I have fallen into the trap again, kick me (Maharashtra CM, Devendra Fadnavis)

Having vowed off doing any mundane astrology atleast twice before I have fallen into the same temptation again. But its not my fault. The same 'royal jyotish' on the regional TV channel keeps harping on about Devendra Fadnavis being fired from the CM's post in Maharashtra.

It irritated me enough to risk it and try to check out the answer. I am not uploading the chart but will give the chart details here:

27 Sept 2016
23:35:31
Mumbai
Seed: 17

DBA is of Ke Mo Ju

Ke signifies 3 4 5 6 10 11; 3 5 6 7 10 11; 4
Mo: 4; 3 4 5 6 10 11; 4
Ju: 5 9 12; 5; 2 6 7

Ketu and Moon are outright positive thus negating any chances of Dev Fadnavis not completing his term.

Jupiter has 5 9 12, but since 5 is not a natural duh sthan, it will go with 9 rather than with 12. Also, the 6 at sub level is not connected with the 12 at the planet level. As such we can say even Ju is positive for Dev Fadnavis.

Devendra Fadnavis will complete his term.

#PoliticsPost Cooking a frog: An analysis of the Indian response to the Uri provocation

It is said that if a frog is placed in hot water it will jump out immediately. However if a frog is put in cold water and a very small flame lit under so that the temperature of the water rises slowly, the frog will continue to sit there and get cooked alive.

India faces a unique situation in the aftermath of the Uri massacre by Pakistan. It was an audacious and obviously provocative act by the enemy that has outraged the people of this country. Tempers are high, as is to be expected, and even The Bookkeeper must plead guilty to a temporary lapse of reason on this count.

But the constant stream of outrage by well-meaning Right Wingers (RWs) with no constructive or incisive analysis set The Bookkeeper thinking. It is unlikely that the Pakistani general who ordered the cowardly attack on our soldiers did not anticipate this reaction from the Indian population. After all, we have a “nationalist Hindu” Prime Minister who was elected on the plank of being tough on terrorism etc. Surely at attack such as Uri would propel this nation to compel PM Narendra Modi to order some sort of a strike or hot pursuit.

So then isn’t it possible that a strike by India was Pakistani army’s base case scenario! In which case had India reacted violently, we would have played into the hands of the Pakistani army. Anyone with any sense of warfare will tell you, that in a war it is suicidal to do whatever the enemy is expecting.

What did the Pakistani military establishment expect to achieve with this ‘kriya-pratikriya’ that they tried to provoke then? Well, the answer is straight-forward to The Bookkeeper. It was a plan to destabilize the civilian leadership of Pakistan and takeover in a military coup. 

It is widely speculated in foreign policy circles, that while countries have an army, Pakistan is an army with a country. An army needs funding. That funding comes only when the need for an army remains relevant. Everyone agrees that the leadership in Pakistan is divided between the civilian and the military, with the military having the upper hand (as anyone holding a gun to your head tends to have over you). It is no wonder that Pakistan has almost spent more time being ruled by military despots than by elected governments.  

The Uri Gambit is another coup attempt by the Pakistani army, in the opinion of The Bookkeeper. 

Since taking reins, Narendra Modi has very intelligently tried to bring the civilian leadership of Pakistan to the fore. Right from inviting Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in to dropping in ‘unannounced’ at a family function of the Sharifs, Modi has extended every possible personal courtesy possible. It is also not an accident that these instances were mentioned by the External Minister Sushma Swaraj in her speech to the UNGA. 

The world has seen that Narendra Modi is such a personality that even those associated with him shine in his reflected glory. The Bookkeeper is willing to bet that a Narendra Modi hug or selfie will secure more votes for Nawaz Sharif than a dozen rallies by the Pak PM. It is this rising popularity of the civilian administration that has irked the military leadership. Heaven forbid that the elected PM of Pakistan be able to stand up to the military head!

As such it is scared of losing relevance and wants to take back the reins of power. However, with India having a no nonsense leadership, coupled with upcoming elections in the USA the military leadership is wary of taking a anti democracy step such as a military coup. More than anything else, The Bookkeeper would not be surprised if the Pakistani people have had enough of the military coups too!

