Astrology Vedic and Western: What’s the Difference?
Part One
The Mystery of Original Astrology
Vedic and Western astrology were originally exactly the same astrology. The basic structure upon which they are built is identical. For example, there are exactly the same twelve signs, and exactly the same (pre-Transsaturnian) planets, all with equivalent or nearly-equivalent interpretive meanings. Clearly, these are not two separate sciences, but one science that has split into two separate branches that have since grown independently in different parts of the world. It’s much like how language develops from a single parent language to several “daughter” languages that have grown in separate countries. Over time they begin to sound very different, yet their basic structures and vocabularies remain very similar. So, as an analogy, we can think of Vedic and Western astrology as two different “dialects” of the same original astrology.
What Was Original Astrology?
So, if Vedic and Western astrologies come from the same source, what was that source? Well, this is the subject of a big debate. Western astrologers claim that astrology originated in Babylon (read: the West), and Vedic astrologers claim that it originated in India (read: the East). Both sides make equally fervent claims, and present evidence to support their claims. I will not attempt to solve that debate in this little article, although even that stance (one of informed neutrality) is offensive to some people. The oldest astrological charts that are still in existence are cuneiform tablets from Babylon. Sidestepping whether these constitute proof that astrology was invented there, there are many other interesting things they can show us about early astrology.
Some Original Elements
For example, original astrology was sidereal
in nature. That is, the ancient astrologers used the stars as a fixed background
against which to measure the motion of the planets (a word which, when used in
astrology, means planets, the Sun, the Moon, and the nodes of the Moon). This
differs completely from the tropical measurement system used by most modern
Western astrologers, which uses a system of measurement based on the Sun.
Furthermore, ancient astrologers were very good astronomers, and were able to
measure the positions of the stars and planets with a great deal of accuracy
(much under one degree). They used the twelve sign system that is still used in
both Vedic and Western astrology to this day. Yet these early tablets make no
mention of the houses or of planetary aspects. It’s all simply
planets-in-signs. Yet the basis for all subsequent astrological research and
development is clearly and totally present even at this very early stage.