Today, MysticMag has the pleasure to bring to you an exclusive interview with Aswin Subramanyan, a renowned astrologer and author. With an astrological family heritage, he was drawn to the field from a very young age and has been a part of this life ever since. He was kind enough to provide insights into his work centered around ancient astrological traditions, such as Jyotish and Hellenistic Astrology, his amazing books, as well as his upcoming projects.
Can you please introduce yourself to our readers and share a few details about your journey to becoming an astrologer?
I am Aswin Subramanyan from India, hailing from a family of astrologers. My journey into this field was largely due to the prestigious astrological heritage of my family. I found myself drawn to astrology without any external pressure, it was a process that occurred naturally. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, I moved from Chennai to New Delhi in 2009 and earned my Master’s degree in Finance in 2011. In January 2011, I returned home for two weeks and I went to the book fair, an event I attend each year at the same time. As I was exploring for books on philosophy, I encountered a book about astrology. I returned to my home, placed the book on the shelf, and journeyed back to Delhi to finish my master’s program’s final semester. When I moved to Chennai to stay, I started reading the book, but it was not an intense endeavour.
I studied the book sporadically, and I also gathered additional material to gain further knowledge of astrology. However, the real deal came in when I had the chance to stay with my maternal grandfather G.Gurumoorthy Iyer for some days after the untimely death of my father in November 2013. My grandfather was surprised by my interest in astrology, and it motivated me to study it more intently. He shared with me some techniques that our astrological lineage has employed for over three centuries. After some gap, I stayed with him again and that’s when he exposed me to client work. Many people would come to get readings from my grandfather and he would give me the chart and ask me to talk about it to the client. After I do, he also gave his input if he thought I left out something important. This was a real privilege for me, as what could be more rewarding than gaining practical wisdom from a veteran who has been looking at charts for the past 60 years?
My involvement with astrologers on social media began in 2017. I started writing on Quora, which gave me a platform to be in the astrological community as a contributor. Establishing connections with astrologers from around the world gave me more than I had thought. From late 2018 to 2020, I published an e-magazine and it improved my connections across the world. Since I had a full-time job, I couldn’t continue with publishing. Nevertheless, my journey into the realm of astrology as a writer and speaker took off to an unimaginably great start!
Your work is centered around ancient traditions of astrology. Can you tell me more about that?
I have a background in the ancient practice of Jyotish that dates back thousands of years. I have an innate interest in history and a deep curiosity about the ancient philosophy. My enthusiasm for the philosophical theories of Plato and Aristotle was established before I even explored ancient Western astrological traditions. I have had a long-standing fascination with Stoic and Neo-platonic theories. In 2017, I came across Chris Brennan’s The Astrology Podcast and that’s when I came to know about Hellenistic Astrology and medieval astrology. My interest naturally rose to great heights, and I bought some books to study the tradition. I am profoundly grateful to Dr. Benjamin Dykes for his translations that made my studies in medieval astrology possible. Besides exploring the astrological traditions, I endeavoured to examine and comprehend the philosophical foundations of the traditions, which I consider to be of great significance.
What can a person expect from a consultation with you?
People often seek counsel from an astrologer when things are not going as planned. Astrology helps us navigate the darker walks of life and I look forward to being the client’s lantern! My approach to astrology is more objective in nature, and I can provide answers that reflect this objectivity if that is the preference of the client. I pledge to give a true representation of the chart and offer the clearest description I can. My inherent optimism motivates me to share my points with clients in a positive and encouraging manner. It is of utmost importance that a person seeking guidance from an astrologer should walk away with clarity. I’ve always been interested in psychology and have just enrolled in a Master’s program to combine astrology and psychology to benefit my clients.
What do your books Firdaria-Periods of Life and Astrology by Moonlight revolve around and why should people read them?
Firdaria – Periods of Life
Firdaria is a medieval astrological time lord technique that was first proposed by astrologer al-Andarzaghar in the 6th century CE in his work The Book of Aristotle”. Later, astrologers like Abu Mashar and al-Rijal also presented this technique. In my book, I presented a Latin translation from the 11th-century work of Tunisian astrologer al-Rijal. For this, I hired a translator and I made a comparative analysis of the texts in relation to Firdaria. For the comparative analysis, I used al-Andarzaghar’s and Abu Ma’shar’s work which are available to us in the form of translations published by Dr. Benjamin Dykes.
Although Firdaria has been around for almost two decades, not many astrologers use it. Some astrologers deem it to be ineffective and others find it monotonous just by looking at the technique. However, that’s not what I found in my research. The purpose of writing the book was to showcase the methods of using Firdaria in client work by giving a practical framework to make it possible. Apart from the translations, this is the first book ever written on Firdaria. Additionally, I also tweaked the technique by making some changes in the calculations of the participation periods besides the extended roles to the Nodes of the Moon (Rahu and Ketu). Once an astrologer reads this book, they will be able to apply Firdaria effectively in their client work. This book was self-published through Amazon in March 2021. In October 2022, Mikhail Medvid translated the book into the Russian language.
Astrology by Moonlight
Astrology by Moonlight results from love and respect between two friends who are also astrologers coming from diverse cultural and astrological backgrounds. I co-authored this book with my lovely friend and soul sister, Tara Aal, from the US. We built upon the famous soli-lunar phases presented by Dane Rudhyar in his work, The Lunation Cycle. Dane Rudhyar gave meaning to the Moon’s relationship with the Sun based on eight phases. Our work extends Rudhyar’s idea, where we employed the eight phases to examine the Moon’s relationships with all the planets in the chart. This is a unique book because we don’t know of any work like this that was done before and we had no references to go back to. Someone reading this book will have an enriching experience about the phases of the Moon. The book was published by Llewelyn Publications (US) in January 2022. In May 2023, a Spanish translation of Astrology by Moonlight was published.
Are you currently working on any book projects? Can we expect any new releases in the near future?
I am currently writing a book on Medieval Mundane Astrology focussing on Ingresses and Conjunctions which I expect to publish by the end of this year. I am also writing another book which is a revival of an ancient Parashari Dasa system. At some point, I will complete the book I was writing on annual predictive methods. The reason I temporarily halted writing this book is that two books came out in three years on the same subject and I don’t want to repeat the same, but I am trying to add some unique material to it. Besides, I am preparing an integrated course on Vedic, Hellenistic, and medieval astrology, which I expect to be available in early 2024. I keep writing various articles on my blog and social media pages. People can find out more about my work by visiting www.theabverdict.com.
Is there anything else about your work that you’d like to share that we haven’t covered?
I thank MysticMag for interviewing me. My gratitude is due to my clients who have faith in my work. I am thankful to my family for letting me do what I do. I am grateful to the astrological community and I am forever grateful to my friends in the community from different corners of the world who supported and stayed with me, expecting nothing in return. I am thankful to the groups and organisations that invite me to speak or publish my writings. I’d like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to Anthony Louis, Bob Mulligan, Lars Panaro, Michelle Young, Robert Wilkinson, Rok Koritnik, Sharon Knight, Tania Daniels, Tara Aal, and Vanita Lenka. They not only make me a better astrologer, but they make me a better human!
