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Rating: 
Summary: Clear disappointment
Review: A beginner's guide? Yeah sure. Yes, the book tells what the Vedic astrology is all about, but then it is only descriptions for different houses, signs etc. It says, that with the book you are ready to draw charts Vedic way, but what if you don't have knowledge of the algorithms needed to draw charts. The book comes with a bonus CD that includes a demostration(!) version of a software that can draw a chart automatically. It smells like that the book's author wants you to buy the full version of the software and without that, the book is quite worthless. I don't like the author's attitude at all.
Rating: 
Summary: An easy to read vedic astrology book finally arrives!
Review: 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
Rating: 
Summary: A good beginner book
Review: For newcommers to the vedic approach to astrology this book is a good choice. It is well structured and written in a clear language. Levacy gives a taste of many important things on the subject and he explains in details how to get further in your vedic studies including a list of good books for intermediate students. I myself think it's a good idea to learn how to calculate a chart because you learn a lot about what's going on "up there", but Levacy realises that we are living in a computer age so he includes a calculation program and don't tell very much about calculations at all. That's his point of view and that's ok. A good book.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book to Start out with!
Review: I am just starting down the road of Vedic Astrology and so was looking for a book that could teach me the basics...a foundation if you will...that I could later use to explore more in depth aspects in the future. This I feel is being achieved with reading Mr Levacy's book. He explains things directly and with normal everyday language that differs greatly from the more cold and scietific books that I found many of the Indian authors produced. I was skeptical (having no background at all in either Western or Vedic Astrology) that I would find myself way over my head, but the text is very easy to understand and as I have now had a chance to look at books by other western authors, I know now that Mr. Levacy is not only proficient in his knowledge, but also possesses the teaching skills necessary to communicate it to others with little or no knowledge of the subject. The only thing I would suggest is that the back cover section that reads that the book is geared towards those with an "understanding of astrology"...be eliminated. It is true, that to the reader new to astrology, the terminology may be at first a challenge...but Mr. Levacy gives good definitions of terms in the text and in addition, the glossary of terms in the back of the book is extensive and well written. Overall I was very pleased.
Rating: 
Summary: Pleasing and useful elementary reference
Review: 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
Rating:
Summary: Excellent beginner's book on Vedic Astrology
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: More than just an Introduction into Vedic science!
Review: 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!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book on Vedic Astrology
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Jyotish Essentials Now - A Delightful, Accessible Text
Review: 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.
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