Number 4

Number 4 individuals in numerology refer to those who were born on the 4th, 13th, 22nd or 31st of any month ('Birth number'), or those whose birth date (including month and birth year) adds up to 4 ('Life path number'). Number 4 people seem to be endowed with creativity in the realm of words.  Many brilliant writers, poets and philosophers are born under this number. Some prominent examples are given below:

• Immanuel Kant, philosopher, was born on 22 April 1724 - birth number and life number 4.

• Robert Frost, famous poet, was born on 26 March 1874 - life number 4.

• Maya Angelou, author, poet and activist, born on 4 April 1928 - birth number 4. 

• Christopher Hitchens, writer, journalist and philosopher, was born on 13 April 1949 - birth number and life number 4. 

• Eckhart Tolle, writer, was born on 16 February 1948 - life number 4. 

• Alice Munro, short story writer and winner of Nobel Prize in Literature, was born on 10 July 1931 - life number 4. 

• Malcolm Gladwell, non-fiction writer and journalist, was born on 3 September 1963 - life number 4. 

• Nicholas Sparks, novelist and screenwriter, was born on 31 December 1965 - birth number 4. 

• Devdutt Pattanaik, Indian mythologist and writer, born on 11 December 1970 - life number 4.

So if you are a number 4 and have a way with words, do not hesitate to explore this wonderful gift which may help inspire others.

How to find out your Moon Sign?

There are many resources on the internet with tools to calculate not just the Moon Sign, but also the position of all planets in the sky at the time of birth.  Most of these are free services, and many websites do not even require registration.  Of course, the key here is to know your exact time of birth.  As explained in one of my previous posts, the moon sign (unlike the sun sign which has fixed dates of movement every month) shifts every couple of days between the zodiac signs, and on certain days even spans two signs; hence a wrong time could lead to an incorrect moon sign.

For a quick free nakshatra check without any registration or membership, the following websites are very handy:

http://indastro.com/members/instant_moonsign
http://jyotisha.00it.com/Janmarashi.htm
http://www.astrocamp.com/kundli/
http://astrobix.com/horoscope/birthchart/

For detailed reports of Birthchart with information about the ascendant sign, the placements of other planets, and also compatibility reports and predictive astrology, the following sites are quite good.  They have many free reports which are very informative, while their paid memberships offer more detailed and personalized reports:

Cyberastro: www.cyberastro.com
Indastro: www.indastro.com
Astrobix: www.astrobix.com
Astrogyan: www.astrogyan.com
Astrojeevan: www.astrojeevan.com
Astrocamp or Astrosage: www.astrocamp.com

Nazar - the 'evil eye' jinx

In my junior year of college, I had a nice haircut which was expressly complimented by a classmate.  This was extraordinary for me, because my hair is anything but nice - dry, wavy, flyaway, unkempt, and basically always disheveled.  Very soon after this, my hair started falling a lot.  It seemed that they were falling out about 10 times the normal hairfall amount, and I even started counting the hairs that fell daily.  After consultation with mom, we came to the conclusion that I was hit by 'nazar' or the 'evil eye' of the girl who had praised my hair with envy.  Of course, she wouldn't have intended it, but somehow it had a negative effect on me.

The nazar, literally meaning 'vision', invokes dread and fear amongst people in most nations of the Middle east and South Asia; but outside this sphere, this concept is almost unknown.  It is believed that nazar is invoked when someone stares at you with envy - at your beauty, wealth, possession or any form of good fortune.  Even though it emphasizes 'sight', nazar is often a result of spoken words, and hence sometimes the speaker is believed to have a 'black tongue' as well.  This does not mean that the person causing nazar is an evil witch, or a black magic woman, or even someone with bad intentions.  In most cases, the inflictor is unaware of the possible negative effects of their words, is usually without any malice and may mean no harm whatsoever, even though there might be an element of envy.

