Customer Reviews

Beneath A Vedic Sky

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

As a Vedic Astrologer, I hold the titles Jyotish Kovid and Jyotish Vachaspati from India. I have done astrology consultations since 1968 - and have taught the Vedic System all over the world. With a library holding over 1000 books on Vedic Astrology and Vastu Shastra, many from India, and some from the West -- Bill Levacy's beginners guide is the missing link that I have been waiting for as a textbook for my students.

It is written for a lay audience -- but even an experienced astrologer (Western or Eastern) will find gems of wisdom in this book.

My students are raving about "Beneath a Vedic Sky" and are thrilled to finally have a textbook that simply defines yogas and nakshatras in clear, concise English.

The book has the added bonus of an included CD where you can actually calculate your own vedic chart and that of your friends and family.

Another bonus of this great book is the inclusion on the audio CD of the correct pronunciation of sanskrit astrology terms. You can learn without actually going to India or finding a local teacher.

I recommend this book without question or hesitation. I use it as a text book in my classes. Sincerely, Christina Collins Hill, J.Ph.D., Jyotish Kovid, Jyotish Vachaspati, Academy for Vedic Studies, Boulder, Colorado, USA

William Levacy's _Beneath A Vedic Sky_ is still the book I recommend most often (neck and neck for me with Ernst Wilhelm's _Vault of the Heavens_, another of my favorites) to just about anyone who expresses interest in Jyotish (Vedic Astrology).

Why is this something I both praise to others so readily and reach for myself on a regular basis? For starters, Levacy successfully distills the marrow of Indian astrology -- an enduring tradition rooted in both a sacred worldview and hard-nosed pragmatic approaches to living -- and his book maintains both the spiritual and down-to-earth dimensions that comprise the Indian legacy (quite distinct from the dumb reductionism that typecasts Indians as otherworldly people).

Levacy's one volume introduction provides all of the basics that set Jyotish practice apart as one of the most immediately useful predictive systems -- and then pushes further to set the foundations of intermediate study. For instance, not all of the current Vedic astrology primers have information on the nakshatras (lunar mansions) - arguably the matrix of nuances or signature component of the tradition that makes Jyotish Jyotish. By contrast, there is an informative 25-page chapter on the nakshatras here. Also, Levacy's excellent section on two-planet yogas (what we might call archetypal "cocktails") reveal more clearly than any other book in English of which I'm aware how deceptively simple and critical such "basic" combinations are. (If you want to take a stab at an even broader menu of arrangements of grahas [planets], pick up Wilhelm's _Core Yogas_. Levacy's deep minimalism and the detailed erudition of Wilhelm's book are not at all at odds with each other in my view, but rather perfect complements.) The "tell-it-like-it-is" approach here seems to derive from a few segments of Levacy's background: his years of practice as a working astrologer, his graduate studies in creative intelligence and education, and his real-world experience in the aerospace industry. This diverse backdrop likely has prepared him to teach the rudiments so that they'll stick, setting the stage without mystification for the student's further pursuits.

Levacy indeed imparts an immediacy and refreshing bottom line as to what makes up the most useful set of meanings the planetary cast of characters can embody. The sections on planets in signs, planets in houses, and what I sometimes term the "applied numerology" of planetary rulerships are all excellent for the same reason -- we get to see the personality of Jyotish's various characters, settings and plots via an exposition that is clear and concise yet does not skimp on subtlety or in the way it sets priorities.

The book's several chapters beyond those described above -- on vargas (divisional or harmonic charts); synthesizing a chart's components; elementary prediction; gochara (transits); traditional Indian _kuta_ analysis (relationship inquiry or synastry); muhurta (electional astrology); Indian remedial measures to address challenges; the Vedic sister disciplines of Ayurveda (medicine) and Vastu (geomancy); Levacy's detailed recommendations for additional studies; and a sturdy glossary and index -- all contain much that is tangible and memorable. Gayatri Devi Vasudev, Levacy's accomplished senior colleague in Vedic astrology and the daughter of India's grand ambassador of Jyotish, B.V. Raman, writes enthusiastically in her preface to the book that she anticipates future volumes from Levacy on various aspects of the field. Even Levacy's briefer chapters serve to nudge the reflective reader forward and prompt this sort of happy anticipation.

I'm an author and life coach who uses Jyotish as a regular tool. This book has been extremely helpful in my work.

