Most Western astrologers learn astrology by reading a few books and studying the charts of family, friends and famous people. It is not so easy when learning Vedic astrology. Every Vedic astrologer that I have spoken to is quite clear that at some point one must find a teacher. Vedic astrology is just too complex to learn through books. There are so many different calculations to consider when doing a Vedic analysis – the rashi chart (natal chart), the navamsha chart (spouse), 14 other divisional charts, the lords of the houses, the tenants of the houses, aspects to the houses, the current dasa, the karakas, different strength indicators like shad bala and ashtakavarga, the list goes on.
There has been a ground swell of interest in Vedic astrology by Western astrologers. I can well understand the excitement. Vedic astrology’s palette of techniques is so precise and extensive that it makes western astrology look like watercolors done with broad brush. Thankfully much of what one learns in Western astrology about signs, houses, rulerships, transits, solar returns, and composite charts is vaguely transferable in the same way that it is easier to learn Italian if you know Spanish. But there are also lots of new words and concepts to learn.
Parashara’s Light has the best tutorial I have seen in any astrology program. It actually tells you about your own chart as it teaches you Vedic concepts. Parashara’s Light is the granddaddy of all Vedic astrology programs. The developers of Parashara’s Light have been adding features to the program and refining its user interface for ten years. It is no wonder that it also has more features than any other Vedic program.
Its chief programmer told me a while back that he just rewrote the internal routines to make the whole program more modular. He claimed the result would be a dramatic acceleration in how quickly he could add new features. The latest version of Parashara’s Light substantially proves his point. It now has:
• hundreds of graphs, tables, and charts that can be dropped into worksheet slots,
• large screen support and much, much more. There is no astrology program, Vedic or Western, that makes it so easy to completely personalize the screen to your style of doing astrology. Just like astropo.co.il, this software is very easy to use. It is all done with a few clicks and checking items off a list. We have over 50 pages of screen shots of new features in Parashara’s Light version 6. Kala – Parashara’s Light users will immediately notice a familial resemblance in the worksheet concept. They will also find a few features that may make them consider owning two Vedic software programs. Käla is the only Vedic program that gives contemporary interpretations of planetary yogas.
Every other program quotes the classical texts which, though sacred, give such exaggerated delineations that one is often left scrambling to find the canceling yogas in the chart. Ernst Wilhelm, the program designer, has written several books on Vedic that deftly describe the subtle inner realities to Vedic entities and yogas. These are presented in the natal reports and the compatibility report. The compatibility report is especially well written, both as clear astrological delineation and as beautifully written prose.
Käla’s program designer is the only ACVA tutor who has produced instructional video tapes. We’ve decided to offer them here for people who don’t have a teacher in their area. There is nothing program-specific about these tapes so they are equally recommended for Parashara’s Light users. I strongly recommend that you get the starter set if you are new to Vedic astrology.