Babies and brides are thought to be the most susceptible victims to nazar.  In old times, it was even believed to be the main cause for infant deaths.  To prevent this, a black mark would be applied to the face of the babies or under their eyes, to make them look ugly and hence prevent the evil eye - a practice which continues till today.  To avoid the harsh effects of nazar, well wishers do not praise babies and brides as cute and beautiful, but would rather call them 'ugly' just to prevent the jinx.  This practice of calling babies ugly is known to exist even in South East Asia, where there is otherwise no indication of the belief in the evil eye.

Another popular way of warding off the jinx is through amulets.  In the Middle-East, nazar refers to the blue-eyed glass amulet, which is today a very popular souvenir for tourists.  This blue ornament is a common sight there, being seen outside houses, shops, cars, and also hung on clothes or as jewellery.

A major cultural difference brought about by the belief of nazar is that of flaunting or showing off.  People who believe in the jinx would not boast about their good luck to others for fear of invoking the evil eye.  In countries where nazar is non-existent, people do not hesitate to flaunt their beauty, wealth or good fortunes.

Anyway, my supposed brush with the nazar did not end with my excess hairfall during college, for I have had several other encounters since.  These include the time when my colleague, who is often inflicted with cold, asked me how I managed to always stay healthy; and the next couple of weeks later, I fell quite sick with my worst flu in a decade.  Or how all my cakes have turned disastrous ever since someone complimented on my signature carrot cake.

My main intellectual concern in this regard has been whether this evil eye really exists, and if so, what causes it and why it seems to affect some people and not all; and lastly, how we can prevent it.  A logical person would not believe in it at all, relegating it as mere superstition; but having had a first hand experience, I am disinclined to dismiss it as such.

I often feel that bad karma may play a large part in ensuring that it does not afflict everyone, but only those with heavy karmic debts to pay.  However, my focus often falls on the possibility of the supposed victim's subconscious playing the main role here.  The subconscious or the soul may perceive the self to be undeserving of the good fortune to be blessed with that which the conferrer of the nazar lacks.  And as a means to balance out or cancel off the good fortune, the subconscious inflicts a punishment to the self that manifests as nazar, jinx or evil eye.

Sidereal vs Tropical?

Just when I start a blog on the so-called Vedic astrology, I happened on an article which debunks this entire sidereal system of astrology with logical arguments, and supports the tropical system of astrology.  The article is surely convincing, but then it is hard to believe that so many can err on such a grand scale. 

The article http://www.astro.com/astrology/in_vedic2_e.htm contends that Vedic astrology is a relatively new one, around 2,000 years old, with major imports from the Greek system.  However, the major "fallacy" which the article addresses is the whole sidereal logic of calculations and signs, in contrast with the "correct" tropical system. 

There are some points which I cannot help but agree - in the area of Sun signs.  This is a simple test that any of us can do.  To know our sidereal sun, we have to step back one sign.  Just read the detailed descriptions of the 2 signs in Linda Goodman's Sun Signs, and ask yourself which sign describes you.  In my case, I tend to feel more in tune with my tropical sun Virgo, rather than my sidereal Leo.

But this is not the case with my moon sign or ascendant sign.  For my moon, I am sidereally a Gemini, and tropically a Cancer.  Here, I feel absolutely more a Gemini because of my chronic indecisiveness, constant need of mental activity, restlessness, and a million things on my mind at any given time.

In the case of my ascendant, I am a sidereal Scorpio but tropical Sagittarius.  Anyone who has met me can attest how unfriendly, distant and hostile I was at the first meeting, not to mention quiet and secretive.  This is as far away as a friendly Sagittarian.

In summation, for me personally, the tropical system holds true for Sun sign, but I would go for the sidereal when it comes to my moon sign and ascendant.

But coming to think of it, maybe we are all grey instead of black or while.  Just like how a day transforms into night gradually, rather than in a blink of a second, I believe that each sign relays into the next, giving us the colours and qualities of both signs in varying degrees.

Our "Onion" selves: Ascendant, Sun Sign, Moon Sign.

While Western astrology places more importance on the sun sign in determining our personalities and characters, Indian astrology emphasizes the role of the moon sign rather than the sun.  In fact, while matching the horoscope charts of a couple, their moon signs are analyzed to determine relationship compatibility.