However, a military coup may seem justifiable if there is a military aggression from India. In fact Pakistani army may even be in a position to spin such a coup as India’s fault. Imagine the fodder it would provide to the talking heads in Indian news media to discredit Narendra Modi for destabilizing the region. It would singlehandedly pour water over two years of international diplomacy handled by the Prime Minister himself.

It is in this context that the circumspect reaction of Narendra Modi makes you want to respect the man more. In face of an onslaught of taunts from his core supporter base he has ensured that he is doing the correct thing and not the popular thing. His first priority is to ensure that the Pakistani military does not get support from the Pakistani people. An open armed assault will do the exact opposite. It is for this reason that Modi chose to address the people of Pakistan directly in his party meeting rally at Kohzikode recently. 

The best way to alienate the Pakistani army from the Pakistani people and civilian leadership is to walk a thin line. Punish the people, but only to the point when they hate their army for putting them through this, but don’t punish them so much that that they get desperate and back their army. Modi is walking this line. And this he has to do not just in fact but also in optics.  At no point should Pakistan be able to project to the world that India has left it no choice but for military to forcibly assume leadership.

Steps such as re-looking at the Indus Water Treaty is a great start. Someone in Pakistan receiving a little less water is likely to get irritated at the Pak army for causing India to do this, rather than lead him to support Pak army. Banning Pakistani artists from India will be another great step. (I know Karan Johar doesn’t agree with it, but the day we take any advice from ‘KJo’ seriously, is the day hell is freezing over). Artists are (sadly) opinion makers in today’s 140 character world. It is this conviction that leads people like Aamir Khan want to talk about leaving India etc. Why is it not logical to assume that Pakistani artists enjoy a similar disproportionate mind space in their country? A Pakistani actor or singer not getting work in India and forced to settle in Pakistan may cause him/her to do more damage to the support for military leadership than a dozen op-eds. Another good way would be to make getting visas to India impossibly difficult. A Pakistani parent whose child is unable to get treatment in Narayana Hrudayalaya is going to be a better ambassador against the Pakistani army than whatever can be sent over in dossiers. A Pakistani trader who misses out on profit due to cancellation of MFN status, will champion the Indian cause more aggressively than the most vocal of RW intellectuals.

It is no wonder that even those talking heads and so-called diva journalists who are perceived by social media at large to be pro Pakistan are supporting hard (read: military) action against Pakistan but are vociferously campaigning against Pakistani actors being banned. It’s because they know military action will favour the military leadership in Pakistan while soft action will hurt them. See, so far the people of Pakistan have not borne the brunt of what their army does in India. Take the heat (not the fire) to them.

Narendra Modi, what was a brilliant move by the Pakistani army can be turned around on them. This is your chance, light a very low flame where the frog called the Pakistani army boils to death in the gradually heating water of Pakistani public opinion. 

When will my pet Molly (fish) give birth?

This is one of the more unusual questions I have studied. Someone worried about their pet fish Molly who had not given birth to her fry asked me this question.

This Q once again highlights that the only criterion to study the question is that the querent must have a pressing need to know. The practice of giving life reports for 10-15 years covering all aspects is something that I discourage. While a nicely packaged printout will command high charges, that is not the objective of jyotisha. It is a guidance tool for people caught on crossroads, not a thing of idle curiosity.

Anyway, what might be considered a frivolous question by many readers, was an important question for the questioner. And I proceeded to analyse the prashna chart. Note, pets are denoted by the 6th house and so I rotated the chart by the 6th house. The chart and Nadi significators are below:

Human or animal the birth houses remain the same (2 5 11) as do the birth denial houses (1 4 10). 5th CSL Venus strongly signifies the 11th house and weakly the 5th house, so birth of a spawn is not denied. In fact as per Nadi sigs, Venus signifies the full combination of 2 5 11 supporting birth.

The Dasha lord is Mercury, it too signifies the full combination of 2 5 11, so again a strong positive for birth.

Bhukti lord Venus is already seen above to be a strong significator of birth. Notably, both Dasha and Bhukti lords appear as RPs.

