To the western mindset a term such as ‘ancient technology’ appears a little paradoxical, as it is mostly assumed that the ancients lived in a kind of ignorant bliss, only improving their situation with the advent of modern industrialised society. This myth is quickly dispelled by spending an afternoon roaming the galleries of any major museum and studying its exhibits. Closer analysis of cultural antiquity quickly reveals how little daily existence has really changed. Technologies employed in former eras were (in some ways) just as ingenious as those of our current time. Although deprived of iPhones, combustion engines and atom bombs,4 the ancients were able to combine surprising levels of sophistication, functionality and exquisite artistry5 – all of this from the most basic and most abundant of materials.
Knowledge is quite literally power, so technologies were at times held in check through the initiation6 process – knowledge transferable only through the master/disciple relationship. Such practices often included detailed instruction in the art of astronomy, martial arts, medicine, surgery, metallurgy, chemistry, geomancy and more. Astrology was one such important technology, eventually fused with alchemy, herbalism and geomancy – its remit touching every part of human existence.
I.2 ASTR-OLOGY
Some of mankind’s earliest religious works pay tribute to the stars, the Sun and the Moon. Astr-ology7 (in one form or another) is to be found in all ancient cultures. From occident8 to orient, the worship of planetary gods often presided over a nation’s prosperity and fertility.
Today many of the world’s ‘developed’ countries rest in a state of indifference toward astrology and, just to add complexity to an already elusive subject, the east–west interpretations of this subject diverged some 1500 years ago,9 having gone their separate ways over the course of time.
Though essentially rooted in the same star-pool, alternative astrological schools (such as Greek, Roman, Persian and later Arabic10) imprinted their own interpretations upon the constellations and planets, eventually culminating in what today could be called Western Astrology. This specialisation of astrology was largely precipitated by different cultural beliefs – however, dislocation of the western zodiac was caused by a phenomenon known as precession, a technical term used to describe the Sun’s apparent backward movement through the signs of the zodiac. Observable only over long periods, precession was perhaps understood by Indian astronomers (by inference) but is more broadly accepted as an earlier Greek discovery.11
Meticulous cataloguing of the Sun’s position along the ecliptic revealed it to be in a state of slow precession, shifting its stellar background at a rate of approximately 50 arc seconds yearly. Over a period of some 2160 years12 this creeping motion traverses a full zodiacal sign (30°). Over the course of 25,920 years the Sun completes an entire lap of the zodiac. Any use of compensatory calculations allowing for this solar motion is said to favour a sidereal zodiac, that is to say, it is based upon the fixity of stars, preserving a secure reference point from which to commence the zodiac. Conversely, calculation based on the Sun’s current position (at the spring equinox), marking the zodiac’s starting point, is said to favour a tropical zodiac, or – to put it another way – an astrology that is eternally tied to Earthly seasons.13
In light of the powerful and unique symbology associated with each of the twelve constellations (within which reside the zodiacal signs), it seems unlikely that a transitory zero degree would endure as a popular means of astrological calculation. This in effect leads to the displacement of one sign every 2160 years, eventually usurping all signs during one full precessionary cycle, also termed ‘A Great Year’. During this great year the Sun is effectively framed against every constellation and at every point is held to represent 0° Aries. Any system of astrological measurement that adheres to this methodology is based upon a tropical zodiac that gives precedence to the declination of the Sun – a kind of ‘Solar-ology’, if you will.
In our current century, discontinuity of sign and constellation is not so great, but for future generations the gap will inexorably widen. Tropical astrology has long acknowledged this fact, working now with an abstract zodiac that moves independently of the stars. It should also be noted here that, in its favour, the tropical model does provide a commonly agreed exactness of tropical degree as well as dispensing with the need to recalculate any accrued degrees of precession, which as we will see in Part I is far from being agreed upon.
In contrast to a tropical model, Jyotish is a sidereal astrology that aligns itself to the actual stars and therefore requires constant adjustment to counter the slow march of precession. Ayanāṃśa14 (the name given to its corrective value) may be applied to any tropical computation to rectify the stellar background to reflect its true state, for any time or date in question.
Astrology is a highly resilient and adaptive system (whichever variation one finds most favourable), managing to stay current to the needs of successive generations. Experimentation of techniques, particularly by those who favour the tropical model, has seen a strong infusion of Jyotish in the last decade. This in part has come from numerous written works on Jyotish by accomplished western astrologers, or those who have sought to enrich their predictive skills by integrating Jyotish.
Typically, many new Vedic recruits are drawn to the use of its lunar Nakshatras (see Chapter 26). Although there are rich lunar interpretations in oriental astrology,15 these are also to be found in the western tradition – although an intimate knowledge of their use and indications has withered over the centuries.16
I.3 JYOTISH
Jyotish might be translated as ‘science of starlight’ (or ‘knowledge of starlight’). India’s traditional astrology is but one of a number of profound Vedic sciences attempting to deal with the true nature of existence. There are references to various types of celestial phenomena, including planets and stars within the pages of the Vedas17 (India’s oldest writings). Whilst some of these texts detail astute astronomical observations, others delve deeply into the very fabric of the universe, often through the medium of astrology. Vedic texts make little distinction between astrology and astronomy, seeing each as an integral part of the whole. By providing a means to divine future events, honour the gods or confer appropriate times to perform sacrificial offerings, Jyotish often incurs the epithet ‘the eyes of the Vedas’; that is, a means by which we are able to see and comprehend what the Vedas attempt to reveal.
Any would-be student hungry for Vedic knowledge is first confronted by a study of its various limbs, known as Shadaṅgas. These six limbs are likened to parts of a living organism called Vedapuruṣa, each indispensable for the maintenance of the whole and each intimately connected. These are delineated as: eyes (Jyotish/vision), nose (Shiksha/phonetics),