Chakras - Introduction

ॐ नमः शिवाय!

Nature gave some or other form of defence to every living thing on this Earth, you can take the smallest creature or the largest one, and you will find that every animal is equipped with the required Intelligence quotient(IQ) and Emotional Quotient(EQ) to fend for itself in this ever competitive Earth plane, particularly those animals which are part of the food chain, even a small snail is having excellent IQ and EQ, and all these animals use these features 24/7 mostly to survive.

All moving fauna and flora has atleast sense of touch, which means they feel the external stimulation and eventually to defend themselves must feel pain, including Lobsters. 

Human being (Homo Sapiens Sapiens) is the only living thing which is given the capacity to play GOD,  few lucky one's get a clue from the nature because of their past sadhana in their previous life, or/and they get additional help from their spiritual parents, otherwise most have to figure it out from some external source, like a Guru, Teacher, Coach, Friend, Relative, Books, Internet, Religious places, Clubs etc. etc.

The idea is every human cames with a super computer inside them which unfortunately comes disconnected for their own good, so that you can forget all your past experiences from all your previous lives and start afresh, but the problem is before one even comes to known of it, it is often too late, and one might find himself or herself already standing at the gateway of inevitable another birth, which can be anything from a critter to an evolved human. 

Seers from the past have called it "self realization", and it has to be done by yourself, there is no shortcut, someone who has already done it can show you the way up to some point, but after that point it is all your endeavor.

So one has to realize self, once you realize your SELF, it will guide you what to do in this life, for simple understanding let us imagine that this Earth on which we live is an examination centre where every soul with comes with a karma baggage, the Agends is simple:

1) Reduce the baggage of at least do not increase its weight,
2) Important one is realize your SELF and leave to its next destination, 

And remember this, what ever you do on this Earth, to live, eat, sleep, mate, procreate, earn, etc, all will only bind you further to this examination centre and not directly help you in anyway to realize your SELF, :-) which also means more you dwell on these things more you are moving yourself away from the actual purpose of coming here.

It is like you have reached the examination center but you got entangled in all the unnecessary things with other examinees and you more or less forget to prepare for the examination leave alone even attempting it.

And after many years when you are done with all the stimulations of the Earth, you have few years left but unfortunately because of your carelessness or over indulgence your body is too frail or not suitable to go through the tough process of SELF realization, which also means you wasted your another precious life, so all you can do is wait for another human life and there is no guarantee you will get one, because it depends entirely on your karma, both bad and good.

Many times you will hear, God gives us this life, God gave us this and that, sorry, :-) God does not give you anything, God is just a silent spectator as long as you are not self realized, GOD comes in a total reality once you are self realized, which means you get connected to your super computer, so don't waste your time talking, just take the dip towards self realization, first step towards self realization is detachment from all the worldly stimulations, once  you are on this path, THE GOD through its perfect mechanism will reach out to you and then guide you at every single nook and corners, so it is not GOD, it is you who chose this life, it was you who was responsible for your situation, and it was you who created the hell or heaven on this Earth, and it was you who revisited it, which means If you are creating hell, it is you who will reach there in your future lives, same way If you are creating heaven, again it is you who will enjoy it in your future lives, God has nothing to do with all this, God is beyond all this.

Bad karma, many times over you might qualify only for as a critter, and there are 84,00,000 yoni's. (Yoni is a female sexuality) scriptures say you might as well be born as a rock, which has so little consciousness that it can just get matter, and it stays there for millions of years waiting for some seer to at least sit on it, when it gets released from its karmic trap, :-) now look around all the mountains or stones or rocks around you. :-)

Good Karma, let us say there is one individual, who was very good to everyone, very charitable, very priest like, and never committed any sin, but he or she did nothing towards SELF realization, :-) so it is like, you came to an examination centre, and did all that I just explained and did not even write your exam, so one thing your good karma qualifies you for a good comfortable life in some heaven, :-) which can be on this Earth only, and as all good things never last for ever, he or she m ight come to a point all that good karma is over and they are back to square one, and as your Self Realization remains unattended, so you will have to work on that all over again, like this people have come and gone millions of times. :-)

For SELF realization your negative and even positive karma baggage has to be ZERO, I would say keep it little towards negative side so that you can hold on to your human body which is very essential, it would work like an anchor. :-)

Ways for SELF realization?.

