Akshay Tritiya

Did you know ‘Akshay Tritiya’ is considered one of the most auspicious days of the Vedic calendar?

This year it falls on Monday, April 27th 2009.

The word "Akshay" means ‘the never diminishing’. It represents eternal prosperity for any new beginning made or valuables bought or remedial measures initiated on this day. According to the Vedas, Rishi Vyasa along with Lord Ganesha embarked on the process of writing the epic Mahabharata on this day to perpetuate its glory among mankind forever.

So dont get sold by buying gold, platinum. Instead get "Punya" by liberally donating, whatever you can. That is the purest form of liberty you can gain.

You can contact me on ram10kar at gmail dot com to get the account number for donation.

Election 2009 result

I did a KP Prasna analysis on the Election 2009 result now....

Here it is...

The question in mind was will UPA win again?

Moon is in the 3rd house. Ketu is the star ruling Moon which is in the 2nd. Connection of victories and results.

Rahu is the starlord of 5th and Saturn is the sublord of 7th.

Strong Saturn support in 11th. Star Ketu and sublord Saturn.

Ketu / Rahu pull up an down, which is controlled by Saturn. Shows the nature by Ketu appearing twice, which is pointing towards South (help from... as pointed in 3rd)

Result: Yes UPA will win. Strong support from someone in the South. (So some party from South will point the finger about the rule, and have maximum ministerial berths!)

I will see the transit of planets now... for 2, 5 and 11.

Ketu / Rahu, Rahu / Sat and Ketu /Sat

3 main planets Ketu, Rahu and Saturn. All are win a loss givers based on positions.

Ketu in transit of 12th - good support, pleasure and foreign power. ( Here I can take it as help of foreigner by birth, Sonia Gandhi )

Rahu in transit of 6th - occupation - well being - Good ( profession -> politics )

Saturn in transit of 1st, the best position to give positive results and benefits. There is a relation to Saturn in the 8th (good friends) with Mercury. Hence very well calculated (coalition?) gains are there.

Note - May 16th is the day of result. All three Ketu, Rahu and Saturn in dasa till May 25th early hours. Hence I expect the new government to take oath of office before that.

Note - This is a matter of astro analysis only and no guarantees.

Ram Navami

The Hanuman Jayanti Ceremony- in pursuit of excellence
The Vasant or Spring Navratri is held during the beginning of summer. It is a time of thanksgiving to Mother Nature – who protects and sustains us. This year the Chaitra Navratras has been observed from today and ends with Ram Navami on the 3rd of April 2009.

Ram Navami is a festival that celebrates the birth of Lord Ram, the son of King Dasharath. It is believed that listening to the story of Ram cleanses the soul. Meditating and chanting his name is believed to ease the pains of life and lead one to moksha or liberation. Lord Ram is eternal, perfect and everlasting.

Once Shri Ram asked Hanuman as to who he was. Hanuman replied by saying-
"If you consider me just as the possessor of my physical body, then I am your servant. If you consider me as a soul then I am your 'Ansha' (part). My belief is based on the fact that my existence is not different from you in any way."

Hanumanji is a gem- the embodiment for pursuit of excellence because of his faith and devotion which leads to courage and the ability to achieve the impossible. To pray to the most powerful and valiant Shri Hanuman whose bravery, loyalty and faithfulness to Lord Ram!

Hanuman Jayanthi Ceremony

Maha Bhootha peedam mahothpada peedam,
Maha vyadhi peedam, mahadhiprapeedam,
hara swasritha bjeeshta dana pradhayin,
Namaste Namaste kapeendra prasathe.

Salutations and salutation to him, Who is famous as Indra among monkeys,
And who fulfills the wishes of his devotees,
With a humble request to put an end, to the great problems from evil,
To the Great dangers arising suddenly,
To the sufferings due to diseases,
And to the sufferings due to great sorrows.

Devotion is a great source of power. Shri Hanumaan was himself a great devotee of Lord Ram. We remember him as a true follower because of his unconditional dedication. Whenever we perform Hanumaan Jayanti we chant Bajrang Baan, a part of Hanumaan Chalisa. Many of our members must be wondering what this particular prayer does for you.