To sum up, do yourself a favor and begin here (and/or with _Vault of the Heavens_; I find no conflict in using both.) Once you have more or less established your fingerholds, do look at Hart deFouw's and Robert Svoboda's tremendous resource _Light on Life_ -- though I don't suggest you start there! My own mentor Sat Siri Khalsa's forthcoming _Subtle Astrology_ (look for it in 2004 or so) will likewise serve as another way to grow and build upon what you have begun using a book like Levacy's as your home base.

ONE FINAL NOTE: As you'll see in some of the other reviews posted here, Levacy's book is really a learning *kit* or package for beginners in that it contains a CD with a demo of reliable and interesting Vedic Astrology software. Since the application allows you to generate new charts, this inclusion along with the great contents of the book should settle the matter of whether you should invest in this title. For clarification, the CD is a limited version (sans ability to save or print) of an excellent program called Goravani Jyotish (GJ) by contemporary Vedic "blacksmith" Das Goravani -- still one of the best on the market. This demo will work with all pre-2001 mainstream operating systems (PC or Mac) - though note Windows XP users won't have luck, and I'm not sure about current Mac OS's -- such users will have to go to Goravani's site (www.goravani.com) and download a still decent but more limited demo.

I wanted to redress the omission of Das Goravani's name in the other reviews, as his software was indispensable in the more intensive periods of my own early studies (and I still use GJ). I found the pairing of GJ and _Beneath a Vedic Sky_ to be effective and fulfilling.

It is with a pang of guilt that I say that I have been meaning to go on record complimenting Bill on his book for months now, but have not had the time. Bill gives an exremely useful overview of the Vedic system of astrology that includes one of the best explanations of Yogas I have seen in a Vedic text. The inclusion of a CD is also helpful to the person who may be interested in the discipline but who does not want to invest a lot of money to see what their Vedic chart looks like-- a thoughtful gesture, characteristic of Bill's personality. The presentation style is particularly useful and comfortable for those who have been taught astrology in the Western tradition--it does not possess the fatalistic feel that some Vedic texts have and which can often frighten away those not used to this type of presentation. This book is a necessary addition to the literature, particularly if a Western audience is to get more interested in this fascinating system of karmic patterning.. Gary Gomes

This book is very clear and concise. I always wanted to learn vedic astrology and tried to read a couple of books on the subject some years ago, but lost interest as I found the treatment of the subject very dry in those books.

I happened to stumble upon this book in a book store and it revived my latent interest in Vedic Astrology and I ordered it from amazon.com.

This book keeps the reader's interest alive and very clearly explains the principles and rules of Vedic astrology even to a novice like me.

It is a very good book to start on Vedic Astrology even if you have absolutely no background on the subject. It touches the advanced concepts too and encourages you to read further.

A careful sudy of this book should enable one to:
1. Understand the basic principles of Vedic Astrology
2. Interpret a birth chart to determine a person's personality, talents, skills, orientation, luck and other aspects of life
3.Forecast major events in one's life

This book comes with an accompanying software to compute a person's vedic birth chart. This book does not explain how to calculate one's chart, rather focuses more on how to interpret a given chart.

I find this a reasonable approach as claculation, though involved, is a standard mathematical method and same for every one, given the birth data. Moreover, computers can do it for you.
The real skill is about interpreting a chart, which this book teaches very well. For serious students of astrology, however, learning to manually cast a horroscope is equally important for a deeper insight.

The only thing, I found lacking in this book are example charts to illustrate how to apply the principles of vedic astrology to interpret a chart.

This is, as many reviewers have correctly noted, a well written and very clear book (which already puts it well ahead of most books on jyotish). It is extremely user-friendly. The book lays out the fundamentals of the planets, the constellations and all the major concepts required for someone unfamiliar with jyotish to make sense out of a chart. If there is a problem here, I think it's because the book is not really very reflective at all concerning the depth of meaning associated with the various aspects of jyotish--but that's hardly a fair criticism given that it is designed as a very general introduction. I think it makes a useful reference for a beginning student to look up general concepts, broad associations with rashis, planet placement, etc., but it's very broadness makes it relatively hard to use for more detailed analysis of charts. "Light on Life" remains my favorite introductory book, but, in all honesty, I wish I had read this one first: it would have made reading "Light on Life" a lot easier. Beware of the CD, however; it will not run, at least on my computer, with Vista.

