We do not recommend that you should learn astrology.Purpose of this overview is just to familiarise you with basic terminology. This will help you understand differences in various astrological systems .However if you are very keen then you may start ab initio research , starting with pattern recognition. Of course you will need large amount of data to do this research. You may freely take data from our website which is quite accurate and mostly current unlike other commercial databases.
The astrological chart is a representation of the astrological factors at the time of the event it describes. In the case of a birth chart, it represents the positions of the planets and houses as seen from the place of birth at the time of birth.
Zodiac is divided into twelve signs.
It is the ZODIAC in which you will draw all the planets and house cusps. This zodiac is represented by a circle of 360 degrees. The degrees are counted in a counter-clockwise manner.
The zodiac is subdivided into twelve equal parts of 30 degrees each. These twelve equal parts are the astrological signs. The beginning of the zodiac is set at the point that the sun occupies at the exact time of the spring equinox. This point is 0 degrees of the sign of Aries. . From there , 30 degrees of Aries are counted in a counter clockwise manner until 30 degrees Aries which is 0 degrees Taurus followed by Gemini,Cancer, Leo, Virgo,Libra, Saggitarius,Capricorn,Aquarius,Pisces.
All planets revolve around the Sun in zodiac excepting moon which revolves around earth.The Sun completes one orbit through the zodiac in one year, the Moon in 28 days, Jupiter 12 years, etc.
In astrology glyphs are symbols , which are used instead of names for above signs. In constellation based astrology ,above zodiac is divided into 27 constellations . First costellation is Aswini folowed bharani, krittika. Each constellation is 13 degrees 20 minutes.
Rulers of the signs/constellations:
Each sign/constellation is affiliated with one planet whose action, or function, best corresponds to the energy of the sign/constellation. Traditionally these planets were called the "rulers" of the sign/constellation.
The first thing we do is draw the cusps of the twelve houses into the circle of the zodiac. We work with a chart for September 14, 1974, at 1:33 p.m. daylight savings time in New York.
The system of the houses makes one rotation through the zodiac every twenty-four hours. This movement is cause by the rotation of the Earth around its axis.
The twelve houses are twelve sections that are distributed in the zodiac in a counter clockwise manner. Unlike the signs of the zodiac, the houses are not of equal size.
This is normally calculated with the help of TABLE OF HOUSES . These tables gives the position of Ascendant and Midheavan corresponding to sidereal time. Sidereal time is calcuated from birth time.However these days, many online services are available and you can seen your chart by entering only three informations i.e. date of birth, time of birth and place of birth.
The cusp (= beginning) of the first house, or ascendant, is at 13 Sagittarius and 12 minutes of arc, or 13:12 degrees of Sagittarius. This, then, was the point of the zodiac that was rising in the East at that time.
The beginning of the tenth house is at 2 degrees Libra and 46 minutes of arc, or 2:46 degrees of Libra. The beginning of the tenth house is called Midheaven. This is so because the midheaven is the point of the zodiac that is "in the middle of the sky." It is at the point where the sun is at Noon.
The cusp of the seventh house, or descendant, is the point in the zodiac that is exactly opposite the ascendant. It is 13 degrees Gemini and 12 minutes of arc, or 12:13 degrees Gemini.
The cusp of the fourth house is on the opposite side of the tenth house cusp, in 2:46 degrees of Aries.
We proceed to draw all other house cusps into the chart. With the houses drawn into the chart, you see that the houses are not equal. The first house measures from 13:12 Degrees of Sagittarius to 17:22 degrees of Capricorn. It is slightly larger than 30 degrees, while the eleventh house measures from 1:11 degrees of Scorpion to 23:39 degrees of the same sign, hence it is much smaller than 30 degrees.
The axis from the first to the seventh houses marks the horizon. The axis from the tenth to the fourth houses marks the extension of the meridian. The houses from one through six are always below the horizon. The houses from seven through twelve are always above the horizon, visible from the place of the event.
The houses are always in the same sequence, from 1 through 12. First House is to be reckoned from ascendat to second cusp.
There are multiple House systems , placidus being the most popular. In equal house system, 12 houses are of equal size. There are other popular systems, like Koch, Morinus, Regiomontonous, Topocentric, campanus etc.
We recommend Equal House system.
The next step is inscribing the planets into the chart. Here we proceed in the same fashion as we did when we inscribed the twelve houses: The sun is marked into 21 degrees of Virgo 31 minutes of arc (roughly 21 1/2 degrees on the chart), the Moon is 2:08 Virgo (the mark is close to the two degree line), etc.
Geocentric Logitudes of planets corresponding to a date are given in a book called EPHEMERIS
The calculation of the Vedic chart can be done according to the same method as the calculation of the Western Tropical chart, only the Ayanamsha is subtracted from all planetary and sign positions. Thus any typical Western chart can be turned into a Vedic chart through subtracting the Ayanamsha.
The difference between the Tropical and Sidereal zodiacs is called the "Ayanamsha". It is a term now used by Western astrologers as well. In Sanskrit "ayana" means solstice and "amsha" means portion. It refers to the difference between the point of the vernal equinox in the fixed stars from that of the first point of the constellation Aries.
The main controversy among sidereal astrologers is as to the exact degrees and minutes of the location of the Ayanamsha.
Western sidereal astrologers place the Ayanamsha around 24 02 as of 1950. Most Vedic astrologers place it between 21 40 and 23 10 for that era.
