In God's Light Interview with Dr. Theja Laura A...
In God's Light
Interview with Dr. Theja
Laura Attwood
Continuing our Astrology special this month, Laura Attwood explores the wisdom of the Vedas in her first experience of centuries-old Vedic astrology.
As each of us follows the vagaries of our fast paced modern world, we face a myriad of decisions daily. As the planet of free will and choice, this provides us with a major opportunity in decisiveness! But, often, it's making our decisions that gives us the biggest headaches. All the hours spent over coffee with friends chewing over the pros and cons, the fears and negative future visions we can launch ourselves into and the complete waste of energy and time over these "decision thugs". Now wouldn't it be a whole lot easier if we meditated or just tuned into the wise being within us and made our choice from there? Some people feel this takes too much time, or they then encounter a second "beast" - trust, or more precisely, the lack of it. Either way, their lack of inner peace and a mind full of chatter blocks this inner wisdom.
What would we give for a foolproof tool to help us with this crucial area of our lives? Well, of course, half the lessons we've come to learn centre around self responsibility and the choices we make in our lives and obviously the related karma. So, we can't give our power away to other people to make the decisions for us - we're living our own lives. But we can find ways to make choices that open up worlds within us, new possibilities, and mystical wondrous journeys. One such map or tool is astrology - it shows us tendencies, our own personality and karmic influences and our soul purpose. With a map, the territory becomes manageable, the code is cracked.
Life is full of enormous possibilities -growth through intimate relationships, choice of profession, choice of place or country to live in, to name just a few. One "bad" choice can cause untold grief and gnashing of teeth - though, of course, it may have been just what the doctor ordered for our personal evolution. In ancient India, under the tradition of arranged marriages, parents chose prospective marriage partners for their offspring, largely based on astrology. Of course, materialism could enter the equation, but the true aim provided the son or daughter with an excellent and compatible match, taking into account past life experiences, karmas, psychological disposition, ayurvedic temperaments (which indicate how their psycho-physiological energies resonate with each other), spiritual compatibility, magnetic attraction, sexual compatibility, the potential of the relationship for spiritual growth and auspiciousness.
In ancient times, Indian parents turned to Vedic astrology for many of their life choices. Vedic astrology or Jyotish (in Sanskrit) means the "light of God". Basing some of its wisdom on the knowledge of India's sacred texts, the Vedas, this astrology has been practised unbroken for thousands of years. The Vedas, the primary texts of Hinduism, are held to be entirely superhuman, direct intuitional revelations having no author as such. Vedic astrology is steeped in Vedic thought and philosophy.
Other major and important life choices, besides the one of life partner, which can be assisted by an astrological chart, are certainly the career or personality tendencies and talents of a particular person. A chart can match up the personality and individual gifts with the karmic and planetary line-ups to give clear guidance on career choice. Curious about whether guidance on my current life situation could be found in my chart, I had a brief reading by Vedic astrologer Dr Theja.
A Vedic chart is laid out like a diagonal chessboard with the twelve houses forming a diamond divided into four diamond houses and then the further eight making up triangles to fill the rest of the square. Used to the traditional astrological wheel, I found this square of triangles quite mystifying and a completely different energy to other charts I've experienced. The scientific nature of the method is quite evident when viewing the chart and Dashas or planetary time cycles. Vedic astrology has a system of Dashas showing the precise timing when the tendencies found in the birth chart will manifest. Dashas are planetary periods that rule very specifically defined periods of one's life. The ancient system paints a portrait of karmic effects as different planets move in and out of the individual's life as shown by their chart. Once Dr Theja began his interpretation, the pattern fell into place and the chess pieces gained meaning.
One of the major distinctions between Vedic and Western astrology is the predictive nature of Vedic astrology. A reading can help you with the timing of upcoming events and changes in life and is incredibly accurate with regard to your past, present and future. A birth chart in Vedic astrology shows what you can expect in your life, as well as when.
Dr Theja gave me a brief rundown of certain themes in my past that my Vedic planetary line up indicated. The summation of events and timings was so exact it was quite uncanny. He started off by saying my line-up indicated my parents had moved house when I was around two years of age, a completely accurate and precise detail, and related periods of real difficulty in my life with exact age brackets and the areas in which I experienced these difficulties. He said my chart showed that in the years 2000 - 2003, I had a huge Saturn influence and enormous growth period with lots of worry, financial issues, emotional problems and heartache and work difficulties. This was completely accurate as at this time I struggled to find work in a new city with no emotional support network or friends, and in a young and difficult marriage which ended in divorce within that period.
Perth-based and highly regarded for his astrological predictions in South East Asia as well as Australia, Dr Theja hails from Sri Lanka. He is a former geologist in the precious mineral industry, turned astrologer, and his chart revealed both these career potentials.
"Vedic astrology is not only a philosophy that deals with the physical nature of the universe, but is also one of the most important of the inner or spiritual sciences which deals with the mind and soul," he told me.
"A Vedic interpretation can show a person's basic character, as well as serve to highlight some of the forces influencing them at different periods of their life."
Dr Theja says that Vedic readings embrace the law of cause and effect or karma. Vedic astrologers study the laws of karma as they apply to any particular horoscope. The positioning or the placement of seven major planets, the Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury Jupiter, Venus and Saturn play an important role in moulding one's life.
Batting around an inner conflict between the desire to devote all my energies to being a full time mum for my young daughter and the desire to resume my career, I wondered if my chart could shed any light for me. Before I could even ask the question, the future aspects of my chart revealed themselves. Dr Theja told me the next few years would be troublesome for work and frustrating - and that it was very important I spend a lot of time with my daughter up until 2006 or later. Question answered. While I already knew intuitively the right thing for me to do was to devote much of my energies to my young daughter, both for her benefit and my own growth, having the chart back this up gave me undeniable proof that any ego desires seeking to sabotage this correct plan for my evolution were shattered.
As for more specific career guidance, some of my planetary line-ups indicated I would be suited to service oriented work, particularly the position of my moon. This served to confirm what was already clear to me, but was wonderful confirmation. Being a mini-reading, I know there's more detail still to be accessed and the position of Jupiter in my Tenth House indicates particularly that I could have an influential career. More to investigate after parenting! And probably best not to have too much detail on my career possibilities as this might have tempted me away from my designated path at present! "The best forecasts are not those that come true but those that warn, teach and prepare to lead a happy and contented life," says Dr Theja.
The influence of the Indian culture and philosophy was very evident in my reading, particularly with regard to the importance of family. Dr Theja mentioned several times how my chart impacted on my parents and how especially the appearance of Saturn for regular periods caused them worry. Saturn can be a particularly challenging planet, one that prods and guides us to grow and learn, sometimes in deeply uprooting means. My chart revealed that my birth had been difficult for my mother, emotionally as well as physically, and that it had not been entirely natural. This was very true as my birth mother, who was very young, had a forceps delivery and I was adopted at birth. Amazing what one can read from astrology!
While many people at this time have a strong dedication to a spiritual lifestyle, Vedic astrology's emphasis on our spiritual development and how the quality of our lives can be improved through living a spiritual existence, is extremely valuable. Peace of mind, emotional, physical and mental wellbeing can certainly be achieved through clear living, decision -making and right choices. So, if astrology is a powerful tool to help us with these choices, taking into account the predetermined karmas we each bring with us, I believe this "leap frogs" us into glorious and joyful right living. To quote Dr Theja: "To deny the influence of the stars is to deny the wisdom and providence of God."
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