This is one time when you are better off reading the back cover of the book than the front cover. The front cover says that the book is a "beginner's guide." The back cover indicates, correctly, that the book is a beginner's guide for those *already* familiar with Western astrology. This book is not an appropriate choice for an absolute novice, no matter how wonderful the book may be otherwise.

Levacy has provided us with a very practical and accessible introduction to jyotish and the vedic sciences. Beneath a Vedic Sky is clear and to the point and provides the reader with the basics of Vedic astrology. A must for all newcomers to jyotish.

This book is really helpful in getting startet with Vedic Astrology.
Especially the description of the nakshatras is very well made, Mr. Levacy knows how to use special words in different cases and makes distinctions where it`s useful for the students to look beneath. Second the Rulerships of planets (e.g.Ruler of fifth house occupies the tenth!) is explained in a way of cause-and-effect mechanism, so you will be able to use this book for checking out the rulerships as well as you will understand the exchanging effects of energies between the signs and the ruling planets. Planets and Retrograde Movements included (very understandable and clear!!!)
Third, Planetary Yogas are touched as well Ayurveda and Vastu, a good intro into these matters(so you won`t forget that there`s sth. more coming from the Veda, which might lead to further studies?).
CD-rom for computations included? ........ YES!

I own a library of some two dozen jyotish books, perhaps six at the Intro level, and this is the poorest of the lot. There are three problems here:

1) he tries to cover too much material in 350 pages of large type. The result is that nothing gets fully explained. And without sufficient detail a beginning student has no means to synthesize so many competing ideas. His explanations of the basics, including how to read a chart, planetary aspects and "precession"--the difference between western astrology and jyotish--is poor.

2) his analysis of planets in the houses (what does Moon in 5th indicate? Moon in 6th?) and planets in signs (what does Jupiter in Aries indicate?) is general to the point of useless. For example, Rahu in the 3rd house often indicates "no brothers". THAT would be useful for a new student even though, yes, you can find exceptions due to other factors. What does he write for Rahu in 3rd? "Makes their own way in life, interested in unique forms of communication and self-expression." Who would claim that these traits do not apply to them? This is why people go into jyotish in the first place--to get away from western astrology's vague babble. Worse, each of the indicators for planets in houses and signs is grouped under the headings "favorable" and "unfavorable." But with so much chart information touched on briefly here--the new student will have no way from this book to know which category applies (ie, when is Moon in 5th favorable?)

3) some of this material is inaccurate when compared to other jytoish authors. He repeats a common mistake in suggesting that Exalted planets are the most benefic. Hart deFouw and others would argue that Exhalted planets are strongest, but this can be for benefic or malefic influence. He refers to Maharishi as one of three modern jyotish sages early in the book, but apparently doesn't know of Maharishi's statement that "Exalted Saturn brings exhalted problems" (ie, not benefic). Show me a woman with Exhalted Jupiter in the 11th, and I'll show you a woman who has had many husbands. It is this sort of uncomplicated analysis--while not correct in all cases--that helps beginners get a handle on things. His analysis of combustion differs from others I have read, as does his analysis of retrograde planets. His "Determining the Value of the Dasa Period" is so incomplete as to be wrong as is his chart for determining planetary analysis.

There are some bright spots. He singles out 35 common yogas in a manner that makes them easy to learn. Many of his explanations are clearly written and to the point.

As for that "CD," he includes, turns out it is a demo (read: advertising) for a jyotish program that you would need to buy to obtain any use. Any company will send you a demo copy of their jyotish program for free.

For a great intro book on jyotish, I would recommend Hart deFouw's "Light on Life." For a beginners guide to planets in houses, there are a number of good books available, but this isn't one.

I found Mr. Levacy to have a profound grasp of the knowledge of vedic astrology. The layout of the book is easy to follow and understand. The use of both western and eastern terms were very helpful in linking my own limited knowledge together. I especially enjoyed his insightful explanations of the planets through the signs and in the different houses. I now feel I have a much more comprehensive understanding of "Jyotish" and how it relates to my own life and experiences. I was also delighted by Mr. Levacy's brief descriptions regarding the topics of Ayurveda and Vastu, and how these different branches of knowledge tie together. I thank you for providing a novice with a very clear and useful handbook addressing the science of Vedic Astrology. Dr. Kimberly K. Hoffmann, Chiropractor