The Vedanga-Jyotisha is an ancient text on Jyotisha that appears in two editions, one tied to the Rigveda and the other to the Yajurveda. The Rigveda version contains 36 verses, while the Yajurveda recension contains 43 verses, 29 of which are Rigveda verses. Sage Lagadha and sometimes sage Shuci are credited with writing the Rigveda version. The Yajurveda version, which has survived into the contemporary day with a commentary by Somakara and is the most researched form, gives no credit to any single sage.
The Jyotisha literature Brahma-siddhanta, written in the 5th century CE, outlines how to keep time and calendar by using the movement of planets, sun, and moon. To support its theory of orbits, anticipate planetary positions, and calculate relative mean positions of celestial nodes and apsides, this text includes trigonometry and mathematical equations. The text is famous for offering extremely big numbers, such as the current universe’s lifetime being 4.32 billion years.
The ancient Hindu books on Jyotisha focus solely on timekeeping, with no mention of astrology or prophecy. The majority of these ancient works deal with astronomy, albeit only at a basic level. In India, technical horoscopes and astrology principles originated in Greece and developed in the first millennium CE. The Yavana-jataka and the Siddhanta texts, written later in the medieval era, are more astrology-related.
In This Article...
What is the history of astrology in India?
Several Sanskrit translations of Greek astrology were transmitted to India in the 2nd and 3rd century ad, the best known of which was done in ad 149/150 by Yavaneshvara and versified as the Yavanajataka by Sphujidhvaja in ad 269/270.
Did the Indians believe in astrology?
In this free astrology area, you can learn about what the coming year holds for you from the perspective of a fascinating Native American.
Because man has been observing the heavens for thousands of years, astrology and astronomy have been important throughout history. One of the primary goals of man’s study of the universe must be the oracle it provides. Astrology used to be considered seriously all across the world. Many Hindus still regard Vedic astrology, or Indian astrology, to be vital when making life decisions. Today, Mayan astrology is popular all across the world, perhaps as a result of Mayan prophecies and the approaching year 2012.
In the west, though, astrology signs are increasingly popular as a fun pastime. Many of us will read our daily horoscope in a magazine or newspaper, whether we confess it or not.
Many expert astrologers today, from both east and west, have studied the relationship between the planets and man in depth, and many would agree that we and the universe have a significant relationship.
Some more modern astrologers may not believe that the planets have an impact on humans, but they do recognize that what happens in the universe mimics what happens within us.
As a result, when the sun passes through a sign in the sky, such as Cancer or Capricorn, the same type of energy is produced here on Earth. It may be triggered in humans, but it is also likely to be triggered in animals, trees, locations, and everything else on the world.
The fact that astrology has been studied throughout time and in the majority of cultures is a telling component of astrology that may influence our opinion on whether astrology is essential to man.
Astrology has always been, and continues to be, an important aspect of Native American culture and history. In the coming weeks, we’ll look at how Native American tradition and way of life have sought the guidance of the cosmos in the past, as well as currently in the twenty-first century. We’ll also look at Native American astrology and how it relates to western horoscopes and star signs.
Is astrology a Hindu religion?
1) Vedic astrology’s beginnings Vedic astrology is founded on the notion that the stars and planets have a powerful influence on our life. It is based on the Vedas, India’s oldest system of knowledge. Life is meant for spiritual advancement, according to Hindu scriptures.
Who is the astrologer’s forefather?
Alan Leo, a notable British astrologer, author, publisher, astrological data collector, and theosophist, was born William Frederick Allan (Westminster, 7 August 1860Bude, 30 August 1917). He is considered regarded as “the father of contemporary astrology” by many people.
After a period of decline at the end of the 17th century, his work sparked a renaissance of astrology in the Western world. Leo was a fervent theosophist who included many of the theosophist’s theological principles into his astrology, such as karma and rebirth. He took advantage of the Theosophical Society’s extensive international network to publish, translate, and promote his work throughout Europe and America.
Who is the astrologer’s founder?
Jones stated, “This is possibly older than any other known case.” “It’s also older than any of the written-down horoscopes from the Greco-Roman period,” he said, adding, “we have a number of horoscopes written down as a kind of document on papyrus or on a wall, but none of them as old as this.”