The Bajrang Baan is a powerful prayer to Lord Hanumaan. This prayer is deeply spiritual and has many healing powers. The recitation of the Bajrang Baan, is said to remove the trace of enemies from a person's life and neutralize the effects of any bad deeds.

Narada

One day when Narada was passing by Vikunta he saw Lord Shiva and Maa Parvati talking something and in Joyous mood and didn't notice Narada..(I do not know whether it is with anger/jealousy or just to poke fun) then Narada went upto the Lord Shiva and Whispered in his ear **Don't tell to anybody** and left immediately..

Now see what happens/happened, Maa Parvati anxiously started asking Shiva to tell me what did Narada say?

Maa Parvati: Tell me Mahaadev what did Narada say?

Lord Shiva: Narada told don't tell to anybody....

Maa Parvati: No i am your Ardhangini you must tell me please...

Lord Shiva: he said Don't tell to anybody....

and the argument continued... .......who' s right? and who's wrong?

So sometimes I believe "Galati se Mistake Ho jaata hai...:-) Ha..Ha..

This post is just for sharing again in the light-hearted. . and don't ask me the classic's reference as it was told by one of my Guru and narrated how things CAN happen when YOU are still right and saying the TRUTH

(This post is coming after 80 days! Message is hidden above!)

Happy New Year 2009

Wishing all of you for the continued support.

Wishing you all a very happy new year!

-

Do you wish to donate a small sum for a worth cause? Then contact me please.

Happy New Year 2009!

TWELFTH HOUSE Matters

Q :: What are the ‘significance’ of TWELFTH HOUSE in a birth chart? When and how the effects of this house could become effective in once life?

ANS::

This house projects the following:

1. Expenditure, Extravagance, and Loss;

2. Punishments, Isolation, restriction on freedom, imprisonment, confinement and Seclusion;

3. Bed deeds. Fall (both physical and figurative);

4. Looting, Crime, rape, poisoning, smuggling, blackmailing, Kleptomania, Kidnapping;

5. Deceit and Persecution;

6. Sorrow, Worries, Misfortune, unforeseen troubles;

7. Spiritual Practices, Sin, Hell, Occult, Heaven, Emancipation form the cycle of births and deaths, Past ‘Karmas’, ‘Moksha‘;

8. Going away from home of birth, exile, extradition, Going Abroad, and Travels;

9. Rightful and wrongful Sexual Pleasure, Snoring, Sleep;

10. Conspiracy, secret Enemy, Under ground movements, Shady dealings, conniving acts, Secret plots, Spies, Occult Sciences, Corrupt with Saintly ‘jackets’;

11. Infirmity in a limb, Feet and toes, Left side of genitals and Anus, left eye, and Left Shoulder;

12. Inferiority Complex, Suffering in Secret;

13. Acts arising picking one’s conscience;

14. Profound and selfless service to society;

15. Father’s wealth and property devolving on the native;

16. Hospitals, jails, Monasteries, Places of Seclusion, Solitude, Depression, Asylums, Living in isolated unpopulated areas with curse and calamities, Working in Scavenging dens, and circus with risks, animal dens and zoos;

17. Loss due to marriage or spouse, Death of Spouse;

18. Termination of Appointment, job, commitment, contract, and oath;

19. Animals and involvement in them like syce, veterinary workers and menials (ref: Sixth House also)

20. Repayment of loan by the native (The Eighth house is also related for ‘repayment’ as creditor will earn in ‘repayment’ which is referred by Second house from Seventh house)

21. Institutionalized religion and religious houses, Mutts, Ashrams etc.

Notes::

The nature of the Planet and the nature of its influence arrived at, by finding its strength, position, preference, and influence with graded strength, will decide the accruing results out of this ‘Twelfth House’ , related Desa Bukti and other factors to be taken into account for assessment.

Corollaries: :

When a twelfth house is influenced by Malefic Planets and, similarly, the owner of twelfth house is influenced by such malefic planets, the person will wonder from one country to another, in appropriate periods;

A Planet connected with the Second, Seventh (or Ninth) and the twelfth houses makes a native go away from his family on along journey to a far away place;

If the fourth and the twelfth houses are connected , it indicates a change in residence.

The Moon in this house is in a movable sign the person will wonder in his own country or abroad.

