REQUEST to Mouthshut.com: Please do not delete this review. Please let me know where to put this under. This is VERY USEFUL information that might change view-point of 80% of people who read it for the rest of their life. I received many M2Ms after my comments on Afrank's review & hence this review.
Note: Linda Goodman's Sun Signs is one of the best/in-depth books available to read about your sun sign but only thing you need to change is the sign you are reading!! :-))
You are all aware of your ''Western'' Sun Signs. Well, what would you think if someone told you that the Western sun signs were wrong? More correctly Western sun signs are correct only for 8 degrees (8 days in a given month/sign). Let us look into this further. For example let us take Scorpio Sun sign. According to Western calendar Scorpio sun sign starts on 23rd Oct & Ends on 23rd Nov. In reality & according to Indian calendar for sun signs Scorpio sun sign starts on 17th Nov & ends on 17th Dec.
How does this affect your sun sign? Let?s say if you were born on Dec 11th, your sun sign is Scorpio & not Sagittarius!! Similarly Aries starts from April 14th & ends on May 14th/15th. So people born on May 12th are not Taurians but Arians & so on.
A simple rule of thumb is ''Makar Sankranti'' Jan 14th. Makar Sankranti is celebrated on the day Sun enters the Capricorn (Makar) sign.
i.e. (Dates are Indian, have to subtract 1 to get US dates)
14th Jan to 13/14th Feb, Capricorn
14th Feb to 13th March: Aquarius
14th March to 13th April: Pisces
14th April to 14th/15th May: Aries
15th May to 15th June: Taurus
16th June to 16th July: Gemini
16th July to 15th August: Cancer
16th August to 16th Sept: Leo
16th/17th Sept to 16th Oct: Virgo
17th Oct to 17th Nov: Libra
16/17th Nov to 16th/17th Dec: Scorpio
16/17th Dec to 15th Jan: Sagittarius
As you can see there is an 8 degree/day overlap when both Eastern/Western sun sings are the same. If you come in this span there is no change for you.
In Indian astrology we usually consider ''Moon Sign'', if you follow the Western Astrology calendar as you currently do for sun sign, your moon sign will also be changed & bumped up to next in the sequence!! Simply put: part of the sky that we call as Leo, Western astrology calls as Virgo. So your moon sign will also be affected. You can't have moon sign with one calendar & Sun Sign with other, can you?
With several examples & some more explanation I can easily ''prove'' that Indian sun signs are correct & Western Astrological division of signs is wrong. (The explanation is out of scope of this article). Some examples are given below though. (The most effective example that I like is Charlie Chaplin born on April 10/11th is a Piscean & not Arian as Western Astrology claims).
Basically, Western Astrology seems to be very straightforward in terms of dividing the horizon in 12 signs. For example, if you looked in the sky at LEO sun sign, you will notice that the actual Lion shape (the neck) starts from 16th August & the ends (the nose) on 22/23rd Aug but the ''Fire'' element & the Leo sign effect continue until 15/16th Sept. When I say ''ends on 23rd August'' it means the point/part of the Sky where Sun is on 23rd August.
Also, there is NO CUSP in reality at all. Let me repeat, you do not experience cusps in real life. You are either a Piscean or an Arian never a cusp. Why I am stressing this point? Here's the reason: As soon as Sun changes the Sign, there is a change in the ''Element''. Example: From Libra to Scorpio it changes from Air to Water. Your sun sign either belongs to Air element or water & there is NEVER confusion as far as the element of the sun sign is concerned.
The idea of cusp was put forward by Western astrology as they were/are not aware of 27 Nakshatras that Indian astrology considers. 360/12 signs = 30 degree for 1 sign. There are 27 Nakshatras. 1 Nakshatra: 360/27 = 13.33 degree. 1 Nakshatra is again divided in 4 parts called as Charanas. 1 Sign is made of 2.25 Nakshatras or 9 Charanas. The Indian Granthas document characteristic per sign & also per Nakshatra/Charana.
For every sign there is some formation of stars in the sky which is more concentrated in some Nakshatras that make them more vibrant or intense within the sign & you can see some visible signs in the person related to that. A person born between 16th to 23rd August (Bill Clinton, Robert De Nero) is more likely to have visible signs of Leo (face/nose/smile) & dramatic/theatrical & sunny nature the sign gives.
IMP: Some of the Nakshatras span across 2 Signs, example: 1 charana of ''Wishakha'' Nakshatra is in Libra & 3 are in Scorpio. While this first charana of Wishakha shows some indication of intense/extreme characteristics of Scorpio it still comes under AIR element & under the control of Libra. When you enter 2nd charana of Wishakha, you are talking about WATER element (Scorpio). There are several Nakshatras that span across Signs. This might show 'some' similarity but you are looking at completely changed Attitude (Element) & Approach (Nature). Here is some explanation about the Element & Nature of the signs.
Not many people know that the 12 signs can be grouped in 2 ways.
[A] 4 groups of 3 signs. According to Element in the sequence Fire, Earth, Air, Water
Aries/Leo/Saggi: Fire Element ==> Initiative, Action Oriented, Always think about future course of action, Sometimes tend be idealistic
Taurus/Virgo/Capri: Earth Element ==> Very Practical, Worried about practical implications of the happenings.
Gemini/Libra/Aquarius: Air ==> Intelligent, Mathematical: Think about why/how it happened.
Cancer/Scorpio/Pisces: Water ==> Emotional, When something happens they think why it happened to them or a specific person & how they didn't deserve that etc
[B] 3 groups of 4 Signs: According to ''Nature'' of the sign Cardinal (Materialistic), Fixed, Mutable/Changing
Aries-Cancer-Libra-Capri ===> Cardinal, Materialistic, Industrious, Hard-working, Always onto something, Hunger for money & worldly matters
Taurus-Leo-Scorpio-Aquarius ==> Fixed, Power Hungry, Highly Stable, Stubborn, Administrative, Tend to keep quiet when they know something (use as power)
Gemini-Virgo-Saggi-Pisces ==> Mutable, Changing, Like to Express (Speech, Writing, Painting etc), Tend to speak/share when they know something, Service Sector
Note that in [B] a single group has all the elements in it & in [A] every group has all ?natures?.
This categorization shows ''natural approach/attitude'' of the signs. Modernization has made people manipulate their true inclinations. Also you can see that Astrology is more sort of a psychological than a future telling tool.
CONTINUED IN comments two more paragraphs. PLEASE DO READ
Your Piscean (April 11)
~Milind
