28 of 29 - Utthirattadi (Uttara Badrapada)

26.                 Does progeny predictions come out correct?

Answer: The progeny predictions depend on the combined horoscopes of the parents.  Hence, early predictions before marriage may have to be modified with the combined view of the spouse who enters the house.

VRVD

(28 of 29 - Utthirattadi - Uttara Badrapada)

27 of 29 - Poorattaadhi (Purva Bhadrapada)

25.                 With so many caveats, is it worth matching horoscopes?

Answer: There is no other system of prediction, which is scientifically based on “effects of the influential objects” (big heavy celestial objects’ effect, just like gravity) & “effects of people around you” (marriage, brings a strong force close to you, which modifies the effects of own horoscope). 

Yes, it is worth checking horoscopes for the purpose of mitigating big ill-effects by horoscopes that are magnified (something like resonance of same effects at same time).

VRVD
(27 of 29 - Poorattaadhi / Purva Bhadrapada)

26 of 29 - Sathayam (Shatabisha)

24.    Then why is not every matched married life happy?

Answer:    Many caveats here – (a) Happiness differs from person to person – one may want many children, another may want more money, a third may want powerful position in job, another may want a powerful position in society, etc.

(b) Birth times may not have been accurately noted (see earlier answers where great people have said that don’t let horoscope “dictate” life)

(c) Some half-baked astrologers being bad apples and

(d) Human nature of astrologer (as described at earlier point of this q & a).

and many more have been discussed in previous posts...

VRVD
(26 of 29 - Sathayam / Shatabisha)

25 of 29 - Avittam (Shravishta)

23.                 Will that married life be happy?

Answer: Every marriage, every life is full of ups and downs.  If the horoscopes of the two people are complementary, then they are likely to balance out the negative effects in one with the strength in the other.  If the horoscopes have similar ups & downs, the effect may be magnified and lead to severe problems.  Hence, the matching of horoscopes is to help that the two together have a better life.

VRVD

(25 of 29 - Avittam / Shravishta)

24 of 29 - Tiruvonam (Shravana)

22.                 Should we use Astrology for matching horoscopes?  How does it matter?

Answer: The idea for checking horoscope is to see if there are drastic negative effects, like early death, health disorders, scope for progeny, etc.  This is to just try to ensure that the spouse together with the son/daughter of the person seeing the horoscope will have a long married life.

VRVD
(24 of 29 - Tiruvonam / Shravana)

23 of 29 - Utthiradam (Uttara Ashada)

21.                 In that case, when does the effect of the celestial objects start for a human being?

Answer: For our calculations, we say that it is at birth.  When the child comes out of the womb, it starts to directly get affected by changing temperatures, heat, rain, cold, bacteria, virus, etc!  Hence, then on, it has become independent & has to be reactive to the environment, including the (a) gravity, light & heat of sun, (b) gravity, light of moon, (c) gravity of the bigger planets and (d) azimuth position of moon with respect to the place (Rahu and Ketu), etc.

In fact, the “protective” shield of parents is said to be there for a longer duration.  Some astrologers say up to 27 years the negative effects are protected – that is, for example, the first 7 ½ year “Saturn” effect is supposed to be less due to this protection (heresay only please - don't quote me).  The true effects are expected to be in the second cycle when Saturn is in the same zodiac as the birth zodiac! 

Hence, the effects are not simple as x is here, y is there – so this is good, or that is bad. All factors have to be taken into account, which comes only from experienced astrologers who have learnt all the facets of Astrology.

VRVD

(23 of 29 - Uthiradam / Uttara Ashada)

22 of 29 - Pooradam (Purva Ashada)

20.                 Since the time a baby is conceived there are events happening.  Why are they not taken into account upto time of birth?

Answer: This is a good point to think about.  When the baby is tiny, the items that affect the baby the most are the food, chemicals that are around it.  Hence, we have the view that the mother should have good thoughts & good food.  If the mother has tension / depression during pregnancy, then baby is going to get some chemicals that are going to give a different effect during those growth stages.  Now, that is why the “mother’s” horoscope “affects the child”!  If the mother is going through tough period in pregnancy, it does show in the growth, development, genes, organs and limbs of the child.

Then why is not the “sun” and “moon” at time of conceiving not considered.  The effects of the sun and moon are less compared to the two huge bodies within which the two parts join to get conceived.  The mother’s womb protects the child from sun, rain, cloud, heat, cold, bacteria, virus, whatever!  Hence there is no change to affect it, in my opinion!

