The Similarities & Differences between Sidereal & Tropical Astrology: An Exploration w/ Nura Rachelle
Listen here:
🎬 IN THIS EPISODE, YOU’LL HEAR:
- 00:00 – 02:10 → The Power of a Flexible Mind in Astrology
Introduction to the theme of the episode: embracing multiple perspectives in astrology, specifically the intersection of Western and Vedic astrology. - 02:10 – 03:50 → Introducing Nura Rochelle: Bridging Western and Vedic Astrology
Nura’s background in Western astrology and her journey into studying Vedic astrology. - 03:50 – 06:51 → A Calling to Explore Vedic Astrology
How the universe guided Nura to explore Vedic astrology, including her experiences with astronomy, fixed stars, and Ayurvedic practices. - 06:51 – 10:01 → Common Ground & Key Differences Between Western and Vedic Astrology
Exploring the similarities and differences between the two systems, especially in planetary meanings and the interpretation of the Nodes. - 10:01 – 13:34 → The North Node & South Node: A Different Perspective
How Rahu (North Node) and Ketu (South Node) are understood in Vedic astrology as illusions, insatiable desires, and pathways to spiritual liberation. - 13:34 – 14:57 → Merging Western and Vedic Astrology: Nura’s Upcoming Mastery Class
A preview of Nura’s upcoming class on integrating both astrological systems for deeper insights. - 14:57 – 17:18 → Karma & Remedies in Vedic Astrology
How Vedic astrology offers built-in remedies for planetary challenges, including planetary devotional practices and rituals. - 17:18 – 20:51 → Breaking Myths: Is Vedic Astrology Fatalistic or Superstitious?
Challenging misconceptions about Vedic astrology being overly deterministic or superstitious. - 20:51 – 24:54 → Science, Mysticism, and Expanding Ways of Knowing
Discussing the intersection of astrology, science, and mysticism, and how both astrology systems contribute to different ways of understanding reality. - 24:54 – 27:57 → What Happens When Your Chart Changes?
How Nura navigated shifts in her astrological chart when moving from the Tropical to the Sidereal Zodiac. - 27:57 – 31:24 → Does Astrology Shape Our Identity?
Reflections on how astrology impacts self-perception and whether it limits or expands our personal growth. - 31:24 – 34:18 → Ego Death, House Systems, and the Evolution of Astrological Understanding
How shifting astrological perspectives—whether through house systems or zodiac frameworks—can challenge and expand one’s identity. - 34:18 – 38:47 → Holding Polarity: Embracing Multiple Truths
The importance of being open to new perspectives and how this principle applies to astrology and beyond. - 38:47 – 41:43 → Following Your Soul’s Call: Trusting the Process of Growth
Encouragement to follow curiosity and soul-led interests, even when they challenge existing beliefs. - 41:43 – 45:18 → Final Thoughts: Expanding Consciousness and Holding Space for Differences
The importance of openness, humility, and embracing multiple perspectives for personal and collective growth.
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Transcript:
00:00:00:04 – 00:00:36:06
AMANDA
All right, my friends, today we're going to be covering a topic that has come up a lot on this podcast recently, and it's really a quality that astrologers are continuing to encourage us to cultivate, given the astrological energies that we are all navigating right now. That idea in that quality is flexibility of mind, the ability to hold the both, and the capacity to expand ourselves enough to hold multiple truths that there doesn't have to be one right and one wrong.
00:00:36:06 – 00:01:02:16
AMANDA
And in this very polarized time that we are all living in, this is a tall order, right? This is not easy for anyone to do. So we're going to be exploring this topic today through the lens of the side, ethereal and the Tropical Zodiac. Many of you know there is an ongoing debate between, let's just say, Western astrology and Vedic astrology.
00:01:02:16 – 00:01:27:16
AMANDA
Which one is right? Which one is more true? Which one is more accurate? Well, what if this is another case of both? And who we have with us today is an incredible astrologer, Nora Rachelle, who has been a Western astrologer for over ten years. Over a decade, she has recently begun immersing herself in the study of Vedic astrology.
00:01:27:18 – 00:02:10:00
AMANDA
And so in this process of expanding into a place where she's holding both the tropical and the sidereal zodiac, both Western and Vedic astrology ideas all at the same time, she has a lot to share about this idea of flexibility of mind. So I'm really excited to dive into this. Today we're going to learn, what Nora has learned on this journey, how she holds the wisdom of both in her readings and with her own chart, and how this has expanded her perception of astrology, and then how she applies this to expanding this idea, or bringing this idea of flexibility of mind into her life in general and into everything that we're navigating the world
00:02:10:00 – 00:02:19:09
AMANDA
right now. So I am really excited to dive in with you. Nora, thank you so much for being here on the Astrology Hub podcast. Once again. It's such a pleasure to welcome you back.
00:02:19:11 – 00:02:47:00
NURA
Thank you so much, Amanda, and thank you for all of their kind words and your confidence in my capacity to navigate this both. And I very much still feel like I'm I'm a student of this and I think, there's always so much more to learn, but I certainly feel that just my permission that I gave to myself to explore the both and more has really just brought freedom to me in ways that I hadn't even imagined.
00:02:47:02 – 00:02:55:01
AMANDA
And I mean, I know this is a recent exploration for you or a recent, like, you just sort of come out of the closet right this time of year quite like that.
00:02:55:01 – 00:02:55:17
NURA
Yeah.
