Glossary

Words are added here as each module introduces them.

Module 1

Word	Plain meaning
Ayanamsa	The gap, in degrees, between the tropical zodiac and the sidereal zodiac. About 24° today. It grows by about 1° every 72 years.
Ecliptic	The Sun’s yearly road across the sky.
Equinox	One of the two days in the year when day and night are the same length. The March equinox marks 0° of the tropical zodiac.
Jyotisha	The traditional name for Vedic astrology. It means the science of light.
Lahiri	The version of the ayanamsa that is official in India. This course always uses it.
Longitude	How far round the zodiac belt a planet is, in degrees from 0 to 360.
Sidereal zodiac	The zodiac whose starting point is fixed against the stars. Vedic astrology uses it.
Sign	One of the 12 equal pieces of the zodiac. Each is 30° wide. The traditional word is rasi.
Tropical zodiac	The zodiac whose starting point is the March equinox. It is tied to the seasons. Western astrology uses it.
Zodiac	The belt of sky that the Sun, Moon and planets travel along.