Answered: Why are stars and planets said to affect my life?

In my previous articles (Part I and Part II), I have explained the concepts of Tropical and Sidereal Astrology. I have also explained why there are just 12 constellations along the zodiac, and why there will be no other constellation that could be a part of it. While the mathematical basis is understood, there are some very common questions addressed to Astrology that need to be answered.

Before I begin with the questions, I want to emphasize that I am no authority on this subject, neither am I an expert. But using mathematics, logic and known modern science, it isn’t very difficult to know the value and basics of the science of Astrology.

Why is only the zodiac belt considered as Rashi (constellations or signs)? There are so many constellations above and below and all around the Earth everywhere. Why aren’t they part of any predictions?
It is true that there are several constellations in space. If you see the image below, you will understand. The sky is full of stars and obviously there are already known 88 of them and maybe millions or billions more. But for zodiac or Rashi, only the 12 are considered. This is because the path of the sun (Ecliptic) as seen from the Earth passes via only the zodiac band of constellations, consisting of the 12 constellations and hence called Rashi.

Why are only selected stars considered as Nakshatras and not the others?
The reason for this is also the same as above. The stars that fall on the ecliptic i.e. the path of sun as seen from the earth, are the only ones considered as Nakshatra i.e. 27 of them. This will be clear from the image below.

Why is the ecliptic so important?
I am sure you are wondering by now that why the ecliptic is given so much importance. You already know well by now that ecliptic is the apparent path traced by the sun as seen from the Earth. But the reason why only stars along the ecliptic are considered as important is because of the importance of ecliptic itself. It is the fundamental plane on which the entire solar system makes its movements. The solar system is more or less flat and orbits of the main planets considered in astrology lie nearly on the same plane (Check out the image below). This ecliptic is close to unmoving against the background stars because the stars are also moving at nearly the same pace in circle around the ecliptic pole. Across the ecliptic is the band that we see when we look up to the sky. If you remember, this is one of the shows you must have seen in planetariums.

Top view and side view of the planetary movements on the Ecliptic Plane (©By Lookang many thanks to author of original simulation = Todd K. Timberlake author of Easy Java Simulation = Francisco Esquembre – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15643598, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15643600)

What procedure do astrologers follow to make predictions?
“Astrology is based on astronomy to a great extent; in that, the astrologers need to know the correct positions of the planets at any given time, as well as the correct positions of the zodiacal fixed star signs in relation to any place on earth at any given time. Once the correct positions of the signs and planets are known, the astrologer then constructs charts representing these positions, and using the astrological science, studies the charts and can be make quite a wide range of conclusions about the moment the chart was cast for. Charts are cast based on an exact moment at an exact place on the Earth.” These are lines from the introduction of a very basic book on Astrology by Dr Ved Prakash Shastri. This is giving an idea of the basic procedure. This tells us that the basic structure of the universe around you at the moment of your birth is the skeleton on which your life will be based.

How do stars and planets affect my life?
The previous answer leads me to the question “how”. I am taking the reference of Suriya Siddhanta here, which explains the Indian astronomy and the basis for astrology. The metrics used in it are ecliptic coordinates, i.e. all calculations are performed based on the ecliptic plane, that would encompass the entire solar system and maybe beyond, not just the Earth. These coordinates were used by modern astronomers as well, but were replaced by celestial coordinates i.e. based on equator of the Earth, when telescopes were invented, for ease of calculations. But the metrics used in Vedic astrology is still based on ecliptic coordinates. Your personality, decisions, circumstances, relationships, strengths, weaknesses, action, reaction and so on depends on the environment in which you exist. Your environment is the people around you, your position on the Earth, the Earth itself, the position of the Earth in the solar system, and consequently the solar system itself and so on. Indian astronomy has created a complex mathematical model for the universe surrounding the Earth based on ecliptic coordinates, which have been proven to be precise when appropriately converted to modern systems. Mathematical models are a successfully proven scientific method for prediction in different applications. This mathematical model will help in evaluating the real world circumstances that will be created on the Earth at precise space-time coordinates, and consequently, the circumstances of your environment shape your personality, decisions, and whole life.
This complex system created using mathematics, logic, physics, psychology and related interdisciplinary sciences forms the complete basics of astrology, and requires a lifetime of dedication to understand completely.

Why is the system of Vedic Astrology created with reference to the stars when the entire Universe itself is moving?
We know that there is nothing absolute about space time coordinates. There are no absolute positions anywhere in this universe simply because there can’t be. Every position or time is measured with reference to something. Hence, it is important to create a system which includes all elements that will be used for predictive modelling with reference to a set of elements that are relatively fixed in order to create a fixed reference point. Readers may refer to the Theory of Relativity (General Relativity and Special Relativity) given by Einstein for further reading on this subject.

Why are we not using only the Earth itself for measurements? Wouldn’t it make our model simpler if we constrict our space to the known world?
Constricting to only Earth for modelling would be vastly inaccurate. This is because the processes on the Earth are entirely dependent on the Sun and the Moon. The Sun and the Moon would be affected by their positions with respect to the ecliptic, and neighbors or nearby processes, and so on. This complex system of interdependent processes has been consolidated into one mathematical model that encompasses calculative astrology. This further extends into predictive astrology using the third component of mathematical modelling – prediction.

Important note

I had mentioned earlier about Suriya Siddhanta using ecliptic coordinates for measurements. The reason for modern western astronomers rejecting Indian astronomy is that they are working on the presumption that Suriya Siddhanta uses celestial coordinates (polar coordinates). This presumption is based on the very famous translation of Suriya Siddhanta done by American author, Ebenezer Burgess in 1860. This mistake has been pointed out by several Indian authors and you can click here to read a brilliantly done research work on this subject. Raja Ram Mohan Roy, author of the aforementioned research work, correctly points out “It is surprising that despite the emphatic declaration by Indian astronomers that they were using ecliptic coordinates, no one has challenged the prevailing view that Indian astronomers were using polar coordinates. First, the information provided by Indian astronomers has been incorrectly interpreted and then that false interpretation has been used to claim that Indian astronomers were inept and did not know how to measure the positions of stars and planets.“

I feel that the problem with Astrology is that it has been promoted in the wrong light. A straightforward fact has been presented as it is, but the meaning derived from it is not intended to be what it is.

Fact	Projected conclusion	Actual Conclusion
Astrology studies celestial bodies and predicts events and life structure on the Earth.	Planets and stars affect our lives.	Celestial bodies provide the mechanism to study our circumstances based on real world modelling.

The only way to gain knowledge is by accepting facts as they are and then using our brain to analyze them. But the world is used to gaining knowledge on the basis of how materialistically successful a person is, rather than their intellectual success. In the context of astrology, this has resulted in incapable testing methods and subjects used by the modern scientific community to verify astrology. This subject deserves an article of its own. So stay tuned here for the final article of this series where I will elaborate on the scientific validation tests conducted on astrology throughout history till date.

The truth be told – unless someone achieves a professional degree or a public name, nobody bats an eye to the intellectual superiority of that person. Point to ponder?

Be mystified! Be detoxified! Be inspired! Be Priya-fied!

Cover Image credits – ©Image by WikiImages from Pixabay