Vedic astrology (jyotisha) is fundamentally the Indian astrological tradition taught by many enlightened teachers to have followed the original vedas, believed to have been coined over 5000 years ago. Jyotisha is called the Eye of the Vedas, because without it we essentially operate in the dark.

Most of the techniques and knowledge I use come from the teachings of Ernst Wilhelm and Vic Dicara. Both are scholars working on restoring and translating wisdom from ancient astrology books such as Phaladīpikā, Jaimini Sutras and Bṛhat Parāśara Horāśāstra (BPHS).

Grahas, or the planets, are a little distinct from the astronomical definition of a planet. The 9 grahas used in vedic astrology cover all the archetypal forces on planet Earth. Planets are the “actors” of the sky, thus most of the readings will be focused on them.

The Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Rahu and Ketu (rahu and ketu are the Moon’s North and South nodes respectively) are the planets traditionally used in vedic astrology. I primarily focus on those, but when relevant might discuss the outer planets of Uranus, Neptune and Pluto.

Nakshatras, or the lunar mansions, are the original 27 vedic star signs and in my opinion the most exciting part of vedic astrology. This is the only astrological component actually covered by the Vedas.

My research into the calculation of nakshatras is what originally led me to Ernst’s work, as I found his calculations (with equatorial coordinates and the galactic center as beginning of ārdrā) work much better than the traditional Lahiri ayanamsha, based on ecliptic coordinates.

The birth star, or janma nakshatra, is the nakshatra your Moon is placed in. Many rituals in Indian temples today require you to tell your birth star so they can customize the ritual for you – ensuring maximum receptivity.

The Moon’s nakshatra, house, and sign show the most personal experiences, desires and needs of a person. That’s why the Indian astrologers (and me) pay the most attention to this special planet.

The 12 zodiac signs, from Aries to Pisces, are the bread and butter of any modern astrologer.

Unlike many astrologers in India today, I follow the tropical zodiac system. My personal reason is simply because I have found it to work much more accurately than the sidereal zodiac. But there are reasons to believe it’s the original zodiac system.

Houses in astrology represent our various life areas, like family, work, talents, career etc.

The house system I use is whole sign, which is what practically everyone in India use and same with ancient Greeks. Again, I’ve found it to work the best of all systems. I do use Campanus house cusps for reading some details about the houses.

Lajjitadi avasthas are a special of BPHS, describing one aspect of planetary conditions. Mostly only Ernst Wilhelm’s students use those in practice.

I might not discuss lajjitadi avasthas explicitly in a reading, but I will look at each horoscope first through the lens of lajjitadi avashtas. I use these to get a high-level yet precise overview of the psychological make-up of a person. Another bonus of lajjitadi avasthas is that the issues related to bad avasthas are more readily solvable through understanding alone.

Yogas, or planetary combinations, is probably the most commonly applied technique in vedic astrology in the last millenia. Yoga means “union”, which in jyotisha means union of two specific planets or house lords for example.

I primarily use the most basic yogas, like Kemadruma, Raja and Sankhya Yogas. I have learned and applied various yogas, but I rarely explicitly mention them (unless requested), because I intuitively apply the principles and basics of these yogas.