Hey Folks, I've been going through the various topics and courses, and it's all super interesting and exciting, but I'm lacking a system. I would love your advice as to how you believe it would be best to strategize my studies - do i start with all the beginner courses first one by one? I find that whichever course I am following, there are some new concepts that I'm confused about, then I go and try to understand more about those topics, and I go all over the place. My Mercury is in deep debilitation 🙁 So organization is always a challenge for me. I need to create my own system and notes, otherwise I get lost.
I have been mostly following tropical astrology throughout the years, but now I am specifically interested in vedic astrology as taught by Ernst Wilhelm. Thanks in advance for your help!
p.s. is there a place where I can see all written course materials by any chance?
😀 😀 😀 Welcome to the rabbit-hole of astrology. It is also a sink-hole. Since it is what it is, let go and have fun getting lost in the maze and sinking in the bog. The best way is to go whichever way you feel like going. At some time, you will find yourself back where you started, but with a different perspective, and a new journey will begin. It does get a bit overwhelming at the start, just like when learning something new, but once you start accumulating the nuggets that you need and putting it into practice, it'll start getting easier.
I would definitely recommend the first four modules under the Beginner Courses and the introductory Rahu-Ketu ones to get you started. Then see what pulls you. If you like psychology, you might be interested in listening to the shorter Lajjitadi Avasthas under the Intermediate Courses.
There is a link to the curriculum on the main page of the website. Not sure if it's still the recommended one or if it has been updated, but something to get you started.
Like Manisha said, it's very much a never-ending study...and a very personal journey.
What are your goals for astrology? I would start thinking about that first...
If it's for personal understanding I would go straight into Lajjitadi Avasthas Masters course. I would then get into understanding Saturn + Rahu & Ketu through Character effects of the grahas audio course and the Rahu & Ketu courses; Tajika aspects and Parashara Mutual co-workers is great too, very simple techniques in there but very accurate and profound.
If you want to understand charts deeply for others (as well as yourself) take the beginners courses to have a foundation and then Parashara's Formula for Yoga Judgment is brilliant.
Finally, when you can emotionally take the hard truths Jaimini might reveal, get into Jaimini, it's a goldmine for prediction.
The first thing I learned from Ernst was Shad Bala (audio course) that is also an amazing course full of insights. I've been studying with Ernst for almost 10 years ( 😱 ) and I get deeper and deeper insights everyday, it truly never ends...
Have fun!
There are the general categories that you can approach.
Planets (includes Shadbala and Avashtas), Houses, Nakshatras, Vargas, Yogas, Dasas, Jaimini, Transits, Tajika, Murhurta, Prasna, Medical Astrology, Compatibility
I would start with the first beginner courses so that your on the same page with local space and some other key terms and ideas like polar longitude vs ecliptic longitude and the rest. Then start to make forays into the above categories. Planets and houses are quite foundational, then Nakshatras, Yogas, Dasas and Vargas; after that Medical, Tajika, Murhurta, and Prasna.
If your Mercury is not robust make a chart on a white board, or large piece of paper so you have a visual aid to organize the structure and relationships. This is somewhat of a comprehensive study flow. If your have specific interest than that may suit you better in the beginning and then you can fill in the others later.
Thank you all so much for your time and insights! I will keep referring to these guidelines going forward 🙂 I'm listening to the Jaimini audio course currently, it's all very addictive.