CK ASTRO EXPLANATIONS
Global Astrology through the lens of yogic perception
This is the most common chart to read. It is a snapshot of the skies (near and distant) at the moment you were born. CK Astro will look at the influence 20 different points in the sky had on you at the time of your birth. These points are constellations, planets, luminaries, asteroids and nodes of the moon. The moment of your birth (considered as your first breath and entrance as an independent physical being) was awash with energy. And, as a new being, you were open to this energy in an unparalleled way. This energy had a large influence on shaping many fundamental areas of your life. These may include, amongst other fundamentals:
- • How you are likely to see and approach life
- • What you might value the most
- • How you are likely to earn material things
- • What your home life will be like
- • The relationship to your mother and father
- • How you will think, speak and write
- • Your relationship to siblings
- • How creative you can be
- • Where you can shine
- • General possibility of having children
- • Your levels of organisation
- • The general state of your health
- • How you function day-to-day
- • What types of conversations you like
- • What types of partner / spouses are likely / good for you
- • What major changes are likely in your life
- • Where you might find your challenges in life
- • How spiritual / religious you may naturally be
- • How likely you are to travel abroad in this life
- • The likelihood of higher education being part of your life-path
- • What career / vocation / purpose will suit you best
- • How you are perceived publically / at work
- • What you are like in your friendship / community / work groups
- • How much financial wealth are you likely to accumulate
- • How likely you are to feel isolated in certain areas
- • What is your core personality trait
- • How you are going to process emotions
- • What will be driving you in this life
- • What have brought with you from your former life
- • How your mind functions
- • Where your aggression, force and power lies
- • How you function in love
- • How you function with a significant other
- • Where most of your blessings, abundance and gifts lie
- • Where the most mental awakenings will happen in your life
- • Where your life many be unpredictable
- • How likely you are to be imaginative
- • Will you be attached and addicted to things
- • How God may generally surface in your life
This is a detailed overview of the power behind the elements, signs, houses, nature, gender, modes, disposition and personality of your natal chart; including the phase of the moon you were born under - and its meaning.
Amongst all these things, you might find there is a dominance of fire in the points and placements which make up your natal chart. If you also notice that in your life, you will then know the source of any excess aggression, passion, ambition etc. You will then be advised to introduce a balance in the elements (water and earth) to your life. This will counter the unnecessary heat. You may find that a majority of your chart points to you being a leader. If you have been feeling frustrated in a more sedentary or submissive work role, this would explain it to you. You would then be advised that taking more control at work is your calling. More specifically, you can also find out what areas you were born to lead in, what areas you were born more flexible in and what areas are unlikely to ever change (easily)!
You may also find that some planets are “happier” in certain sections of your chart, and how that affects you. And even what genders the planets take on in your chart – and how that influences your nature in those areas. For example if you have a feminine influence over your work areas, it indicates you are going to need to feel more in-tune at work. You are going to need more creative-control, team-working and fairness within the workplace (and it would not be out of character for you to feel that way).
The phase of the moon you were born under is also very important to who you are today. These phases can go from the outward-seeking, extroverted and celebratory – all the way to the more contemplative, introverted and truth-seeking. Once you know your phase, you can choose to double-down on that – or balance it out by introducing the opposite energies into your life!
Planets, points and placements, in the zodiacal wheel, all have relationships with each other, according to where they all sit. For example, you might find that Mars and Venus sat right next to each other (in the heavens) when you were born. That would mean they were “conjunct”. Being this close would mean they understand, complement, support and encourage each other well. Being the planets of action and love, war and peace, feeling and movement, it would make you capable of great artistic expression (through the body), passionate physical expression, someone who wears their heart on the sleeve a lot and generally someone who’s male and female side, their reason and emotion would be balanced, harmonious and integrated. Decisions for this person would naturally involve a left-right brain conversation.
Another example might be where someone has their Pluto placement at 90 degrees to their Saturn point. This is called a “square” and means there will be a big challenge in the area of life lessons, tests and challenges. It would be something which will utterly transform the person’s life for the better, if they pass the test. More information about what that test is would come from the houses these planet are in (not just the degree of difference). So, if, hypothetically, Pluto was in the 4th House and Saturn was in the 7th House, we could generally say that challenges from the natal home would be triggering the marriage or business partnership. The challenges, in a square, are tough, as are the planets Pluto and Saturn – however, most of a charts secret blessings come through these two placements. So it is worth knowing where the universe has placed your hidden blessings (the ones you’re going to have to work a little harder for!).
