Lunarium Blog

I just responded to an email, and I thought the topic and the questions were so common that I should share them here. First of all, many people believe that whereas Western astrology uses the signs of the zodiac, which are equal 30-degree sections of the ecliptic, Vedic astrology uses actual constellations. This is wrong: Vedic astrology also uses a zodiac made of equal 30-degree signs, but it uses the sidereal zodiac. The difference is in the starting point. The tropical zodiac used in Western astrology starts from the point of the vernal equinox, which is easily defined astronomically, and so tropical zodiac is well established, clear and unambiguous. In contrast, there are several different opinions regarding the starting point of the sidereal zodiac. The difference between these two zodiacs is called Ayanamsha, and there are several different Ayanamshas in use by different astrologers. The most popular and, as far as I know, officially approved in India is Lahiri Ayanamsha. T...

I have already received three questions from different visitors of Lunarium with a similar content. They are asking: your lunar calendar shows that the Moon is void of course and at the same time it is in some sign of the Zodiac. That should be a mistake since when the Moon is void-of-course it isn't in any sign isn't it? The answer is: NO, this isn't a mistake. The Moon is *always* in some sign of the Zodiac, there are no empty spaces between the signs. Consequently, the Moon cannot be in no sign. It will take quite a bit of text and a few diagrams to explain what exactly void-of-course status is. So I will have to write an article on this topic, but that will take some time. In the meanwhile, let me try to explain the topic in as few words as possible. If you feel this explanation isn't comprehensible enough - wait for the article please. First of all, the Zodiac is akin a ruler that helps us to specify where a planet is situated in the sky. I am going to explain this...