What’s your sign? Are you a feisty Leo? Or a stubborn Taurus? Well, it turns out you may need to scrap your old horoscope – or at least make room for a new one.
In this week’s episode of The Chopra Well’s Chopra Centered, Julie Zwillich receives an astrological reading from expert Brent BecVar, M.S. Julie’s birthday is December 20. So she’s a Sagittarius, right? Actually, no. It turns out Mr. BecVar practices Vedic (or Jyotish) astrology, a form of horoscope reading that dates back to ancient Indian wisdom traditions. And it may be a lot more accurate at revealing important trends and characteristics of our lives.
What many think of as the ‘zodiac’ is based on a Western form of astrology. In lay terms, it’s the alignment of the planets at the time of your birth. The Western system uses the tropical, or moveable, zodiac, determined the by the relative, changeable position of the sun. Basically, the planetary alignment is considered in relation to the sun – hence the predominant fixation on ‘sun sign’.
The problem with this system is that the sun signs don’t actually correspond to constellations any more. They haven’t been aligned for about 1,700 years due to a ‘wobble’ in the axial spin of the earth. This is called “precession of equinoxes,” causing the alignment of the Earth with the Sun to shift about one degree every 72 years.
Vedic astrology, on the other hand, uses the sidereal, or visible, zodiac, based on the fixed position of the constellations. As the Earth turns, different constellations arise every one to two hours, so an individual’s Vedic chart is very specific. This can be applied to events, as well. “An event that’s well begun has more chance of continuing in a harmonious way,” BecVar relays. Think of your birth as an event – your entry into this world. Knowing how things started may help you understand the course your life has taken thus far. And much like a map, your chart provides a set of potential paths and qualities to help you navigate life from here on out.
Does Vedic astrology really ‘work’? As BecVar notes, astrology has been a part of every ancient wisdom tradition in human history and only began to be systematically discredited in the Middle Ages. If the fact that people have studied astrology for centuries is not enough to convince you of its efficacy, then consider the minute level of detail that makes each person’s horoscope entirely unique.
Check out this quick Vedic horoscope calculator to see what your chart looks like. To really make the most of the information and integrate your chart into your life and personal growth, you can contact Brent BecVar for a full reading. Who knows how many people share your exact birth information. We begin life under rare and special conditions. Why not make the rest of our lives just as extraordinary?
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