This is predictive astrology at its best. In transits, you can see how planetary movements either in your past, present or future rub up against the planetary positions when you were born (which are instilled in your now – as your personality). For example, if Jupiter, the planet of expansion, fortune and spirituality passes by the same point your Venus was, when you were born, that’s a great indication of love, money or personal expression. It signifies an extremely bountiful moment for you. The height of this moment could be on the 14th of March 2025 at 7:36:14. That’s the level of precision a transit can give you (although they can be felt before, and after, the crest). Transits can also be used to see how the next week is going to go for you. And also, they will give you the reason why major events of the past may have occurred. Transits are the key tool used by astrologers to give forecasts.
Secondary progressions are another predictive tool in astrology. If you thought planets being gods and exercising energetic impulsions over us was “out- there”, get a load of this! This is super subtle, very abstract – and probably only for the extremely broad-minded and metaphysically inclined. Secondary progressions, in essence, take every day, from the first day of your birth, as a year in your life. In other words, what the skies are holding on day 25 of your birth (the 25th day you’re alive) becomes the pattern for the 25th year that you’re alive also. This works by way of how a vulnerable new-born baby readily accepts universal energy in, without question, during the first few months of their life. And how that energy becomes so dense, it builds a layer which the being has to work back through as the years go on (with one layer taking one year to process and pass).
This system means that, as time goes on, all the planets and positions in your birth chart become influenced by the secondary progression chart, which keeps generating marginally new positions as each year passes. It can explain and predict changes in your life (mostly over longer periods) and is a truly fascinating and insightful piece of predictive astrology.
This is exactly the same as a normal natal chart reading, but with the added material of the Vedic lunar mansions (nakshatras). I personally think that these are essential in any reading of a birth chart (natal chart) because they go deeper into each sign. For example, the popular zodiac sign of Sagittarius, actually has 3 versions of itself: “Mula”, “Purva Ashada” and “Uttara Ashada”. Each of these takes up 13.33 degrees of the zodiacal wheel. A normal “star sign” takes up 30 degrees. So, in very simple terms, you could say that the nakshatra system is 3 times as pointed, sharp and detailed as non-Vedic systems. This is one of the reasons why, for example, not all people whose moon (for example) is in Sagittarius, are the same way emotionally. Mula Sagittarians are more introverted, dark and sensitive emotionally. Purva Ashada Sagittarians are more like your typical Sagittarians emotionally, and are brighter, helpful and gregarious. And finally, the Uttara Ashada Sagittarians are more mature, presidential, humanitarian and wise. All three of these are, without a doubt, components of a Sagittarius moon, but depending of precisely where you are born, you will be more dominant in one of these three components.
And that’s not all! Once you get the nakshatra, you then go more into it, and divide that into four more parts! These are called padas. In this way, we get to get a magnifying glass out, and get into your nakshatra in 4x the focus. Each pada is about 3.33 degrees long and there are 108 of them in the zodiacal wheel. So, compared to just finding one of your 12 zodiac signs, we now, essentially, have 108 spots you could land in, in the sky. Let’s say you were a Purva Ashada Sagittarian. You could either be in the padas 1-4. If you were in pada 1, then as well as the general qualities and planetary rulers of Sagittarius, and as well as those of Purva Ashada, you’d also have pada 1’s special qualities and rulers. In this case, you’d have Leo, and the sun, having a slither of its light and energy over you, a unique naming-sound vibrating at your time of birth, which you can name yourself with, a chakra sound to chant and the unique and powerful qualities of confidence and self-assurance that only this pada gives you.
There is a lot more to say about this, but I hope you can see why this complex, but beautiful, way of seeing the charts is, in my opinion, essential for a good astrological reading. Without it, you are only getting a blurred view of your chart (though it will be accurate, you will only see the biggest objects – not the details).
With the natal chart, with nakshatras, you are able to find out the pada placement your moon was in, at the time you were born. In Vedic astrology, this is the single most important placement in your chart. The pada placement of your moon will give you access to a sound. This is the sound that this portion of the universe emanates. By using this sound in your name, at the beginning, you receive a very special benefit. It means that whenever you hear this vibration your entire being is metaphysical transported to the moment you were born, thus neutralising any build-up of negative energy you may have accrued over a time period.