Though there are many ways, 112, Kundakula awakening is one way which is a sure shot, it can be followed as a protocol and once the process is understood, one can just follow the steps and reach at the highest point and after that it is your karma, and help from the other side, but with it, you can at least reach at the gateway and wait for your approval from the other side, and once done, you can choose your next life If one is needed for further sadhana, so that you can resume your sadhana from where you left off, with out wasting time, so it becomes very important for such people to create and establish certain centers for people like them, who can carry out their sadhana with out any material world pressures or worrying about paying bills etc, :-) and it so unfortunate that no government is doing anything in this direction, even a country like India where this process has been a normal part of the culture no government has done anything.

Then, the problem with people who have worked on this is, they do not know what worked for them, as it needs lots of observation, remembering, memory, and then many might not be able to tell the process, they just remember one thing the state of being SELF. :-)

So the result is they are not able to replicate or help others doing what they have done for themselves, and when they talk about things they know or they understand, millions flock expecting they will get something out of it, sure people might get blessings to live a better life in this Earth (Examination centre) :-) but it will not help them towards SELF realization, it will have to be done by your self and by every single one of them, otherwise it is just another visit to the examination centre. 

See what nature had given us:

First thing that comes to any one's mind is Brain, then it's ability to use natural resources, ability to create artificial appendages, and of course using all these we have created our own picture, in which we do not allow any other living thing to move freely.

Many humans believe that we do not have any instinct, or ability to grasp the changes in nature, way in advance, like most animals do, and many humans do not accept the fact that there is a force which guards this Earth and maintains a balance, every human or for that matter every living thing on this Earth has a role to play and has a equal right to share the available resources.

It should be like, you reach the examination centre, prepare for the exam, (Self Realization), then write your exam, and move on to the higher planes for further evolution, and leave the examination centre in its best possible condition so that all future souls can do the same, but take a look what we have done to it, we are fighting with each other to turn this examination hall into our permanent resting area and we want it for only our people, who might look like us, Caucasians are leading in this endeavour, Chinese, Muslims, Christians, Jews, Blacks everyone is doing this in their own way.

If you take a look at us humans, we have an advantage of highly developed upright spine and an excellent balancing instrument to keep it in balance on two feet's, no other animal can actually match this ability, the upright spine is connected to a very advanced and recent brain, this brain had already shown its wonders, though this achievement is minuscule when you see the time and size of universe, had we used our other hidden features, may be we could have achieved many folds than this, that means we will have to play our role as nature wants us to play, which would also mean we have to respect every living thing on this earth plane for its space and resources.

What are these hidden features ?, well if you see the animals, they live and survive only because they are in danger almost 24/7, so their senses are maintained and updated to the best and kept recent, but in case of humans this department suffers like it is infected with perennial cold, many of us can't even hear properly not because we lack the ability but because we are so much lost in our picture (Read shell) that we do not have time to look around, or to check if any dangers are lurking around, so the end result is we get killed like sitting ducks, the senses are used for entertainment and other requirements for maintaining or creating our own picture.

The next thing is our mind, which has the capacity to interact with the nature not for mere survival but for maintaining it, but we have turned our mind in to a uncontrollable, most spoiled brat and we have pampered this brat so much that it does not listen to us any more, instead we listen to it, mind needs same attention as a kid needs to grow up in to a mature and responsible individual, many adults are so obsessed satisfying this spoiled brat that they do not have time to even think about nature, so, physically they might have counted 70 winters but mentally the mind remains a spoiled child, how to control this brat and keep it in your control, I have given a brief description in Mysticism Part -I, once your mind is in control and it is no longer a monkey, but a medium that will take you to deep bowels of your inner worlds. (7 worlds connected with 7 Chakras) 

Let us see what else the nature has given us, the Upanishads mention about the nadi's, nadi's are subtle channels through which the prana or the life force flows, there are total of 72,000 nadi's and out of main 14 nadi's, three are most important, Shushmana, Ida and Pingala.