If Twelfth house is connected through Planets and its positions, with Second, sixth, and tenth houses, it indicates service in hospitals, while this house is connected only with sixth house, the native could be hospitalized in concern Desa Bukthi timings.

Similarly if this house and the ninth house is related through related Planets, indicates a long journey as also life abroad.

If the weak and afflicted owner of the twelfth house is placed in the third, sixth or eighth house and has malefic influence with any redeemable benefic effects, it gives raise to ‘Vipareeth raja Yoga’ and confers immense riches.

Sixth House Matters

Q: What are the qualities referred to sixth House? As also Planets who could cause various effects in relation to Sixth house from Lagna. -Cartain Individuals, fear of calamities, vices of all types, cruel acts, misunderstanding with elders -particularly with sisters and brothers, knowingly committing sin, and extreme humiliation;

(ii) Enemies, danger, thieves and obstructions;

(iii) Either by assault or by fall resulting in wounds, dysentery, swelling of any part of the body, urinary and venereal decease, dietary habits, boils, exertion, death at the hands of an enemy, fighting in a conflict or war, weariness, eye trouble;

(iv) Surgery, sharp edged instruments, arms, and weapons;

(v) Relationship with kinsmen, Step Mother, maternal uncle;

(vi) Involvement in different faiths and cultures part from own;

(vii) Right part of chin, intestines, kidneys, and right calf muscles;

(viii) Pet animals, debts, receiving charities;

(ix) Examinations, competitions;

(x) Irregular and unhealthy food habits;

(xi) Poison and resultant effects on health including unnatural death;

(xii) Servants and relationship with them, contradictory acts to popular opinions;

(xiii) Sanitation, industries, working with heavy and injurious work environment,

(xiv) Prison

(xv) Trance

There are other indicative factors are to be referred to, while considering the sixth house from Lagna They are as follows.

Sixth house is considered as one of the four malefic positions for Lagna Rasi and Chandra Lagna.

Malefic planets in sixth house from lagna give ability and strength to meet enemies strongly, while this could end up in struggle for life. When the owner of the sixth, eighth, and eleventh houses with Ketu, and the Planets with them as well as owners of these houses, may cause accidents and injuries in their sub periods in a main Desa period. If Saturn is the owner of sixth house and /or Rahu being deposited in the sixth house and in aspect from Saturn could cause anxiety due to acute illness during the respective sub periods.

The sixth house with Saturn and/or Rahu and/or the Sun could cause prolonged illness as the Sun is the karaka for Doctor and health. At this, one has to consider the occupation, ownership, and aspect of third eleventh houses of one of these planets to cause ailments in arms of the person as third house represents the right arm, and the eleventh, the left arm under ‘ Kalapurusha’ rules. Another reference is available that, if the occupant planet in 3 house is more powerful than the occupant of the eleventh house, the person would be right - handed and vice-versa for being left handed!

The condition of the 6^th house will affect work habits, litigation, obstacles, health and propensity of serving and helping others. This house relates to cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, and uncles, as well as employees and colleagues. This house also refers to ‘open enemies’ to encompass disagreements in work /professional level, opposing parties in a lawsuit, and even spouse or friend with whom one does not see eye to eye. This house also signifies the type of illness or vulnerable part of the anatomy in relation to the 1^st house of the chart. The ‘Karakas’ of the sixth house are Saturn - since it is associated with work and discipline, and Mars as ruler of arguments and adversaries.

If the sixth and tenth houses are connected , or their owners are ‘friendly’ and the owner of the sixth house is powerful (if in his own house/ in his ‘uchcha’ sthana/ in aspect by its friendly and or benefic planets/ in a favorable house), the native follows his father’s profession. (This very important observation could be made with reference to Sixth house from Lagna Rasi/ Chandra Lagna on many other considerations to this result). The inevitable choice of vocation (service or profession) against desire of a person will have do for earning, (including works in grave yards, cleaning and maintaining areas of litters, serving in public rest rooms, and similar positions, etc.)

Referring to this house for ‘weapons) with reference to third and eleventh house of the chart, it shall be indicative of the fact that the native wield weapons (including sharp edged instruments) as professional criminals, uniformed forces (Army, Navy and Air force, police and allied units) as also a surgeon or doctor (dentist, ophthalmologist, gynecologist or neurologist etc).

