Attached Paper Annual Meeting 2024

Aligning with the Cosmos: Vedic Astrology and Hidden Meaning in a Global Yoga Community

Abstract for Online Program Book (maximum 150 words)

Based on ethnographic “fieldwork” conducted during a 75-hour online course on Indian, or “Vedic” astrology (also called jyotish), this paper explores how non-Indian yoga practitioners incorporated astrology into their spiritual lives. In particular, I focus on how the course’s instructor, Nish, presented a brand of Vedic astrology that was simultaneously Indian and universal, mysterious and accessible to all. This leads to a broader reflection on how an astrological worldview—one with hidden meaning and suffused with beautiful connections—aids in the spiritual seeker’s search for physical and spiritual alignment.