This article has been written in 1990. Copyrights with the original writer.
On the 3rd of January 1990 at 6 o'clock in the morning, my wife Arlette Gürtler and I were standing, freezing near a little village in the Himalayan Mountains of North India. We were not feeling very comfortable as we were very near to a wooded area, where a pack of wolves were prowling about.
We were waiting for the bus to take us to down the mountain where our two Tibetan friends, Professor Drakton and Tenzin Choegyal, were expecting us with a cup of nice hot coffee. We knew by then that we had a hard journey and some strange adventures ahead of us.
Before I proceed with the story of what happened, maybe I should introduce our Tibetan companions:
Professor Drakton
Mr. Jampa G. Drakton is professor at the Tibetan Medical Centre, teaching Tibetan Astrology and rendering astrological services to His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Mr. Tenzin Choegyal is his disciple.
We became very good friends and I will explain more about Professor Drakton and the Tibetan astrology in a future article.
During the many conversations, Mr. Drakton and I talked about the palm-leaf horoscopes and the remarkable predictions that can be obtained from them. The Professor was aware of some of the secrets behind them, and I myself have got an English translation of some palmleaf horoscopes from friends in India.
Both of us had heard about a huge collection of very old palm-leaf horoscopes belonging to some astrologers in Hoshiarpur in the state of Punjab. This collection was supposed to be something quite unique and extraordinary.
We met with our two Tibetan friends and got on the bus for Hoshiarpur. It was an unpleasant journey. The busses in India are not very comfortable and they drive so fast on the winding mountain roads that you almost feel that you are risking your life; but finally, some time after noon, we arrived safely in Hoshiarpur.
Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur is a strange place, notably influenced by the fightings between the Sikhs and the Hindus that have been going on for years in Punjab (1990).
The atmosphere was rather depressed and there was a touch of suspiciousness. It was very dirty, and our hotel rooms had a terrible smell of urine. The bedclothes had probably never been washed, but fortunately we had brought our own sleeping bags.
The only reason for us to accept our hotel rooms was the fact that all doors and windows could be secured by bolts from the inside. The hotel-staff was rather suspicious looking and did not inspire our confidence.
Once when the four of us were sitting in one of the rooms, there was a strange noise coming from outside the door. Professor Drakton pulled out his large knife, and silently he opened the door. There was nobody out there, so we relaxed.
At this point, the Professor criticized my knife since it had no blood groove. He explained that "You cannot draw your knife out of the corps, if there is no blood groove, and this makes you defenceless".
I got the impression that he knows quite a lot about these things, as he was fighting against the Chinese in 1959, when Tibet was invaded.
Later we found out that we had good reasons for not feeling very secure in Punjab. During the short time of our stay, 8 persons were brutally murdered. Also, the Authorities had asked us not to stay in Punjab for more than a few days as a maximum, as it was too dangerous for foreigners.
Meeting the Astrologer
After this little incident we went by bicycle-rickshaw to the place of the Astrologer. It must have been a rather odd view: Two tall and well-fed Danes sitting in a bicycle-rickshaw with a very thin and humble Indian in front riding the bicycle. Behind us in another rickshaw you could see our two Tibetan friends, laughing.
After a while we came to the place of the Astrologer. He claimed that he had been expecting us and introduced himself as Mr. Maha Shiv Bhrigu Shastri. He said that he would try to find my horoscope in the huge collection of palm-leaves.
I gave him my date of birth etc., but it did not seem to interest him very much. He was more concentrated on a kind of Ephemeris from Chandigarh (a major town in Punjab) from this present year (1990). Actually he made a horary chart, and it was my impression that the time of our arrival to his ashram was the most important event, which set all other factors into motion, rather than my date of birth.
Then the Astrologer entered into a room next to us and looked among the bundles of horoscopes wrapped in silk of different colours. One of these bundles turned out to include my horoscope, giving the predictions of my life.
