Navagrahas and Jyotish Astrology Gemstones

Visit any popular temple or shrine in Thailand and you will find an astrologer or fortune teller. I treated my mum to a session a number of years ago and she quickly discovered she was now a Gemini not a Cancer! What was going on? It turns out Thailand uses the ancient Vedic horoscope not the western one.

Our Zodiac signs originated in Ancient Babylonia but it was Ptolemy in Ancient Egypt that established the Tropical Zodiac, a fixed system where each astrological sign is determined by the constellation’s relationship to the sun.

The night sky was divided into 12 equal signs and given the names that we are familiar with today, the Bull, The Ram, the Scales and so on. So, for example, if you were born on a day when the sun was passing through the constellation of the Great Twins you would be a Gemini.

However the equally ancient Hindu astrologers (known as Vedic or Jyotish) used a different system known as the Sidereal or Fixed Zodiac. This system took into account the fact that the earth changes position in relation to the stars by about one degree every 72 years.

Simply put, this means the two systems have gradually moved apart and there is now about a 24 degrees difference. The first sign of both zodiacs is Aries but the dates in the western system are March 21st - April 19th while in the Vedic zodiac it is April 13th - May 14th!

Coincidently, NASA has just announced that the stars have shifted, creating a 13th zodiac sign. The new sign is called Ophiuchus, and is symbolized by a snake bearer, and is for people born between November 29 and December 17. Those Ancient Vedics sure knew their stuff.

Both systems have recognized and appreciated the power of gemstones for physical and spiritual well-being but perhaps not surprisingly the gemstones are not always the same.

You can see our article on western zodiac gemstones here

In the Vedic zodiac the gemstones represent the 9 heavenly bodies (The Navagrahas) that are used as guides to the constellations, the sun, the moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn as well as Rahu and Ketu - the two points in the sky where the sun and moon intersect.

Simply wearing or holding your particular gemstone can bring you good luck or ward off bad luck but for a more detailed look into the rather complicated world of Vedic Astrology visit this websites: