About

How Vedic astrology
Differs from Western astrology

Vedic astrology differs from Western astrology in two ways: (1) the zodiacs are different, and (2) the uses are different.

Vedic astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, which is based on the positions of the constellations. Western astrology uses the tropical zodiac, which is based on the spring and autumn equinoxes. They’re both valid, and they can be used together. Western astrology is more psychological, about personality and behavior. Vedic astrology is more practical, about circumstances and predictions.

In Vedic astrology, the planets’ positions are about 23 or 24 degrees earlier than in Western astrology, depending on your age. For most people, this changes the planets’ sign positions. For example:

• In Western astrology, my sun sign sign is Virgo. In Vedic astrology, it’s Leo.

• In Western astrology, my moon sign is Taurus. In Vedic astrology, it’s Aries.

• In Western astrology, my ascendant is Aquarius. In Vedic astrology, it’s Capricorn.

Left to right: Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto

Why get a reading

A reading can be enlightening and healing, helping you to understand:

• Why is your life is going the way it is?

• Why do you have certain strengths and weaknesses?

• What can you expect from the future?

Vedic astrology isn’t exact. It’s about probabilities and tendencies. It’s about the energies of the planets, the signs, and the houses; and how those energies interacted with each other when you were born. It’s about how the planets affect you now, and how they could affect you in the future.

In order to get a reading, you must know three things about your birth:

• Your birth place

• Your birth date

• Your exact birth time, from a birth certificate

When you book a reading, you’ll choose a day and time on my Booking page. During the process, you’ll provide your birth information, contact information, and payment. You’ll also choose whether you prefer to get your reading in person or by phone.

• If you’re in the Seattle area, you’re encouraged to come to my office in South Seattle. I’ll send you the address via email.

• If you’re outside of the Seattle area, I’ll call you at the scheduled time.

Before your appointment, I’ll send you a draft of the written report, your birth chart, a list of predictions for 3 years, and a digital calendar file showing each prediction as an event. Each event contains personalized notes. During our appointment, we’ll go over the report together. If you're comfortable reading out loud, you'll read the report, so you can pause to comment. I'll take notes and use them to expand and refine my report. After your reading, you’ll receive a PDF containing the final written report, three years of predictions, your birth chart, and a study guide.

How readings work

About me

I’ve been interested in astrology since I was in my early 20s, when I used a printed ephemeris to draw charts for my friends by hand. I was a big fan of Isabel Hickey’s book “Astrology: A Cosmic Science,” which I learned later is a classic text of Western astrology. It began my lifelong interest in astrology.

I spent my 20s and early 30s studying journalism in college and working as a reporter and editor. As I worked, I became skeptical of the assertions of people in authority. I sat in their offices, interviewing them for my stories. A few of them lied to my face. I was young, and I was shocked. But this motivated me to look for solid evidence. I wanted to tell my readers the truth, in spite of a few politicians’ efforts to conceal it. (To be fair, most of the local officials I covered were honest.) My journalistic career instilled

In my 40s, I went to art school to learn traditional drawing and painting. What fun! I learned to take accurate measurements of a visual subject and develop a drawing step by step. I learned about light and shadow, the human figure, color theory, and proper handling of drawing and oil-painting materials. Most of all, I learned to approach a problem first by focusing on the big shapes, and only later getting into details. I made dozens of still-life paintings and landscape paintings, and a few portraits. I was proud of the accuracy and sensitivity of my paintings. I thought I had found my vocation. My interest in astrology continued, on the side.

In 2017 I discovered Vedic astrology through my oldest friend, a professor who studied it as a hobby. Her intuition and empathy were strong. For years we discussed our charts on the phone, learning the basics, and helping each other through good times and bad. I found those conversations interesting and comforting. When I reached my 50s, my interest in oil painting started to wane. My paintings weren’t helping people in a way that was meaningful to me, and studio life was lonely. Over a 2-year period, I got birth-chart readings by four Vedic astrologers, who differed in their approaches. The readings were comforting, but not catalytic. Something indefinite gnawed at me. In early 2025, I complained to my friend that painting no longer fed my sense of purpose.

She suggested that I study Vedic astrology seriously. “I think you’re ready,” she said. I was taken aback, but I couldn’t deny that astrology had held my interest all through adulthood. I got a birth-chart reading by acclaimed Vedic astrologer James Braha. He encouraged me to practice astrology professionally. “You’ve got a monster 8th house and a lot of healing energy in your chart,” he said. “The field needs people like you. You’ll be the healing type of astrologer.” So I bought his books, along with a few others, and Vedic astrology software. I gathered 35 charts to interpret, and I wrote a detailed study plan. Then I followed it.

As I interpreted the charts of people I knew, I was struck by the correlation between their charts and their lives. Their charts weren’t a perfect match with their lives, but they were a strong match. Each planet, sign, and house signifies many things, and the trick is to discover which things are active in each person’s life. For example, I have Rahu (the north node of the Moon) in my 2nd house. That could mean cravings for money or cravings for knowledge. For me, it means cravings for knowledge. But you wouldn’t know that just by looking at my chart. It’s necessary to talk to me to clarify the meaning of my 2nd house. As I continue my studies, I use each reading partly as an interview to learn about the client’s life, and later refine my report. It’s like researching and writing a newspaper article, or sketching out and developing an accurate painting. I provide written reports and calendar files to my clients after their readings, which is unusual among astrologers.

in me the importance of questioning what I was told. I also spent some time in public relations, editing a campus newspaper at Dartmouth. I later worked in marketing. By my late 30s, I knew it was time to change direction. Journalism needed me to be thick skinned, but I'm not. I also wanted to help people in a more personal way than reporting and editing allowed. My interest in astrology continued, on the side.