Vedic astrology (Jyotish)

Where it comes from. Jyotisha, “the science of light,” is one of the six auxiliary disciplines of the Veda. Its oldest text is a manual of the ritual calendar, which sets the timing of sacrifices. Natal astrology took shape there through contact with Greek astrology, in the first centuries of our era, then was set down in the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, still the reference for practice. It remains very much alive in India today, where it is consulted for a marriage, a birth or a departure.

What it draws on. The date, time and place of birth, like Western astrology, but with a different reference point: a zodiac set by the fixed stars. The gap with the zodiac of the seasons approaches 24°: most planets change sign from one astrology to the other. To this are added the 27 lunar mansions, which make the Moon the central body, and a secondary chart, the navamsa, which refines the reading. The planet at the highest degree in the chart, the Atmakaraka, is held to be the indicator of the soul.

What it is for. To read the character from their Moon, and above all to map the timing of events and phases in their life. The planetary periods divide existence into chapters of several years, each ruled by a planet. The most widely used system distributes a cycle of 120 years among nine bodies, starting from the position of the Moon at birth: one thus knows which theme governs the current period, and when it gives way to the next theme.

Do not try to superimpose your Vedic sign on your Western sign. They do not measure the same thing and need not agree.