Current Antara lord Mars is also allowing child birth, as is the next antara of Rahu (in fact Rahu with the full combination 2 5 11 is stronger).

So birth is imminent. I turned to see the transit of the Moon to pinpoint the date. At the time of asking the Q, the moon was already in the 3rd house. It will transit the 5th house on 22nd and 23rd September.

So I told the querent, the Molly will give birth on either 22nd or 23rd of September.

I had almost forgotten about this query, till I heard that native can see some fry swimming around the water at about 22:00 tonight. :)

Stock market astrology

If after the question of marriage, any question that is asked more of astrologers it is the question of "Will I make money from gambling or stock market?". While this author having run a hedge fund of his own does not equate gambling with stock market at all, it is worth noting that both come under the sway of the 5th cusp. The 5th cusp also governs things like art, sports, entertainment...things that have to do with the 'gut'. In that sense, yes stock market too has a 'gut' factor involved and it comes under the 5th cusp.

While questions relating to specific stocks are best solved using the Prashna chart, the basic construct of being 'lucky' in these matters has to be present in the natal chart. Always remember, a prashna chart cannot override the natal chart. If the natal chart says no money from stock market, then whatever prashna charts are cast, will either give wrong answer or will give right answer but for some reason or the other the native will be unable to act on the advice.

So what makes a native lucky in these matters?

The 5th CSL is the final decider of the matters of the 5th cusp. So the 5th CSL must be favorably disposed. By favorably what do we mean? It should be in the star of a planet that either owns or occupies the wealth generating houses. 

While we normally consider 1 2 3 6 10 11 as wealth generating houses, in case of stock market we want the most powerful of these. Otherwise a 10-12% return one can get from fixed income also in India. So the most powerful are the direct houses of wealth:

2 - known as Dhana (wealth) sthan (house) itself

6 - loss to opposition (12th from 7th)

11 - known as house of gain/ desire fulfillment

So if the natal 5th CSL is in the star of any planet that either owns or occupies 2/6/11 then the person is lucky in the stock market.

HOWEVER, (sadly, as always in life there are conditions attached)

The same 5th CSL must not be in a star of a planet that owns or occupies that 5th or the 8th cusp.If this is the case then it will depend on the strength of the significance of 5/8 but the windfall gains associated with the stock market will not be there generally for such a native.

For timing of the investments, it is best to see if the DBA lords are also satisfying the conditions above. i.e. D/B/A lords should be in the star of a planet that is owning/occupying the 2/6/11 houses and not in the star of planets that own/occupy 5/8 houses.

Lets look at the chart of someone I know who also works in the markets and has done well for himself:

Lets see the basic structure of the chart. The 5th CSL is Venus. Venus is in the constellation owned by Moon. Moon is posited in the 9th cusp and it owns the 2nd cusp.

Thus the 5th CSL is placed in the star which owns 2nd cusp and has connection with the 5th or 8th cusp. This is a good chart for the native to speculate in the stock market.

But this is only possibility. The actual delivery will be by the DBA lords who also have to be in favourable nakshatras (constellations). So first lets list out the planets whose constellations we can consider favourable. These would be those planets that own/ occupy 2/6/11 but do not own/occupy 5/8.

2nd cusp -  owner: Moon (2, 9); occupant: Sun (2,3)

6th cusp - owner Mars (3,6,10,11); occupant: None

11th cusp - owner Mars (2,6,10,11); occupant: Jupiter (11, 7)

So all the planets associated with 2/6/11 are owners of favourable nakshatras: Moon, Sun, Mars, Jupiter.

So the DBAs of following planets: Venus, Jupiter, Mercury and Mars will be favorable for speculation. As these are the planets for whom Mo/Su/Ma/Ju appear as starlords.

The native had his Venus Dasha from Nov 1982 to Nov 2002, and I do not know much about thhat period. Sun's dasha started then and went on till Nov 2008. During this period despite Sun signifying houses 5 and 12 through its starlord (Venus), the native did fairly well primarily because he worked abroad (away from his place of birth) thus utilizing the the 12th house alternatively. The '5' operated with the native having worked in multiple roles in the same organisation, working from admin side to research to business etc. But overall, it was a good period for him due to the alternative use of 12 and the sublord Mercury signifying 1 and 3 (which are wealth creating houses). 