00:02:55:19 – 00:03:22:00
AMANDA
I, I'm actually looking at both both perspectives now. We're all in this phase of exploration. I mean, I really love that the podcast in many ways is shifting into more of a conversation, into more of a dialog, both with the guests that I have here, but also with the community. So any of you who are who are dabbling in things where you're like, whoa, I'm kind of going into places I never thought I would, and I'm I'm seeing that there's multiple perspectives.
00:03:22:06 – 00:03:43:08
AMANDA
This is a conversation. Let's talk about this because we are all new at this. We're at the very beginning of this Age of Aquarius, of all these different qualities that we're being, that we're birthing within ourselves. So we're not asking you to stand up here as the expert on this neuro. And there is so much there's so much to glean from each other stories.
00:03:43:10 – 00:03:50:07
AMANDA
So let's start there. Where did this begin? Why did you even start exploring Vedic astrology?
00:03:50:09 – 00:04:17:02
NURA
I think the universe just kept pushing me into it. That's how I've learned to understand my cycles. I have a pretty strong Piscean 12th house orientation in my natal chart, which I learned when I started studying Vedic astrology, actually became stronger in the Vedic system. So I was like, oh, all these things just make sense. And I don't know if that's more anecdotal, but for me, it was that continuous knocking.
00:04:17:02 – 00:04:51:11
NURA
And I just know that the universe keeps knocking until you answer. So it really felt like almost a soul level compulsion to understand a little bit more. I think it started also to come a little bit more into my awareness. The more I learned about astronomy and actual stargazing and realizing like, wow, I'm connecting with Venus there and Jupiter here and Mars here, and I can see them and I can see the constellations like there was a recognition and that being able to see it in the sky, that made me really want to tune into more of the fixed stars.
00:04:51:17 – 00:05:28:08
NURA
So I think it actually started there. And learning a little bit more about the fixed stars and then feeling into, also, I've been a yoga student, teacher, explorer of the Yoga Sutras and that whole general way of living, I Veda, I've studied clinical herbalism with Aya Veda, and it sort of dawned on me that I was already practicing two out of the many sister sciences that are associated with Vedic astrology that for whatever reason, it just didn't feel like it was time for me to venture there.
00:05:28:10 – 00:05:59:13
NURA
I needed, I think, to connect with the tropical zodiac first and and perhaps for the people that I needed to help, that's where I needed to begin. But it feels like. And you're so right, Amanda. It's like we're all in this exploration phase, right? I just think we're awakening to such a more expansive form of consciousness that this capacity to hold the both and more is awakening in all of us, that now it almost feels like I'm learning these things, because the people that I'm here to serve are more ready to see this sort of woven in and synthesized.
00:05:59:13 – 00:06:26:19
NURA
So I, I pretty much attribute it to that. It's like a natural interest. And, I've realized too, that in my work with tropical Western astrology, which I've had many teachers, I was always trying to bridge systems. I was always trying to integrate things. So I was like, okay, how do I, bridge everything that I know about the days of the week, for example, and planetary hours and like, figure out, okay, how do I live?
00:06:26:19 – 00:06:51:17
NURA
Kind of in accordance with that somehow, like, that was a natural desire for me, especially, you know, being a woman and wanting to sync with the moon and learning about my menstrual cycle. And how did that line up? Like there was just a natural desire to live in flow with the cycles. And then when I started to see that, oh, that is also an approach that's baked in to the Vedic astrology system, I was like, oh, what?
00:06:51:17 – 00:07:19:09
NURA
I've been trying intuitively, which I think a lot of Western astrologers do beautifully to, you know, integrate different practices. That's already part of that system. So I was like, oh, okay. It's very easy to just make that shift and see, oh, they are celebrating, say on on Thursday, Jupiter Day. And there's all of these different associate stations with, you know, Jupiter's essence that we can perform certain rituals that really expand that.
00:07:19:09 – 00:07:24:17
NURA
So it was a very natural jump when I approached it from that angle, if that makes sense.
00:07:24:19 – 00:07:37:20
AMANDA
Yes. No. What would you say are the things that are consistent in the sit in across Vedic and Western astrology? And then where do they differ?
00:07:37:22 – 00:07:57:13
NURA
I love this question. It's so much fun. Because it also causes me to reflect on like where did I get these interpretations from. Because you know, when you study for so long and you're taking in from so many spaces and then you're also mixing that with your own intuitive understandings, sometimes it becomes a little challenging to see, like, where did I pick up that line of thought?
00:07:57:15 – 00:08:27:03
NURA
But for example, okay, let's start with the similarities. A lot of the planetary functions are very similar. You know, the sun is about shining light. It is about clarity, right? The moon is about understanding ourselves and our soul and where we come from. And, mother, you know, a lot of those classifications are very similar to Jupiter about expanding wisdom, Saturn about structure of reality, Mercury about communication, Venus about love and relationships, and Mars, the warrior.
00:08:27:05 – 00:08:51:04
NURA
But there are some differences. And the most notable ones I came across were the relationship of North and South Node and in the Vedic system they are called Rahu K2 for a very long time, and I don't think it was. It's not like it's wrong. So I want to just preface that it's not like anything that anybody is saying about any of this is wrong.
00:08:51:04 – 00:09:07:05
NURA
It's just when you look at it from a different perspective, it allows deeper inquiry. So that's my approach of what I'm about to say. But a lot of times the North Node is associated with destiny or like where we'll end up or like what we want to strive for, right? Yeah. Like our.
