In this episode of “5 Minutes,” Dr. Robert Svoboda explores Ayanamsha and its importance in understanding different systems of astrology.

Ayanamsha means ayana, which means the turning in the direction of the path, and amsha, which means portion. Understanding Ayanamsha requires some understanding of astronomy.

The zodiac is a band of space that extends about eight degrees above and below the apparent path of the Sun, the place where the plane of the Earth’s orbit intersects with the sky. The zodiac itself is the same all around the world. But when we try to identify constellations, signs, and other divisions, we need to determine a point where the zodiac begins.

By definition, the beginning of the zodiac is zero degrees of Aries. However, there are different ways of determining where zero degrees of Aries is located.

One method uses the fixed stars. This is called sidereal astrology, meaning astrology related to the stars. The most important star in this context is Spica. You can generally locate Spica by finding the Big Dipper, following the curve of the handle to Arcturus, one of the brightest stars in the sky, and then moving onward toward Spica.

Spica is located approximately opposite zero degrees of Aries. It lies near the boundary between the constellations of Virgo and Libra. This is one way of determining the beginning point of the zodiac.

Another method is the tropical definition, which is based on the Sun. In this system, the position of the Sun at the moment of the vernal equinox is defined as zero degrees of Aries. The vernal equinox occurs in spring in the Northern Hemisphere, when day and night are approximately equal, usually around March 21st.

However, because of a phenomenon called the precession of the equinoxes, these two systems do not remain in the same place relative to one another. The Earth spins on its axis as it travels around the Sun, but the Earth’s rotation is not perfectly fixed. Like a spinning top or a dreidel that begins to wobble as it slows down, the Earth’s axis moves in a large circle.

The Earth’s pole moves gradually in a counterclockwise direction, and this movement takes a little more than 25,000 years to complete. Because of this, the point where the Sun reaches zero degrees of Aries at the vernal equinox gradually moves backward against the background of the constellations.

The difference between the sidereal position of zero degrees of Aries and the tropical position of zero degrees of Aries is called Ayanamsha.

This is important because if you want to convert a sidereal horoscope into a tropical horoscope, or a tropical horoscope into a sidereal horoscope, you need to know the Ayanamsha. Tropical astrology is generally associated with Western astrology, while sidereal astrology is generally associated with Indian astrology.

The exact amount of Ayanamsha is not completely agreed upon. There are several different Ayanamshas, including the Yukteshwar Ayanamsha, Raman Ayanamsha, and the Chitra Paksha Ayanamsha, also known as the Lahiri Ayanamsha, which is the most commonly used. There is also the Ayanamsha developed by the astrologer Krishnamurti, which differs slightly from the Chitra Paksha Ayanamsha.

Therefore, whenever you work with astrology, it is important to understand Ayanamsha because it is a fundamental part of understanding how one horoscope is converted into another.