Astrology - A scientific introduction

I was born and brought up in India. Astrology in India(especially South India) is as ubiquitous in our daily lives as the air we breathe. Starting from the naming ceremony of the child, to an auspicious date for buying a house, car, matching horoscopes during marriage, fixing the date of marriage and even advising when to have children, every aspect of life is driven by those inanimate things called as planets. Some ultra intelligent couples also try to plan their child's birth using C-section at an appropriate "muhurat"(auspicious time).

The Panchaanga(Vedic calendar and almanac) is followed by the priests to decide the right time for doing important things in our life. As I was growing up, I could never make sense or reconcile to these things, because it was clearly evident that not everything was going great in my life, in spite of doing things as per the suggestions.

On top of that, it appeared exploitative in nature. To prevent the effect of this or that planet, those priests suggested to do rituals, wear gemstones or crystals, visit temples, feed people, donate to charities etc..etc..etc.. Appeared like a big cultural circus to me.

So I personally stayed away from all these things, but as I grew up and started facing various situations and started discovering myself, realization dawned upon me that there must be some element of truth to this subject. Needless to say, when suffering enters our doorstep, every Tom, Dick and Harry suddenly becomes spiritual. So this Dick(myself :)) decided to take a leap of faith and try some spiritual Indian curry. I started doing some spiritual practices(still do it everyday) that changed the foundations of my life. I started noticing my own mental framework change by simply breathing in specific patterns (pranayama). Once I started seeing the before/after situation w.r.t my mind, it became evidently clear there was something much bigger that was driving my mental structure which caused life to move in a certain direction.

So, based on my understanding, below is the introduction to Astrology for a logical scientific mind with a plot twist in the end. Keep reading and do not scroll down just yet. If you did, please check your horoscope as to what caused this impatient and impetuous behavior :)

It is common scientific knowledge that everything in the creation is made of frequencies and vibrations(energy). It has always been the holy grail of science to figure out how these energies or force fields create matter. Einstein went up to the speed of light with his E=mc2. When energy starts arranging itself into patterns, matter is created. The atomic table exists only because 3 particles arrange themselves in different quantum energy states and create an energy balance.  The whole animal kingdom is functioning on vibrations and frequencies, whether it is oceanic creatures or migratory birds or ground listening reptiles. So, energy is the fabric and blueprint of this universe and matter just dances on top of it. Something like, the apps on the phone are operating on top of an Operating System and Hardware.

This background is very important because the way universe is designed, is the way the human intelligence is designed as well. We do not live in a parallel superior universe subject to some different laws. The outer intelligence of human beings(body, thoughts and emotions) is a reflection of what is happening at the layer of energies(pranic system). The seat of our mind is in our nervous system and our nervous system is a complex electro chemical network of communication. Underneath the nervous system lies a subtle web of energy system which drives our mental thinking. And our actions and experiences in turn re-inforce the energy system. This creates(over a period of time) our identity, personality, ego and "this is me". Unfortunately the energetic system doesn't come into our awareness by default, because nature only brings those aspects of our life that are intrinsic to our survival into our default awareness(body, thoughts and emotions)

Since our energy system is in a state of constant influence by the way the planets churn the sun's energies, Astrology tries to delve into the study of how our mental scape gets affected by this.

Hopefully these series of newsletters will trigger an enthusiasm in readers to dig deeper into various aspects of the mind based on astrological signs. 

And now the final plot twist.

Not everyone who goes through suffering ends up becoming spiritual. Some people develop a whole lot of pessimistic, narcisstic, annihilistic view of life that causes them to become bitter, resentful about everything and invariably leads to tremendous suffering. As I have realized lately, my switch to spirituality is also dependent on the astrological position of certain planets :)

More on the spiritual aspects of Astrology in the future newsletters. But just like any other tool, Astrology if used right can act as a strong guiding force for a better life. But incorrect usage can cause a lot of harm. Its OK to empty the well with a bucket, but using it to empty the ocean is futile. If this newsletter sounds preachy in nature, blame it on the position of Jupiter in my birth chart :)