It should also be noted that due to 4 favourable for speculation planets (which are also good for career), the bhuktis in the periods Aug 2003 to Jan 2004, Nov 2004 to September 2005, Aug 2006 to July 2007 and Nov 2007 to Nov 2008 must have been good for the native career wise.

Then the Dasha of Moon started. While Moon was in Star of Ketu, its sublord Venus through its signification of house combination 5 12 was able to divert results to the negative. Notably, at this time the native had bought his own dwellings in a foreign country and had decided to domicile there. As such the 5 12 combination operated in full force in his career. 

In Mo-Mo the native left his established job and did quite well till April 2010 which was under Mo-Ma. After Mo-Ra started, the entire period was under tremendous stress (April 2010 to October 2011). In this period he had to shut his newly started company for less than expected performance. Just look at Rahu's Nadi significations, really bad ones:

Ra 2 3 5 9 12

Ra 2 4 5 9 12

Sa 1 8 9

A full combination of 5 8 12, with no mitigating 10 11, one cannot imagine the stress the person must have been in. The combination of 2 1 8 12 is a variation of the 2 1 6 8 combination for depression and thus the native may have been led into depression temporarily. But thankfully it was just over a year.

The coming of Jupiter bhukti provided relief. Jupiter is the best natural benefic and is also a positive planet in this chart. While dasha was unfavourably, Jupiter signified 10 11 and thus the native got a new job, though it was not an ideal one and did well. 

The last few bhuktis commencing from Saturn, Mercury and Ketu are stories of triumph over struggles and wins, perhaps not easy ones, but wins.

Currently the native is in Venus Bhukti since Sept 6, 2016 and will be in it till 8 May 2018. This will be a good period for the native. He should try and travel more to mitigate the impact of 5 12 combination and indeed travel seems destined.

The Sun bhukti of May 2018 to Nov 2018 will be a difficult period because it is a bad bhukti in a bad dasha.

The next dasha however is going to be superlative for the native. Mars dasha from Nov 2018 to Nov 2025. In these seven years, the native will make more money than he had imagined.

First reason is that as discussed earlier Mars is in the star of Moon which signifies 2nd house and is not connected with 5th or 8th. The second reason is that the 6th house is empty.  Its house lord Mars is untenanted. Mars does not appear as the sublord for any other planet either. This makes Mars the only significator of the 6th house. 6th house is the primary house of victory. The native will make unprecedented amount of money in the Mars Dasha!

Sometimes a negative answer is the good one

A construction contractor contacted me today with respect to a road contract he is bidding for. Its worth several crores and myself having some experience in this area, know that this was a very lucrative sector (roads). On the face of it anyway.

As some readers might know, the 'hoops' one has to jump through and the pockets one has to allegedly line to get work in this space. The contractor was willing to do this. But being a regular client he decided to ask me a question:

If I get this contract, will it give me expected profits?

The chart and significators are given below:

Moon signifies houses 2,6,10 indicating the question (about profits) is indeed reflected in that chart. Even the presence of Saturn in the DBA suggests the question has something to do with land (roads). So I can continue to analyse the chart for the answer.

DBA is Sa-Mo-Ve.

Saturn has the combination of 5 12, which indicates loss to the native as 12th house is 6th house for the 7th (opposite party) and 5th house is the 11th house for the opposite party. There is a lone 11th house, but an 11th house on its own cannot counter the negatives of a 5 12.

Moon bhukti is actually positive.

Venus has a 7 8 12 and 5 7 12 combination which is not only negative for profits but also indicates bickering, fights and being cheated by a partner.

So overall the DBA is showing a negative outcome. I may go even so far as to venture saying that forget not making money to their expectations, the contractor may even make losses in this project.