Sun sign is easily determined, as our calendar year is more or less based on the movement of the sun - which stays in each sign for about 30 days.  Moon sign is more difficult to calculate, as the moon stays in each zodiac sign for just a couple of days.  While the Ascendant or the rising sign (the easternmost sign in the sky at the moment we were born) is even more intricate as it changes every hour.  Thus to determine these, we need to know our exact time of birth. 

For a complete personality/character assessment, the sun and the moon are not the only variables - the Ascendant, the Venus sign, the Mars sign, and the Saturn sign should also be taken into consideration.

Each of our selves is layered like an onion, with the Ascendant forming our outermost cover. The ascendant sign shows how we appear to the world, or how we want the world to view us - in other words, it is what strangers first see in us before knowing us deeper.

The second layer is the Sun sign - which determines our general personality and how most people view us as.  Just as the sun is the most important star for the earth, our sun sign shines the brightest in shaping our personalities.

The third layer is the Moon sign - which is our innermost selves as seen by our close friends and family.  It is what we are when at home, when we have shut the door to the world, and what determines our emotions and feelings.  Just as the moon pulls at the waves of the oceans, our moon signs determine how we feel deep inside.

These 3 layers make the core of our beings.  If these 3 signs vary greatly in a person, he or she would appear very different inside and out.  Some may perceive that the said person is wearing masks, but the fact is that it is the signs dictating the person's different behaviour in different situations.  For example, someone with an earthy Taurus as ascendant and a fiery Aries as moon would appear calm on the outside, but his close ones would be well acquainted with his fearsome tempers as well. 

On the other hand, those in whom these 3 core signs are similar (or even same), will seem to have a constant fixed personality no matter who they are with, or where they are.  They may appear to be more 'genuine' as their 'moods' do not undergo much change in different circumstances or situations.

The other signs - Venus, Mars and Saturn also play vital roles in determining how we express love (Venus sign), how we fight (Mars sign), and how we handle adversity (Saturn sign).

Sun Sign Identity Crisis

I grew up firmly grounded as a typical Virgo, and was taken by a complete surprise to find out that according to Indian astrology, I am actually a fiery Leo.  It was simply unbelievable for me - like a bird suddenly being told one day that it is actually a cat!  The characteristics of both these signs are as different as night and day - while one shuns all attention, the other craves it; while one is quiet and unassuming, the other is domineering and pretentious, etc..

The Indian system (also called Vedic in recent times) follows the 'sidereal' logic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidereal_and_tropical_astrology), which is followed by Thai astrologers as well.  According to this sidereal system, our sun signs would fall back by almost a month, or more specifically, around 24 days.  Thus, in Western or Tropical astrology, Aries begins around March 20, but in sidereal, Aries starts on April 14.  In other words, most Arians in the Western zodiac will be a Piscean in the sidereal plan.

Like a self-fulfilling prophecy, my mind was so conditioned to the characteristics of a true Virgo, that I was unknowingly conforming to all those qualities, believing that it was my natural personality.  Maybe if I hadn't read any of those sun sign personality books, I would be a different person?  Who knows?  The fact is that most of us subconsciously conform to what is expected of us.  There are very few rebels among us who grow up to be different from how they were brought up to be.

I slowly came to realise that I did have some latent Leo characteristics, which were subdued, probably due to my upbringing or due to the overpowering strengths of some other planets in my chart.

Beginnings...

This blog has been a long time coming, and should have begun about 6 to 7 years ago, when my curiosity about Indian astrology set me out on an insatiable quest for knowledge.  Of course, my first introduction to astrology probably happened during childhood, from newspaper readings about sun signs and such.  But only in recent years have I realised that astrology is like a vast and infinite ocean - a science that cannot be completely mastered by anyone; and like life, can only be understood backwards.

Besides being an online notebook for me to log interesting astrological findings for easy reference, this blog will also serve as an exploration into the paradox of predeterminism and free will under theistic beliefs.  I hope that the nuggets of information shared here will be useful for someone somewhere...