, called all the astrolo-
gers in his city to meet me when he found out I was a
Western astrologer.I t was his friend P.M. Padia whose
talents caught my attention.A t any rate, had I foreseen
the likelihood of such arrogancef rom some Westerna s-
trologersp racticing Hindu astrologye arly on, I certainly
would have addressedth e issue in this text.
The most exciting developmenti n my work with Hindu
astrology since the publication of Astro-Logos has been
the use of astrologicalm antrasa nd yagyas.M antras and
yagyasa re techniquesw hich can improve a person'sl ife
by altering negativek arma.
Astrological mantras are Sanskrit prayers that entreat
higher evolutionary beings to remove difficulties and
problems. Sanskriti s the languageo f the Vedas,t he an-
cient Indian body of knowledgec ognizedb y enlightened
seers.I t is said to be a "name and form" language.T his
meanst hat a Sanskritw ord is actually a subtle vibration
of the object it describes.T herefore, when one chantsa
mantra to Brihaspati (the Hindu name of Jupiter), the
energy or being of Jupiter is invoked eacht ime the word
Brihaspati ts recited. Mantra chanting producesn otice-
able resultsa nd many of my clients have achievedp ro-
found benefits from their practice.
Two examples are worth mentioning. In the first, a
woman sought my astrology servicesb ecauseh er
husband'sw ell-being was rapidly, and dramatically,d e-
teriorating.T he man had lost his job, was running out of
money,a ndh is healthw as declining.M y client'sl ife was
affected in a serious way, especially since she was a
housewife, not a breadwinner.A t the time of her astrol-
ogy sessionw, hich was quite early in my career,Ir arely
prescribedm antrase xceptf or individuals alreadyo n the
spiritualp ath. I was not in the habit of mentioningm an-
tras (or yagyas)b ecauset hey are so foreign and unfamil-
iar to most people.B ut this woman's plea was so strong
that when she begged for help, I gave her the astrologi-
cal mantraf or the planet symbolizingh er problems.
Although I felt uneasyp rescribinga fifteen-wordS an-
skrit mantra for a Midwestern housewife without any
metaphysicaol r spiritualb ackground,m antrasa ndyagyas
area n intrinsic part of Jyotishthats houldn ot be ignored.
BecauseH indu astrology is a predictive, fate-oriented
system,i t must provide a solution for altering negative
influences. If difficult occurrenceso r life-threatening
periodsc annotb e changed,w hat is the point of knowing
the future? The purpose of astrology is not merely for
entertainment.T herefore,I curbedm y doubts,i nstructed
her in the chanting of her mantra, and quickly forgot the
matter.W ithin a few months, the woman called, thank-
ing me profusely,s ayingt hat her andh er husband'sli ves
had steadilya nd dramatically improved from the day she
began chanting.
Later that year, I prescribed a mantra for a man who
was suffering from a particular problem clearly related
to an afflicted planeti n his birthchart.T he man was meta-
physicallyi nclined so I readily gaveh im the properm an-
tra and sent him on his way. After chantingt he mantra
for some months, the effects were so remarkablet hat he
called to ask if I would give him anotherm antrat o help
him financially.B ased upon his birthchart,I prescribed
the Venusm antra,w hich rulest he secondh ouse( money)
of his Hindu birthchart.W hen I heardf rom him next, he
reported that his salary had doubled from $50,000 to
$ 100,000.N ow he demandedt hat I teachh im the man-
traso f all nine planets.( All nine astrologicalm antrasa re
listedi n Chapter5 .)
Astrologicalm antrass houldn ot be confusedw ith man-
trasg iven by gurust o their spirituald isciplesT. hosem an-
trasa rea lmosta lwaysp rescribedto produceh ighers tates
of consciousnes(sn irvanao r enlightenment)S. uchm an-
tras do not significantly alter worldly karma although
many spirituald evoteesm istakenlyb elieveo therwise.
While a higher stateo f consciousneses nhancesa
person'sg eneralg race,a nd causest he persont o be less
overshadowedb y difficultieso r disastersn, egativek arma
earnedf rom pastl ives returnst o highly evolved soulsa s
readily as it does to ordinary mortals.I have witnessed
this time and again in the lives of many different gurus
when analyzins their birthcharts.U nlike mantras that
producee nlightenmentt,h e purposeo f astrologicalm an-
tras is to smooth difficult periods,c urtail troublesome
occurrencesa, nde nhancep ositivea reaso f the birthchart.
Although mantrasa re powerful and effective, most
Westernersa reu nfamiliar with them or may not havet he
patienceto spendf ifteeno r twentym inutesp er day chant-
ing. Therefore,i n most casesy agyasa re more appropri-
ate.A yagya (alsos pelledy ajna) is a cerenlonyp erformed
by a Hindu priest in order to alleviatek armic difficul-
ties.D uring the vagya, the priest lights a fire, burns in-
cense,a nd throws ghee( clarified butter) into the flames
while chantinga ll nine astrologicalm antras.A 1'ag-vais