The main nadi is called Chitra nadi with in the Shushmana, it connects the Brahmadvara at the base of the spine with the Brahmarandhra at the apex of the skull, where lord Shiva resides in his abode, deep in meditation, unconcerned, un-manifested, this nadi is a secret tunnel connected to the master of this nature, next to this is two secondary nadi's Pingala and Ida.

Pingala connects the right nostril with the Muladhara chakra, and Ida nadi connects the left nostril with the Muladhara chakra, so the three Nadi's Shushmana, Pingala, and Ida unite at two points, one at the Muladhara chakra, the point is called Yukta Triveni, Shakti resides here, the sole cause for all creation, this place is between the anus and the sexual organs, in males it is a clear flat area, but in females it is occupied by female Yoni, this is the place where the energy is hidden, it lie's there like a coiled three and half circles around the Swayambu linga at the base of the spine i.e. the kundalini, the serpentine power or energy and it closes the Brahmadvara with its head and holds its tail in its mouth, it remains dormant, un-manifested, this is the status of un-awakened kundalini energy, to awaken it, one has to practice Yoga.

The three nadi's unite behind the bridge between the two eyes, near the third eye, the Ajna chakra, also called as Mukta Triveni after this point only Shushmana nadi travels upwards up to the Shasrara.

What are we doing with this energy?, this is nothing but your sexual energy, this sexual energy can be used at two levels, one at the physical level (Everyone knows, in fact in the west it is taught to high school kids even before they are ready) and the second one is at the Cosmic level (This is not taught because no one knows how).

If this energy is used physically, the primary purpose is, it helps in reproduction, but most humans are neck deep in its secondary purpose, i.e. pleasure, this in fact gives you pleasure, if indulged regularly, it causes exhaustion, and a lot of food is necessary to convert the blood into this energy, in males it is seminal fluid and in women it is vaginal fluid, it is like a tap, if left open, it would run till the tanks are empty, then again it is vicious, it does not end. but if human being turns off this tap and try to retain the energy, this is the third and most important purpose, to elevate this energy to the higher levels  through the three nadis, after some time, if there is no outward direction for this fluid, it is processed back into the blood stream and is directed into the shushmana nadi, but as this section is also connected to the other two nadi's Pingala and Ida, the redirected energy is bound to flow in them also.

Now that we know that the body has nadi's, which channel the energy, but the ultimate purpose is to send it upwards towards the Brahmarandhra, towards Shasrara present at the tip of the head, but it is not possible to send it like water through a pipe, the Kundalini energy needs to be tuned in to this direction by tuning it through various chakras present between the base of the spine and the tip of the head. 

One very important point is if someone tries to cut open a human body and tries to find these chakras, they will not find them as these are present in the subtle bodies, which are four in number.

Swami Sivananda maharaj said if the Kundalini energy reaches the Sahasrara chakra, no doubt it is a great feat in itself but the most important thing is to sustain it there, to keep it in that position and it is not possible with out the help of other chakras. 

Muladhara chakra, 1st chakra or the base chakra present near the base of spine.

Svadhisthana chakra, 2nd chakra is present between the navel and the Muladhara chakra.

Manipuri chakra, 3rd chakra is present near the navel. 

(Adi Shankara Charya in his Saundarya Lahiri has called the second chakra as Manipuri chakra and third chakra as Svadhisthana Chakra, though the element is remains same Earth, Water and Fire, Air, and Ether in this order)

Anahata chakra, 4th chakra is present near the base of the sternum, or near the heart.

Vishuddha chakra, 5th chakra,is present in the throat, near the thyroid glands.

Ajna chakra, 6th chakra is present near the pineal gland, the third eye.

Sahasrara is present as a crown of 1000 petals lotus hanging downwards from the Brahmarandhra.

