Three Identical Strangers

What happens if one day you met 2 persons who look exactly like you? That was precisely what happened to Bobby Shafran when he discovered he had a twin brother on his first day of college. His brother was Eddy Galland and they quickly realized that they were twins separated at birth. But to their surprise, a few months later, they found David Kellman, who was another exact replica of themselves. They were actually triplets.

 Apparently, the triplets were deliberately given up for adoption to three couples, each of a different social class (one blue-collar, one middle-class, and one affluent). Unknown to them, they were all part of a study on genetics and human behavior, particularly under the theme of ‘nature’ versus ‘nurture’.

Despite growing up apart and unaware of each others’ existent, the three brothers displayed numerous similarities. All of them liked the same films, smoked the same cigarettes (Marlboros) and had been wrestlers at college. They also had the same mannerism (talking, walking, laughing, etc) and share the same taste for the type of girlfriends. Sadly, they also had similar struggles with mental illness growing up: all three displayed separation anxiety; all three experienced depression at times, and all three made visits to psychiatric hospitals as teenagers.

From a Vedic astrology’s perspective, all of them have the exact same Rasi chart with Aries as the Ascendant. In a way, this implies that the nature of a person is very much dictated by his natal chart, regardless how the external factors may have changed.

The triplets were born 11-16 minutes apart from each other, which mean that their Navamasha (D9) charts were different. It is said that the D9 chart tend to manifest its effects towards the later part of life and it does seem to be the case for these brothers. As they grew older, they began to look less and less like each other. After marriage, their paths in life began to separate, and they ended up having very different outcomes in life.

You can watch their story, in the documentary, Three Identical Strangers (https://tinyzonetv.to/movie/watch-three-identical-strangers-2018-free-16868) or on Netflix in some countries.

Bruce Willis' Health analysis using Vedic Astrology

Bruce Willis’ family first announced his diagnosis of aphasia (a disorder typically caused by damage to the area of the brain that controls language expression and comprehension) in Mar 2022. As of today, his condition has worsened and has developed into a form of dementia. 

 

Based on his Vedic astrological birth chart, his health may likely to have started as early as 2020, when he started his Saturn/Rahu period.

For reference, Bruce Willis was born on 19 March 1955 at 6.32pm in West Germany (His mother is a German, father an American).

Rahu and Ketu give their effects closely together since they are two ends of the same entity in ancient mythology.

So any affliction by Ketu will also manifest during Rahu’s period, in his case Rahu’s sub-period.

In his natal chart, Ketu closely afflicts his Mercury which is already weak due to its placement in the 6^th house of diseases. Mercury is associated with the brain, cognitive abilities, speech and the nervous system.

 

The Mahadasha lord, Saturn is involved in a Papa Sankhya Yoga (which is bad) in the D6 chart (the divisional chart for health matters) and badly placed in the 12^th House of losses. Its conjunction with Jupiter will act as a protection from serious illness for most part of the Mahadasha period.

Looking Rahu in D6, it is placed in a challenging 8^Th house and is associated with 2 malefics, Ketu (yes, Rahu and Ketu can be in the same sign in some divisional charts) and Sun. Association with benefics such Moon (debilitated), Mercury and Jupiter provided some alleviation.

All these indicated an inclination towards illnesses that affect the cognitive abilities.

Bruce Willis has recently entered his Jupiter sub-period, leaving the problematic Rahu sub-period behind, thus we should expect some improvements in his condition and surely the deterioration of his overall heath can be slowed down.

(Note: The above analysis is only using Vimshottari Dasha. I have not incorporated the use of planetary transits which can give even more insights). 

Regards

Alvin

What is a mantra and why we use it in Vedic astrology?

If you are Buddhist, you are likely to have heard of OM MANI PADME HUM. This string of words is known as a mantra 真言. While its meanings are important, its true power lies in its sound or vibrational energy.

 

 “What is a mantra? This Sanskrit word is composed of the two root words, manas, which means, “mind,” and trai, which means, “to heal or protect.” Mantras can therefore best be defined as “primordial sounds that have a healing or beneficial effect on the mind and consciousness”.”

