Astrology 101

A structured guide to Vedic astrology, from the diamond chart to planetary strengths. 10 short, illustrated lessons, free to read.

What this course covers

Most astrology writing online assumes you already know the vocabulary. This course does not. It starts from what a birth chart actually is and builds, in order, to the point where you can open your own kundali and read it without a glossary. Every lesson is free, and each one takes a few minutes.

The order matters more than it looks. Signs before grahas, grahas before houses, houses before the lagna, and dignity before drishti, because each lesson uses the vocabulary of the one before it. Reading them out of sequence is the usual reason people bounce off Jyotish.

The nine lessons, in order

#LessonWhat you take away
1What is Vedic astrologyWhere Jyotish comes from and how a birth chart works.
2RashisThe 12 zodiac signs and what each one means.
3Planets & their signsThe nine grahas and the signs they rule.
4Kundali & HousesHow the diamond chart maps the 12 houses of life.
5Lagna & sign placementYour ascendant and how the signs fall across the chart.
6Planets in housesWhat a planet does in each area of life.
7Planetary strengthExaltation, debilitation and dignity.
8Planetary friendshipsWhich grahas are friends, neutral or enemies.
9DrishtiHow planets aspect and influence other houses.
10How to Judge a Conjunction (Yuti): The Five Checks Before Any VerdictThe same conjunction is a blessing in one house and a test in another. Here are the five checks that decide which, before any verdict is given.

What you will be able to do afterwards

Identify your lagna, Chandra rashi and janma nakshatra, and know why the first two are not the same thing as a Western sun sign. Work out which sign sits on each of your twelve houses and who rules it. Judge whether a graha is strong or weak by dignity rather than by reputation. Read the drishti a graha casts, so you can see why an empty house is never really empty. And recognise when two grahas sharing a sign have merged into a single force.

Where to go after the lessons

The lessons teach the method. These are the reference sections you will actually use with it: the twelve rashis, the nine grahas, the twelve houses, all 27 nakshatras, planet conjunctions, named yogas and Ank Jyotish.

For longer worked pieces, the journal covers things the lessons only introduce: reading a full birth chart, the Vimshottari dasha and the navamsa D9 chart.

The fastest way to make any of this stick is to read it against your own chart rather than a sample one. Generating a Janma Kundali is free and takes under a minute.