VRVD
(22 of 29 - Pooradam / Purva Ashada)

20 of 29 - Kettai (Jyesta)

18.                 Can we control destiny just by birth date & time – by Caesarean section at particular time?

Answer: This is difficult to answer.  I will try to give the generalities and hope everyone can work it out from these points.

First we are already a small individual in the magnitude of universe, whose “specific events” cannot be predicted (see uncertainty principle).  If we can predict that, then world becomes “deterministic” – no free will!

Second fact is that any “self-referencing” system has a problem (see Godel’s theorem or related points).  The question is, if astrology is a valid system which is fairly accurate, then can it include the fact that astrology will be used to “change the happenings” based on a study of astrology. 

Then, if for a moment a “blind spot” is created in the astrologer, he makes wrong calculations / predictions, which leads to a different outcome – which may have been the “correct destiny” (actual destiny of the child)! This is later confirmed by a different astrologer on reworking the correct horoscope.

It is also possible that one person is told, due to astrology, that he is expecting a certain problem, which makes the person plan well accordingly.  The person reduces / avoids the problem.  Now, this could be construed as a failure of astrology itself.  It is also possible that other aspects point to a longevity in that activity – which in itself says that “finally successfully tackling."

Another usual occurrence is that the person worries about the problem, works hard and solves it – hence the worries & headaches were the negative & not the “end result”.

VRVD

(20 of 29 - Kettai / Jyesta)

19 of 29 - Anusham (Anuradha)

17.                 Is there any other possibility for wrong predictions?

Answer: There are many along the lines of “human angle”.  Let us move on to other possibilities, like science’s limitations!  As mentioned before, science itself uses approximations.  Science itself keeps changing as and when we see observations different from “known system”!

Over and above the scientific progress, there is the proven Godel’s theorem.  In any complete system there will be statements that cannot be proven true or false!  Hence, even if we were to find “a system” that is accurate, some aspect of the system will not be provable one way or other!

VRVD

(19 of 29 - Anusham / Anuradha)

18 of 29 - Visakam

Here is a long one on the human aspect...

16.                 Then what is the reason for wrong prediction from reasonably ‘good’ astrologers?

Answer: There are many aspects to look at. One aspect of astrologer is that he is also human, which means that there are possibilities of mistakes.  For example, let us say the astrologer’s father-in-law is coming to town and astrologer has to pick him up in 30 minutes (father-in-law is bringing 40 gram gold necklace for the astrologer’s daughter).  The appointments are running late & you enter.  The mind is now a “little hurried”.  A small detail is overlooked in the hurry – don’t we all make small mistakes.

8x8 is 16, yes, I reviewed it, and again at end of the exam also – totally 3 times! When the paper comes back we bang our head & know that during the exam “our mind” was elsewhere and kept calculating 8x8 was 16!  It happens to astrolgers too!  We can call this a “temporary blind spot”!  In thamizh we say “kannai maraichudum”! (It is also used in context that the truth is shown in chart, but temporarily the astrologer misses it - like car's blind spot in rear view mirror)

If we look at even great people, they make blunders.  Experts in sports fail in some crucial situations!  How?  Sometimes “over confidence” or even “arrogance”, sometimes called EGO, takes more control than the “reasoning” leading the individual away from the “reality” or “truth”.  This leads to errors / mistakes.  This leads to the downfall of a specific event or even a series of steps down leading to a permanent fall from grace.  The same “blind spot” due to ANY number of reasons can happen to astrologers as well!

Second aspect is that astrologer is also human in that he/she “holds on” to earlier words (Jalpa vada - I said so, and hence I will hold on to it for ever)!  For example, if you visit an astrologer and he says be careful in October.  When you visit in November, he will try to “project” (from memory) that October “would have been” bad!  Astrologer already knows what has been said earlier!  So, astrologer is holding on to same line of thinking – instead of looking afresh (in some cases intentionally hides the fact that he calculated 8x8 as 16, maybe)!

Astrologer also by now knows more about what is happening in your life (office, parents, spouse, children) – and this influences predictions.  So, have to guard against that aspect of “human touch” of attachment to clients – trying to “go along” with past predictions OR known flow of your own life!

This is not “escapism” – it is just “explanation” after the fact.  It is NOT an excuse for the astrologer – it is an explanation of events that arises due to the human nature of the astrologer!

VRVD
(18 of 29 - Visakam)

16 of 29 - Chiththirai (Chitra)

Now let us come to the "human" element of Astrology.

14.                 Doctor / Nurse notes down a wrong time – does that not make it Astrology totally wrong?

Answer: Yes, if the time is noted incorrectly, then the “paper horoscope” is wrong.  The margin of tolerance in Navamsa chart is 4 minutes, I think (experts can contribute here).  But the “actual” horoscope (your destiny) cannot be wrong!  Hence, whatever “we think is right from the noted horoscope” is now wrong.  That does not mean the event, which is unknown, is not going to happen.

