Tibetan Astrology

An extensive glossary of Tibetan-English astro terms not found in most dictionaries.

Tibetan astrology has materials that are similar to or derived from systems from India and China but are modified and used in very different ways to constitute the unique Tibetan system. Much of the materials for the study of these topics derive from the “Kalachakra Tantra.”

The Tibetan calendar and almanac play a large role in Tibetan life. One of their most important usages is setting the dates for various Buddhist offering ceremonies, tsog.

A Tibetan-Mongolian horoscope reveals possible courses one’s life can take due to karma and thus indicates that no course is inevitable. Everything that happens arises dependently on innumerable causes and circumstances and what one does contributes to the course of one’s life.

The Chinese-derived, or “black calculations,” also called “element calculations,” adds a few more features to the Tibetan calendar, such as correlations with animal and element cycles.

A comparison of the Kalachakra, Hindu and Chinese New Years as well as the Chinese and Kalachakra systems of seasons. Although the Tibetan element-animal assignment system may be reminiscent of the Chinese, yet on closer examination there are significant differences.

An overview of the history of astrology in China and India, how they came to and developed in Tibet and, from there, to Mongolia and Central Asia.

The Buddhist abhidharma and Kalachakra literatures provide two distinct presentations of cosmology, each for a different purpose.

The first and second of the five inclusive features of a Tibetan calendar are the lunar weekday and the date of the lunar month. These are involved in the mech­anism through which the lunar and solar calendars are brought into harmony.

The Bon system of astrology was amalgamated with the Chinese astro materials that first came to Tibet in the mid-7th century. In the 11th century, with the introduction of the “Kalachakra Tantra” from India, its astro traditions were added as well to make the unique blend of...