This is the recording of a lecture presented by Richard Fidler for the San Francisco Chapter of the NCGR in February 2024.

One of the most intriguing and valuable features of Jyotish is it’s vast canon of ‘Yogas’ and
associated aphorisms. The word ‘yoga’ essentially means to ‘join’ or ‘unite’, and here can be
translated as an astrological combination or ‘union of factors’ with specific implications. The
Yogas of Jyotish are the fruit of centuries of observation, codified into a rich body of lore
regarding the effects of several hundreds of possible permutations of the heavens.

Some are simple, and yet useful, and their purported meaning would be unsurprising and
even familiar to a western astrologer, due to all the DNA shared by western and vedic
astrology. Others are a lot more complex, and may involve linking or synthesizing factors in
the chart that a superficial analysis would easily overlook. These yogas are therefore a type of
analytical tool, or a means to inculcate certain analytical habits that can reveal the presence of
notable patterns in a chart.

Of course all yogas are not of equal significance and import, and even when the criteria for a
given yoga are met in a chart, there is further refinement in analysis for the astrologer to
undertake in the consideration of the finer specifics of the chart in hand. These will modify
the strength, texture and specific zones of influence of the yoga.

Apart from the obvious utility of having various special indications in a chart ‘cononized’ and
memorized, through studying the yogas the more general rules and principles of Jyotish are
further elucidated for the student. Clues are given regarding how the more basic rules of
Jyotish can be more expertly used in chart interpretation and chart synthesis, beyond the strict
confines of the formalized yogas.