Ancient Hindu Astrology for the Modern Western Astrologer

by James T. Braha

"Ever since my first journey to India I have desired to share the knowledge I was fortunate enough to receive. I have also felt a need to dispel some rather major misconceptions, the main one being the fact that Hindu astrology is extraordinarily difficult. This is not true, as will soon hopefully be revealed. Although I have always been most fascinated with astrology because of the philosophical implications and revelations which can be extracted. I have done my best to keep philosophy from this work, as that is not my present purpose. It is my intention only to present Hindu astrology in a way that it deserves to be presented, which is long overdue -- a way which western astrologers can understand and utilise, and which will clear away the mystery and finally put into perspective the enormously complex techniques which make up the bulk of most textbooks on the subject. Having worked with both Hindu and western systems, it is my experience that the two greatly complement each other and together form the basis for a complete and profound astrology." -- taken from the Introduction.

Genres: Astrology, Nonfiction

350 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1986

Reviews

[Salvatore Familia]

Seeking to present Hindu philosophy in a way which Western astrologers can understand and utilize, the author of this work argues that Hindu and Western systems greatly complement each other and together form the basis for profound astrology.

[Kent P Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

the book is precisely detailed and illustrated in detail from Hindi & sanskrit writings, if i am correct, into the Western Mind-English. The ancient Hindu languages do not translate well into English and not having a background in the geometry and math of this brilliant writer i am a little lost and dont know where to start. I would like it if he wrote a workbook beginning with our planets and their alignment on our own birthdays and allowed us to skip the complex math. Overall, it is not a book for beginners and I would say its an advanced text for those familiar with both the Eastern and Western Mind. it is a book rich in ancient wisdom, but without a guru-mentor, i am honestly, lost. I would love to see a you tube video introduction to the planets for us, who find it difficult to visualize the charts and their significance. For example, on page 47, it states "Planetary powers are an extremely basic and important part of hindu astrology and must be memorized. Until this is done, the table above should be kept in sight when analyzing any horoscope." The significance of the planet and houses it rules, seem to vanish for me, as I am not visual, yet auditory. Negative effects, as Western astrologers notice, are not even evident, nor used in Hindu astrology. So, it takes a shift from left to right brain to process, as we in the West believe in negatives and in many ancient Tibetan languages there is no such beast as the "negative mind" ergo, no translation is valid, so we must restructure our the negative and that is an issue as we are trained in Western schools to thus think. the "moolatrikona, or 1st triangle, has no parallel in Western astrology, so we must learn some new concepts and unlearn what we believed in our previous training. Its a comprehensive book, but not for beginners due to most of us, an inability to shift from the traditional methods and logic and even terminology that we have been saddled with. I appreciate the time and effort, but language and syntax sometimes, unless we can move beyond the conceptual, hog-ties us into a static state. This book is too dynamic for me, yet for many, especially, the Eastern mind, would be very valuable.

[Alexis · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting introduction to Vedic Astrology. I especially like the notion of the nodes of the moon representing the head and tail of a dark serpent figure ruling our subconscious, gives a very symbolic outlook upon astrological ideas.

[Darklysewn · Rating 4 out of 5]

this books explains in detail how we use hindu astrolgy in the western society. and easier read than many i have tried in the past.