Reading Time: 3 minutes

In Vedic astrology, there are primarily two main functions or areas of expertise – natal/birth chart analysis and predictive Vedic astrology.

Natal/birth chart analysis, as the name suggests, focuses on reading the ascendant’s chart and identifying the qualities and characteristics of the person and their nature overall as well as life and destiny using the planetary placements including the positions, states, degrees, conjunctions, relations with the house, zodiac sign, etc.

Natal or birth chart analysis tells us how a person is going to be or how they are; as a Vedic astrology enthusiast, we can use it to identify and study ourselves better. Likewise, we can also find out about a person’s nature and how they are likely to behave under different circumstances.

Natal or birth chart analysis becomes quite important when alliances are considered – whether they be martial alliances, business alliances, etc. In such situations, since either party does not know the other one since a long time, they may seek astrological guidance to get a better idea or picture of how their wife-to-be or husband-to-be is going to think, behave, and act.

Similarly, it could also be used to understand or identify the personality traits of a person; for example, if two businessmen want to enter into a business partnership or alliance, one of them might consider getting a natal chart analysis of the other to see whether their planetary placements are in favor of the marital alliance or not. For example, Rahu (North Node) when posited in the 7^th house of a native or person, will give them losses in partnerships and may cause marital problems, but they will be successful in independent business ventures.

The caveat or limitation of natal chart analysis is that while it can tell you pretty much everything about a person, it cannot provide a timing for the same. For example, analyzing the natal chart tells you about the possibility of events, such as whether a person would have an arranged marriage or love marriage, but it does not tell the year or month when they would meet such a person who would be their life partner.

So, this means that if you intend to pursue Vedic astrology as a career, then you will benefit from learning predictive Vedic astrology as well. Note that you need to have established a strong foundation of the natal chart analysis before you can move on to predictive Vedic astrology.

Predictive Vedic astrology focuses on using systems like the Vimshottari Dasha and Yogini Dasha, etc., to chalk out a rough timing of events in one’s life. The accuracy of those events depends on the knowledge and experience of the astrologer and somewhat to God, since miracles and disasters are both anomalies that we humans cannot account for irrespective of however capable we might be.

Yet, without learning predictive Vedic astrology, your career options or scope of work as a professional Vedic astrologer is likely to remain quite limited as most people do not care about the intricacies of their chart (except for if it is good), but they care about the “when” –

1. When will I get married?
2. When will he/she propose me?
3. When will I get the promotion?
4. When will I become a father/mother?
5. When will I travel abroad?
6. When will my ex-boyfriend contact me again?
7. When will my ex-girlfriend contact me again?
8. When will I become a millionaire?

They also care about the ‘where’…

1. Where will I settle in the future?
2. Where will I meet my future life partner?
3. Where will I get married?
4. Where will I be living in a few years from now?
5. Where is my ex-boyfriend right now?
6. Where is my ex-girlfriend right now?
7. Where will I be working in the future (as in, India or abroad)?

So, to answer such questions, you need to be good with Vedic astrological computations and calculations.  To be honest, Vedic astrological calculations can be incredibly difficult even for the seasoned astrologers, so you are advised to at least familiarize yourself with the natal or birth chart analysis before moving on to the calculations so you at least have some area of expertise – of course, with practice, you will be able to accurately predict future events as well. Here is a table that enumerates the differences between natal or birth chart analysis and predictive Vedic astrology.

Natal Chart Analysis	Predictive Vedic Astrology
Focuses on past, present, and future	Focuses on the future
No date or time-wise calculations	Has date and/or time-wise calculations
Stage-1 of Vedic astrology	Stage-2 of Vedic astrology
Explains the nature of a person and their overall life	Explains the timing of events in that person’s life
Answers the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of astrological questions	Answers the ‘where’ and ‘when’ of astrological questions
No pre-requisite knowledge needed	Pre-requisite astrological knowledge necessary
Applications: feasibility of marriages, partnerships, career decisions, investments, etc.	Applications: duration or timing of events

Learn Vedic Astro is currently working to publish more content to complete the first section, which is natal chart analysis; once done, it will then proceed to cover the next stage, which is predictive astrology.