Happy Solar Eclipse!

Vedic Astrology uses certain methods for chart comparison and I find it really annoying. Rashi or Lagna charts are used for matching 99% of the horoscopes. Depending on the educational background and  world view of a vedic astrologer, the chart comparison exercise in marriages is reduced to parody.

Case 1
A has a planet P1 at 5 degree and
and B has a planet P2 at 27.5 degree of same sign.

Any vedic astrologer who just looks at  the signs will draw a conlusion that the planets are in conjunction.

Case 2
Simillarly  an aspect of 45 degrees (called semisquare) can contain an entire sign and may mislead one to suggest that the two planets are forming a sextile.

In the both cases mentioned above the planets form an aspect of 8th harmonic series. [Actually case 1 involves the 16th harmonic.-Ed.]  In my opinion a semisquare camouflaged as a sextile, or  semi-semi-square camouflaged as a conjunction, is  to be treated as  hard or inharmonious because the planets are related in 8th harmonic.

When horoscopes are matched for planetary compatibilty many families seek help of  individuals who have an incomplete knowledge of astrology.  These people, who have as much confidence as if they were direct descendants of the Supreme Creator, give their verdict as to whether horoscopes match or not, and good opportunities are lost because of faith put in these verdicts. This is an unpardonable sin on behalf of vedic astrologers.

As an aside, Gotra matching is heavily emphasized and has no meaning at all  in today's context. Its a futile exercise to match gotra. If we take a harsh look of reality (I mean history here) the idea of "purity" of lineage gets punctured in  number of ways through socially acceptable or unacceptable ways.   Gotras  give information about how branches of vedic literature were studied in old days. Today gotras have no relevance...

Regards,