Between Ajna chakra and Shasrara, there are two minor chakras, Manas chakra and Soma chakra, the time and efforts needed to reach the Ajna chakra from Muladhara chakra is at one level and the time and efforts needed to reach the Shasrara chakra from Ajna chakra is at a different level and is more difficult to sustain, but once the native acheives this, Swami Sivananda maharaj says , the native is blessed with all the divine powers, all Shiddhis and Riddhis (minor powers) roll under his feet, he can command the nature, he can command the five elements, his glory is indescribable.

To follow, Chakra -I

ॐ नमः शिवाय!

SIanala, Nov 2006 (Corrected 2019)

Palmistry - Science of your palm

ॐ श्री गुरावे नमः !

Palmistry is a science and a beautiful tool present in your own palms, those lines that you see in your palm are not formed because you fold your hand, they are carved out by you or your unconscious mind, which works in a very subtle way, these are fine channels for allowing the omnipresent cosmic energy to flow through, which is like a force trying to enter your inner depths to assimilate you into its eternal silence, yes, there are too many man made distractions to outdo it and we are very proud of them.

This cosmic energy does not form these channels, in fact it is your mind set which is doing it, once the channels are formed, the cosmic energy simply flows through it, and the native moves in that direction, many people think it is a pseudoscience or superstition, that's because they never monitored it, see if you can monitor it by taking prints of your palms, both left and right hand, prints can be obtained by simply placing your hand on top of a good photocopy machine, or by scanning it, date them and file them, compare them year after year, you will be astonished, yes, one very important factor is events effecting your one or more spheres of life, if the events are drastic, so will be the change in the lines in your palm, if your life is flowing in a uni direction, without any hiccups, why would it reflect in your palm, it will not, but if your life is going through ups and downs, they are recorded not for the past, for the present and future also. left hand will not show any changes, but the right hand will change as if it is a line graph of some market values.

It is a normal observation that people who are going through some turmoil in their lives are the one's who seek occult help, and people who are simply doing fine because of their Adhruda karma (excusable sins or actions in past lives), hardly bother about all this enigmatic science, even I started looking in to these, when things were not going the way I was planning, but once I took hold of this science, it has not only helped me to prepare for the inevitable events way in advance but also to avoid them, but yes the magnitude of the event is sometimes difficult to fathom, and the preparations in place may not be sufficient enough to overcome the tide.

e.g. Weather forecast helps us to prepare in advance for the forthcoming storms, the magnitude of storm more or less differs from the prediction, but the storm is inevitable event, if prepared well you might, stay home, cancel your travel plans, go underground etc. etc. but you can not stop the storm from happening, life events are exactly like storms, they happen whether you like them or not, so is it not helpful to keep the weather report handy or report of your probable forthcoming life events handy way in advance, instead of facing each and every small or big storm as a surprise. I would like to get a copy of my weather report in advance, it definitely helps.

Every human has a report in his/her palms, ready to be read or understood, but how many of us, after we wash our hands, really take a close look at them, our own compass, provided by the nature, because we are the weakest of all living things when it comes to facing the calamities of nature, little drop in temperature or pressure and we are in trouble, yet we are the greatest predators on this earth, that's because of our mind power used in a very negative direction, here we are trying to use it in a very positive direction.

In addition to foggy understanding of this science, there are many more complications, like for man it is right hand, for women it is left hand, then for neutral people, where should we look?.

Basically we have to see two things, first is cosmic energy, which is required by all living things to survive, work, reproduce, it is the life force etc, and the second thing is the receptor which is our palm, the energy flows through the channels formed in the palm of your working hand, that means if you are a right handed person, then the energy flows through your right hand to your mind and back, if you are a left handed person, it flows through your left hand i.e the inactive hand. Left hand in a right handed person and right hand in a left handed person is the inactive hand and it also receives this energy but a very standard and constant amount, showing the purpose of life, the pattern of your life events, like a very well laid out graph which doesn't change, and this happens when the foetus is growing in the uterus, your life events are being mapped and etched into your palms, initially a baby will have similar hand prints, and it is very difficult to make out which one is which, until the person starts using his/her hands to act or to do things.

So the life predicted for you by the nature is etched out in you recessive or inactive hand, and the life that you are living is etched out in your dominant or active hand and is always changing based on your environment, till you start taking your own decisions, your life is not your life, it is lived by you parents or guardians, so the pattern of lines in your palm will remain same for that period as if nothing is happening, but the moment you start taking decisions for your life or in a way you start living your life, the lines in your active hand start changing.