00:09:07:05 – 00:09:08:11
AMANDA
Future.
00:09:08:13 – 00:09:35:10
NURA
And in a lot of ways that's true. But from the Vedic system, it's also associated with illusion. It's associated with, insatiable ity and greed and wanting something so deeply that you might never feel that sense of satisfaction around it into that degree. That's why it's so connected with the illusion of Maya. So that's a very different approach.
00:09:35:10 – 00:10:01:03
NURA
At least it was for me to think about the North Node that way, because I had previously thought about it. It's like, yes, you want to go towards that. Where there's overlap there, it's that it is a deep part of our souls desire to incarnate so that we can experience the realm of Maya, to experience the realm of illusion, to understand what is really true and solid for us on the soul level.
00:10:01:05 – 00:10:30:12
NURA
And then if we feel indicate to South Node, it is in a similar way to Western approach. It's like a wormhole to the past, very literal past life exploration in this life. But K2 is about spiritual liberation, and it's about that complete, non grasping, complete letting go. And so, how they work together, they're always on this axis of exploring the illusion and then letting go.
00:10:30:18 – 00:10:42:13
NURA
And then we're kind of in that I get this visual of like a lambda scale, you know, the eight. Like we're always going back and forth between them were never just like going in this like linear towards the North Node direction, if that makes sense.
00:10:42:15 – 00:10:59:02
AMANDA
Can you give us an example of that? I'm having a hard time wrapping my mind around that. I'm having a harder time having a flexible mind around how to integrate those two perspectives. I mean, it almost feels like you you kind of have to choose one of them, but but maybe I'm wrong.
00:10:59:04 – 00:11:24:10
NURA
Yeah. Okay. So this is I think maybe a good example would be, Rahu or the North Node in Aquarius and therefore the South Node or K2 in Leo. So you could say somebody came into this life with a lot of, creativity and reality, nobility. But they are in this process of finding spiritual liberation through that creative process and not needing to attach to it so much.
00:11:24:10 – 00:11:41:24
NURA
But actually in that part of our life, it kind of happens naturally. It's like the universe is just I think we can find our flow state actually pretty easily where we have the South Node or K2, because we don't have to try so hard. Like that part is just already in operation because we've built that in through past life experience.
00:11:41:24 – 00:12:09:24
NURA
And, you know, time put in in past lives is kind of the idea. Then the North Node or Rahu in Aquarius. How how I might have read that, you know, a couple of years ago would be, you know, go full speed ahead in terms of learning about technology and learning about humanitarian causes and like coming out of your own creative process and like really thinking about, you know, the bigger world and, how to contribute in that sense.
00:12:09:24 – 00:12:35:17
NURA
And so the caveat there, it's not like that's wrong to do. So I don't think I would say, no, don't do any of that. But it's more like have the awareness that that might not give you what you really want. Like you might do all of those things and you might, find yourself in those kind of situations where you're able to help a lot of people or be, you know, connecting with these wonderful groups.
00:12:35:19 – 00:12:55:08
NURA
But it might still feel insatiable. It might still feel like there's something missing, because wherever we have the North Node, we never really feel complete. But there's, you know, there's a little bit of this idea that if you just keep going towards your North Node, you'll find that happiness. But I don't know. I don't know if that is the the end result of that.
00:12:55:08 – 00:13:21:24
NURA
I think we're always trying to find the balance between both and realize like, okay, so what if I'm going too far into the zone of Aquarius? Am I mad scientist spending all my time with AI and and thinking that's the answer, you know, versus like coming back into the heart? Or I think ultimately it's about being able to recognize the illusion when it's present and then finding a way back to truth.
00:13:21:24 – 00:13:34:03
NURA
And I think that can sometimes be tricky with the North Node or with Rahu, because there is that, insatiable searching, sort of. So that I think is the biggest difference between them.
00:13:34:05 – 00:13:52:22
AMANDA
So Nora Rochelle is going to be a teacher with us coming up here soon. Virgo lunation, I believe. And so she's going to be teaching a mastery class that's going to help you start to merge these worlds and blend the the best of and what you can glean from both systems and how to actually walk over that bridge.
00:13:52:22 – 00:14:15:08
AMANDA
As a tropical astrologer. So if you're interested in joining the inner circle right now is a great time to do it, because we're we are running a 50% off promotion. So you can lock in the inner circle, monthly rate, annual rate or lifetime rate at 50% off the normal price. So now is absolutely the best time to jump in.
00:14:15:08 – 00:14:38:01
AMANDA
You'll learn from Nora, you'll learn from Natasha Alter, Gemini Brat, Caitlin Castell, Ari Moshi Wolf, and Ray Merriman. Georgia staff this. We have an incredible roster of astrologers coming up, so now's a great time to jump in if you want this kind of guidance. If you want to feel community, if you want to be learning and expanding your perception, it's a great place to be.
00:14:38:01 – 00:14:57:05
AMANDA
We're having these kind of conversations all the time. So go to astrology, have that Palmer inner circle and check it out. We're also going to drop that link in the show notes. So Nora recently came to Maui, and I had the pleasure of meeting her amazing family and just spending some time with her in person, which I just revel in.
00:14:57:07 – 00:15:17:18
AMANDA
And one of the things that you said when we were, when we were meeting is that the other thing about Vedic astrology that sort of built into the structure that you really appreciate is the idea of karma and remedies. So we have these transits, we have these chart placements, and built within the system is an actual remedy for working with those energies.
