Spark Your Jyotish Journey With the Perfect Introductory Book

Well, the Jyotish Tutorial series is getting off the ground and I’ve had a lot of interest from some of you who are brand new to Vedic astrology.

The thing is, though, that the tutorial series is for people who already know the basics.

Still, I’m hearing from beginners that you want to be able to participate in and learn from the tutorials right along with everyone else.

To that end, I decided to recommend some materials for you that can give you a jump start.

Books are not only informative but they’re an inexpensive way to get a taste of something and see if you want to pursue it more seriously.

So I thought a few book recommendations would be most helpful.

You really only need one of these, and no prior knowledge of astrology (East or West) is required!

Here we go.

Recommended Jyotish Books for Beginners

1) Beneath a Vedic Sky by William R. Levacy

If you want a book that gets right to the point, no muss no fuss, then this is it. It has the basics without a lot of verbiage around them. If you want to get the basics quickly, then I recommend this book.

2) Astrology of the Seers: A Guide to Vedic/Hindu Astrology by David Frawley

This is my all-time favorite and the book I started with (you should see my copy; well-used and well-loved). I still refer to it often, especially for remedial measures.

If you’ve ever read any of Dr. Frawley’s books or attended his workshops, you know he is not a surface guy. His products are packed with information. He gives you both depth and breadth and is extremely knowledgeable and a highly respected expert. (It was his correspondence course that I began my jyotish journey with, and I’m so glad. It’s excellent.)

This book would take more focus and time than #1, but it’s more comprehensive and has a lot more depth to it.

If you want to learn jyotish fairly thoroughly and get a real taste for it as the sacred art and science that it is, then this is the book I recommend the most.

3) Light on Life: An Introduction to the Astrology of India by Hart de Fouw and Dr. Robert Svoboda

I love this book. I didn’t use it to learn from initially but it seems to have all the basics. Like Dr. Frawley (#2), the authors give much voice to the deep philosophy behind jyotish, yet doesn’t neglect the basics.

There is a lot of information here that I’ve not seen elsewhere, and I highly recommend this book.

4) Vedic Astrology: A Guide to the Fundamentals of Jyotish by Ronnie Gale Dreyer

This book seems to have all the basics, and I own it, but I have to admit I never use it. But as I look through it I see that it has all the basics, so I think this book would do the trick to get you up and running fairly quickly.

5) Last but not least: Path of Light Volumes 1 & 2 by James Kelleher

In contrast to #4 which I own but don’t use, I don’t even own this set of books but I have no doubt it’s excellent.

James was my main teacher/tutor/mentor and I worked one-on-one with him every week for well over a year. As a result I’ve got a big fat binder and dozens of tapes (yes, tapes!) filled with much of the same information, otherwise you can bet I would have snatched these up in a heartbeat! (And probably will, some day. ;-))

James is a well-versed expert in traditional jyotish and a delightful story-teller. He spins yarns about the mythology on which much of the jyotish symbology is based, and shares illuminating stories of his work with clients and how their charts translate into real life. What he teaches is much enhanced by his extensive knowledge gained from working full time with clients for over 20 years and his attention to what really works and what doesn’t.

He’s also done something wonderfully original and that is to organize the material (in the 2nd book) according to the areas of life. Most jyotish books go by indicators such as signs, houses, planets, etc. But this book goes by life topics such as finances, relationships, career, etc. Life-centric instead of indicator-centric. It’s the first I’ve found that does this and that in itself makes it especially attractive and super useful.

On top of all of that, James is an excellent teacher (no matter what medium). He translates the astrological jargon into practical and easily understandable concepts and his love of and respect for jyotish are infectious.

Sight unseen, I recommend these 2 books; especially the first for beginners since it’s the more fundamental of the two.

When I started learning jyotish 15 years ago, there were few introductory books available and even those were hard to find.

Now, I notice that if you do an Amazon search on Vedic astrology over 500 books are listed and many of them are introductory and highly rated by readers. So do browse around, read reviews, and find what feels right to you. If you want to know if I’m familiar with any of them or their authors, just ask me in the comments below and I’ll share what I know.

So there you go.

If you’re a quick study, you can probably pick up enough basics that you can make use of the tutorial series.

In any case, I hope you enjoy the books, and with some luck, the tutorials too!

Namasté.

Or maybe you have your own recommendations for beginners? Please share them in the comments!

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