The discovery was presented in the most recent edition of the Journal for the History of Astronomy by Jones and StaoForenbaher, a researcher at the Institute for Anthropological Research in Zagreb.
Forenbaher told LiveScience that the crew was working near the entrance of a Croatian cave in 1999, a site well known to archaeologists and residents of the surrounding hamlet of Nakovana who simply named it “Spila,” which means “the cave.”
Nobody realized at the time, however, that the cave featured a part that had been locked for over 2,000 years. Forenbaher’s girlfriend (now his wife) dug under the rubble and discovered a broad, low passageway that ran for over 33 feet in the dark (10 meters). “The unique King Tut experience, arriving to a spot where nobody has been for a couple of thousand years,” Forenbaher said of passing down the corridor.
When Forenbaher entered the cavern, “there was a very thin limestone crust on the surface that was splitting under your boots,” indicating that “nobody had gone there in a very, very, long time,” he added.
The researchers eventually discovered that it had been blocked off in the first century B.C., presumably as a result of a Roman military effort against the locals.
The archaeologists discovered a phallic-shaped stalagmite, as well as countless drinking containers deposited over hundreds of years and something more. “These very small bits and pieces of ivory came out in the course of that dig,” Forenbaher explained, “and we didn’t even recognize what we had at the time.”
The group got to work. “It took years to piece them together, find more bits and pieces, and figure out what they were,” Forenbaher explained. They ended there staring at the ruins of the world’s oldest known astrologer’s board.
Archaeologists aren’t sure how the board got inside the cave or where it came from. The Babylonians developed their own version of horoscopes around 2,400 years ago, which is where astrology began in antiquity.
Then, around 2,100 years ago, astrology went to the eastern Mediterranean, where it became popular in Egypt, which was ruled by a dynasty of Greek monarchs at the time.
Jones explained, “It gets transformed very much into what we think of as the Greek style of astrology, which is really the present type of astrology.” “The Greek style of astrology is the foundation of astrology that spans the Middle Ages, modern Europe, modern India, and beyond.”
The ivory used to produce the zodiac images dates back to 2,200 years, just before the advent of this new kind of astrology, according to radiocarbon dating.
The location of the board’s manufacture is unknown, though Egypt is a possibility. They believe the ivory came from an elephant that was slain or died in the area around that period. Because ivory is such a valuable commodity, it would have been preserved for decades, if not a century, before being utilized to make the zodiac. These signs would have been adhered to a flat (probably wooden) surface to form the board, which could have featured other features that did not survive.
It could have been loaded onto a ship sailing through the Adriatic Sea, a vital trade route that the cave overlooks. Illyrians were the people who resided in Croatia at the time. Despite the fact that ancient writers had a negative view of them, archaeological evidence reveals that they interacted with surrounding Greek colonies and were a vital part of the Mediterranean civilization.
An astrologer from one of the Greek colonies may have visited the cave to make a prediction. A consultation in the cavern’s flickering light would have been a powerful experience, if not particularly convenient for the astrologer.
Jones commented, “It doesn’t sound like a very practical site for performing horoscope homework like calculating planetary placements.”
Another hypothesis is that the Illyrians acquired or stole the astrological board without fully comprehending its use. The board, along with the drinking containers, would have been presented as an offering to an unknown deity worshipped in the cave.
“This astrologer’s board could have shown up as an offering along with other exceptional items that were either bought or robbed from a passing ship,” Forenbaher speculated. He noted that the drinking cups discovered in the cave had been chosen with care. They were made in another country, and only a few cruder amphora storage vessels were discovered with them.
“It nearly appears that someone was bringing out wine there, pouring it, and then discarding the amphora away because they weren’t good enough for the gods, or to be deposited in the shrine,” Forenbaher said.
The phallic-shaped stalagmite, which may have formed naturally on the site, appears to have served as a focal point for these offerings and rituals held in the cavern. Forenbaher cautioned that all stalagmites appear phallic in some way, and it’s difficult to know what significance it had to the cave’s inhabitants. “It had to mean something significant,” he said.