00:15:17:18 – 00:15:22:06
AMANDA
So that at least that's what I understood in terms of what you said. So can you tell us a little bit about that?
00:15:22:08 – 00:15:44:02
NURA
Absolutely. So I know that, the idea of understanding karma is a challenging one for many of us. There's a lot of sticky feelings when we get to that space of, oh, something is karmic or fated and, you know, if you have X or Y placement in your chart, there's nothing you can do about it. I don't believe that.
00:15:44:04 – 00:16:06:23
NURA
And I was sort of operating under the misconception that that was what, you know, Vedic astrology was saying, because that's what I've heard from a lot of other people. But when I looked a little deeper, I was like, oh, sure, this is part of our destiny, but there's a whole, remedial opportunity baked in. So say you had some sort of karma with Jupiter.
00:16:07:00 – 00:16:27:15
NURA
And Jupiter is a planet that wants to give fortune and wisdom, but say, for whatever reason, you're not experiencing that, you know, everybody's like, oh, Jupiter return, or you have Jupiter in your 10th house, you should expect these wonderful things. And that doesn't happen. And you're left thinking like, what is going on here? It could be. And this is coming from the Vedic system.
00:16:27:15 – 00:16:53:08
NURA
It could be that there's part of your your dharma in relation to Jupiter that hasn't been, fully processed or fully. It's blocked somehow, in other words. So there are certain, devotional practices you can do to help free that Jupiter, to actually allow you to receive those blessings, to actually, be able to receive the fortune. And all of the remedies are associated with the function of that planet.
00:16:53:08 – 00:17:26:17
NURA
So if you know about Jupiter, this doesn't even require you to jump systems and know a lot about Vedic astrology to get this one piece. It's like if you know that the qualities of Jupiter are to impart wisdom or to share what you've learned and are about living a very pure sort. Vic is the word you know this pure essence life and just, you know, essentially being a good person and being really authentic, then you're already doing your part to, you know, that those are examples of Jupiter remedies.
00:17:26:17 – 00:17:51:20
NURA
It's like, go and teach people if something about your Jupiter fortune's not showing up, is there something more that you can share? So then you can add to it? Okay. Donate to a school on a Thursday. That's a very specific Jupiter remedy. Another one that I really love. That was so simple. It was like, do laundry on Fridays because clothes are associated with Venus, donate to charities that are associated with women.
00:17:51:20 – 00:18:13:01
NURA
And and then a lot of these things I think are this is my herbalist mindset kind of coming in. It's like you want to choose remedies that are kind of adaptogenic, familiar with that term. It's like whether or not you need more or you're trying to, make an adjustment for an increase or decrease. These things are good no matter what.
00:18:13:01 – 00:18:23:02
NURA
So it's like finding like what's good no matter what. Yeah, right. I know that some, remedial measures involve things like gemstones that's getting into a.
00:18:23:02 – 00:18:24:00
AMANDA
Whole other.
00:18:24:02 – 00:18:50:07
NURA
Complex thing. And it's kind of similar to herbalism. It's like you don't want to give, like, just throw the kitchen sink at somebody. In terms of remedy, you can actually do, you know, sometimes more damage that way. And so thinking about it more in terms of like what will be good no matter what, it's good for me to think about my relationship with women or it's it's good to, you know, just put attention lovingly in these spaces very intentionally.
00:18:50:07 – 00:19:04:16
NURA
And all of that is, is really highlighted in the system. So even if there is this idea of karma and like what you're coming from, there's a way through it. There's a way to get to this highest expression of it that's built into the system, which I really appreciate.
00:19:04:18 – 00:19:31:06
AMANDA
Yeah. As you were talking about the whole, idea that Vedic astrology is a little more fatalistic or deterministic, you know, like this is your fate and there's really not much you can do about it. I realize I definitely had that conception about it as well. It makes me. And then what you said about how when you you looked deeper, you found that it was that's just like, that's the starting point.
00:19:31:08 – 00:19:53:13
AMANDA
But then there is this built in remediation opportunity and ways to work with these placements to, to bring us. I kind of like to think of fate as kind of the, the you know what we're given. And then destiny is the choice that we make with what we're given. Right. So so it's we have more of a choice in our destiny.
00:19:53:13 – 00:20:26:14
AMANDA
But it made me think of the way that a lot of us are sort of just scanning headlines or taking things at face value, because I'm thinking about this idea of flexibility, of mind in general. Right. So we're using your your experience to extrapolate what we can do to open up to both. And but a lot of times we're just taking those like soundbites really, and especially with AI and all the kinds of things that are available right now, we don't even know if they're true, you know, and then and then we don't stick around enough to find out if they were actually true.
00:20:26:16 – 00:20:46:24
AMANDA
It's like we take these little soundbites and then we run with them. And I know I had that about Vedic astrology. I would say the other one I have about Vedic astrology is that it's a little more superstitious. So there's like and and I'm realizing that that may or may not be true, but like that was definitely something that I've, I have felt before come across before.
00:20:47:01 – 00:20:51:10
AMANDA
So what do you say to that and what's been your experience with it.
00:20:51:12 – 00:21:12:01
NURA
Yeah, I think that's such a good point. And I came across this a lot even in academic fields. Like part of my work, like when I would show up in our master's class, was to actually. So our professor would assign us multiple perspectives, say we were learning about Marxism, which I know is a hot topic, regardless of our personal opinion.
