Tibetan Astrology

The Kalachakra Mandala

General

Tibetan astrology is a synthesis of various systems of Indian Astrology and Chinese Astrology which are complemented by specific Tibetan elements concerning the concept of time and the role of astrology.

Like Indian astrology, Tibetan astrology works with the sidereal zodiac. The chart drawing is a square, and the houses are equal in size (House System) and run in a clockwise direction around the chart. Interpretations are based on the seven classical planets and the Moon's Nodes; the newly discovered spiritual planets Uranus, Neptune and Pluto continue to play a minor role in Tibetan astrology and often are not even included in chart drawings.

Tibetan astrology, like Indian astrology, considers the Moon to be of central importance. The Indian legend of the Moon and the 27 houses or women it visits on its path through the zodiac is slightly different in Tibetan astrology. Here the Moon visits 28 goddesses in their palaces on its travels, although in order to harmonise the legend with the astronomical events, two of the palaces were united to make 27 Moon houses. However, 28 remains an important number for Tibetans. It stands for the four kings of the four points of the compass and the seven days or planets. Each of the four kings has four daughters whose palaces lie at the foot of the world mountain Meru. Meru, the mythical mountain at the centre of the universe, is often equated with the zodiac. Each of the 27 palaces has a different character and is used to interpret an individual's character and future.

The Tibetan method for the calculation of time is adopted from Chinese tradition. The idea that ten heavenly stems - the energies of the elements or planets - and twelve earthly branches - the cycle of time - determine our existence caused the Tibetans to adopt the system of matching years, months, days and double-hours to certain signs and elements alongside the individual horoscope. It has become tradition that each year is ruled by a particular sign of the zodiac which can have either favourable or unfavourable qualities. The Tibetans have adopted the Chinese classification for this system.

The Tibetans have developed several methods of calculating time independently from the Chinese model (Calendar). They have a cyclical concept of time. The linear addition of years only became established under the influence of foreign powers. Originally, the year consisted of twelve months of thirty days. In order to make up for the 5 1/4 missing days a leap month of 16 days was added every three years. The year was based on the Chinese model of twelve signs and five elements in masculine and feminine form so that one complete cycle lasted two times sixty years.

The twelve Year-signs

The cycle in its archetypal progression:

• Mouse/Rat
• Bull/Elephant/Ox
• Tiger
• Hare
• Dragon
• Snake/serpent
• Horse
• Sheep
• Ape/Monkey
• Bird/Rooster
• Dog
• Pig/Boar

The beginning of the first cycle was thought to be the year 1027 which was the year in which the Kalachakra-Tantra or so-called wheel of time was translated from Sanskrit into the Tibetan language.

The general astrological practice which is based on Indian astrology, is to divide a life into nine unequal epochs which are ruled by the seven classical planets and the ascending and descending Moon's nodes which are different for each individual. This division leads to very concrete predictions regarding career and financial success, health matters and the character of an individual's life.

Astrology plays an important role in Tibetan medicine, a fact which is indicated by the name Men-Tsee-Khang (Tibetan medical and astrological institute) - located in Dharamsala, the former capital of north India - which continues to practice according to traditional Tibetan medical knowledge. Tibetan medicine believes that the human body is a reflection of the macrocosm. The human body is composed of the three basic elements Loong (roughly translated as wind), Tree-pa (roughly translated as bile) and Pay-gen (roughly translated as phlegm). Loong symbolises air and oxygen; Tree-pa fire and bodily heat; Pay-gen water and the lymphatic system. An individual is healthy when they are in harmony with each other. Illness is a signal that they are in a state of disharmony which the medical practitioner aims to rectify. The causes of this disharmony are the three archetypal evils greed, hate and ignorance. Too much greed leads to an excess of wind, too much hate to an excess of bile and ignorance to an excess of phlegm. Astrology can help to show where an individual's weaknesses lie and how the individual might be able to overcome them. In this sense, Tibetan astrology goes beyond making mere predictions and more so than other branches of Asian astrology has the aim of recognising an individual's psychic patterns and processes and helping in the healing process.

Tibetan horoscope

See also

• Chinese Astrology
• Indian Astrology

Weblinks

• Wikipedia: Tibetan astrology
• Wikipedia: Tibetan calendar
• Wikipedia: Losar
• Tibetan Astro Sciences: Basic Principles (Alexander Berzin, 1986)
• Astrology and Tibetan Culture (Part One) (Interview with Dr. Pema Dorjee, personal physician to the Dalai Lama, by Shelley Jordan 2003)
• Men-Tsee-Khang བོད་གཞུང་སྨན་རྩི་ཁང་ (Tibetan Medical and Astrological Institute in Dharamsala, India)
• Digital Tibetan Buddhist Altar