The spiritual side of astrology

Though I am a practitioner of traditional Western astrology, I have the utmost respect for the Indian system. Unlike Western astrology which had its cultural rise and fall, Indian astrology is an intact tradition that has been an essential part of its society for many thousands of years. We Western astrologers can benefit by learning from this amazing tradition.

Linda Johnsen is an American who is steeped in Indian culture and spirituality. Many readers will know her as the Vedic Astrology editor of the Mountain Astrologer. I've particularly enjoyed her clearly written and astute columns, so when I saw this book it went straight to the top of my to read list.

A Thousand Suns is a good beginners books on Indian astrology. It is worthwhile reading for the dedicated Western astrologer seeking to expand their knowledge and for students of Indian astrology. She covers the basics like how to convert your Western chart to Indian and the meanings of the planets, signs and houses. Most important is the spiritual foundation of Indian astrology. This foundation, admittedly lacking from many of the medieval European texts, informs the entire practice. A large portion of her book is about Upayas, or remedies, with a focus on mantra and other spiritual practices. For those without an Indian bent she includes ideas and prayers from other traditions. Anyone seeking to integrate spirituality and astrology will find many inspiring ideas in this clear and soulful book. Recommended.

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Great Introductory Book on Vedic Astrology

This book is best suited for absolute beginners to Vedic Astrology. If you don't have your Vedic astrology chart, the book guides you how to compose it based on Western astrology chart - roughly by deducting 23 degrees - specific degrees are listed for each year from 1930 - 2029. The book contains blank forms which you can fill in with your personal information as you follow along. What you'll learn in this book are descriptions of vedic signs, planets, houses, 12 adityas, qualities of the vedic houses, 27 nakshastras, how to gauge planetary strenghts and weaknesses, how to find several yogas, take a glance at few vedic subcharts, as well as dashas.

Explanation of points is further elucidated through several sample charts related both to people and to events.

Once you have a glimpse into your own chart, you can look at different remendial measures such as using mantras, fire rituals (yagyas), prayers to appropriate aspect of Divine, engaging in selfless service, and generally living as a spiritually conscious being.

This book is written in a simple language and is entertaining to read. There is also a lot of good, common-sense advice and Linda has managed to put astrology in a proper perspective, as a tool that helps the individual to navigate successfully through life. The idea is to make the most with your talents and well, if you find it's going to rain, you prepare yourself and get an umbrella before you go out, instead of bemoaning your destiny. There's always something you can do to live fulfilling life and about half of this book is dedicated to taking constructive action.

Once you're done going through this book, then you can move on to reading more complex and detailed books on vedic astrology. This book will help to ease you into vedic astrology.

If you are having difficulty with creating your own chart manually and would like to have a computerized version to test the waters of Vedic Astrology by exploring your own chart, you can contact me and I will email you your own chart, so you can have fun and discover if you'd like to continue learning more about Vedic Astrology. I love to help people who have passion for learning new things.


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An Essential Book for Everyone's Library!

Linda Johnsen is the greatest living woman writer of Jyotish (Vedic Astrology);her numerous and award-winning books been instrumental in bringing the timesless wisdom of the Indian Sages (a 6000+ year tradition) to the West. A Thousand Suns is the quintessential introduction for beginners (Linda makes the material easy, fascinating, exciting and immediately available) as well as more advanced students and professionals, who will find Linda's clear and lively explanation of the core principals of Jyotish to be refreshing, rejuvenating, and invaluable help in their daily practice. Her writing style is perfect; beautifully conceived and executed with great precision, offering an easy personal rapport with the reader and an expression that is at once understandable, yet deeply thought-provoking. Linda Johnsen is writer, editor and contributor to The Mountain Astrologer and International Yoga Magazines, where her articles shine like A Thousand Suns.I will never be without this nor any of her other books! Order A Thousand Suns Today! Your life will be greatly enriched!

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