00:21:12:01 – 00:21:31:18
NURA
He would assign to us an opinion that we would have to then fully learn and fully get behind before we could argue for it. And I really appreciated that because it showed me that whether or not I agree with something, I'm always going to have a deeper level of understanding if I can at least immerse myself in that learning before I jump to conclusions, before I just say, okay, I don't want this.
00:21:31:18 – 00:21:50:02
NURA
So I have a little bit of that approach and style in my being I. That's kind of how I began with Western Tropical astrology to I was like, I, I'm not going to knock this. I'm going to learn more about it and see if I can really understand it this way, form an opinion. And I think that is a good practice in general.
00:21:50:04 – 00:22:06:16
NURA
But when it comes to those sound bites that you mentioned around, like the fatalistic element and the superstitious element, it is really important, I think, to tune into the inquiry of like, what is what about that is scary.
00:22:06:18 – 00:22:07:10
AMANDA
00:22:07:10 – 00:22:08:17
NURA
I think there's a lot.
00:22:08:17 – 00:22:11:11
AMANDA
Of.
00:22:11:13 – 00:22:33:12
NURA
Superstition in general when it comes to astrology. When looked at from the outside view, it's like this idea of like, we don't want to be limited, we don't want to be controlled by something. We don't want to be put into a box. And then I almost find, like when you're able to confront those fears within yourself of like, what am I afraid of in exploring this now?
00:22:33:12 – 00:22:52:10
NURA
I'm stronger than it. Like, now I'm getting I'm expanding my own aura, or I'm expanding my own energy to almost get bigger than that fear so that I can fully immerse myself in it just to get to that place of appreciation. I'm not just saying, like, right off the gate, oh, I don't like that it says that. So I'm just closing my mind to it.
00:22:52:12 – 00:23:16:12
AMANDA
Yeah, I think for me it's this. Oh, well then it's unscientific. Like then it's not real. Then it's kind of, you know, backwards and archaic. And we're much more sophisticated and modern these days. So we don't need these silly superstitions. I think that that would be like the storyline for me. But I see what you're saying because from the outside, I thought that about all astrology at one point.
00:23:16:12 – 00:23:36:13
AMANDA
I mean, literally and or any I mean, even even herbalism and certain things felt like, does this even really work? Like, you know, because I didn't understand the mechanism. I didn't understand, you know, how it could possibly be true because I couldn't see it, you know, and I didn't understand it.
00:23:36:15 – 00:24:05:15
NURA
Yeah. And I think that speaks to our material world view also. And that is something that, actually comes in pretty deeply to the conversation around the tropical zodiac and the sidereal zodiac. There are, conversations out there, even amongst like Vedic astrologers, where they might use the tropical zodiac and they have their reasons why. And a lot of it does when you really listen to the the story, it's like about trying to make it more scientific.
00:24:05:17 – 00:24:24:08
NURA
Whereas it's like, what does that diminish then? If we're only trying to look at it from that perspective? And I'm a big fan of increasing our ways of knowing rather than decreasing them. So if there's a way of knowing that hits to a truth that helps you to live your life in a better way, I'm here for it.
00:24:24:08 – 00:24:46:16
NURA
Kind of like what? Regardless of what a mainstream scientific outlook would be. It's not to say that those are not important studies, but they're just not my reason for connecting. It's like I think a lot of people will maybe, they'll sit somewhere on the extreme between like science and observation, correlation and mysticism, which are a little bit they're connected.
00:24:46:16 – 00:24:54:08
NURA
But your approach to it, I think, will greatly change according to your own. You know how you feel about it.
00:24:54:10 – 00:25:20:05
AMANDA
And this goes to our both in conversation because at this point, science is proving a lot of things that mystics have always been talking about. And and so it's like that those words, those worlds are merging anyways, you know? Okay. So when you moved from the tropical zodiac to the sidereal zodiac, I know another big sticking point for people is that their their zodiac, their suns.
00:25:20:05 – 00:25:30:15
AMANDA
I may change all of their placements may change. And this is confusing. So did that happen for you and if so, how are you holding that aspect of it?
00:25:30:17 – 00:25:52:14
NURA
So I was lucky to be primed already with this, awareness that the signs and the constellations are different things, that the tropical zodiac is based on seasons as seen from Earth, and then the sidereal zodiac is based on astronomical positions or specifically linked to fixed star placements. And that.
00:25:52:14 – 00:25:53:13
AMANDA
Whole.
00:25:53:15 – 00:26:18:06
NURA
You know, how do the constellations influence the signs? I think it's a really important conversation, and I think we will continue to have it so that we actually get to this place where we are able to use both systems and see, okay, like, how do they actually support each other? A good example, and this is true, you know, when we talk about sun signs, if you are born around the 15th to the 20th of each month, your sun sign, your sun sign stays the same.
00:26:18:08 – 00:26:39:17
NURA
But if you're born basically anywhere else other than that, your sun sign is the sign before. And that happened to me. But a few other things shifted around and it was like, oh, I have been feeling into this archetype from this planetary position. That archetype is still there in my chart, but now it's here and it's occupied by this different planet.
00:26:39:17 – 00:26:57:23
NURA
So it's like it wasn't lost. It just moved. It just switched perspective. So that was one part of it. But where you started to see and I've noticed this with quite a few charts, it's like there are still those double signatures, like some people's planets will stay in the same sign. Most planets stay in the same house.
00:26:58:00 – 00:27:27:04
NURA
The relationships between the planets stay the same. So like the aspects. So there's so much that can be validated. But it's just like that slight looking at the, you know, through the prism of the crystal, maybe from a different lens. And, something that was really empowering for me was the awareness of how much what I think is true about myself affects my life.