The predictions based on the wrong horoscope will be incorrect.  That is why great leaders say "do not be bogged down by horoscopes", let it not become "horror-scopes".  For example, if the horoscope says you will be a crorepati & you put feet on table and expect the money to drop into your account, it may not – why?  Because, it is possible that the time noted is wrong – and hence you have wasted time.  So, do not take the prediction literally and face disaster. 

In fact, it is quite possible that the horoscope says that you will while-away a lot of time, but the “wrong” horoscope guided you into doing the thing that you were destined for. In similar vein, do not foresee an accident during a “bad” period & live your life in worry!  It is possible that the horoscope is wrong due to wrong time noted in it – and you may not have that accident at all, but end up wasting lot of time.  That is the message from learned people. But it is not against astrology / horoscopes.

VRVD

(16 of 29 - Chiththirai / Chitra)

15 of 29 - Hastham

13.                 So, is there a complete theory?

Answer: Yes, scientists are looking for a “grand unifiend theory” (that they are still searching for).  The issue is that such a thing is in contrast to Godel’s theorem.  Godel’s theorem has been proven that in “any complete” system, there will be “statements” that “cannot” be found to be either true or false!  This theorem is proven, especially when there is “self-reference” (observer being part of the system). 

For example, the statement “Patel, the Indian, says that all Indians are liars”!  This is neither true nor false – if it is true, then him being an Indian is also a liar – hence this statement is false, which leads to the fact that Indians tell the truth.  A paradoxical statement can be found in any system.

With such a proof of “incompleteness” of a complete system, there cannot be a scientific system that can define everything / predict everything.  We have to live with approximations in science too & definitely with Astrology too!

VRVD

(15 of 29 - Hastham)

PS: Brahmam Okatae, Dwaitamum Sukham / Adwaitamum Sukham, Aham Brahmasmi are closer to truth than science... Well, that is just a personal view... inserted here without any rhyme or reason except sudden whim...

9 of 29 - Punarpoosam (Punarvasu)

7.                 Then what are these “Rahu & Ketu”? Are they planets?

Answer: Rahu and Ketu are the “chaya Grahas” – that is the “shadow objects” in direct meaning.  They are the node and anti-node of the moon’s revolution around the earth (people who know exact terms can help here).  They do play an important role on us just because the moon is so near!

From a physical standpoint, the revolution of moon is not on the “same” plane of the earth-Sun revolution plane.  It is at an angle.  Hence the effect changes when the moon is northward or southward with respect to earth-sun plane.  This effect is taken care of by Rahu & Ketu calculations in astrology, because the effect / pull does change a bit in direction.

Moreover, the same calculations using Rahu and Ketu are so simple & useful in calculating “eclipses”! Rahu & Ketu when they are in the specific positions then actually that means the moon is between earth & sun (solar eclipse) or earth is between sun & moon (lunar eclipse).  Because of the different plane of revolution we do not have eclipses on every full moon and every new moon day.  This variation, which also has an effect on the happenings, is included by using the Rahu & Ketu calculations!

VRVD

(9 of 29 Punarpoosam / Purnarvasu)

8 of 29 - Thiruvathirai (Ardra)

6.                 Why do we have “Lunar” calendar when Jupiter and Saturn are bigger than moon?

Answer: With a simple view of Newton’s theory of Gravity, the force of pull is directly proportion to the sizes, but it is also inversely proportional to the square of the distance between two objects.  Hence the farther objects like Jupiter & Saturn, even though they are heavier have lot less influence due to their distance.

As mentioned to an earlier question, a father, a mother, a teacher or a role model (friend) who is close by has a big effect compared to others who are not nearby (like the effect of an officer of a ministry or some arbitrary company’s project's manager)!

Let us consider another aspect.  The moon is approximately at a distance of 108 times its diameter.  The sun is approximately at a distance of 108 times its diameter.  That is the reason that we have total solar eclipse most of the times.  At times, when sun is nearer (earth is at perihelion and sun appears a bit bigger) & moon is farther than average (moon is at apogee and appears a bit smaller), then we have “annular” eclipse (ring of sun seen around moon).

Jupiter is at a distance much more than 108 times its diameter – hence it looks so small (otherwise it would also look the size of the sun / moon).  Obviously this leads to the conclusion that it has less effect compared to sun / moon!  Hence, a “Jupiter” based calendar makes less sense (at least to me).

VRVD

(8 of 29 Thirvathirai / Ardra)