The starting point in astrological prognostications is the astrological chart commonly known as the horoscope. It is essential that the chart is delineated correctly and properly. To avoid faulty judgements and pronouncements it is necessary to inquire and ascertain the accuracy. These days, computer horoscopes are very common and they are prone to errors.
To cast a horoscope, three essential inputs are required – time of birth, date of birth and place of birth. Rectification of time of birth can only be done by an expert astrologer. For this he has to ascertain some past events with their timing to enable corrections to the time of birth. Sometimes, there is confusion about the dates when the birth had taken place at night. In the past, in India, the weekday was considered to last from sunrise to the next sunrise. During the war years,clocks were advanced for different periods of time. Sometimes, the year is given in Vikram era. A knowledge of these is vital for an astrologer. An astrologer should not be ignorant of manually casting the horoscope.
Two books are essential. One is the standard ephemeris and the other Raphael’s “Tables of...