Nathan Naicker Vedic Astrology

 Paige and Jessica of the Testing the Alternative Podcast were brave enough to try out an Astrology for Therapy session recently with me, and they've opened up about their experience and views about it:  https://youtu.be/aLdcX0mG6c8?si=H1y07cDPoT7B7_n2

 When it comes to the use of zodiacs in astrology, I don't take an exclusionary or separatist approach, because from working with both #zodiacs for several years now, I have come to believe that the popular "either/or" dichotomy is a false one.  As #astrologers, I offer that we would be better served in taking a solutions-based approach with the aim of better understanding, thereby developing or evolving how we use these tools.  This is an informal talk I gave to the Association for Young Astrologers on 15 April 2018, presenting some contextual thoughts and foundational ideas around the interplay and use of the #tropical and #sidereal zodiacs.  Full video on Spica Astrology YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/eVy5qTYaumg?si=kSausflwoshtjHIo

 I had a vibrant conversation with astrologer Cassandra Tyndall from Australia about Vedic Astrology and the article I wrote for Australia's Wellbeing Astrology Magazine.  Get your digital copy here: https://bit.ly/3TPTDPz  Full video: https://youtu.be/WCTyj5gTZUE

"Our inequality materializes our upper class, vulgarizes our middle class, and brutalizes our lower class.” – Matthew Arnold, English Essayist (1822-1888). It is difficult to find a solution to inequality (with consensus) because every mind perceives inequality differently. To find a real workable solution to inequality therefore wise men have prescribed all with firstly an equanimity within oneself. And they called this state of equilibrium or equanimity Sattva, which naturally is the default state of everything as even the net flux of life is always in equilibrium. This is how Nature is. What disturbs Sattva they called Rajas (restlessness) and Tamas (inertia). To give a simple example; Tamas is not acting when one should, Rajas is not stopping when one should, and Sattva is knowing when to act and equally knowing when to stop. Or rather it may be more proper to say that Rajas creates the perception of change, Tamas creates the perception of no change (or reduces change), and Sa...

In practising reading (and adhoc translating) Sanskrit as part of studying Jyotish, I am reading some astrological traditional texts and contemplating them a bit. Here is a verse from Jātaka Pārijāta describing the effects of Śārada Yoga. स्थ्रिपुत्रबन्धुसुख रूपगुणानुरक्ता  भुपप्रिया गुरुमहीसुरदेव भक्ताः | विध्यविनोद रातिशिल तपोबलाढ्य  जातिः खधर्मनिरत भुवि शारदारव्ये || striputrabhandhusukha rūpaguṇānurakta  bhupapriyā gurumahīsuradeva bhaktāḥ | vidyavinoda ratiśīla tapobalāḍhya  jātiḥ khadharmaniratabhuvi śāradāravye || (Jātaka Pārijāta 7-145) striputrabhandhusukha - happiness of wife, son, kinsmen rūpaguṇānurakta - fond of/possessing beautiful form bhūpapriyā - favored by those who protect beings (ie. rulers) gurumahīsuradeva bhaktāḥ - devoted to (or a devoted) teacher, priest, gods (godlike) vidyavinoda - takes pleasure in knowledge ratiśīla - delightful character tapobalāḍhya - strength from austerity khadharmaniratabhuvi - involved with their whole being in duti...

Rectification refers to the process of analysis and testing by which an astrologer confirms, arrives at, or in some way determines the birth time for a person. A time of birth is an important requirement before having an astrology consultation because it allows the astrologer to look at a chart of astrological symbolism that is unique to you. This significantly improves the interpretive and predictive relevance that the astrologer is then able to extract from it for you. I require all first time clients to have a Rectification consultation as due process. In this blog post, I endeavor to explain one of my reasons for doing so and some insights I have understood surrounding this matter of "birth time". I have been working with Rectification for the last 5 years now, and while that may not appear to be a long time, I work through 2-5 charts per week in my research and testing which, over a 5 year period, comes to 450 - 1125 different charts. Actually, the number of iterations f...

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...

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...

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...

 by Paramahansa Yogananda Extracted from God Talks with Arjuna, Chapter 3. All planets and stars, for example, are in the charge of divine astral beings. The influence of man from the heavenly bodies is the result of a universal symbiosis, governed by laws upheld by these higher beings. Planets and stars of themselves have no conscious power to guide or determine the destiny of man. But as the whole universe consists of and is held in existence by Nature's creative vibratory power, each individual unit radiates a characteristic electromagnetic vibration that links it with other units in the cosmos. Depending on the interaction, these vibrations are productive of good or ill. Man is a miniature of the universe in which he lives. His basic composition - of which his physical body is merely a gross manifestation - is his astral body formed from the thoughts of God, and structured around and from the creative forces and consciousness in his spiritual eye and the subtle cerebrospinal ce...