Tithis 2

When I talk of the movements of the planets I'm generally referring to exactly what NASA uses and what astronomers use, what the world has come to know of the movements of the planets, which is that the Earth and other rotate around the Sun. Other views are based on other realities or are just summaries and not science.

Nor do I care to say that NASA is "right". All's I know is that the old Jyotish books and the modern astronomy work well together. (Actually, I feel I know a lot more than this, but to dodge many different mental arguments and problems I'm going to cop out like this).

So, whenever I talk of the movements of the planets, I'm referring to their longitudinal movements around the zodiac belt as seen from the Earth, or Geocentric vision, which is all astrology is interested in. These things, "longitude" "zodiac" etc., may not be as clear in your mind as they will need to be to settle down the tithi stuff, and other astrological stuff.

In order to understand these things, basic astronomy/astrology is necessary. There are many details. I could tell them, but they exist elsewhere already written. Things like: the planets all more or less travel on the same ecliptic- the path of the earth around the sun- the ohter planets mostly orbit also on the same plane, like a "Frisbee" they are all all riding on say...they form a flat layer of rotating planets in space more or less....and like....outside and beyond our planets here in our little part of space there is a huge zodiac belt that is aligned with the planets orbiting the sun, which is divided into twelve sections or signs, and 27 nakshatras or stars, "Vedic constellations" you could say, and so as seen from the Earth, all the planets are APPARENTLY situated in front of, with their backdrop as, some part of the zodiac at all times, meaning they are "in" one of the signs and "in" one of the stars or nakshatras.

Also, since they go different speeds, many times one planet will "cross over" or "pass up" another when viewed against that zodiac belt.

In actuality because they are on different "race tracks" they never collide- some of the planets are in close and some far out, from the sun, but to us they appear to meet or join or become "conjunct" in the zodiac throughout their travels.

So, "when the sun meets the moon" each month is when their longitude against the zodiac is the same, even though one may be higher or lower than the other. A true meeting of these two or true alignment is what happens when there is a lunar or solar eclipse. Then they are lined up with the earth in both respects, but every month they align by longitude alone, and that is their conjunction astrologically, when the first tithi of the civic Hindu month begins....the Vaisnavas doing the full moon instead.

>In any case what does it really mean when you say that the Sun "enters" this or that constellation? Plus I thought that from the southern half of the planet you would see a totally different sky; astrology working only for half a planet (I know it's a stupid question, but it's just an intellectual provocation)?

No, the earth and planets are so small and so far away, that looking from the different parts of the earth at say the sun or any other planet, the same spot in space will appear to be that planets backdrop. So for everywhere on earth the sun and all planets appear to move against the starry backdrop the same- so if because of our orbiting around the sun, it APPEARS to us that the Sun is "backed up by" and thus "in" the sign of capricorn, well the moment it crosses that first part of capricorn will be the same celestial moment for everyone, no matter if they are in the light or dark, north or south, halves of the earth.

To understand "enters a constellation" you have to envision the universe as science and apparently the old jyotish books, understand it....as I've been describing. The belt of the zodiac is on the outside; the planets rotate around the sun. If you look from the earth at any planet, you will see some zodiac sign behind it. That is the sign it is in. Because of all the orbiting, this scene constantly changes. So we are viewing the planets movements AGAINST THE ZODIAC BELT AS THEY ORBIT THE SUN...so it's geocentric viewing, of a dance around not the earth, but the sun, makes it interesting...

You didn't get the tithi 12 degree thing. It's like this. The Moon races around the Earth and APPEARS to us to be moving THROUGH THE ZODIAC at a rapid pace. Haven't you noticed how the moon moves ahead through the sky each night? That's it's movement of roughly 13 degrees per day becoming apparent to you.

