sunita,
mindful of the vast number of patrons in this forum who believe in astrology, my post here is more one of observation of how it is followed and practised.
hope the public does not mind, as there is nothing controversial meant here, but what i hope, is a impassive objective note of a process.
in my own family, my grandparents had a panikkar who used சோழி ie shells to do the predictions. my parents discontinued the practice of matching horoscopes with their marriage. so my marriage was decided without horoscope matching.
most of my family follows it. i respect them and also everyone here who practices or supports astrology. this is only proper and the right thing, for all of us, to do.
i have always had this only one nagging question, based on my personal experience and general acceptance. the key to an accurate horoscope is the time of birth as this along with the place of birth, uniquely identifies the position of the stars at one time of birth.
with as many times as there are clocks in the world, i am not so sure, how many of the times recorded in the horoscope are accurate to the level required.
my panikkar used to look at the சோழி and come up with amazing happenings that he had no way of knowing.
for instance, my grandfather had purchased some diamonds in far away madras. within hours, my grandmother asked him to evaluate the diamonds, and bang the panikkar came that one diamond would cause misfortune.
on hearing this my grandfather, still in madras, rushed to this top reputable merchant, who was surprised but agreed to verify. and lo and behold, on one diamond, there was a miniscule carbon deposit. hence defective.
the panikkar's words interpreted this in terms of misfortune. but he was right as to the deficiency of the diamond.
he has predicted accurately. and at times, his predictions have gone way out. like in one instance, a predicted boy child was born a girl
all in all, astrology, appears to involve a lot of study, so that i find it difficult to just dismiss it as alchemy or pseudo science. it is indeed an ancient thought process and i have tried to make some headway to understand it. but nothing entered my head. that is not the fault of astrology, but more because of the மண்டு முட்டாள் in me
people who go throug horoscope matching, i think, enter the arrangment, with a feeling of goodness, and with the confidence, that somebody up there is batting for them and scoring a century.
however, as we all know, nothing in life is guaranteed. so if bad things happen to these goodly matched couple, and if they perchance challenge the matchmaking astrologer, chances are, he would reply, that since the wedding, the said star moved from good to bad position, and would recommend some பிராயச்சித்தம்.
which leads to another question. in order for continued good vantage from an astrological perspective, how often do we need to consult the astrologer. do the stars and moon change drastically within a day? or is it gradual? so that a consultancy once a year is sufficient? just like our physical health? i don't know.
and so on it goes.
also, i have wondered, if any astrologer would keep tabs of his failures. i do not mean that he needs to take ownership and responsibility for the bad events, but just note that what he predicted did not happen, he would go back and verify his predictions, find root cause, and perhaps he needs a refresher course, or better still, further education. if some astrologer here, would share his experinece on such ea situation, iplease let us know. i simply would love it.
sunita, one word to be said about the relationship between an astrolger and client. it is much like the doctor client relationship. one of trust and respect. if you do not feel such to your astrologer, seek another one. just as you would seek another doctor.
though, i do not recommend getting a second opinion each time, an astrologer gives you a bad rap. it is often said that no two astrologers agree. again this is only an old wives' tale.
astrologer's practice, just like his doctor counterpart, has a lot to do with his reputation. a few bad predictions and a few more waggy tongues, and i think, just like the badly reputed doctor, the badly reputed astrologer too will be forced to seek other professions, or perhaps a different place to practice his trade. till his past reputation comes to catch him
i hope not to have offended any astrologer or believers. just some observations and i would like a feedback particularly my having difficulty in logging the accurate birth times. is there a + - range acceptable for any horoscope within which predictions can be made acceptable?
thank you.