What is special about having this analysis is that not only will you find out the special sound by which to name yourself (or use for a nickname, stage name, chants etc), but CK Astro has also used its connection to yoga, to tie this sound to a particular energy vortex in the body, known as a chakra. This means that your special pada sound was given to you, by the universe, to strengthen one or two particular chakras. If you have not been using this sound much, it may be worth doing, to bring extra power into your universally-designated chakra! As well as this, certain colours will also be suggested for you to wear and keep near you. And again, these will be colours which tune you back to your original time of birth to harmonise and maximise everything that is you.
To get an immeasurably deep understanding of certain specific areas of your life, like partners, work or health, you can follow the royal method. This traces house rulers, and nakshatra rulers around your natal chart, tracking deeper clues into what destiny is trying to present to you. For example, in terms of work, you can learn what type of job suits you, how you prefer to spend your working day, how you will feel with certain types of bosses – and even where you are extremely likely to be successful. With partners, you can find out the physical features of the partner the universe has decided is for you, as well as the work they are likely to do. Royal analysis is very accurate; and should be done for anyone very keen on details.
There are three incredibly sensitive areas of a natal chart. These are called gand (knot) anta (end) – the ends of “knots”. These are points, which the universe has decided, will be extremely tricky to work through in your life (that’s not to say they cannot be un-done). If you have planets in these points, they will also need your concentration – in order to outwit any karmic riddles the universe has decided you needed to face in this life.
With astrology you have to be brave enough to know what’s coming ahead. Whether you find out about it, or hit it, it will come. So, I think it is worth knowing, but staying calm – and, in this case, work on unpicking the knot. These knots may be emotional, physical or based on interactions with the world. Your job, if you discover one, is to lean into the strengths in your nature, character and chart to focus on untangling yourself from it. Doing so, will release untold power, freedom, capacity and new paths in your life. A gandanta is often seen as a blessing, because it signifies that you are reaching the end of one chapter or lesson in life, and are about to master it, and move on to a higher dimension imminently.
Everyone knows at least one of their return charts: their birthday! A birthday is when the sun is at the same angle in the sky, as it was, at the moment you were born (hence, return). When the sun arrives at this point, it signals a boost in what the sun represents in astrology – the core, fundamental, back-against-the-wall, foundational and supremely powerful part of your being, being brought to the fore again! So, if you’re a Leo sun, you may go through a year where you don’t feel particularly Leonean – but when your birthday is approaching you will feel an inner-lift, which hopefully transforms you for the better! Of course, the angles and aspects your sun has, will make a difference, but the principle is the same: when a placement returns, it is amplified.
When your sun returns on, or near your birthday (your birthday changes a bit every year – and eventually gets earlier), it is bit like a mini “re-birth”. So, what astrologers do is cast a solar return chart. This looks at what house your sun (in this example: Leo) has found itself in, and what new relationships it has formed. We will also look at how your moon (emotions) and ascendant (approach to the world) are positioned. As well as looking any other major conjuncts between your natal and solar return, we will get a picture of what the next year of life will be like. For example, if your Leo sun has found itself in the 4th house, with a well-placed Taurean ascendant and a conjunction between your moon and Jupiter, you could find yourself moving closer to your workplace, and into a bigger home (or even expanding your family) in the coming year. These solar return charts can offer so much going forward, and are a go-tool for anyone who uses astrology.
The most common return chart is the sun’s – our birthdays. But other common ones are Saturn and Jupiter. A Saturn return happens roughly every 29 years. Saturn is carrier of our karmic lessons, and the blessings trapped therein. So, knowing when your Saturn Return is, is quite important, as you are going to experience some wonderful, but bumpy surprises at that point in your life. It will feel like a roller-coaster, where you may be excited at points, but also a little challenged. You are guaranteed to be learning big lessons around this time, so it’s a good idea to be prepared, grounded and the best version of yourself you can be, so that you unwrap your karmas carefully and derive the wisdoms within easily.
The Jupiter return, however is a lot more straightforward. Jupiter is the planet of blessings, abundance, positive energy, wisdom, optimism, expansion, travel, friendliness, spirituality and exploration! All good stuff! It happens every 12 years, so, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 60 are the most common ones people look out for. What is important to look at, astrologically, is where your Jupiter return is happening, and try to be more confident, positive and optimistic about those areas, as the return approaches. For example, if your Jupiter return is happening in your 9th house of travel, higher education, religion and spirituality and you get a chance to travel; it’s not something you should feel is against the universe’s wishes for you (that is not to say it is wise, the right decision or to take risks) - but you should know that the “stars line up” for this particular area of your life. Or you could have your Jupiter return in your 1st house, with Aries and Uranus present. That would mean it’s a great moment for you to recreate, innovate, upgrade or alter some static part of your life – because the energy around you would be absolutely teed up for that.