(I will briefly refer, how to find a native will be a doctor, criminal or a member of uniformed force)

a. If the eighth or the twelfth house is in any way related under rules, 6^th, 3^rd and 11^th house (and has NO beneficial influence from the position occupation and ‘drushty’ from other Planets in the chart) that person may use weapons causing death or loss to others - a criminal.

b. If the relationship of the two houses (6^th and 3^rd houses) does not involve the 8^th or 12^th house, or if one of these two houses involved, the relationship has powerful beneficial influence, the native could wield weapons for a good cause and could be in a uniformed service.

c. When the combination mentioned above in (b) also involves the Sun, Saturn and Rahu, (or at least two of the three Planets now mentioned) the native will wield weapons for causes connected with health and disease - perhaps be a doctor or surgeon.

d. As also, if the owner of the sixth house or Mars is more powerful in the chart than the above stated Three Planets, and Mars is involved in the combination , the native will surely be a surgeon or a physician. While it is so, the significator for education, Jupiter, in that chart must be strong, well positioned to give adequate education for being a doctor. These will culminate to fructification during the favorable Desa periods, with helpful sub periods, while Mercury could also support the strength of referred planets. If they are weak in these combinations as above and Jupiter fails to add favorably, then he may become a wild person with unpleasant mental status.

Exploiting Religion and Occult Science for Hacking

Contents:

1. Introduction
2. Overview of Reality Hacking
3. Occult Science in everyday life
4. People and Belief
5. A Real Corporate Sabotage example using Occult
6. Conclusion
7. Footnotes
8. Bibliography
   
9. External Links
   

Introduction

In first part of this series, we will look at how we can use religion and occult science to exploit people and use it to our advantage. It is easy to slip into debates related to religion and global issues, so we will focus on how to use the art� to exploit a specific target with some examples and case studies. The subject itself is controversial in nature, so it's best we kept aside the moral values and ethics for a later discussion.

Overview of Reality Hacking

Before we start, lets understand what hacking is and what a system is. Most people say, hacking is about stealing passwords and getting the root or something similar. And a system is any computer or network which we want to hack. But in true sense, hacking is not just about passwords. It's about improvising a process or taking advantage of a system as a whole. A system consists of people, process and technology. So, even the entire company is a system. The way nature operates is a form of system. Even the way you do your daily routine and spend time with your family is a system. And hacking can be applied just anywhere, by studying it carefully. This view is generally known as reality hacking, and is similar to the final climax of Matrix, where Neo finally believes in himself and sees everything, including himself as a part of Matrix.

Occult science in everyday life.

How many times have you read or seen people reading the daily astrology column in newspapers? or, how many times have you shown your hand to a common friend or a hand-reading expert to know the future? How much of it do you believe really?

Some examples:

In India, almost every marriage is done only if the stars� match. You would face considerable resistance from old grannies and mothers in getting married to the girl you like, if the kundalis¹ do not match. Imagine, a small astrological chart can actually determine if your family approves your relationship or not!

The home interiors, design and furniture is largely determined by vaastu shastra�² in many Indian homes. Even today, new apartments or flats are rejected if they do not satisfy the aspects of Vaastu! So if you are a builder, you have a slightly better chance of selling your newly constructed buildings / homes if you promote them as designed as per Vaastu Shastra in certain parts of India!

Huge donations are given in name of Poojaa�³ or Homam�⁴ which are held almost every month some place or other to ward of evil spirits, seek blessings of god and bring peace and harmony. The revenue generated by these donations qualify the religious bodies to be listed in Stock markets! For example, the annual turnover of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam� (One of the largest religious bodies in India) is over 135,093,956. 32 USD! Not to mention reserves.

Again, some of the largest riots and acts of violence are due to differences between religious communities. We have witnessed thousands of people being killed on the name of religion and justice. As they say, even today most people are judged by the color of their skin.

People and Belief

As we saw from the above examples, it does not matter if you believe in any forms of occult or religion. What matters is many people do. And this belief is the single largest factor to utilize it for your advantage. Over many years i have noticed that gaining trust is easiest when you share your victims belief or add weight to it by your experiences or stories.