So each day roughly, actually shorter than a day, it gets itself at some point 12 degrees ahead of the Sun, which moves only 1 degree per day. At the exact moment the Moon achieves this 12 degrees more, the next tithi begins, always, every day, like "clockwork" ;-)

As far as why different calendar makers would assign slightly different tithis to the West coast, it is because of any of the following: They don't know what they're doing, they have faulty software, they don't know how to use it, they follow different rules, and many other possibilities....ISKCON does know how to do this, at least they have in some places at some points, and I think today they probably do, but there's no guarantee....things are kindof rocky.

Yes though, one or the other will be wrong or right. This is very easy to know from my software. I will print you an accurate listing of the tithis for EUGENE because actually it has to be done for the city you are in, not "the West Coast" etc...this is yet another reason why they might be different. It can be different for SF and LA, two places "on the west coast" if they have enough difference in their longitudes to cause a different tithi to rule the sunrise. Yes, it's exact to the place where you are, that's the science of it, right or wrong.

So I've attached a section of the Eugene Panchang for the current period from my program, sorry it doesn't aligned.

I cut out the Yoga and Karan to make the first line for each day shorter.

1999 Panchang Times calculated for Eugene OR USA

Day Time Paksha Tithi Nakshatra Moon Sign Sun Sign

Currently in the Month of Falgun Krishna

Thu Mar 11 2 38 AM Krishna 9-Navami 19-Mula Dhanus Kumba 06:36:54 Sunrise 9-Navami rules the day 3 24 PM 10-Dashami 49-Vanija 20-Purva Ashadha 11 26 PM 18-Variyan

What we have here above is the entry for Thursday March 11th. At Sunrise which was at 6:36:54 AM that day in Eugene, the tithi called Navami which means ninth, if the month of Falgun Krishna, which means Falgun, the dark half, the half where the Moon is returning to the Sun, the waning course of the Moon, was passing, and it was the ninth of the 15 tithis of that half of the Month, the second civil half since the civil calendar begins at new moon, so then the brightening half or the waxing half of the Moon's course begins, which means it's moving away from the Sun towards opposite it which is "Full Moon", and then it shall begin it's return to the Sun which is the waning course, which is the 2nd set of fifteen tithis each lunar month..

So in Eugene on Thursday Navami ruled the day. We see that at 3:24 PM in Eugene is when the next tithi will begin.

Notice in the entries below, the following lines: 20-Purva Ashadha, 21-Uttara Ashadh, 22-Shravana.

These are 3 of the 27 nakshatras or lunar mansions. The Moon stays in one per day roughly and so here over these three days we see it going through them.

Fri Mar 12 4 01 AM Krishna 10-Dashami 20-Purva Ashadha Dhanus Kumba 06:35:06 Sunrise 10-Dashami rules the day 4 27 PM 11-Ekadashi 51-Bava 21-Uttara Ashadh 10 59 PM 19-Parigha Makara Sat Mar 13 4 43 AM Krishna 11-Ekadashi 21-Uttara Ashadh Makara Kumba 06:33:19 Sunrise 11-Ekadashi rules the day 4 46 PM 12-Dvadashi 53-Kaulava 22-Shravana 9 57 PM 20-Siva Sun Mar 14 4 38 AM Krishna 12-Dvadashi 22-Shravana Makara Kumba 06:31:31 Sunrise 12-Dvadashi rules the day 4 18 PM 13-Trayodashi 55-Gara 23-Dhanishtha Meena 8 19 PM 21-Siddha

The idea of all this is this: If one knows the nakshatras well, and the nature of the yogas, karans, tithis, and other parts of the panchang, then one can supposedly use it to choose good and bad times for the various elections we make in life. It is like learning the "Tarot of the Calendar". The Panchang itself is fixed. We can tell you the Panchang for any year in the future already. It is based on the preset and predefined movements of the planets. It is known.

But it is like one of those childrens eye telescope things you look in and twist, and you see all the colored patterns of glass reflecting in the toys mirrors etc....the calendar is like that...so many possible combinations of the elements, and so it's like rolling dice...so to read the Panchang is a rare art that nobody hardly gets into anymore...it's described in great detail in some books, at least a great detail of hints are given...but very few are interested in this part these days actively...including myself...I don't have time for the study of time, so to speak....