One should start taking palm prints on every birthday and file them, match them after three or four years and see if there is a change, again, if life is eventful, there will be a change, if life is event less, no changes will be observed, but the pattern of lines definitely will suggest the type and quality of life.

Little more on cosmic energy, the quality of receiving instrument is very important to contemplate on various events of life of a native, the moment native is born, a planetary equation is drawn and deposited in the natives account, in astrology we call it Kundali or horoscope, which tells, various positions and situations of planets surrounding our planet earth at the time of the birth of the native, based on this planetary equation, the palm pattern is carved out, each line represents some sphere of life, and it flows or passes through the planetary centres present in the palm, so the line representing most healthy sphere in native life would be healthy, means it would be of proper colour, length, depth, intensity, pattern, direction, initiation, and termination, same thing for the line representing worst sphere of life, it will be too short or too long, broken, littered with signs, dark, too deep or too subtle, checkered, or totally absent, when I say absent, it is good for some lines to be absent then actually present in a good hand, but this does not apply to main lines.

A person craving for materialistic happiness, will have well defined lines directed towards Saturn finger, i.e. middle finger, since the the cosmic energy is being utilized to achieve it, it is a different matter whether the native will be able to achieve it or not, but the life force will be directed towards that goal, manifested in the palm, as I said earlier, the quality of receiving instrument is very important, i.e. the planetary equation, native free will or will power will definitely make a difference but for a short term, since to sustain such an endeavour will be very energy consuming, other areas in the life of the native will considerably suffer, so what is your mind filled with decides your life path and not whether you have invested or not, the mind picks up all your cravings, desires, temptations and forms a equation which carves out the lines of your life path, and it is a well known fact that food is the basis of mind.

So what ever you eat, will reflect in your mind and thoughts, whatever you think will reflect in your actions, whichever way you act, will reflect in lines of your palms, whatever is the quality of lines in your palms, will reflect in the quality of life you will live, whatever life you live will reflect in what you eat.

now one may ask where do we start then, it is like the egg is first or the chicken, I would say start from your food habits, eat Saattwik food, to develop saattwik mentality, which will create a saattwik personality, and the action followed will be saattwik too, the energy you will pull into your being will be saattwik, the life you will live will be saattwik.

What is saattwik? saattwik means, lord Vishnu is saattwik, lord Rama from great epic Ramayana of Bharat(India) is saattwik, pumpkin is a saattwik vegetable, fruits are saattwik, Jupiter is a saattwik planet, in a simple way saattwik is: strong yet gentle, learned yet simple, deep yet calm, rich yet humble, powerful yet accessible or grounded, etc in a way it is a capsule for positive energy.


Now one may ask where should we see for a change and which line should we see for a change and how do we come to a conclusion that the line is fine, or such an such pattern of lines means good or bad, etc, too many questions????????:-) it is very normal to have questions.

So, the answer is, one step at a time, palmistry can be divided in to two broad divisions.

1- Character or genetic make up
2- mapping energy lines

When I say character or genetic make up, we all are outputs of chemical reaction between two sets of genetic material ( which are nothing but combinations of amino acids) , so we have certain set of traits passed down by our ancestors, which can be further divided in to classes of individuals, based on type of hands they have, divisions are based on length of fingers versus length of palm base, width of palm, colour of skin, texture of skin, type of skin, quality of hair, palm skin characteristics, soft, hard, rough, thick, clear, clean, dirty, pink, dark, light, shape and type of fingers and finger nails, knotted, round, straight, crooked, curved, leaning towards, length of phalanges, nail colour, nail shape, nail pattern, nail thickness, whorls, finger prints, thumb is treated with lot of specialty, four fingers are on one level, thumb is on another level, low set, normal set, high set, rigid, flexible, angle between the thumb and the palm, all these give you information about the natives characteristics and his genetic constitution but till now not one point about his life. it is like what kind of car you have, how fast can it go, how comfortable it is, mileage per litre of gas, aerodynamics, attractiveness, ruggedness etc, but we never know how it will be driven, unless until we see it being driven or we know who is driving it.

