JYOTISH & YLLARA
Welcome to my new website which above all is a Blog where I share bits and
pieces of Vedic wisdom related to astrology that you might find interesting.
Please, feel free to comment and to subscribe if you wish to be notified of new
posts.
My interest in astrology began about 20 years ago, when I encountered the
Mayan calendar system. In 2012 with one of their calendars ending, I started to
study Western Evolutionary Astrology, then I got into Renaissance Astrology
and, finally, I discovered the fascinating depth of Vedic Astrology.
Vedic Astrology is part of the six limbs of the Vedas, the oldest
Indo-European writings. These sacred texts were
channelled by the sages of ancient times in higher states of consciousness, and
they contain the vibratory algorithms of the universe. Initially,
they were transmitted only orally from one generation to another. But finally,
between 1.500 and 500 BC, when the world went from Dwapara
Yuga to Kali Yuga, the Vedas were
written down in Vedic Sanskrit.
The Cycle of the Yugas derives from the Precession of the equinoxes which
is the motion that Earth’s axis in its rotation causes along the ecliptic. The
vernal equinox does not fall every year on the same point but moves back on the
ecliptic. By now it falls on 6º of tropical Pisces. It takes our planet’s axis 72 years to pass through one degree of the
zodiac and 25.920 years to complete a full cycle. One half of the whole cycle
covers the four yugas, Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga,
Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. Then we go from Kali Yuga back to Dwapara Yuga, Treta Yuga and Satya Yuga.
The Earth spins with the Sun and the whole solar system around the centre
of the Milky Way, at a blazing 200 km a second, and orbits also a larger star.
This kind of super sun is believed to be Alcyone, the brightest star of the
constellation of the Pleyades, though others point to the constellation of
Sirius, Orion or Cygnus. Whenever the Earth comes
closer to this bigger star o star system, which is probably when Earth’s axis
points to the centre of the Milky Way, life on Earth rises to higher
possibilities. And when our planet is furthest away from it and its axis
pointing in the opposite direction, consciousness falls to the lowest level
of Kali Yuga.
I find it fascinating how cosmology, astrology, and human life on Earth are interconnected. There is an obvious sacredness about the relationship between the Sun, the Moon, and Earth. The diameter of the Sun is about 108 times that of the Earth, and the average distance between the Earth and the Sun is 108 times the Sun’s diameter, whilst the average distance from the Earth to the Moon is about 108 times the Moon’s diameter. This is actually why the Moon appears the same size as the Sun during eclipses.
Vedic Astrology or Jyotish, which means Science
of Light, divides the orbit of the Earth around the Sun not only in the 12
portions of the solar zodiacal signs but also into 27 constellations of stars
that are known as nakshatras or Lunar Mansions. Each of them
is further divided into four equal segments called padas. If you
multiply 4 by 27 it equals 108. And the
Sanskrit alphabet consists of 54 letters, each letter has a Shakti (feminine)
and a Shiva (masculine) quality, and if you multiply 54 by 2 it equals again
108. That is also the number of beads that a mala has.
The existence of Vedic wisdom in India today is due to Adi Shankara, an 8th-century
Indian scholar and teacher who restored Vedic Dharma in a time of conflict
between numerous sects that had sprung up. He has an unparalleled status in the
tradition of Advaita Vedanta, a non-dualistic or monistic practice
that refers to the idea that Brahman alone is real, and the transient
phenomenal world only an illusory appearance.
My own spiritual approach resonates more with another nondualist tradition
derived from the Vedas known as Kashmir Shaivism or Trika
Tantra which originated in Kashmir in the 9th century
AC and flourished particularly in Orissa, in the South of India, due to its
great exegete Abhinavagupta, a philosopher and mystic from the 10th century
AC. Trika Tantra does not negate the world but promotes a
sacred way of living, of being in this world. It is an ancient path of unifying
ourselves back to our totality and it is not so concerned with philosophy but
more importantly with directly experience ourselves and actualize our
potential. I was led into this beautiful Path of the Heart mainly by spiritual teachers Igor Kufayev and Sundari Ma, to whom I express my gratitude.
I am greatly indebted to Pandit Sanjay Rath and his brilliant students Visti Larsen and Freedom Cole, who teach Jyotish in the tradition of Sri Achyutananda Dasa, a 16th-century
scholar from Orissa, India, who transmitted a vast knowledge of astrology, ayurveda, and
other shastras.
Vedic Astrology is a beautiful ancient holistic cosmovision that
acknowledges the interconnection between the human being as spirit in form with
the whole universe as one sacred living being. It is a science of
self-discovery which teaches us how life works, and our purpose for being here.
The study and practice of Jyotish enriches my life, and I hope to enrich yours
by sharing some gems of Vedic wisdom.
With love,
Yllara 💗