Marc Boney, Graha Shanti

 

One main difference between a scripture 经文and a mantra 真言/咒语 is that the former is often translated into many languages so that people can recite and understand its meanings. For mantra, we can read its translation first to gain an understanding but when we use it, we need to recite it in its original Sanskrit form as we are reliant of its sound to create a certain desired effect.

 

“Sanskrit is an energy-based language first and a meaning-based language second.”

“…the Sanskrit alphabet consists of fifty letters, with each one corresponding to a particular petal of a chakra (refers to energy centers in our body).”

“Those ancient seers also noticed that when certain Sanskrit sounds, not all of which were words or meaning-based sounds as in modern language, were chanted in certain sequences, the resulting vibrational effect upon the chakras and physical body was remarkable. The sounds seemed to work synergistically, producing significant results in whoever chanted them, whether they understood what they were chanting or not.”

                                                                        Thomas Ashley-Farrand, Shakti Mantras

 

“The mantras that Vedic astrology employs are specific incantations that send energy to planets that are well placed, and whose energies you want to further enhance, as well as to planets that are poorly placed and in need of empowerment.”

Andrew Bloomfield, How to Practice Vedic Astrology

 

“It (refers to mantra) can increase mental abilities and open higher intuitive faculties, unlocking potentials of awareness that otherwise might remain dormant. It can help ERASE NEGATIVE KARMIC TENDENCIES, including those that have their roots in previous births.”

David Frawley - Ayurvedic Astrology

Bitcoin predictions using Vedic Astrology - It has fallen as predicted!

Back in June 2022, I actually shared my analysis on Facebook that Bitcoin will drop after July 2022. So far, it does seem to be happening. As of today on 7 Sep, its price now is slightly below US$19,000.

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=445446240917667&id=100063568839894

 

Here is the analysis in case you are lazy to click on the FB link above where my original post was:

Looking at the recent movement of Bitcoin and juxtaposing to the planetary transit, it seems like Saturn has a causative effect on its bull run since Dec 2020. Based on the date and time of which the genesis block was first minted, the cryptocurrency has a Cancer Rising chart and thus its lord, the Moon, is exactly where Saturn is transiting over during that time. In recent months, Jupiter has been transiting over the natal Moon and some astrologers have predicted a big spike in its price since Jupiter is the significator of wealth and expansive energy. Unfortunately, the reverse happened and its price has plummeted ever since Nov 2021.

 

WILL THIS DOWNWARD SPIRAL CONTINUE? IT SEEMS VERY LIKELY since Jupiter is actually going retrograde on 29 July 2022, thus will be hovering around natal Moon for a long while UNTIL FEB 2023. So Bitcoin may actually become worthless by that time. Will it make a comeback after that? I am not sure since I did not look that far ahead. Even if it does, people who got burnt by it during this period will be extremely cautious.

 

Update: Latest as of 22 Nov 2022, Bitcoin is now below US$17,000, the fall as predicted.

 

 

When will Covid-19 pandemic end?

It is worrying to see so many new Covid 19 cases on a daily basis. So I did the astrological charts of the last few past pandemics and studied them, to see if there is some hope that this will end soon.

What I found is a strong link of the Rahu Ketu Axis with contagious respiratory diseases.

Looking at Rahu's movement next year, it is very likely that the current global situation will continue to worsen all the way to end of 2022. Rahu tend to leave some residual effects after creating havoc. Thus, for now we still need to hang in there for a long while. There will be more new variants coming throughout the year globally as Rahu will only start loosening its grip towards end of 2022.

 

 

Some rambling on Psychology Astrology

Mr Marc Boney is a well-known Vedic astrologer in the U.S, trained under the school of KN Rao. He is one of my favorite authors on Vedic Astrology books. Prior to learning Vedic Astrology, he was practicing Western Astrology for over 20 years. Despite the years of giving consultations, he was unable to predict much and had to resort to ‘psychology astrology’, which is much easier to do (due to the 'Barnum Effects').

Below is the extract from one of his books, where he talks about this admittedly:

‘I was once an astrological fraud. Although I had been practicing Western astrology for some twenty years, I could not reliably and consistently predict events. The only redeeming feature in this was that I was an honest fraud. I told those who asked to consult with me that if it was event prediction that they were looking for they were talking to the wrong person. Instead I became adept at delineating personality dynamics through the birth chart and shied away from the predictive side. Of course, I did speak about what potentials for development certain major transits represented, but I refused to speculate about likely events. I told myself this was mostly because I didn’t want to condition people's minds in a harmful way, as astrological predictions sometimes do. But if the truth were known, it was mostly because I never felt confident enough in my ability to do so. I received good feedback on this type of consultation, which was more "astro-psychologizing" than predictive astrology.’