00:27:27:06 – 00:27:53:17
NURA
Like, that was one of the biggest existential questions. It was like, so clearly, if I'm looking at, okay, mercenaries versus Mars in Pisces, that that's my case. Wow. What changes about my worldview, about who I think I am when I allow that possibility? And I started realizing all of these kind of more hidden aspects of myself were coming through without this, judgment or without this, like, oh, no, that's not who I am.
00:27:53:19 – 00:27:57:07
NURA
Wow. So I got bigger rather than smaller.
00:27:57:09 – 00:28:17:03
AMANDA
Wow. That is so fascinating. I mean, does make you think about, like, if we didn't know anything about astrology, what what aspects of ourselves would we be expressing or not expressing? Like how much? How much is our understanding of astrology then sort of limit the spectrum of our expression?
00:28:17:05 – 00:28:42:17
NURA
Yeah. And it's kind of it's kind of scary because a lot of times it's like we don't want to be put in the box with astrology. But I do think because we are beings that seek security, we will kind of accidentally or subconsciously do that for ourselves. It's like we want to be safe in our identity. So I think, you know, if you're if you're a tropical astrologer looking into the potentials of Vedic astrology, it's like you might be on the cusp of some sort of ego death, perhaps, you know, but.
00:28:42:22 – 00:28:43:08
AMANDA
I think.
00:28:43:10 – 00:28:45:19
NURA
Part of it is it certainly was for me.
00:28:45:21 – 00:29:05:07
AMANDA
I mean, that's what the astrologers are talking about right now is a time of massive ego death that we'd like. Collectively, we are being reborn and becoming different versions of ourselves. So this what you're saying? It's like, I know it happens for people when they're explorers exploring different house systems too.
00:29:05:09 – 00:29:06:22
NURA
Oh my gosh. Yeah. Wait.
00:29:06:24 – 00:29:16:03
AMANDA
I thought my North Node was in the eighth house, but it's in the seventh house. Oh, God. Like that? That's weird. I don't know what to do with that, you know.
00:29:16:05 – 00:29:21:01
NURA
Yes. Yeah. So what is probably where it started for me too.
00:29:21:03 – 00:29:35:02
AMANDA
Is the houses. Yeah. It starts with the houses. That's I think for a lot of people because you just I think when you first learn, you think there is only one house, like whatever it may be, whatever your teacher said or whatever the app that you, you set, you know, defaults to, that's the house system you're looking at.
00:29:35:02 – 00:29:51:20
AMANDA
And then, oh, gosh, everything starts to shift around. Now, what in Vedic astrology would you point to for a place where someone would find that satisfaction that they're looking for, that, that piece that fulfillment?
00:29:51:22 – 00:30:15:05
NURA
Definitely. The moon and the sun for sure is where I would come from. And then whoever is your, rising sign host. Right. So if you're Taurus, Rising, Venus Aries or Scorpio Rising Mars kind of looking at it like that, and then seeing how the Rahu K2 axis is a little bit of like, okay, that's going to be your roller coaster ride in this life.
00:30:15:05 – 00:30:36:24
NURA
That is the part of your life that is keeping it all interesting, so that actually the other parts of the chart, the planets themselves, that are really where the true satisfaction lies, and if we think about it, in the Vedic system, they use the planets up to Saturn, plus what they call shadow planets, North and South node, Rahu, k2.
00:30:36:24 – 00:30:45:20
NURA
So they're not even true celestial bodies, right? They're just intersections in space. So they are inherently, like, not real.
00:30:45:22 – 00:30:52:02
AMANDA
Right? True. They're not actual things. They're they're intersection points.
00:30:52:06 – 00:31:13:21
NURA
Right? And they help us deal, I think, with our shadow so that we can actually do our spiritual evolution. So as long as we're approaching them with that, I guess, like a holistic viewpoint of them and not placing, like, all of our happiness in just doing what the North Node says, which is interesting because that's that's kind of what I, I have said that to a lot of people.
00:31:13:23 – 00:31:24:04
NURA
I have, you know, focused on that myself. And I think it kind of comes down to we we learn things that we need to learn when we need to learn them.
00:31:24:10 – 00:31:42:24
AMANDA
Yes. Yeah, yeah, I've said that to people too, in terms of even just the how system exploration, when they they see another facet of themselves, it's like you're getting that information at the exact right time. You need to know that now. You didn't need to know that. Then you maybe wouldn't have been able to integrate it. Then you might have not been able to focus on it then, but right now you need it.
00:31:43:04 – 00:32:18:12
AMANDA
So I want to check in with all of you right now. How are you doing? Because I know this. This is like these are the even even this conversation might be a little bit of an ego death of like, oh, whoa. Okay. I've been putting a lot of emphasis on that. And like you said in, I think this is this is a key when it comes to flexibility of mind and when it comes to going through life and in moments, admitting that we might have been wrong about something or we might have had a limited perception that wasn't giving us the full picture, I don't even want to say wrong, because it's just that you
00:32:18:12 – 00:32:55:18
AMANDA
were just where you were at, and that was what you were able to see at the time. But I think one of the hardest things is when you have been an advocate for something and you have you've guided other people in that direction, and then to have that like, oh God, like maybe, I mean, I've had several phases of this in terms of like dietary influences, for example, you know, being like all gung ho about some new or not new approach and, you know, wanting my whole family to do it, to get healthy and wanting everyone did you want to get healthy?
