Astrology as a Need:Astrology as a Need:

J. S. Sandhu

Astrology in general parlance is study of “Course of Destiny” pertaining toactions that are likely to be caused by the stars and divine powers at work. Itis perhaps also a guide to the possible course of events to their destinations.

As per Wikipedia , “Astrologyis a group of systems, traditions, and beliefswhich hold that the relative positions of celestial bodies and related detailscan provide information about personality, human affairs and other ‘earthly’matters “. A practitioner of astrology is called an astrologer. Few astrologersbelieve that the movements and positions of celestial bodies either directlyinfluence life on Earth or correspond to events experienced on a human scale.More relevant is the idea that astrology is a symbolic language, an art form, ora form of divination. Despite differences in definitions, a common assumption ofastrologers is that celestial placements can aid in the interpretation of pastand present events, and in the prediction of the future.When does astrology come into play?Astrology comes into play when you seek answers for the past, present and futureof  a person or mundane event. Why things happen in a uncontrollable way despitethe fact that an event was meticulously planned, best of talent available wassourced? Astrology answers that. Certain part of an event or possible course ofaction always remains elusive to the best of minds, it is for that elusive partthat we seek answers and this is where the religious scriptures come in. As perBhagwad Gita, “One should continue to do his karma or the work thus assigned andleave the attainment of the fruits of labor to divinity”. The philosophy behindthis is that we should continue to do our best without worrying about thepossible results.To understand this concept better let us define success. Success is relative; tome ‘success’ is when preparation and creativity meets opportunity. Now arisesthe question why do we prepare and create? The answer is obviously simple tocomprehend .That for any event or eventuality to happen you need to put in aneffort. An effort is a basic requirement for success or a failure and is themain ingredient in the recipe of life. A successful person looks forappreciation and loser always for the answers that led to his failure. This iswhere Astrology helps him seek the cause to an action that led to his failure.Another  predominant  fact that emerges from this discussion is that there aretwo parts to an action or event one controllable and another beyond control ,youcan call this ‘Destiny’ and the other part wherein we put in our efforts as‘Karma’ as the controllable part.

Astrology is considered a pseudoscience or superstition by the scientificcommunity, which sees a lack of statistically significant astrologicalpredictions, while psychology explains much of the continued faith in astrologyas a matter of cognitive biases. In 2006 the U.S. National Science Boardpublished a statement which said it considers belief in ten survey items,astrology among them, to be "pseudoscientific".

Buying an air ticket for air travel is controllable but getting stuck in amassive traffic jam while trying to board a plane is beyond control. The personwanted to travel, he or she made an effort to do so and succeeded in buying a

seat for an air travel but the massive traffic jam led to failure to board theflight to the destination.

Relating this we can quite rightly say that  there is a significant part ofoutcome of our actions that is beyond our control ,its our reaction to theoutcome that effects our behavior  and  our  search for answers for the successand  failure thus achieved  leads us to various modes of divinity  be itAstrology ,Numerology ,Palmistry or occult.

Now the question can the astrology provide the answers? Yes, it can it isrelatively  easy.

To relate to the past events to explain why the events happened. It is theability of an astrologer to foresee events, which defines his merit.

Indian astrology has vast array of tools and methods to fall back upon namely;

Ank jyotish---   NumerologyVaastu--------- Architectural help on buildings .Prashanawalis-----  Random answer providing  applications. Eg,Ram shallakha andHanumaan jyotish Prashana wali.Samundrik--------Study of palmistry and face reading.Yantra ,mantra and Tantra--- Occult.Laal kitaab----- Red book of astrology.Nadi jyotish---- Based on previously written ancients patras basically writtenon tree bark.

Thus we conclude that astrology is a careful study of various aspects related tohoroscopes based on astronomical calculations. In the hands of an expert it isperfect tool to provide answers and when in the hands of a quack or charlatan amethod of deceit.  There fore it is left to the seekers to seek with discretionand wisdom otherwise your quest can put a dent in your hard earned savings.