Terminology

(For Weather Watches, scroll down to the bottom.)

Amusement: I often use this term in my predictions. Sometimes I may use leisure, too. This relates to anything in fields such as leisure, relaxation, amusement, entertainment, sports and so on. These can be amusement parks, tourist venues, cruise terminals, ski rides, bungee jumping spots, theatres, cinema halls, golf courses, sports events, indoor games places or tournaments, dance halls, concerts, music festivals, etc. Things that are done for fun (even when done professionally, for example, sports tournaments). You get the idea.

Correlate: A happening on Earth that is in synchronicity with the moves of planets and stars. Celestial movements are most probably not causally connected to happenings on the earth. That is, it is probably not because Saturn is in some position, something happens. In any case, astrology is a study of correlations, not causations. That is why I mostly never use the word "effects," and when I do so, it is only by force of the common, loose language one has become habituated to.

If you want to explore more, you may read C.G. Jung's Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle and Richard Tarnas's Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View. As astrology studies correlations, not causations, it is also the reason modern science rejects it, because one main pillar that modern science rests upon is cause-and-effect relationship.

Earthquakes or Quakes: When I say earthquakes, I mean falling structures and, often, resulting casualties. It is usually an earthquake which makes structures (e.g., buildings) fall and people die. Hence, I often may just write quakes. But on rare occasions there are other reasons, too, for falling structures, notably accidents at construction sites. Sometimes, though, when I am quite certain that it is not an earthquake that is involved and, say, a construction site accident only, I would phrase it more explicitly. But sometimes I am not sure what the motivation behind a falling structure is, then I would say earthquakes or falling structures.

Financial astrology: The study of movements in the financial world as correlated with planetary triggers.

General validity period: Traditionally, if the Ascendant of a mundane chart falls in a cardinal sign, the chart is held to be valid for 3 months, but if it falls in a fixed sign, then valid for 1 year (see "Year" below), and if in a mutable sign, then valid for 6 months. However, these are merely rough time frames, and sometimes the chart may be valid for much longer. I, however, indicate the validity period depending on the traditional prescription, but what you must understand is that the validity period may be shorter or longer than the one written down. It is not some discrete ON-OFF switch.

Ingress: The action of entering. Usually used in the context of Sun's entering a sign. The Sun's entry into cardinal signs, namely Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn, is mostly more relevant for judging the relevant period. The Sun's entry into Aries (i.e., Sun's Aries ingress) is a particularly important one and will often define the year ahead (see "Year" below).

Mundane astrology: Also known as political astrology. It is the branch of astrology dealing with nations, regions and groups.

Nobles: This mainly means the elites. It could be rich bankers, rich dynastic families, upper tiers of the political class, upper economic classes, upper tiers of the religious class (see below). Usually, but not always, such people come from a financially rich family origin, even if they are primarily known for the function they perform in society.

Religious class: Many people have a very narrow view of religion, but in the world of astrology it is not so. Thus, when I use the word "religious," it does necessarily mean clergy only. This basically means anyone occupying a position due to or attributed to education: clergy, priests, philosophers, scientists, scholars, school and university teachers. (I bold the word "scientists" there as in the modern world, some people have started to see religion and science as mutually exclusive categories.)

Testimony: "A partial judgment based upon the influence of a certain planet as conditioned by Sign and House, strength of position and aspects, or of a certain configuration of planets in a Figure [chart]. The synthesis of several testimonies constitutes a judgment." (from Encyclopedia of Astrology, Nicholas deVore)

Year: On this website, the word "year," unless specified otherwise, almost always means the year starting from Aries ingress. So somewhere around 21 March of Year Y to around 21 March of Year Y+1. This never means the Gregorian calendar year (1 Jan-31 Dec). The Gregorian calendar is an arbitrary calendar and has hardly any significance in the natural world.


Weather Watches

I will name key cities often in a region, but that does not mean that meteorological activity will necessarily happen within that city. When I name a city, I only mean the wider region surrounding it. Some readers fail to understand this. For example, when I say Mumbai, the whole Gujarat, western Maharashtra and Goa/Konkan area is implicated. If I were to say New York, most of the Northeast region of the U.S. is implicated. It may happen that no rain happens in Mumbai but a lot of it happens in the Konkan; it may happen that the weather is experienced in DC rather than in New York.

In addition, if your city lies not far from the city mentioned in terms of longitude, then, too, you should keep a watch when severe weather is indicated. For example, Delhi is not far from Mumbai in terms of longitude, or Montreal from New York.

Also, prediction periods are not digital ON-OFF switches. Thus, if some prediction period starts from, let us say, 15 October, it is not that things cannot happen on 13 or 14 October.