A Transformational Astrological Conference to celebrate BAVA’s 30th Birthday FREE for Members
Outstanding speakers:
The Principal speaker will be Pandit Sanjay Rath with Pandit Samavedula, Dr Andrew Foss, Dr Arjun Pai, Arvind Singh, Shobha, Ronnie Dreyer, Sarbani Rath, Ramdas Bill Sinclair, Vijaya Subramanian, Keiko Ito, Rajan Pitamber, Komilla Sutton, Sam Geppi and Dr Dennis Harness.
This conference explores the profound and dynamic interplay of the Nava Grahas—celestial intelligences revered as living forces that exert a powerful “grip” on human life. Through the lenses of natal, horary, and mundane astrology, we uncover how these cosmic influences shape our experiences, tendencies, and spiritual evolution.
- The Sun radiates vital life force, embodying authority, power, and the essence of the self.
- The Moon governs the mind, nurturing emotions and generating the ever-shifting landscape of thoughts.
- Mars ignites courage, action, and fearless leadership.
- Mercury inspires intellect, wit, adaptability, and analytical brilliance.
- Jupiter bestows wisdom, divine grace, and the blessings that guide us toward higher knowledge.
- Venus enriches life with beauty, love, luxury, and material pleasures.
- Saturn imposes discipline, structure, and transformative life lessons that foster spiritual growth.
- Rahu fuels ambition and insatiable desires, urging engagement with worldly pursuits while catalysing transformation.
- Ketu represents detachment, karmic insight, and the path toward ultimate liberation.
The influences of the Nava Grahas reveal the unique challenges and lessons each individual must navigate. These celestial forces illuminate the path toward inner balance and spiritual awakening—the symbolic journey to Mount Kailash.
Revered as the “Axis Mundi,” Mount Kailash is believed to be a supreme centre of spiritual energy, radiating profound cosmic vibrations. It is considered a sacred reservoir of yogic wisdom and a powerful nexus connecting global spiritual sites such as Stonehenge and Great Pyramids of Giza. Many regard it as a “spiritual engine of transformation,” capable of elevating consciousness through its subtle, high-frequency energies.
September 17
1pm BST Pandit Sanjay Rath: Sankranti
Every month there is a very important day when the Sun is changing signs. Some people are born on such days and Sankrantis affect all of us due to transits. Sankrantis are used for mundane charts and have a wide influence, each being different. The lecture will take a deep dive into this key event.
2.45pm BST Samavedula: Puja for the Nava Grahas
4.30pm BST Dr Andrew Foss: Karma and Grace, the Path to Kailash
We will look at the numerous strands of karma guiding our path from life to life. This is what we study in astrology. It appears to force us through various experiences but above and beyond this is Grace, which is the only true source of joy and fulfilment. Kailash epitomizes Grace in the midst of all the streams of karma of this world and other worlds. Andrew will talk about his experiences from his recent visit to Mount Kailash as well as some deep insights into Jyotish in the Shiva MahaPurana.
6.15pm BST Dr Arjun Pai: Sukra Beyond Romance: The Hidden Mysteries of Venus in Jyotisa
Most students of astrology associate Sukra (Venus) primarily with love, relationships, beauty, and material comforts. Yet the classical traditions reveal a far deeper dimension of this enigmatic Graha. As the Daitya Guru, Sukra embodies profound wisdom concerning desire, creativity, prosperity, rejuvenation, devotion, and the alchemy of transforming worldly experiences into spiritual growth. Drawing from classical Jyotiṣa, Nakshatra principles, and lesser-known esoteric teachings, this presentation explores the hidden role of Sukra in shaping human values, karmic relationships, artistic expression, and the journey from attraction to higher consciousness. Participants will gain fresh insights into one of the most misunderstood yet transformative forces within the NavaGraha.
September 18
1pm BST Arvind Singh Pancha-Bhuta Tattva: The Elemental Layer of Ashtakavarga
Every bindu in an Ashtakavarga is given by a graha, and the graha that gives it carries an element. Jupiter carries Akāśa. Mars carries Agni. Venus carries Jala. Saturn carries Vayu. Mercury carries Prithvi. When Jupiter gives a bindu to a bhāva, it is Akāśa that enters. When Mars gives one, Agni enters. The bindu is never just a number.
The session walks through how each graha came to signify its element, why the elements ascend in the order they do through the kingdoms of life (herb, bird, reptile, quadruped, and finally the human being who alone holds all five) and how this elemental ordering is already written into the Prastarāṣṭakavarga of every graha. Once this layer is restored to the reading, a bhava is no longer just strong or weak. It has texture.
2.4pm BST Arvind Singh: Why Ashtakavarga May Fail
Practitioners often find that Ashtakavarga calculations, however carefully performed, fail to yield the decisive insight the classical texts promise. They look at the bindus in each bhava of their chart and read the house strong or weak by the count alone. But the natal Ashtakavarga was never meant to be read on its own. The classical system places it against the cosmic Ashtakavarga of the Kala-purusa (we call it supernatural here) and reads the natal pattern as a departure from that cosmic pattern. The meaning of any bhava’s strength is found in how the natal pattern moves against the cosmic one.
Restoring the cosmic overlay, reading the bindus by who gave them, scaling the thresholds graha by graha, and holding the elemental layer through all of it — these together return Ashtakavarga to the system the classical texts describe. The session closes on how this restored reading sharpens the natal chart and opens a clearer view onto the Moksa bhavas.