The Sage Bhrigu
It is said that these thousands and thousands of horoscopes are a kind of written physical counterpart of the The Akashic Records. They are supposed to come from the ancient sage Bhrigu, who lived thousands of years ago in the Himalayan region.
Later on the horoscopes have been copied over and over by clever astrologers who hold the knowledge of the secrets. Originally, the horoscopes were written on palmleaves or bark, but the horoscope that I saw was on paper.
The Hindus believe that nobody can consult the collection of Bhrigu unless it has been preordained thousands of years ago. It is also believed that sage Bhrigu was the greatest astrologer of all times.
In by book "Astrología India" (ediciones Indigo) which has recently been released in Spanish, I have explained about sage Bhrigu and the palmleaf horoscopes in more details, as well as the Indian Astrology on which these horoscopes are based.
The correct horoscope is found
After searching for about 10 to 15 minutes among the huge bundles of horo-scopes, the Astrologer Maha Shiv Bhrigu Shastri came back and said that he had found the right bundle. He returned with a large bunch, wrapped in black silk, containing 300 to 400 horoscopes. At this point I almost gave up, as I felt this was a hopeless task.
The Astrologer, however, was optimistic and suddenly he presented the correct horoscope that was an exact copy of my birthchart! It was written on a very old sheet of paper, and the ink had turned brown from age. I think it was at least 100 years old. It was the correct Ascendant, and all the planets were placed exactly as when I was born. Professor Drakton and Tenzin studied the horoscope closely. The Astrologer's son also looked at it. Everyone agreed: This was a perfect match.
I am aware of the fact that there must be millions of different birth charts. So from a scientific point of view this is completely crazy. But it is exactly the way it happened!
The predictions were written in some sort of code, and it was read out like this:
"Om - Sri Shukra asked: If a man is born in the Margasira month with this Graha-dristi (planetary aspects), what will be the name of the yoga, and what will be the results? Bhrigu answered: Hey Shukra, at that time there will be Karma-Bandham-yoga, and listen to me about the results: The man is born in Varn-mahadweep (Europe?) in a city beginning with K. (I was born in Copenhagen, which begins with the sound of "K"). He will come at the age of 35 to hear my predictions between the rivers Satluj and Vays in a city called Chachadpuri (Hoshiarpur?).
He has come for his family happiness, his longevity and for some special work, he has to do due to a deep feeling in his heart.
His name will be Finn Wandahl (I still think he said Pinn Wandahl). His father's name will be from Kai-namsa" (my fathers name is actually Kai).
Then the reading listed a number of good years, and a number of bad years; my longevity was fixed with an accuracy of a few hours. Additionally, it gave some predictions about the future, which would be too extensive to mention here. But the reading continued:
"Hey Shukra, because of bad karmas from the previous life some bad results have been seen. Since three years ago his wife is no longer with him, and the feeling in his heart became bad. He got obstructions and difficulties, and his family happiness was spoiled" (This is true, as my wife left me and took my daughter with her).
This was then followed up by a long story about my previous life, in which I obviously got a curse, which was supposed to destroy my family happiness in this life and the coming two incarnations as well.
Spiritual blackmail
The reading then continued by stating that the curse of the past could be canceled through a religious ritual, performed by Maha Shiv Bhrigu Shastri, for which I was supposed to pay him Rs. 51.000,-, equivalent to US Dollars 3.600,-.
Being an educated man I told him that under such conditions I would prefer the three bad lives, but of course I gave him his Rs. 301,- for the job he had done.
My personal opinion is that the demand for Rs. 51.000,- was something that the Bhrigu Shastri made up himself to see if he could make some easy money on this stupid westerner. On the other hand, it is my impression that this kind of spiritual blackmail has become quite normal among the different mystics of India. I think that it is a sad development that could give Hindu Astrologers a bad reputation in the long run.
I still find that this experience was something very unusual, but due to its suspect character I will leave it the way I found it: Written in the stars.
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