00:32:55:20 – 00:33:14:01
AMANDA
And then changing my perception at some point being like, well, that was good then, but it's actually not quite working for me anymore. And now I'm having to expand to all of this, and I know they think I'm crazy now and then. I'm changing my mind all the time. But this is growth. This is growth. This is part of the human experience.
00:33:14:01 – 00:33:34:15
AMANDA
This is part of being humble enough to know that we don't know everything. We can't know everything. We're going to keep learning. There's going to be these thresholds where we're walking through and going, oh, okay. Now I kind of get why people thought they saw it this way like before. I just judged them before. I just put them in a box.
00:33:34:17 – 00:33:42:03
AMANDA
But now I kind of get it. You know, like this was how I felt about astrology. I put all of you guys in a box of just.
00:33:42:05 – 00:34:01:11
AMANDA
Totally ungrounded. Just not that smart, you know, I've had to eat a lot of humble pie around that. So, you know, we're we're doing this, and we're going to keep doing this. And I think this is kind of the point of this conversation, you know, framed in this Vedic and Western astrology story that you've gone through Nura.
00:34:01:11 – 00:34:18:07
AMANDA
But the point is that we are needing to do this in, in a lot of areas in our life, and it's hard, it's hard. So just having compassion with yourself and being soft and forgiving yourself and not being super, not not taking ourselves so seriously, you know.
00:34:18:09 – 00:34:38:20
NURA
Yeah, yeah. And I think too, as a practitioner, you know, this is this is my full time work as a translator. The level of, of humility to be able to say, hey, would you be interested in looking at your chart from a different perspective? And, some are really into it and some are not. And I think that's also okay.
00:34:39:00 – 00:34:56:13
NURA
But it does, I think, open up a space of like, you know, we talk about in other circles, in other conversations of astrology around like not needing to be this like I'm above you as like this expert knowing everything, knowing all the answers of the world. And I'm like, I don't think we are fully on the same plane.
00:34:56:13 – 00:35:00:22
NURA
We're all just walking each other home. I just happen to be obsessed with.
00:35:00:24 – 00:35:02:05
AMANDA
It.
00:35:02:07 – 00:35:26:04
NURA
Allows me to be, you know, I'm very informed, but I definitely don't know everything. And I'm interested in helping people. But it it gives me this. I definitely think of humility in how I'm approaching people because it allows more space for the question and more space for the actual mystery of a human soul, I think, to evolve and show itself.
00:35:26:04 – 00:35:40:00
NURA
And, this is something that I think is very important in general or right now is is just not making assumptions about who we even think we are seeing about the world. And what does that open up in terms of possibilities?
00:35:40:02 – 00:36:07:17
AMANDA
God, I love that. Okay, if this is resonating with you, and you would love to hear the Vedic perspective of the current transits that we're navigating and how you can integrate some of the wisdom from that system into the way that you are navigating all the big changes that we are in right now. I highly recommend joining us for the Navigating Change Live panel event that is happening tomorrow, March 18th.
00:36:07:23 – 00:36:28:11
AMANDA
So if you're catching this after March 18th, you can still access the recording. I'm going to give the link and, you'll either be catching this right before and you can join us live, or you can join for the recording. It's astrology webcomic change. It is donation based. We're making we've made it a give as you wish event.
00:36:28:16 – 00:36:59:23
AMANDA
So whatever you feel you would like to contribute to the event is great. Even if it's nothing, we still want you there. And we have New Rochelle, Natasha Alder, Caitlin Kessel, Gemini, Brett and Ari, Moshe Wolf all in an intimate conversation about the astrological transits that are happening right now into 2026, all of 2025 into 2026. And what are the keys?
00:36:59:23 – 00:37:31:09
AMANDA
What are the cosmic keys that we've been given from the cosmos itself, or how to best navigate this time? How to ride this wave with an element of elegance and grace if possible, and how to really make the most of this moment in time. So that is available right now. Astrology.com/change. Would love to see you there live. But like I said, even if you've missed it or you can't be there live, please tune in to the recording.
00:37:31:09 – 00:37:59:08
AMANDA
It is going to be a very, very fruitful conversation. I can just feel it. It's amazing. Amazing panelists, amazing time. So I hope that you all be there. And I love that we were able to weave this into the discussion. I think this might be the first time that we've had anybody on a panel for Astrology Hub that is bringing in the Vedic perspective or the Vedic lens and and contributing that to the conversation.
00:37:59:08 – 00:38:24:14
AMANDA
And I love you specifically doing this neuro because you hold both so you, you're able to to speak in a language that those who have been trained in Western astrology can understand, because you also are very trained in Western astrology. So you can bring this in, in, in, in a way that we can hold all of it. And I'm really grateful for that role that you're playing for all of us.
00:38:24:16 – 00:38:47:22
NURA
Thank you so much, Amanda. It's such a high honor to get to share this, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to get to speak about my authentic experience. And we'll see how how things continue to shift just for all of us. We're in such a massive time of awakening and consciousness expansion, so I'm really excited to see what this develops for all of us here in this conversation.
00:38:47:24 – 00:39:01:00
AMANDA
Yeah. So, Nora, how has this experience colored or influenced the way that you're holding everything that's happening in the world right now?