In fact even if I look at it from a K.P. stand point, the 11th CSL Sun is signifies the 11th house through ownership and occupation. It is in the own star and as such we should take the sublord as the starlord (Ra). Ra's significations are:

occupation: 11
conj with Me: 11, 9 12; 1, 8 12
Asp by Sa: 2, 4, 5; Me: 11, 9 12
Sat (Ve): 1, 8 12
Sign of Sun: 11, Ra 11

The 11th CSL is strongly giving results of the inimical 8 and 12 houses. Supporting the prediction that this is not a contract they want to get.

It was hard for this jyotisha to give a negative answer to this question, esp when the native had traveled a long distance to go and get this contract. But my dharma is to answer honestly what I see. And considering that the native may face a huge unexpected loss on this deal, sometimes the negative answer is the good one!

Typical Vedic B.S.

My apologies to regular readers of my blog for being unable to write new examples. The reason for that is simple, lack of time and lack of any interesting cases. In fact haven't seen a good query in weeks! But since this blog is for education, and education means not just informing what to do, but also what not to do, I am appending the full text of an email sent to me by someone who has consulted with me several times before.

This lady had consulted with a 'vedic' asstrologer few weeks back. He is quite famous in that even I've heard of him. He gives interviews on youtube and expounds on grahas in very colourful language. But that's all that vedic asstrologers do, don't they? To make up for lack of knowledge with mythology :)

Anyway, this is the actual question sent by the lady to this astrologer and his reply (I am paraphrasing to protect the identity of the querent):

When would I be able to get a job/ employment and in which geography (India/ Dubai/ or any other)? Also if the job would be in my area of expertise or some other area and if it will be a good job?

Even a 6 month old baby would know the question is: When will I find a job? The other two questions are for better understanding of the type of job.

This is the reply:

You are running sani mahadasha from 2002 to 2021.This is your 3rd dasha called as Vipat, so creating difficulty and obstacle in life.

It's time to travel and stay away from birth place.

Sani is seated with rahu in 12house, foreign house.

This is time for doing fixed/secured work(Job) only, no business or any unsecured work.

After sani dasha budh dasha good time.Budh is lord of career and personal growth.so this dasha will grow you.Again you will be completing 42age also.

So presently search job in middle east(muslim) country till 2021. Then can start own consultancy work.

Never do own business or partnership work. Only job then own profession only.

Now if you have read my last blog the obvious B.S. in this reply is self evident.

Like I said, Vedic asstrologers cannot answer the question (i.e.when will I get job?). You will notice that he hasn't mentioned any date or date range. Like I said in my last blog, vedic astrologers are never wrong. How can they be, when they exclusively write weasel words! I am proud to say if I am wrong, it is because I dare to be right. Can this celebrity mythology spout-er say this with the same confidence?

The other thing I said in my last blog was that everyone who goes to a vedic astrologer comes back with some Dosha. Here the asstrologer has pointed out a 'vipat yoga' in this client's chart. Huh?! Why is the third dasha bad? No reason. My way...or the highway.

Since I know this client for few years now, (initially as a friend, now as their jyotisha consultant), I know for a fact that this person had a hand to mouth existence till 2001. It is only after the Shani Dasha started that this person made a lot of money abroad and is only facing some career troubles over the past 3-4 years. 

If Shani dasha is vipat, then how was this person ever able to raise their family up from 1 meal a day to atleast 1 foreign holiday abroad every year (even today!!). That will never be explained by vedic asstrologers. They will only say, 19 years is bad for career. Does this joker even know what a two decade long bad career will do to someone?! But they say it anyway. Its like a butcher doing brain surgery with these guys.

Another point I had noted in my last blog was jargon to cover up ignorance. Hence he used 'vipat'. 

Now I know that my friend had given this asstrologer her background and had told about having worked in the middle east. In fact 'Dubai' featured prominently in the question. So the asstrologer is only repeating what he knows in the rest of the reply. No prediction here. 

The third question (will it be in the same field) has not been answered by the astrologer at all!

So out of three questions, 

1) When will I get a job?  - not answered

2) Where? - repeated earlier details told to him

3) Industry - Did not address at all!

Created fear:

1) Vipat yoga!!! 19 years bad. Life over!