It is not hard to find out if your victim can be exploited or not. One can start with a simple sociological game like 'nowadays�' or 'Ain't it awful' and quickly move towards stating a personal problem that got resolved due to a certain practice⁵�. For instance, one can say "You know, I was thinking of purchasing this plot, but luckily I had been to this astrologer and you won't believe it, he said I should not make the purchase as it was not a good period. Just yesterday I came to know that the plot was actually having a lot of legal issues and that it had being seized." Depending on the person or place, stories like this might actually work. If you sound convincing enough, then your victim asks for the address and decides to test the astrologer out.

If you can recollect your days at college, there would be at least one guy who would have claimed to read hands, and all girls would flock around him to ask the same stupid questions, "When will i get married?" "Will i go abroad?" "Will my husband be good looking?" "Will i get first class in my exams?" or more family oriented ones like "Will I always take care of my mother and father?"�; "What about my mothers health?" or "Will i get a job soon?"� and things like that.

To tell you how serious this can be, once out of frustration I replied to a girl that she will have two marriages and that she would get a divorce from her first husband within six months. Before I could realize, she fainted out of shock and fell down the staircase. It was very difficult for me to later tell her that it was just a joke and that she would actually be happy in a single long lasting marriage. This is not an isolated case.

People believe "predictions"� when given in a right environment and though most of them can act as "self-fulfilling prophecies"�, it is natural to be concerned when you are warned of danger.

Now how can ones belief help you in hacking? In any business, if crucial sales professionals or account managers leave a company or are not available for active follow up, they will lose a great amount of business to competitors. Is there any way we can "hack"� into a TAM or pre-sales professionals mind and make them not report to office for a few days for a possible business advantage?

A Real Corporate Sabotage example using Occult

In Mumbai, at Andheri, there are over 3000 companies with corporate offices. On any given working day, there are over 120 odd IT security Pre-sales guys trying to sell their services in various sectors. In such a cut throat competition, it is vital that presentations or proposals are given on time. It is also obvious that not all can qualify for certain jobs and that only few competitors remain in the end.

Company X wanted the deal at all costs. What can it do to prevent company Y from winning this order? It was then that they tried out a simple plan. Krishna (let's say) was a pre-sales guy working with company Y. He used to commute daily from Dombivili to Andheri by local train via Dadar. Company X studied the daily activity of Krishna for a few days and strategically sent a sadhu early morning at his area.

Sadhu⁶

When Krishna came out as usual for going to office, the sadhu came forward and asked for a rupee but instead stopped haphazardly and gave him a cold spooky stare before saying "Your death is near! you are going die in a train accident in less than a week"� (In reality, it was very dramatic). Saying this he gave a "you-are-doomed"� laugh and quickly walked away.

Now what do you think would be the effect? Surprised, Krishna paused for a few seconds and regained his composure before moving to his work place as usual. After two days, company X sent another sadhu who "accidentally� " crossed Krishna's path and suddenly froze before giving him the look.

This time the sadhu said "Son, your life is in danger. Stay at home and recite the hanuman chalisaa⁷ everyday if you want the danger to pass away".� Blessing him, the sadhu started moved away chanting mantras. But this time Krishna quickly called him and asked what the danger was. The Sadhu replied that the period was extremely bad for him for he has not fulfilled a promise made to god. And the only way out was to stay indoors for a week or so chanting "hanuman chalisaa" 108 times a day. During this time he should not travel anywhere as it would surely put him in danger of losing his life.

Even now, the company X did not know how Krishna would react to all this. Krishna thanked the Sadhu, gave him a 50 Rupee note and moved towards office. But soon the two separate incidents of being warned of death put Krishna in the desired state of mind. By the time he reached Dadar, he changed his mind and went back home instead of office. In the next few hours Krishna called in "sick"�.

With an able pre-sales guy not attending office due to "sudden illness"� had its toll on the overall aggressiveness of the business of company Y. Even though company Y sent out another sales guy to handle the job, he did not share the same rapport and comfort as Krishna did with his customers. In less than a week, company X was able to close a crucial deal from an energy based company that was worth over INR .85,00,000/- because of less competition.

As for Krishna, he traveled with great caution for the next one month in local trains.

