My belief in Vedic Astrology
Correlating your lifes events based on an interpretation of the solar systems for 1000's of years,
Growing up in India, astrology was common place. Almost every child born in India has a birth chart and booklet prepared for them. I have even had mine framed and it hangs in my living room in San Francisco.
This article has been written with collaboration with my friend and a Vedic astrologer, Madhavi Rathod.
Unlike Western astrology, Vedic astrology is a lunar based system. The placement of your Moon is given heightened importance over your Sun sign. The Moon represents the emotions, which ultimately are a driving force in our lives. The Moon stays in a zodiac sign for 2 ½ days and its fluctuating nature can be likened to that of our minds.
If you were to ask someone in India what their sign was, their response would undoubtedly be the zodiacal constellation in which their Moon is placed.
To further differentiate individuals, Vedic astrology utilizes the concept of nakshatras or constellations. The 360° arc of the zodiac is broken into 27 nakshatras of 13°20” (thirteen degrees and 20 minutes) each. Each nakshatra has a corresponding symbol, deity, personality traits, life themes, and career significations. The use of nakshatras allows for specific characterization of an individual and makes for more accurate predictions.
The placement of the planets in Vedic astrology shifts back 24° degrees, or usually one sign, from their placement in Western astrology. This is because Vedic astrology utilizes the sidereal (based on the stars) zodiac whereas Western astrology uses the Tropical (based on the Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn) zodiac. Due to the anomalies of the earth’s rotation on its axis, it moves back a few seconds of arc each year when it returns to 0° Aries. While this is known to Western astrologers, it does not account for this difference in its calculations. This has accounted for a 24° offset over thousands of years.
Ritu has an Aries rising or Ascendant (indicated by the “1” and “As”) with Jupiter, Sun, and a retrograde Mercury (in this program retrograde planets are underlined). He has Venus in Taurus. Interestingly, he has used the name “Indian bull” for various social media sites. North node Rahu in Gemini, Moon in Libra, South node Ketu in Sagittarius, Saturn in Aquarius, and Mars in Pisces. This is an exceptional chart in many ways, given that 6 of the 9 planets are strong. This is rare to find. There are multiple combinations for rise in life and wealth.
Another factor which differentiates Vedic astrology from other systems is the use of the dasha system, or planetary cycles. Each individual undergoes planetary cycles for each of the nine planets, from birth to death. Each cycle is of varying lengths. During each cycle, we may predict what an individual will experience based on the placement of that planet in the natal chart as well as where the planet is currently transiting in the sky. Vedic astrology utilizes the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and the nodes Rahu and Ketu in its calculations. It does not utilize the outer planets at all. These nodes are not the same as the nodes used in Western astrology.
I was born into a Mars cycle. With my rising sign Aries being ruled by Mars and having Mars in the 12th house of hospitalization and isolation, I suffered from childhood bronchitis.
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From age 1 – 19, I was in the cycle of Rahu, the North node. Rahu has to do with questing and ambition and insatiable appetites. In my birth chart, Rahu is in a nakshatra that has to do with searching for one’s identity, going off on one’s own, as well as the symbolism of tears and transformation. Growing up, I was quite intelligent and excelled in school but got into lots of fights as well and was a constant source of stress for my parents. On the other side I was dabbling in photography, winning the coveted Amateur Royal Photography prize, two years in a row, and theater, where I became known for light design. Rahu and Ketu are known as “shadow planets” since they are nodes of the Sun’s path around the ecliptic. They represent that which cannot be seen and can be larger than life.
At age 19, I started a 16 year Jupiter cycle. Jupiter is the planet of wisdom, teaching, discernment, and education. Jupiter is in my first house or ascendant and that indicates a person who is well-liked, charismatic, youthful, and the placement brings the qualities of Jupiter to their daily life. I got my PhD in mathematics in 1988, and never completed the final thesis. At that time I was in a Jupiter major cycle and a Mercury minor cycle. Both are the planets which represent education in Vedic astrology. Both are placed in my first house together, so that emphasizes the role of learning in my life. Mercury provides the qualities of analysis, and calculation and intellectual capacities.
I also have this combination in my chart known as a Saraswati yoga. In Vedic astrology, the word yoga is used to denote a combination of planets. Saraswati is the goddess of wisdom, learning, knowledge, music, and the arts. This gives a person a gift of studying. My Sun and Mercury also form a combination for intelligence in my first house (which represents the head). Both are very strong in my chart, and the Sun represents the soul and Mercury is the intellect. I have tested well above the 180 on the IQ exams. I’ve also been a lifelong learner and one of my practices is to read at least two hours a day. I love collecting quotes.
