How the planets seize and agitate our consciousness
The planets represent consciousness astrologically speaking.
They are called Grahas, which means "seizers": they seize consciousness in a certain way.
The precise symbolism of the Grahas, as described in Parashara and Jaimini, you can also find (besides the symbolism of the Rasis, Bhavas and Nakshatras) on the learning cards I made for beginning astrologers; they have helped me and continue to help me to practice and internalize the all important symbolism. Everything "worth knowing" you can find there on these "vocabulary cards".
Or in other words: if you have a reasonably good grasp of the symbols and the meaning of the symbols on these flashcards, then you have internalized the important astrological ABCs and are well prepared.
To understand the meaning of the symbols of specifically the Grahas, I highly recommend to you the book "Graha Sutras" by Ernst Wilhelm. Here you can dive into the consciousness and the mythology of the Grahas, and thereby really understand the Grahas on a much deeper level and see them actually working in your daily life.
Grahas are consciousness / spirituality
Maybe at this point I shall clarify one general misconception about Vedic astrology: The concept of faith behind Vedic astrology is not polytheism, as is perhaps sometimes believed, but henotheism.
Yes, Grahas and Nakshatras are seen as facets of divine consciousness and divine energies (while Rasis and Bhavas as "unconscious manifestations of Vishnu" are secondary in the sense that they are more the environment of this consciousness or these energies, the containers so-to-speak into which the divine consciousness of Grahas and Nakshatras pours). But behind this supposed multiplicity there is a fundamental unity also for Vedic astrologers: Vedic philosophy is nondual at its core.
This fundamental unity is called Brahman in the Vedas. Instead of Brahman we could also speak of the One "monotheistic", formless God, who transcends all images and conceptions we have of him or her or it. Alternatively, if we wish to approach the concept philosophically-ontologically rather than theologically, we could also speak of the One formless substance behind the phenomenal multiplicity. These are terms in the medium of words, and they can and should have meaning. But in the end, we cannot avoid the need to experience this nondual unity and actually realize it by ourselves.
On the way to the realization and self-realization of this nondual unity, according to the henotheistic understanding, the existence of other gods is not denied or their worship prohibited.
Because spirituality, understood as a process towards this nondual unity, is individual, and the qualities of this one formless God cannot be expressed in words anyway. To describe Brahman, the Vedas speak of Sat, Chit and Ananda, i.e. of Existence, Consciousness and Bliss. But do we even know what this consciousness of unchanging existence and bliss, this pure, unchanging being, is?
The descriptive qualities of Brahman are first of all only words and at best signposts. But we have to start the journey towards the actual self-realization of God/Brahman/ Substance - which can be a very, very long one - at some point in time.
On the way to the realization of this one nondual God/Brahman/Substance, the henotheistic concept of faith found in the Vedas and in Vedic astrology is not dismissive of other forms of God. It is said: "God is One, but the Wise see Him as many!
Therefore, the becoming aware of the divine energies of Grahas and Nakshatras does not contradict the statement of the basic nondual unity of Vedic philosophy at all.
In order to apply astrology and experience the astrological techniques of Parashara, Jaimini and Varshaphala in action, it is in fact necessary to better understand this energy (transported in the form of linguistic symbolism) and its manifestations in one's own immediate environment.
Therefore, if you are considering learning astrology, I really recommend that you become more familiar with the energies of the Grahas by studying the learning cards and the above mentioned book "Grahas Sutras", and in this way better understand the basics of the symbolism of the Grahas.
For me at least, it was an unforgettable time when, after a marathon of studying astrology and writing my final study thesis, I sat outside on park benches under brightly colored autumn trees in autumn 2017 and read about the grahas again in such a systematic way.
In the meantime I have entered the working world and I would say I have arrived there, and so much has happened in the last year and a half since the beginning of my Moon-Dasa (which started in November 2017). Now I am working for a large auditing and consulting company, and during this time, as a trainee, I have gone through the areas of international taxes, sales tax, transfer pricing and real estate.
In each of these areas, there is an own perspective on the economic aspects of life, with the common denominator that it is not about love, art or religion, but about the world of business and about economic-legal questions and tasks.
Therefore it is quite obvious for me to relate the symbolism of the Grahas very specifically to the world of economy. Some well-known terms and concepts from our everyday economic world can indeed be well derived astrologically.
With this I will start in the next post.
So, stay tuned and see you in the next post,
Christian