“This is a spot where goods of local importance were deposited with some type of supernatural power, transcendental being, or whatever.”
Who was India’s first astrologer?
During the Vedic period, India’s first known usage of astrology was documented. Astrology, or jyotia, is classified as a Vedanga, or branch of the Vedic religion’s Vedas. The Vedanga Jyotisha, which contains rules for tracking the motions of the sun and moon over a five-year intercalation cycle, is the only work of this class that has survived. The dating of this work is unknown since its late style of language and composition, which is consistent with the last decades BC, albeit pre-Mauryan, contradicts internal evidence of a far older date in the 2nd millennium BC. Astronomy and astrology developed in tandem in India. During the Vedic era, the sage Bhrigu authored the Bhrigu Samhita, the first treatise on Jyotisha. Bhirgu is one of the revered Saptarishi, or seven Vedic sages, and is known as the “Father of Hindu Astrology.” The Saptarishis are also represented by the Ursa Major constellation’s seven primary stars.
The interplay of Indian and Hellenistic cultures through the Greco-Bactrian and Indo-Greek Kingdoms is linked to the documented history of Jyotisha in the subsequent newer sense of modern horoscopic astrology. The earliest extant treatises, such as the Yavanajataka and the Brihat-Samhita, come from the early decades of the Christian era. The Yavanajataka (“Sayings of the Greeks”), a versification by Sphujidhvaja in 269/270 AD of a now lost translation of a Greek treatise by Yavanesvara during the 2nd century AD under the patronage of the Indo-Scythian king Rudradaman I of the Western Satraps, is the oldest astrological treatise in Sanskrit.
The Samhita (Compilation), written on tree bark pages, is supposed to include five million horoscopes for everyone who has lived or will live in the future. The first known authors authoring treatises on astronomy come from the 5th century AD, which is considered the start of Indian astronomy’s classical period. Aside from Aryabhata’s theories in the Aryabhatiya and the lost Arya-siddhnta, there is Varahamihira’s Pancha-Siddhntika.
Who is the best astrologer in the world?
Stephen Arroyo is regarded as one of the top ten astrologers in the world, as well as being America’s best-selling author and a charismatic figure. His specialization is in psychological astrology, having previously worked as an editor, a teacher, a Polarity Therapy Practitioner, and a Counselor. He has received numerous honors and distinctions, including the British Astrological Association Astrology Prize and the United Astrology Congress’s Regulus Award, to name a few. Many aspiring astrologers regard him as the world’s No. 1 astrologer, as his publications are regarded as the “AstroBible for those still studying.” He is noted for his deep insights and predefined notions that make it simple to understand the situation, and his recommendations are both practical and humane.
Is astrology a reliable source of information?
Astrology is a collection of belief systems that assert that there is a connection between astrological phenomena and events or personality traits in the human world. The scientific community has dismissed astrology as having no explanatory power for describing the universe. Scientific testing has discovered no evidence to back up the astrological traditions’ premises or alleged effects.
What is the origin of astrology signs?
The 12 zodiac signs, with which many people are likely familiar today, were created during this Ancient Greek period.
The signs of Aries (approximately March 21-April 19), Taurus (April 20-May 20), Gemini (May 21-June 20), Cancer (June 21-July 22), Leo (July 23-Aug. 22), Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22), Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22), Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21), Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21 These Western, or tropical, zodiac signs were named after constellations and paired with dates based on their apparent relationship to the sun’s position in the sky.
By 1500 BC, the Babylonians had divided the zodiac into 12 equal signs, with constellation names that were similar to those we know today, such as The Great Twins, The Lion, and The Scales, and these were later adopted into Greek divination. These 12 signs were popularized by the astronomer Ptolemy, author of the Tetrabiblos, which became a key work in the history of Western astrology.
“Ptolemy codified the idea that there were 12 signs of the zodiac that were 30 broad, and that the sun travelled through these signs on a regular basis throughout the year,” adds Odenwald. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word “zodiac” derives from the Greek, from a term for “sculpted animal figure,” and the sequence in which the signs are normally enumerated also stems from that time period.