Your Mars return happens every couple of years, and will tell you where the energy, fight, power, fuel, focus, ambition and drive is going to be for the next Martian cycle. It is good to know this, so you know where your energy is going to be funnelled. How this may help is when you are putting your energy into places where it’s not easily flowing – and wondering why it’s not working – you can begin to reconfigure, account for and organise your life in order to handle what you need to – and get what you want. Rather than simply wondering what is going on!
Your Venus return is an excellent time to focus on love, relationships, arts, beautifying and even friendships and money. Venus is an extraordinarily positive placement. When it comes around to the exact point of your birth chart again, it’s a great time to double-down on any of the aforementioned things. In a relatable way, it may be a good moment to ask your partner for marriage, or for a person you’d like to be partner in your life. Venus returns may be good moments to release a song, if you’re a musical person. At the same time, although Venus is positive planet, you do need an astrologer to look at the context of your Venus returning – to make sure other indicators are good! Or, technically speaking, it could also be a tough emotional time, if, for example, it has a strong aspect to Saturn (blessings wrapped in lessons coming your way!) Knowing how, and where, your Venus return plays our currently, and next, in your life is a useful and positive tool – and a date in the calendar to note. These returns happen every year, but sometimes a little more, or less, than that, depending on its cycles (retrograde or direct).
Lunar (moon) returns happen once a month (sometimes twice), and lasts a couple of days. These are moments when your emotional state feels more comfortable, natural and suitable for you. If you’re a Pisces moon, you may feel a bit uncomfortable as we pass through fire signs like Aries, Leo and Sagittarius (less so, Sagittarius); but you’ll feel super relaxed in Cancer, Scorpio (less so, Scorpio) and Pisces. This is down to the element of water, and how it does not like to mix with fire at all.
When your lunar return hits, not only will you feel good, but it can set the tone for the rest of the month. A bit likes a solar return does, but on a much more micro-scale. If you are interested in events in the coming month or two, in general, and how you may feel, then cast a lunar return chart.
The final return chart we look at is the famous Mercury return. Taking into consideration its speed, motions and proximity to the sun, a Mercury return occurs about once a year for an individual. Given that Mercury is such a powerful personal planet, governing things like travel, communication (speech, thought and writing), the mind, thinking, operating, moving (including with vehicles) and so on it is not a bad idea at all to know when your next return is – and what it can tell you about your coming year. By the way, it’s also great to know about current returns you are on. As that will give you clues to your present moment in time; arguably more important than the future!
You might be used to looking up a prospective partner’s sun sign, against your own, in a book or on or the internet. But, as you can imagine, it doesn’t compare to having an astrologer compare two people’s natal charts. Firstly, sun signs only compare the core of the individuals. Which is a bit like comparing the engines of two cars, without looking at the bodies, handling, consumption, interior, insurance costs, wear and tear etc. When you see the compatibility of two people, you are really looking at areas like their moons (emotions), rising signs (approach to things), Chiron placements (hurts and healing power), Vertex placements (fated partners), descendent (communication preferences), Mercury placement (how your minds work). You would also want to see what’s going on with houses 2, 4, 5, 7, to understand how a family, children and similar aspects might play out between you two. I would also pay attention to Rahu, Mars, Aries, Leo, Pluto, Black Moon Lilith and the Sun - to make sure there are no bumps in the road ahead with regards to aggressive tendencies. I generally will look at where Taurus, Virgo, Cancer and Capricorn are too – because they will tell me about serious home-making capacities.
Finally, I will check out the angles and aspects between all your placements, against each other! This is probably the most important thing to do. For example, if your prospective partner’s moon has an agreeable angle, called a “Trine”, to your sun, it means you two are going to get along really well! But it will also tell me that you are going to be the dominant one in the relationship! But also that your prospective partner will find great comfort, security and warmth in that. So it shows a wonderful understanding. Now, if it was the opposite, it would show you that the relationship can still work, but you would have to temper down your dominance, in order to achieve the partner you want. Or that the opposite person would need to step up a little in terms of asking for what they need – or risk getting trampled over! Either way, this information can help you a lot. And there are dozens of these types of angles and aspects in a synastry chart. In the past, before a couple were even considered for marriage, one of these was looked at, by a Vedic astrologer. It was even said that when two families had children they wanted to get married, the synastry could be seen from birth. And then, of course, when older – and both consensual, an arranged marriage would take place. I don’t condemn or condone that, but such was the insightful use of Vedic astrology in those days.