The lines in the palm are divided in to three main areas, mind, body and life, which are further divided into many branches and sub lines, these lines put together will suggest what kind of life the native has been living and is living and will live in future, the future is predicted based on current foundation, if changes are brought in to one's life the future is bound to change.
it is possible, that one may have a Aston martin and might drive it like a cart, and one may have a bullock cart and might drive it like a jet, and vice verse, one might have a car falling apart but might drive it very safely, and one might have a Honda accord yet might get killed. so everything stops at mind set.


Instead of talking about characteristics of native, I would emphasize more on pattern of lines i.e. study of lines and patterns in the palm, since it is more important to know what direction we have taken and if it is favourable for us in a long term or not, so that we can make necessary changes to accommodate the required directions.

First glance: what do you see in your hand,(this is after you thoroughly wash your hand)

Are your lines clear and prominent, first, look for line of destiny, or line of fate, or line of career, or active line or line of your life's direction,(Fig p1, B)this is the most important line of all, and is present in almost every hand in some form, if present, it means you have a direction, if multiple, means you have taken multiple directions simultaneously, e.g. you may have a job, you may be practising occult scientist, and you may be investing in shares and bonds and also you are involved in attaining higher qualifications, so these are four different directions, earning through service, exploring human limits, money through speculation, and education, so the hand should have four fate lines, now length will differ, one of them could be just a dot or like a comma, since, each interest or direction has a time period, time is directly proportional to the length of the lines, as a standard, 70 years(Fig p1, A) is taken as life expectancy, starting from the base of palm till base of middle finger, divide it in to divisions of 5 years each and make a print, in a normal hand, the first line bisecting the fate line is head line (Fig p1, C, passing horizontally from right to left in a palm) and the second line bisecting it will be the heart line (Fig p1, D, passing horizontally from left to right towards index or middle finger) these two can be marked as 35 year and 45 year in a medium hand, in a small hand it will be 42 and 56 years, in a large hand it will be 30 and 42 years.





Once you get hold of your fate line, study it daily for few days, till you completely understand each and every aspect of this line, since this is like the main line on the graph, which changes with slightest change in the mind set. 

Following is palm ManTra recite it every day morning by looking at your palm.

Karaagra Vasate LaxmiH, Karamoole Saraswati !,

Karamadhye tu GovinddaH, Prabhaate Karadarshanam!!

It means: On the finger tips resides Goddess Laxmi, 
               On the wrist resides Goddess Saraswati,
               In the center O Lord Govinda you reside,
               Every day morning take a look at your palms and recite this ManTra.

More to follow: Fate line, head line, heart line, life line, sun line, health line, other lines.   keep checking :-)

ॐ नमः शिवाय!

Sianala, Feb, 2007

Astrology: Vedic Astrology - Introduction

ॐ श्री गुरावे नमः !

Astrology is a knowledge of the celestial bodies and cosmic influence on the personality, character, actions, events, happenings of a native and also his/her routine affairs, it is not a superstition or mere belief, it is a beautiful science, a technical tool, if astronomy is to study the cosmic bodies for their physical properties and their existence, Astrology is a science dealing with its spiritual aspect, it also involves mathematics and Astronomy, in Vedic astrology it is called drig ganith and siddhanta resp.

Anatomy deals with human body and its organs, it says heart is a four chambered blood pumping station, but it does not say anything about feeling attached to the heart, again when we feel bad, we feel pain in our heart, and heart is responsible for all the relational ups and down’s, it is said to be broken, hard, soft, but medical science can not or does not deal with this aspect of the heart or for that matter any organ of the human body, like guts, stomach, similarly, astrology is that subtle energetic aura of celestial bodies which continuously reaches us, about which astronomy or physical sciences can not or does not explain.
The scientific community generally considers astrology to be a pseudoscience or superstition, I basically belong to this community, (my primary expertise is in research and development in Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry, Pharmaceuticals), but is it possible to prove that my heart longs for such an such object by carrying out empirical tests, I think it would sound as absurd as trying to prove that planet mars causes flare ups in me, so, feelings of heart, planetary influence, godly visions all are very personal experiences, at present we do not have methods available to quatify or empirically prove them.

