How Can Jyotish Help You?

So now that we know what Jyotish is, let’s look at the myriad ways it can be applied to your life. This is an overview and I will elaborate in future installments.

Tremendous information is revealed by your “natal chart”. You supply your date, time, and location of birth, and the snapshot of planetary positions as seen from that location is calculated. The information that can be extracted from this one chart alone is mind boggling, and comprises the following categories.

Underlying Tendencies

– Psychology: This includes how you take action, what kinds of things excite and fulfill you, your inclinations and hang-ups. You may think you know all this already, but even practicing psychologists have told me they’ve gotten important new insights from this.

– Health: This includes the strength of your constitution, i.e. how likely you are to become ill or have injuries, as well as how able you are to recover. It also shows which areas of your body are likely to be affected and in what manner. This is helpful for knowing which areas to attend to, or what type of recovery you can expect if you’re already experiencing health issues.

– Career: This includes your aptitudes and inclinations, and in which areas you will most likely find success and fulfillment. Many who are considering a career change reap great benefit from this.

– Financial: This includes the extent of your wealth and how it’s acquired, along with debts and expenses. This is very useful for making financial decisions of all types.

– Relationship: This includes primary, committed, one-on-one relationships such as spouses or business partners, as well as relationships with parents, siblings, children, extended family, friends, co-workers, pets, etc. Your chart even shows information about their lives, in case you’re concerned about them. Your likelihood of being in a certain type of relationship (such as a marriage or having children) is revealed, as well as what type of experience it will be for you and how it’s likely to play out.

When focusing on one particular relationship, the chart of the other person is often used with your natal chart to get valuable insight into the relationship dynamics, and practical information about how to best operate for mutual benefit.

– Spiritual: This includes what types of practices you will most enjoy and from which you will gain the most benefit on your way to getting to know your inner Self.

The Unfolding

But what about timing? An integral part of Jyotish is the use of “dashas”, or planetary periods. They’re great not only for getting a feel for the longer rhythms of your life, but are especially powerful for zeroing in quite precisely on shorter term events. Some people like to look in detail at just the coming year, for example. Importantly, Jyotish includes remedies to help redirect difficult energies and to enhance those that are helpful.

Other Special Uses

– Question Charts: Another amazingly useful and popular application of Jyotish is “prasna”, or a question chart. This is done when you have one burning question and would like some information, usually to help make a decision. Virtually any question can be asked and all the energies surrounding that issue are revealed.

– Auspicious Moments: Also popular is “muhurtha”, or choosing an auspicious moment for beginning an important endeavor. This is used to enhance the outcome of events such as marriage, beginning a business, buying a home, etc.

– Locational Influences: If you are trying to decide where to live, or want insight into why certain locations seem to accentuate particular experiences, locational charts can be calculated. These show how your experiences will vary in different locations. They also show what your experiences with others in a particular area will be like (including businesses such as publishers, consultants, institutions, etc.)

Patricia Foy is a practicing Jyotishi, certified by and a founding member of the American Council of Vedic Astrology. For more information or to schedule a confidential consultation, please contact her directly.