There is a lot more than can be said about this e.g. how nakshatras, elements and other things play out – but I hope this gives you an idea of how much can be achieved in this area of relationships. I will conclude by saying that this can also be tuned to look at any two individual’s charts, but in a non-romantic way. So, for example, if you were going into business with someone and you wanted to see if you would work well together, you could make a chart. If you wanted to see why you and your sister are fighting so much, I could find out, or simply, out of curiosity, why you and your best friend get along so well! The possibilities of synastry and almost endless!
The Navamsha chart is a very special chart, derived from just the “ninth house” of your natal chart. People tend to be very interested in this chart, as it shows where your good karma lies. Your ninth house (the original house of Sagittarius) is where your blessings are normally derived from. This is thanks to the Rulership of Jupiter, the great beneficent. From the D9 chart you can glean your fortune in all areas of material and relationships. It is commonly used to look at your spouse and married life. It is also looked at in terms of wealth.
The Shashtiamsa chart is a very clever chart, which looks at your past life and the impact it is having on your current life. You can see how different pre-natal habits and karmas are playing out – and where they have come from. This type of chart is known to be incredibly accurate – but it does require the native to give a birth time accurate to the minute (maximum two) or the chart may be inaccurate. It is commonly known that a good chart reading always involves look at the D60 chart in combination with the natal chart (and D9).
As explained earlier (please read “Yoga Chart Analysis”), at the time a baby is born, the moon will fall into 1 of 108 different placements in the universe. Each one of these is a quarter of a nakshatra (lunar mansion). Each quarter is called a pada, and has its own unique vibration (sound). If a parent or guardian takes this sound and applies it to the first sound of a baby’s name it is very beneficial. It will keep the new-born tuned to the specific karmic energy it was delivered under. This will hold its blessings, support and lessons. Not naming a baby under this rule is not dangerous, by any means; however naming it correctly, according to Vedic astrology, up-scores this particular variable in a person’s life.
You will generally get one (or two) specific sounds to name your baby with. If you do not like those letters, you will be given the neighbouring sounds, within that nakshatra. If those are not good for you, you will get the furthest sounds – but still within the nakshatra. Bear in mind that the further you go away from the baby’s own pada sound, the less pure the effect will be. However, sounds outside of the baby’s nakshatra will not be recommended.
Note that each pada sound has its own ruling planet, astrological sign and character trait, which gives the baby their own very special shade and tone. It will also be given a certain petal of a yogic chakra, which it can also find a sound within. This chakra petal sound will also hold spiritual keys for this child.
If you are planning to get married, it is best to do it when the universe is in a favourable position for committing to a union of love, between embodied souls. This is done by speaking to the couple about the their preferred time of year, and location on earth, for their marriage; then finding dates and times as close to that, as possible, which are favourable.
As well as looking at the universal movements, I would also look at the partners own charts, to make sure they are both in the best synchronised spaces as possible, for the day. Once all three areas are in good positons (the couples’ and the universe’s) a date can be fixed.
If, for example, the marriage was to happen on a day when there is a Mercury retrograde happening in anyone’s chart, or the universe’s, there is a chance things will be delayed on the day. If Venus is in a bad angle with Saturn, Pluto and Uranus in any charts, on the day, there is also a chance someone will get cold feet! And you really don’t want a female to have her Black Moon Lilith rising on her wedding day! Or a man, to have his Mars inconjuncting his Venus in the 7th House or somebody is not going to show up!
Choosing a day when Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, the Vertex and the Moon are well placed is essential. Next I would look to see how the 3rd, 5th, 7th and 9th Houses are placed. And then I’d make sure the nakshatra, and their deities, are all lined-up for marriage. This sounds like a simple procedure, but I’d make sure everything also lines up with the D9 chart and all other tools I have at my disposal. Of course, this doesn’t mean things on the day, or the marriage itself, can’t go wrong, but it means you have utilised the universal environment to its advantage. The rest will be done to inter-life karma, divine intervention, God’s overruling will and any other external factors.