A lame comment from most of the people ignorant of astrology or Jyotisha is, how is it possible that a planet millions of miles away, knows that I exist and is able to influence me in my day to day functions, I would say, the moment the native is born, a celestial equation is drawn and is put it in your account, it is like a chip or a RFID clandestinely placed in your body to track you, but here it is much more severe, it not only tracks you, it also influences you in your every aspect of life, sometime you might feel that you are not living your life but the celestial bodies are, so we are like mere pieces of chess, standing on the chess board called earth plane, waiting for the next move, it is not that worse also :-), we are free to take decisions, we are free to act, we are free not to move or act at all, but the meek voice deep within keeps pestering us, move, move, move, and what about all those human entities, moving around freely unhindered under the influence of the celestial bodies, they are coming your way, they cross your way, they do not have the will power, or determination not to act or move against the influence of the celestial bodies, so again if not directly, indirectly the cosmos influences you through you parents, siblings, relatives, spouse, children, grand children, surroundings, colleagues, boss, subordinates, strangers, lunar cycles, solar cycles, other planets etc.

To make the scene already gloomy, let me make it little worse, we are like those cucumber pieces lying in a solution of olive oil, we are like pickle in oil, oil is the atmosphere, this is the energy which fills you, passes through us, we are submerged in it like a pickle, every pore is filled, every inter molecular space, or void is filled with this force or energy, and we it Shri Vishnu, he is Sarva Bhuta Vyapecha, he is everywhere, omnipresent.

History:

Almost every civilization had experience with these celestial bodies, fortunately some of them took pains to record them what ever way they could, and some of them like in Bharat(India) the knowledge was transferred from generation to generation by word of mouth, the whole knowledge is in the form of Sanskrit couplets called slokas e.g. Mantra for sun

Japa koosooma sankarsham kashya-peeyam maha-jutim,
tamorim sarva pahpagnam pranato smee deevahkaram

Few significant traditions of astrology are:

Babylonian Astrology - Mesopotamia- modern Iraq,
Celtic Astrology - Europe

Chinese Astrology - China

Germanic Runic Astrology - German Europe

Hellenistic Astrology - Egypt under Greek influence

Jyotish or Vedic Astrology - Bharat (India),

Kabbalistic Astrology - Israel

Maya Astrology - Central America

Nahuatl Astrology - Pre Columbian Mexico

Persian – Arabic Astrology - By early Muslims in Iran plateau,
Tibetan Astrology – Tibet,
Uranian Astrology- Germany – Alfred writte- Hamburg school of astrology
Western Astrology - originated in Mesopotamia- modern Iraq

Jyotisha or Vedic Astrology, it is one of the six disciplines of Vedanta, the culmination of Veda’s it is one of the oldest schools of astrology with an independent origin.

Branches of Vedic Astrology

Siddhanta: Astronomy and Mathematics and its application to astrology.
Samhita : mundane astrology
Hora : basically covers following sub branches:

Jaatak Shaastra is natal astrology and Hora Shaastra is horoscopy, chart or kundali or horoscope is used for predictions.
Muhurtha is selection of auspicious time to initiate an activity to avoid bad effects.
Swar Shaastra: Predictions based on name & sounds.
Prashna (Horary): The time when a question is asked is taken as a reference point for contemplating further predictions.
Ankjyotisha / Kabala (Numerology): A branch of astrology based on numbers.
Nadi Astrology: It is very interesting stock of data; it is a bank of old treatises of predictions for almost every individual on this earth.
Tajik Shaastra / Varsha Phal: Astrology based on annual solar returns.