2) Jargon used, to cover ignorance

3) Unable to answer time frame

4) Regurgitated information known to him

5) Did not answer any question, as mentioned above

Now the native got worried and asked me. "I have vipat dasha, what is upaay"?! I told her to go back to the same astrologer and ask :) Some people will only be satisfied when they spend Rs21000 or more! Do not come back to me.

I am convinced that my policy of doing social service through education and cheap consultations is wrong. I frequently write, "If you are unable to pay me, I will read your chart for whatever you can comfortably afford". Then I entertain repeat queries from the same person for weeks or months on end. To be fair its not just Vedics but also at least one stellar astrologer who was brought to my attention a week or so ago by another client, who has given a "prediction after the fact". 

Complete idiots like this asstrologer I mentioned here and the two others I referred to in my earlier blog, take weeks to send a non-answer to a serious question and are minting money. I should consider giving up my day job and becoming a professional asstrologer instead of being a student of Jyotisha. At the least, I have the guts to give a time frame!

What say?!

Astrologers...and Asstrologers...

As many who know me will attest I do not watch TV at all. In fact I do not have a TV connection. I find it a source of extreme negativity which plays in to the the basest fears and emotions of people. People generally (perhaps including me!) I feel, have a tendency to keep a story running in their minds. The story has absolutely nothing to do with reality, but it is extremely vivid. While a few people are the hero/ heroine of this schizophrenic narrative, a vast majority picture themselves as the victim. While being under any sort of delusion is plain stupid, the ones under this 'victim' delusion' are the worst. And TV plays into these people narratives. Anyway, more on this on some other date.

I was at a relatives house for Ganesh Chaturthi today and ended up watching about 30 minutes of TV. Since my relative knows I am a student of jyotisha, he put on a regional TV channels where a 'royal' astrologer was expounding on anything and everything. Political fates to the stock market. The entire piece was a pile of stinking bull crap. Heres a sample of what he said: 

"Mars and Saturn are in conjunction, this is very bad, very very bad. This suggests terror attacks. Ganesh festival is a prime target. I hope the home minister of India and the chief minister of this state should listen to me. <Ganpati 1> and <Ganpati 2> are in risk of attack (he named the two MOST PROMINENT) and the police should be careful. The attack can even come from the coast line. This Mars and Saturn is very bad, very, very bad." (am paraphrasing here)

Of late, several of those who ask me for my jyotisha view used to inform me of transits of planets. Personally, I follow stellar principles and as such these random transits mean nothing to me. But this 'royal' astrologer was spouting so much ridiculousness that I decided to examine what he said in an objective manner.

The simple principle of science is that an experiment is repeatable. Now I understand astrology is not a science (its not...get over it). Though I may have referred to it as such a few times, it is only because of the phrase 'science of jyotisha' being imprinted in my mind. But even adjusting for its "more art than science" persona, readers would have noticed a remarkable similarity in the method I use to analyse charts. I give my method in detail and then check if I got it right or not. That is the most scientific that I can be. If I'm right, I'm right, if not, then I will learn.

Anyway, coming back to this 'royal' astrologer. He mentioned Mars+Saturn conjunction has caused increase in terror activity, so its bad for India. Ok. The biggest and most audacious attack India faced was 26/11/2008. Were Mars and Saturn Conjunct then? No. Saturn was in Leo and Mars was in Scorpio. Ok, maybe this missed. What about the infamous 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai (12 March 93)? Mars was in Gemini and Saturn was in Aquarius. What about the dastardly 9/11 attacks? Mars was in Sagittarius and Saturn was in Taurus. Bali bombings of 2005? Mars in Aries and Saturn in Cancer. I could go on.

This is the problem with so-called Vedic or traditional astrologers. What they say makes no sense whatsoever. I am being harsh, but the truth often is. If I am wrong, I have a method that I can retrace and then tweak to see if something else works and where I went wrong. Traditional astrologers feel absolutely ZERO need to ever correct themselves. You know why? Because they are never wrong! :) Seriously. Everytime a prediction goes wrong, they will have some aspect or 'yoga' that explains why it went wrong. So they don't need to correct it. Like I remarked to someone the other day, "Vedic astrologers can always predict an event accurately, after the event has already happened"

I am reminded of this other jyotisha on FB who keeps writing random stuff. Sample this:

"Jupiter and Venus parivartana...separation from Partner" 

After giving several such nuggets (I am putting just one here), He ends this 'discourse' to us lowly humans with:

"My note...if these are not found correct...just forget and don't waste time in commenting"

Wow. Imagine if a doctor said this to you. I think you have T.B. but if you dont think its correct, dont ask me, just forget about it. While I do not hold astrologers (including myself) to the standard of doctors, just imagine the massive ego and conceit of this statement this venerable jyotisha put.

