Igor Kufayev and Vedic Astrology

[In a recent YouTube video, prominent spiritual teacher Igor Kufayev strongly recommends Vedic astrology. As a former professional astrologer, I reject Vedic astrology, and the following excerpt from my forthcoming book Nonduality and Mind-Only Through the Prism of Reality explains why I reject it.]

Combining the Kashmir Shaivism tattva system with the classical Sefirotic/astrologic Tree of Life clearly serves to upgrade the Tree as a theosophical chart. That said, I’m sure many traditionalists will recoil in response to my “creative” redrawing of the Kabbalistic Tree.

I’m also sure that many into Hindu Vedic astrology will not be happy with my rejection of the sidereal (mutable constellation-based) zodiac they embrace, and my allegiance to the tropical (immutable solar-system-based) zodiac, which most Western astrologers endorse. Here [below] for those who will be reading our exchange, is a brief comparison of the two zodiacs (excerpted from the article “Sidereal and Tropical Zodiacs” at universallifechurch.org):

Both sidereal and tropical zodiac systems typically use the same 12 astrological signs, with the Sun taking 30 to 31 days to transit each sign. The key difference between the two is their starting points. Astrological years begin with zero degrees Aries, but tropical astrology always places this point at the spring equinox. Sidereal systems place zero degrees Aries at the [subjective] point where the Sun actually starts transiting through the constellation of Aries. That’s why sidereal Aries currently starts [circa] April 15 instead of March 21.

Why is there such a huge difference in starting dates? It’s because sidereal systems account for equinox precession. As seen from Earth, the constellations’ positions in our night skies drift westward [about 1 degree each 72 years]. This drift results from the movement of Earth’s rotational axis, which also gives us our north and south geographic poles. Solar and lunar gravitational forces pull on our planet, causing the poles’ locations to shift in relation to the stars’ positions. But from Earth, it looks like the stars themselves are moving.

In short, the single tropical zodiac is based on the Earth-Sun relationship, which is objective, while the various, differing sidereal systems depend on our planet’s relationship to the stars, which is subjective. (As the website masteringthezodiac.com puts it, “Sidereal astrology uses the visible sky for its zodiac system. Aries begins where it is visible. Since this is subjective, there are many different forms of sidereal.”) Given that the Earth-Sun relationship is stable and objective, whereas the Earth-stars relationship is not, it is only the tropical zodiac that represents eternal and unchanging aspects.

Because the Kabbalistic Tree of Life has nothing to do with the subjective, immutable Earth-stars relationship, and everything to do with the objective, immutable Earth-Sun-Planet relationships, it is clearly compatible with the tropical zodiac, but not with the sidereal. And to emphasize the relationship between the Sun and the planets and the Earth, I have, in my diagram, placed a zodiac “belt” around the Earth/Malkhut. This signifies that humans on planet Earth receive planetary (including solar and lunar) energies/influences that are modified/ “filtered” through the twelve zodiac signs.

An individual’s “soul-matrix” (the composite of psychical seed tendencies that “sprouts” as his mind and emotions) reflects the planetary “gestalt” (as “filtered” through the twelve zodiac signs) at the moment he was born. And a natal astrology chart, a diagram of this “filtered” planetary gestalt, provides a map of his psychical (karmic) structures, which an astrologer deciphers.

It seems that one must become an astrologer in order to deeply grok the theosophical Kabbalah.

Yes, and that holds true not just for Kabbalah, but also Hermeticism and occultism. In the case of the Kabbalistic Tree of Life, one cannot deeply grok the Sefirot without a deep understanding of astrology, because, as I’ve made clear, the Sefirot are analogues for the planets (which, in astrological nomenclature, include the Sun and the Moon).

Likewise, one cannot deeply (or occultly) grok oneself, others, or interpersonal relationships sans astrology. That said, I must emphasize that, whereas

astrological chart erection is a science (in the sense that it is based on astronomical information), chart interpretation is an art; and the depth and accuracy of interpretations can vary significantly, depending on the training and ability of the astrologer.