00:39:01:02 – 00:39:34:05
NURA
More than anything, I actually feel a greater sense of faith, and that is a really big part of my why in astrology. So, despite the challenges where there are many, despite the humbling, I do still feel that and feel it stronger than ever that there's such a thread of support and interweaving in everything that I just, I really know that we're not alone, and I really know that we're supported and guided and we've got this, you know, even in the times when we think we don't know.
00:39:34:07 – 00:39:39:12
AMANDA
How about in terms of holding the polarity.
00:39:39:14 – 00:40:02:23
NURA
I think I'm getting better at not worrying so much what other people think. Like if someone is holding, you know, this idea that maybe I'm uninformed or not that intelligent or something like that, that used to really worry me. But I think there's a certain sense of confidence and, you know, this is what I'm being shown. This is what I'm being guided to.
00:40:02:23 – 00:40:16:11
NURA
And I have to trust that, or else I would be perpetually living in that. Like, never fully committing to my own past kind of space so that I think of it as, an initiation into self-trust, ultimately.
00:40:16:13 – 00:40:45:21
AMANDA
And I love that. Earlier, I was thinking of the the dragonfly. So I, I heard a conversation between Richard Read and Pam Gregory. Richard Read, the founder of the Gene keys, and Pam Gregory, amazing astrologer. She's going to be on the podcast in April. Yeah. But they were talking about the dragonfly and how it goes from being this, like, gray blob predator, like in the water.
00:40:45:23 – 00:41:20:10
AMANDA
And then it starts to have this impulse to climb a stack of grass, it climbs the grass, and then eventually it's like kind of waterlogged body breaks open. And this incredible iridescent dragon that flies with this incredible aerodynamic capabilities emerges. And when you were talking earlier about it was like a soul impulse. It was like a it was like something you were compelled to move toward.
00:41:20:12 – 00:41:43:24
AMANDA
It sounds like Vedic astrology is, at least at this moment in time, is like your stack of grass that you were just like drawn to the. Just like, I just need to know about this. I need to explore it. And this is I'm just encouraging all of you. What is your stock of grass right now? What is that thing that you're just like, I'm feeling compelled to look into this.
00:41:43:24 – 00:42:09:19
AMANDA
I'm. I want to know everything about it. I want to understand it. I don't know why, but I just do. And like you said, that faith, that trust in life, like trust in that impulse of life that's coursing through you. And maybe it's scary, you know, I'm sure for that gray blobby thing, it's scary to to go and climb up this into this unknown territory.
00:42:09:21 – 00:42:35:14
AMANDA
And so but we're we're all being asked to do that on some, some level right now. This is the time that we're navigating. So is there anything else you want to say about this journey you've been on, about the process of being able to hold it all about that, even the process of coming out of the closet, you know, when it felt scary to to say to your your Western astrology clients like, I'm, I'm into this new thing.
00:42:35:14 – 00:42:41:12
AMANDA
Like, are you willing, you know, do you want to go there with me? So just anything else you want to share with us?
00:42:41:14 – 00:43:18:21
NURA
I think that we can trust each other a lot more and trust each other to hold our differences and different perspectives. And how enriching that will be for us societally, on a global scale, if we're able to hold that space for different ways of knowing and different ways of seeing the world, I think that is one of the ways that we can, become more heart centered, more open, and can really see a lot of the healing that we we talk about so much wanting to see, you know, and, and I think it does start with us internally and, really having the inquiry around like, what is it that I feel like I
00:43:18:21 – 00:43:40:10
NURA
need to be 100% right about like and and it's not to say that we can't have our convictions, but where might that also be? A limitation, you know, and where is there space to just explore a little bit beyond the boundaries? You know, as Rumi said, you know, out beyond the boundaries of right and wrong. There is a field and I'll meet you there.
00:43:40:12 – 00:44:03:22
AMANDA
All over my body. That's this my favorite Rumi quote, by the way. And I love meeting you all there in that field, in this place where we can be open and we can explore and and in addition to what you said, I think this is where that true feeling of connection that comes from feeling really seen. It starts with you, right?
00:44:03:22 – 00:44:27:10
AMANDA
You first have to like, be willing to be seen in your authentic expression, but then to be received in that by others. That is when we feel that real sense of connection with the people around us, and in a world that feels increasingly disconnected, just doing that for someone just like, hey, what do you into lately? I'm curious.
00:44:27:10 – 00:44:47:17
AMANDA
I'd love to know, like without it being a threat to you, right? Without it feeling threatening, it does take it takes a lot to get there, but we're doing it, so I'm so grateful for you, Nora. Thank you for this exploration that you've allowed yourself to go on. Thank you for kind of coming out of the closet, like to our community in a big way for the first time.
00:44:47:19 – 00:45:18:08
AMANDA
Appreciate your trust in us to hold that space. And I just am so grateful to all of you for being here, for this conversation, and for being here at this moment in time, for being curious about what the what the planetary energies, what the archetypes, what the wisdom from the stars is telling us, what clues it's giving us for the waves, the best ways for us to move forward in a time that feels incredibly uncertain and and unscripted.
00:45:18:10 – 00:45:20:10
AMANDA
Really? Yeah.
00:45:20:12 – 00:45:21:13
NURA
That's for sure.
00:45:21:15 – 00:45:26:06
AMANDA
I'm given it. All right. Thank you.
00:45:26:08 – 00:45:27:22
NURA
Yeah, everyone.
00:45:27:24 – 00:45:37:04
AMANDA
Such a pleasure. All right, everybody, thank you for being here. Thank you for being a part of our community. Thank you, as always, for making astrology part of your life. Catch you on the next episode.