He doesn't want to know if the principle he is likely using to advise clients is wrong! I would welcome something which I did not agree with so that I could learn. I recently had a discussion with someone on my comments in one of the posts. I put my view and explained the basis for the same, I left the comment of the other person there and  requested to let me know if I was wrong. This is the attitude of a student, not that "my way or the highway approach"

How can any combination be a blanket good or bad? That itself is ridiculous. Lets take this famous Sa+Ma conjunction. Lets say this causes an enemy to execute a successful attack on a country. Ok. So its bad for the country. But isn't it a good combination (however sad) for the enemy? Since these combinations happen for the world as a whole, how can an astrologer take two random planets and say this is bad?! He can say it is bad with respect to one native.

This is the superiority of stellar methods over these so-called vedic 'astrologers'. A good stellar astrologer will never say, Jupiter is good for you. He will say, Jupiter is good for your career. Lets say Jupiter strongly signifies the 4th house. Then we can say Jupiter is good for education or property purchase. But since the 4th house is 8th from the 9th house of father, the same planet will be bad for the natives father. This is life. Its good with the bad, its rough with the smooth, it is give and take! Jyotisha is life, it is not removed from it. So how can one planet be a blanket 'good' or 'bad'?!

What else did he say? He named every possible type of attack! Were terror attacks not happening when the conjunction was not there? Should we ask our soldiers to rest the rest of the time, i.e. when Mars and Saturn are not in the same sign? (Mars takes about 1.5 years to go through all the signs, whereas Saturn is on one sign for 2.5 years). He named the two most prominent 'pandals' of Ganpati in Mumbai. They have been targets for years! What prediction has he given?! Nothing. And this joker has people eating out of his hands! Wow.

It is people like him who have brought disrepute to the 'science' of jyotisha. Mark my words, most 'vedic' astrologers will ONLY SCARE YOU. Everyone who goes to find out date of son's marriage comes back with the knowledge that the son is 'manglik' or the son has kaal-sarpa dosha or a paap-kartari yoga or guru chandal yoga. So then this astrologer will say you have to do this or that puja or shanti for this negative to go. So the parent came back with a Rs21,000 bill for a puja that will do nothing, and not to the answer to his question which was when will my son get married! Why did this happen? Because these 'vedic' people have zero predictive ability they will never answer questions that can be tested. They will only scare you.

There is a saying, the happy go to the jewellers, the sick go to doctors and the sad go to the astrologers. The astrologers was meant to provide context to these sad people. If (and its a big If) some remedy was possible then he would suggest a remedy. It was meant to teach people acceptance. If there were remedies for everything, then why would anyone in the world be sad?! And astrologers would have been the richest people in the world. Think!

I have no personal animus with these 'vedic' astrologers. But just from my experience I know...they know nothing. Absolutely nothing. Like the young yuppie who hides his stupidity behind jargons and acronyms, these guys will come up with impressive sounding yogas and combinations. They will have colourful names. PanchMahapurusha Yoga, Raj Yoga, Gaja Kesari Yoga, Paap Kartari yoga, Vipreet Raj Yoga, Raj Bhanga yoga..blah blah blah. They are fooling you. I realise how much they were fooling me now that I know a bit of jyotisha. 

There is no single way to test these guys. And there is no need to, I know they are incapable based on my experience. But you can ask simple Qs like: 1) What is the meaning of ayanamsa? or 2) What is the difference between a 'house' and a 'sign' in a birth chart. At least check if this person you are seeking life advise from knows at least the basics!

Use an astrologer as one of the inputs in your decision making process, if you feel so inclined. Do not use ass-trologers.

This is just my opinion.