Having studied western astrology in my youth, and noticing that it is out of synch with literal planetary positions, I decided to look rather at Jyotish, or Vedic Indian astrology and found it to be more accurate. Jyotish aligns with the astronomical or literal positions of the planets whereas western astrology is tropical or aligned seasonally with the solstices and equinoxes.
I therefore no longer recommend or use the western system of astrology, since the symbolism is useless when you realize that the planets are not where the western ephemeris says they are. The slow reverse movement of the Procession of the Equinoxes over the past 2000 years, has moved the zodiac constellation wheel out of synch by 23 degrees backwards, since the ancient astrologers used them and they were in synch.
So if you want to know where your planets were actually located at your birth, you can subtract 23 degrees from what the western system tells you. This will give you the proper situation by zodiac sign of each planet as well as your Ascendant sign which is based on your birth hour and location.
In Jyotish there is less emphasis on the sun sign, which is primary in the west, and more focus on the moon sign. Add to the that the use of Nakshatras in Jyotish, or the 27 lunar mansions, which is totally absent from the western system. The moon, being the largest luminary in the night sky, is easiest to see and thus presumably became the more important “significator” to ancient astrologers.
The moon moves exactly 13 degrees and 20 minutes every 24 hours (13 and a third degrees, since there are 60 minutes in a single degree of arc). This divides the 360 degree zodiac circle into 27 parts, one for each day of the monthly lunar cycle. Women – better than men – know how life is governed by the monthly lunar cycle. Not only our fertility and ability to conceive a child but our entire mental state is under the influence of the gravity of the moon, quite literally, like the tides of the sea.
Therefore it is natural to observe and measure the movements of the moon on a daily basis to measure its influence on our minds and bodies. This lunar movement is the most accurate clock that we have, with which to measure the timing of our daily lives. Without knowing our moon cycle, we are like a child that does not know how to tell the time. Worse than that is the western astrological system that uses a broken clock to tell the time. I’m saying this as an experienced astrologer of over 30 years studying charts.
In India today, modern families still look at the horoscopes of a couple when determining the quality of a potential marriage union. They won’t look at the sun signs but rather look at the moon sign and particularly the moon’s nakshatra or position in one of the 27 possible locations around the zodiac. This gives a more accurate insight into the personality of the individual. Western astrology is a poor imitation of the original Vedic Jyotish astrological art.
Remember that the Vedic literary references to Jyotish are still present in the original texts today, which are dated back about 5000 years. Show me any western astrologer who can claim such depth of reference, or literary backing to their speculations. At most the west goes back to Ptolemy around 2000 years ago, roughly. Thereafter, we have the Medieval alchemists and Arabic astrologers, who obtained their knowledge from the original Vedic source in India.
I have seen modern western astrologers abandon the western tropical planetary positioning, and only use the particular angles or aspects between the planets, without referring to the sign they are in. This makes their analysis geometrically accurate while removing the inaccurate zodiac sign reference from the analysis.
Add to that the need to also look at the fixed stars or constellations, and the planets alignments with them, within an orb of at most 2 degrees, to really understand the horoscope chart. Most western astrologers have little knowledge of the fixed stars. To use them accurately you have to concede to the literal original or astronomical positions of the planets in relation to the backdrop of fixed stars. The western tropical zodiac thus is again removed in these judgements, as the siderial or literal positions are used.
To find out more of the details regarding Jyotish or specifically the details of the lunar mansions known as nakshatras, I recommend any books by Bipin Behari, or the book “Nakshatra – the lunar mansions of Vedic astrology” by Dennis Harness PhD. Also any books by Dr David Frawley will be able to shed some light (pun intended) on real astrology.