After completing my education, I went on to work in global sales at a software company in India. The placement of Jupiter in my career chart showed a correlation with foreign places.
Vedic astrologers often utilize the placement of Saturn to make predictions about what a person will experience. Since they don’t utilize the outer planets (Pluto, Uranus, and Neptune), Saturn is the slowest moving of the 12 planets. Because Saturn spends about 2.5 years in a sign, it’s able to give the most long lasting results. At 29.5, I had my Saturn return. This is when Saturn comes back to the place that it was in your natal birth chart. It’s a powerful time of change in a person’s life in both Vedic and Western astrology. I attended a global transformational seminar in India at that time. Saturn is placed in my 11th house of groups and communities and I became very involved with the work of this group and continue to be active with them to present day.
My participation in this seminar fueled the thought of wanting to come to America. Saturn also represents foreigners and foreign places. So, I moved to the U.S. 6 months later. At that time, Jupiter had moved to my 7th house, which often represents a place far away from one’s home.
I worked for a small software company in Sacramento for a year and then another in San Mateo, which I helped to expand. At that time, I was still in my Jupiter major cycle and the minor cycle of Moon. They formed a combination for rise in status in my chart. The Moon represents the public, and I was born on a full Moon. Astrologically, this is considered to be auspicious. Given this configuration, I became increasingly involved in working with the public, often the masses, over years. My Moon is in a nakshatra which has to do with design, structure, and order. I had always been interested in being the architect of my universe, and began to apply this thinking more and more in my work. Like the shiny, bright Moon, I gained recognition for my achievements. The company was acquired in 1997 and I ran sales and operations.
My 16 year Jupiter cycle ended in 1999. As any Vedic astrologer will tell you, any change in planetary cycles is accompanied by major changes in one’s life. In 1999, I began my 19 year Saturn cycle. That year, Saturn was in my first house and not very strong in the heavens, but it indicated a period where I’d work very hard to achieve personal success. In my birth chart, Saturn is in a house that also indicates money from one’s career. In 2000, I raised $60 million for the company and in 2001, I raised $40 million.
By 2001, Saturn has moved to a position in the sky which often indicates a relocation, and I bought a house in Tiburon. In 2002, I went into a smaller Mercury cycle and the company was acquired and I joined a well known software consulting company. There’s even a chart for vehicles in Vedic astrology. In that chart, I have a strong Saturn and Mercury, as well as in my natal chart, and with Saturn’s movement in the sky at the time, I began acquiring vehicles. At one point, I owned 7 cars. In 2004, Saturn moved to a place in my chart that indicated relocation, and I moved to a house in San Francisco.
That job lasted three years until I switched my minor planetary cycle again to Ketu (the South node). The nodes have to do with ambition, unusual and larger than life activities. I wanted to do something different and be more entrepreneurial.
I founded a chain of dog hotels and raised $2 million. At that time, Ketu was in a house in my chart which indicated pets as well as service. I raised $8 million in 2007. By 2008, Saturn had moved into a placement which involved creativity and teaching. I left the hotel chain but remained on the Board of Directors.
In 2009, I began a revolutionary email coordination company. I had entered into a new sub-cycle of the Sun. The Sun illumines everything around us and gives order to the universe due to its constancy. This was a method for people to become more focused. The beginning of this venture also coincided with a significant Saturn movement, Saturn had entered a position which signified the start of 7.5 period associated with transitions and transformation, and life’s biggest lessons. This is something we all experience about every 28 years. It’s based on Saturn’s position relative to the Moon in our natal chart. It’s known in Vedic astrology as our Sade Sati (literally “7.5 years”). Things became more challenging for me financially when this period started. Saturn moved again last year and triggered a time of partnerships for me. I began a one year a partnership with a venture firm. It was a time for re-valuating partnerships and forming new agreements. While it was a time of great creativity, it also had its share of emotional upheavals. Saturn was in the same sign as my Moon. The Moon represents the emotions in Vedic astrology, and when Saturn is with it by transit, it can create a feeling of mental heaviness for the person during that period.
It’s been helpful to know that this is a temporary cycle. With the use of Vedic astrology, I’ve been able to look at my past planetary cycles and see how they directly correlated with the events in my life – the highs and the lows. And just as I use my software for planning, it’s another tool which can help me optimize situations and events.