Classical Jyotish Treatises

Skanda Hora or Jyotishmati (Lord Brahma)

Brihat Prajapatya (Daksha Prajapati)
Brihat Parasara Hora Sastram (Sage Parasara)
Brigu Sutram (Sage Brigu)
Brihat Jatakam (Varahamihira)
Chatkara Chintamani
Daivajna Vallabha (Varahamihira)

Deva Keralam or Chandra Kala Nadi (Achyuta)

Garga Hora (Sage Garga)
Hora Saram (Prithu Yasas)
Hora Ratna (Acharya Balabhadra)

Jaimini Sutram (Sage Jaimini)

Jataka Parijatam (Vaidyanatha Deekshita)

Kaalaprakashika

Kashyapa Hora
Kousika Hora (Sage Viswamitra)
MeenarajaHora or Vridha Yavana Hora (King Meenaraja)
Poorva Kalamritam (Ganaka Kalidasa)
Phala deepika (Mantreswara)

Pranasanushata Padhati
Prasna Ratna
Saravali (Kalyana Verma)

Sarvartha Chintamani (Venkatesa Daivajna)

Sphujudwaja Hora (King Sphujidwaja)

Sounaka Hora (Sage Sounaka)
Suka Nadi

Tajaka Neelakanthi (Neelakantha)

Uttara Kalamritam (Ganaka Kalidasa)
Vedanga Jyotish (Lagadha)
Vasishta Hora (Sage Vasishta)

Yavaneswara Hora or Yavanajataka (Sage Yavaneswara)

Treatises on Hindu Electional Astrology

Adbhuta Sagaar
Brihannarad
Brihatdaivygyaranjan
Brihatjyotisaar
Daivygyamanoranjan Daivygyamanohar Granth
Ganak Mandan
Gian Manjari
Jaganmohan Granth
Jyotiprakash
Jyotirnibandh
Jyotish Ratan
Jyotishsaar
Jyotish Chintamani
Jyotirvidabharnam
Kaal Khanda
Kaal Nirnaya Deepika
Kaal Prakashika
Madhaveeyam
Muhurtarnava
Muhurt Bhaskar
Muhurt Chintamani (Daivygya Ram)
Muhurt Chudamani
Muhurt Darpaan
Muhurt Deepak
Muhurt Deepika
Muhurt Ganpati
Muhurt Kalpadrum
Muhurt Maala
Muhurt Manjari
Muhurt Martanda
Muhurt Muktaavali
Muhurt Prakash
Muhurt Padavi
Muhurt Saagar
Muhurt Sangraha
Muhurt Tattva
Muhurt Tattvapradeep
Muhurtarnava
Muktaavali
Narpatijacharyaaswarodaya
Naardeeya
Nibandh Chudamani
Poorva Kaalamrit (2)
Rajmartanda
Ratan Koosh
Ratanmaala
Samarsaar
Shiv Swarodaya
Vaivahaar Pradeep
Vivah Kautuhal
Vivah Patal
Vivah Pradeep
Vivah Saar
Vivah Vrindavan
Vyvahaarochchya
Yoga Yatra
Vyvaharsaar

Samhitas

Brahmarshi Samhita
Brihaspati Samhita
Brihat Samhita
Parasara Samhita
Garga Samhita
Rishiputra Samhita
Guru Samhita
Kashyap Samhita
Lomasha Samhita
Maanav Samhita
Naagarjun Samhita
Narad Samhita
Shakalya Samhita
Samaas Samhita
Samhita Pradeep
Samhita Sidhhanta
Satya Samhita
Sur Samhita
Vaikhaan Samhita
Vasist Samhita

Siddhanta :

Ancient Surya Sidhanta (Maya)
Brahma Sidhanta (God Brahma)
Lomasa Sidhanta (Sage Lomasa)
Poulisa Sidhanta (Sage Poulisa)
Pitamaha Sidhanta (God Brahma)
Vasishta Sidhanta (Sage Vasishta)
Vridha Vasishta Sidhanta (Sage Vridha Vasishta)
Garga Sidhanta (Sage Garga)
Parasara Sidhanta (Sage Parasara)
Pancha Sidhantika (Varaha Mihira)
Modern Surya Sidhanta (Aryabhata II)

I will try to cover each topic in detail, but it is going to take a while.

More to follow: Fundamentals of Vedic Astrology.

ॐ नमः शिवाय!

SIanala 27 Nov, 2006