Regards

Alvin Chua

Diamond is a Woman’s Best Friend – Not for Some

In the last few decades, it has become a trend for women to wear their wedding band in the form of a diamond ring. What better way to show your new marital status than to embellish your hand with a stone that symbolize everlasting love? That being said, a small handful of people, in accordance to Vedic Astrology, may not realize that diamond can spell marital woes for them.

In our practice, diamonds are associated with the planet Venus and are known to accentuate the planet’s influence on its wearer. While Venus is generally known to be a natural benefic planet, but in certain astrological charts, Venus can sometimes take on malefic role.

And when that happens, wearing the diamond ring may not be that good an idea. For the ladies, if Venus is malefic in your chart and afflicts the 7^Th lord, it can cause your relationship to be strained months or weeks after your husband put on the diamond ring for you. If it afflicts your 5^th House, it can affect your chances of conceiving, unknowingly to you. As a double whammy, if Venus also aspects or sits with Jupiter closely, the negative impact on husband and progeny can be almost certain.

Maybe that is why some couples can be happy in a relationship but things quickly turned sour after marriage.

Here are 2 sample charts of female who should avoid wearing diamonds at all.

Example 1: Wearing diamond will make her marriage suffer. Venus afflicts 7^th House of marriage and also afflicts Jupiter, significator of husband, by conjunction.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Example 2: Wearing diamond will affect her chances of having kids. Venus afflicts the 5^th House of children and also the 5^th Lord, Jupiter itself. Jupiter is also the significator of children.

Regards

Alvin Chua

How to find Bhrigu-Bindu in Jagannatha Hora software?

Does the zodiac-based system of Chinese name selection works? 生肖姓名学真的可以用吗？

Does the zodiac-based system of Chinese name selection works?

生肖姓名学真的可以用吗？

I was asked recently that while naming a baby born in the year of the Pig (Chinese zodiac), should we avoid the use of certain Chinese characters, which are deemed inauspicious. This principle is actually based on the zodiac-based system, and whether a Chinese character is suitable for a specific zodiac animal is already predetermined and one just needs to refer to the list to derive one’s supposed auspicious name. I personally do not use this system because the concepts behind it seem too simplistic and generic to be of any value. I have tested the system with the names of a fair number of famous people but the results were rather inconsistent. However, instead of boring you to death with the theoretical portion, I decided to share some examples instead to illustrate my point.

Example 1 - Li Ka-Shing (李嘉誠)

Mr Li was born on 13 June 1928, which makes him a Dragon in the Chinese zodiac.

After checking the two characters that made up his name, this is what I have found:

Both characters are categorized as inauspicious and should be avoided. Nevertheless, we all know Mr Li has achieved almost everything in life, be it wealth, children, career success and even a long life.

Example 2 – Lee Kuan Yew (李光耀)

Our late founding father of Singapore was born on 16 September 1923, which is the year of the Pig.

So does his name depict the intelligence, determination and powerful aura he exudes? Nope, since both also falls under the category of inauspicious characters

Example 3 – Zoe Tay (鄭惠玉)

For a change, maybe we look at a celebrity instead of political figures. Ms Zoe Tay is a Singaporean actress who has been in the industry for a few decades, and was named as "Queen of Caldecott Hill". She was born in the year of the Goat on 10 January 1968. Since the date falls before the day of Li Chun 立春 (first day of spring, which is considered the actual start of a new year), we would consider her to be the zodiac sign of the previous year, which is the Goat. There is no doubt that she has been very successful in both her professional life as well as her personal life. However, her Chinese name does not reflect such a good life based on this system.

 

 

Interesting Note: The creator of the zodiac-based naming method was a old Taiwanese master. For his own grandchildren, he did not use the system he created but instead outsource it to another master in Taiwan. The latter asked him:"You are the creator of the zodiac-based method. Why don't you do it yourself but come to me?" The old man remained silent but responded only with a smile.

 

Regards

Alvin Chua