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How to Choose a Personal Astrologer

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Just as one may choose a personal trainer to assist in getting started on the right approach to fitness, having your very own Personal Astrologer can be the first step in establishing an ongoing and very fruitful relationship with yourself and the people in your life, if you are prepared to work at it. When you choose your Personal Astrologer, there are a number of key things one needs to keep in mind. This is someone who is going to become important in your life, as a friendly mentor or confidant, except the only difference is that the astrologer is that friend who will tell you both the good and bad about your current situation and behaviours, and how you can start to change them for the better, keeping in mind what is likely to happen in the near future. In your screening process (whether you decide to call up a bunch of astrologers, or email them, or meet them in person), evaluate: Did this person truly listen to you? Did they understand your point of view and situation without jud

Astrology of Yoga - Part 2

When we talk about ourselves, we tend to use as reference the titles, relationships, activities, and different personages we have taken on for the sake of experience. But there is so much lack of self-knowledge beyond these things, that it is no wonder it is difficult for people to connect with and feel loved, in and of themselves without needing validation or support from others. For a truly holistic view of ourselves, we have to understand how our being manifests itself in our life. Usually, our being expressing itself in four ways: our physical body, our heart, our mental conceptions, and our energy. So, our being is the sum total of our activities, our feelings, our thoughts, and our energetic will. In this way, we can use any of these four tools to pursue and observe and eventually settle in our being or spirit. The four ways are the traditional four paths of Yoga: through action (Karma yoga), through emotion (Bhakti yoga), through reasoning (Jnana yoga), and through our energetic

Astrology of Yoga - Part 1

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Vedic tradition holds that Shiva, ever in ecstatic union (yoga), transferred the scientific methods of yoga to seven royal sages, who then spread it. Over time, the methods mutated and became so diverse that no one could discern clearly a single path amidst the mess. Sage Pantañjali collated the methods, systematized them, and wrote them down with both literary erudition and depth of inner experience. His composition is called the Yoga Sutras, and the name of the system of yoga he established became known as Raja Yoga (The Royal Path to Union), in reference to the original royal sages who received such wisdom. Yoga comes from the Sanskrit root word yuj, meaning “to yoke”, “to gather”. That state wherein all the seemingly separate parts of ourselves are united or aligned, is Yoga. Yoga is also the name given to those methods and tools that help us achieve this. Sutra means “thread”. There are many meanings for this word. In Hindu tradition, the first four castes (Brāhmaṇa, Kṣatriya, and