Conclusion

The belief in supernatural, occult or the unknown can be carefully exploited to our advantage in our daily life. It is very important to take precautions as, an unplanned exceution of such an exploit can lead to a serious psychological damage to the victim. In the next part, we will see some more examples. All comments are welcome.

Footnotes

1. Kundalis - Astrological Charts used for predictions. WIdely used in India for match making before marriage.
   
2. Vaastu Shastra - Similar to Feng Shui, Vaastu Shastra deals with various aspects of designing and building living environments that are in harmony with the physical and metaphysical forces.
   
3. Poojaa - A Hindu form of a prayer
   
4. Homam - Homa (also known as homam or havan) is a Sanskrit word which refers to any ritual in which making offerings into a consecrated fire is the primary action. The words homa/homam/havan are interchangeable with the word Yagna. Homas are an important religious practise in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.
   
5. Practice - In this case, it refers to a set of superstitious instructions under guidance.
   
6. Sadhu - Sadhu is a common term for an ascetic or practitioner of yoga (yogi) who has given up pursuit of the first three Hindu goals of life: kama (enjoyment), artha (practical objectives) and even dharma (duty).
   
7. Hanuman chalisaa - A special prayer to the all powerful Hindu monkey god - Lord Hanuman.
   

Bibliography

Games People Play: the Psychology of Human Relations; 1964 (1978 reprint, Grove Press, ISBN 0-345-17046- 6); (1996 Paperback, ISBN 0-345-41003- 3)

Determinism

In this article, we demonstrate that arguments against astrological decision making all necessarily assume a strong version of astrological determinism. If these deterministic assumptions are false, as we maintain they clearly are, then these particular arguments against astrological decision making lose their logical force. Thus, serious discussion of the morality of astrological decision making is more properly focused on arguments that examine and address the expected consequences of astrological decision making for individuals and society, and not on ones that would pre-empt such a discussion by arguing that astrological decision making is inherently objectionable.

Our analysis is divided into three separate parts. First, we attempt to define two important terms: "astrological decision making" and "astrological determinism. " Second, after explaining the difference between the stronger and weaker forms of astrological determinism, and examining why the stronger versions of astrological determinism appear very rarely in astrology, we unpack four common arguments against the use of astrological decision making and show how they lean heavily on assumptions of strong astrological determinism. Finally, we argue that moral assessments of astrological decision making should consider arguments that pragmatically examine the medical, social, and economic consequences of astrological decision making, rather than those that rely on unwarranted assumptions of astrological determinism to portray astrological decision making as inherently objectionable.

What is astrological decision making?

"Astrological decision making" is making a decision based on the positions of the stars and planets in the sky which are correlated with earthly events.

Some examples of astrological decision making include:

• When to invest in real estate or which business to invest in
• Which profession to go for
• When to marry
• Whom to marry
• and so on

What is astrological determinism?

"astrological determinism" is another term that needs clarification. In philosophy, determinism is usually equated with the problem of free will: We are compelled to make the choices that we make as a result of previous circumstances, and we cannot make choices that are genuinely free. This type of determinism, which we shall call psychological determinism, has some profound implications for morality and the law, since we normally ascribe moral or legal responsibility to people under the assumption that they can choose freely. Over the years, philosophers have developed three basic positions on the problem of free will: 1) hard determinism, which holds that we cannot make free choices; 2) indeterminism, which holds that human actions result from spontaneous acts of the will that break free from the world's causal nexus, and 3) compatiblism, which holds that free will is compatible with determinism [1]. According to some compatibilists, actions may be considered "free" if they are caused in the appropriate way. For example, a "free" act is one that results from reasoning and deliberation rather than external forces or emotional compulsions [1].

While questions about the metaphysics of human freedom are of the utmost importance in philosophy, they are not the focus of this article. However, there are some important parallels between psychological determinism and astrological determinism, since the interpretation of causation plays a pivotal role in both of these doctrines. Also, as we shall see below, worries about astrological determinism can reinforce concerns about psychological determinism [2]. Since the concept of causation plays a central role in various forms of determinism in philosophy and science, we will say a bit more about causation. We do not have space in this paper to provide a detailed analysis of causation, but we will make a few critical points that are relevant to questions about astrological determinism (for further discussion of causation, see Salmon, 1997; Tooley, 2000) [3,4].

