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Tibet, often called the spiritual and physical ‘roof of the world,’ has been the source of great inspiration to Westerners for over two centuries. Part of this attraction may be due to the fact that Tibetan astrology is inextricably bound to Tibetan Buddhism. With few exceptions, the primary practicing astrologers in Tibet have for centuries always been and are today Buddhist monks. The word for astrology in Tibetan is ‘Tsi,’ and astrologers are called Tsi-Pa, those who practice ‘Tsi.’ In Tibet to learn something about astrology is to learn something about the dharma and Buddhism, and usually vice versa. Tibetan Buddhist monks all use astrology.

I found out early on that I could not just skim the astrology off the top of the Tibetan Buddhism. In order to understand Tibetan astrology, I had to learn something about the Buddhist psychology in which it is embedded. I doubt that I am alone in this.

In other words, it is impossible to separate Tibetan astrology from Tibetan Buddhism, so it is important for readers to understand at least something about the Dharma and how it relates to the astrology of Tibet.

Here are several concepts that you may need to better understand this material. To begin, let’s examine what it is to learn any astrological technique, Tibetan or otherwise.