First, causation is a temporally ordered relationship between events, properties, or processes. In the statement, "lightning caused the forest fire," lightning precedes the forest fire. Second, almost all causal relationships involve more than one factor (or condition). For example, the dryness of the forest and wind velocity would also be causal factors in the forest fire. Very often, causal factors serve as background assumptions in causal explanations [4]. For example, a person who claims that lightning caused the forest fire would be assuming that there was enough oxygen in the atmosphere to fuel the fire. Third, causal statements can be used in explanation or prediction [3]. For example, the statement "smoking causes lung cancer" can be used to predict that a person who is a heavy smoker will develop cancer, or to explain why a heavy smoker develops cancer.

Fourth, and of greatest import for our purposes, causal relationships can be either deterministic or probabilistic [3]. For example, consider the claim "If you drop a rock, it will fall". Many would consider this to be a deterministic form of causation because it does not make a reference to the probability, or chance, of an event occurring: the rock will fall if it is dropped (assuming background conditions, e.g. there is not a strong wind pushing the rock up). However, consider research on smoking and lung cancer. Smoking causes lung cancer, even though many smokers do not develop lung cancer. If you smoke, you may not get lung cancer, but smoking increases your probability of getting lung cancer. While deterministic causation is common in the physical sciences, it is very rare in astrological decision making. Most explanations and predictions in the astrological sciences however are probabilistic, not deterministic.

With the preceding comments in mind, we now consider astrological determinism. astrological determinism can be loosely defined as the view that planetary positions cause predictions of say medical symptoms. This definition is almost trivially true, because medical symptoms have some type of astrological basis. More precisely, one could say that diabetes is astrologically determined if it is caused by a particular planetary configuration. However, even this definition is not precise enough, since it ignores that fact that astrological causation is usually not deterministic in the strict sense: the particular planetary configuration often merely increase the probability, though sometimes quite substantially, that diabetes is present. To differentiate between these types of astrological causation, we distinguish between three different forms of astrological determinism:

Strong astrological determinism: the particular planetary configuration always leads to diabetes.

Moderate astrological determinism: more often than not the particular planetary configuration leads to diabetes. (the particular planetary configuration increases the probability of diabetes and the probability of diabetes, given the particular planetary configuration is greater than 50%).

Weak astrologicaldetermi nism: the particular planetary configuration sometimes leads to the development of diabetes. (the particular planetary configuration increase the probability of diabetes, but the probability of diabetes is still less than 50%.)

Strong astrological determinism is not very common. First and foremost, the dasa timing environment plays a very important role in the expression of most planetary influence. The complex interaction and interdependence of planetary strength and significator determination along with dasa period direct predictions and hence astrological decision making.

Before concluding our article, we briefly discuss a point, which calls into question the deterministic portrayal of astrological decision making and is, therefore, relevant to understanding the role of astrological determinism in arguments against astrological decision making. First, one must distinguish between determinism and fatalism. Fatalism is the view that specific outcomes or events will occur in our lives no matter what we do. The classic example of fatalism is the myth of Oedipus. A prophet told Oedipus that he would kill his father and marry his mother. To avoid this horrible outcome, Oedipus went to live far away from his homeland, and was still unable to avoid fulfilling the prophecy. Analogously, astrological fatalism is the view that we cannot avoid specific astrologically predetermined outcomes, no matter what we do or what happens to us: our fate is in our planets.
Although astrological fatalism has also become a popular belief in some circles, critical examination of this idea shows that it does not square with commonsense. As an almost trivial example, for astrological fatalism to be true an individual possessing a planet responsible for a specific type of cancer must develop that type of cancer, no matter what he or she does. Clearly, this is not the way the world works. Leaving aside any discussion of astrological causation and assuming that, in this case, the planet strongly determines cancer, science might yet discover a pre-emptive cure for that particular cancer and thus prevent planetary expression. Or, to offer one macabre alternative, the person might get hit by a bus and die before ever developing the cancer.

1. Dennett D: Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting. Cambridge: MIT Press; 1984.
2. Peters T: Playing God: Genetic Determinism and Human Freedom. New York: Routledge; 1996.
3. Salmon W: Causality and Explanation. New York: Oxford University Press; 1997.
4. Tooley M: Time, Tense, and Causation. New York: Oxford University Press; 2000