4.30pm BST Shobha Nagarjuna The Auspiciousness of Saturn. Divine Blessings, Introspection and Transformation.
Shoba will discuss -with suitable examples charts- the auspiciousness of Saturn with respect to its position, aspect, conjunction and exchange in a natal chart along with dasha, transit, moorthy nirnaya and sade sati. Then she will consider some simple important remedies to be considered.
6.15pm BST Ronnie Gale Dryer: Venus Retrograde: From Evening to Morning Star
Venus, the planet of love, beauty, and relationships, will retrograde from October 3-November 13, 2026. What does that mean for the world and for your personal horoscopes? We will explore the upcoming retrograde as it moves closest to the Sun, after which it transforms from an evening to a morning star.
September 19
1pm BST Pandit Sanjay Rath: Rahu Yoga
Rahu is always intense and often difficult to understand. This talk will help us to new realisations about this powerful node and its combinations and influence.
2.45pm BST Sarbani Rath: The D45 chart
How it shows our deep inherited tendencies and past-life connections.
The D45 chart, also known as the Akshavedamsa, is a significant divisional chart in Vedic astrology that reveals the subconscious patterns and paternal inheritance influencing your thoughts, emotions, and reactions. The chart is particularly important for understanding inherited emotional patterns, karmic tendencies, and hidden strengths that may not be visible in the main birth chart (D1). The D45 chart is essential for self-awareness and emotional healing, providing insights that help individuals understand their inner psychological blueprint and the root causes of their internal struggles.
4.30pm BST Bill Sinclair: When the Planets Speak, Mythic Stories That Reveal the Grahas
The Vedic Narratives contain some of the most revealing and sophisticated teachings about the Nine Planets, offering a mythic window into their core personalities, motivations, and relationships. In this session, we will explore how these ancient stories illuminate the deeper nature of each graha and show us how the planets interact, collaborate, and challenge one another within the cosmic order.
Many of these narratives are woven directly into the nakshatras, allowing astrologers to understand not only the planetary archetypes but also the specific degrees of the zodiac that activate particular behaviours, impulses, and karmic patterns. By studying these mythic threads, students gain a richer, more nuanced understanding of planetary expression — one that goes far beyond keywords and into the living psychology of the chart.
We will bring these insights to life by examining the charts of well-known public figures, showing how the mythic qualities of the planets manifest vividly in real lives and real stories. This session is ideal for anyone who wants to deepen their interpretive skill, expand their symbolic vocabulary, and reconnect with the narrative heart of Jyotisha.
I look forward to sharing this exploration with you.
6.15pm BST Vijaya Subrananiam: The Sacred Harmony of Surya and Chandra
The relationship between Surya and Chandra is fundamental to Jyotish, representing the interplay between the soul (atma) and the mind (manas). This presentation explores cases where the Sun and Moon are linked through a common deity shared by an Aditya and a nakshatra deity, revealing a deeper layer of integration in life expression.
September 20
1pm BST Pandit Sanjay Rath: Malika Yoga
Malika Yoga arises when there is a procession of planets across 4 or more signs. It has a powerful impact on the native. This lecture will show some secrets of how to interpret this important Yoga.
2.45pm BST Keiko Ito: Balancing the Inner Cosmos. Lessons from the Five Elements and Their Planetary Mirrors. The lecture will focus on the relationship between Pancha Maha Bhuta (Five Great Elements) and the Pancha Tara Graha (Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn). What can we learn from them and from balancing and purifying those qualities?
4.30pm BST Plenary: The Speakers will discuss the important topics of the day
6.15pm BST Rajan Pitamber: Naam Akshara – What’s in a Name?
“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.” While Shakespeare suggested names are arbitrary, Vedic seers viewed them as carriers of meaning, vibration, and destiny. The story of your soul is hidden within your name!
Within the 12 Rashis are 108 Nakshatra padas, each linked to a sacred syllable—an Akshara— These universal sound vibrations hold clues to our nature, purpose, and bhagya. We shall explore the mystical science of name analysis and how the sounds reveal our personality traits and karmic life patterns. Even without a horoscope, we can gain insight about a person, probe into the past, and peer into the future – just through a person’s name.
September 21
1pm BST Pandit Sanjay Rath: Nuances of Graha Malika. In this talk, the understanding of Malika Yoga will be taken to another level building on the principals taught in the first talk on September 20th.
2.45pm BST Komilla Sutton: Transits of Grahas – the Secret Key Understanding the Transits of the Grahas and then applying them to your life or guiding clients with it, is the secret key to knowing the planets. Following the transits personally is the best gift you can give yourself. Komilla will discuss the transits of the slower-moving planets, Saturn, Jupiter, Rahu, Ketu and then of the faster-moving ones, especially of the Moon. How they impact the quality of your life. Knowing them and applying them to your life will improve the quality. Experience even the hard ones with equanimity and patience.
4.30pm BST Sam Geppi: Hacking the Harmonic Charts
The harmonic charts are some of the most powerful tools in Vedic astrology, but they are also some of the most misunderstood. Many students learn what the Vargas mean, but still struggle with how to actually use them in a real reading.
In this class, Sam Geppi will share practical methods developed over 25 years of full-time chart reading and teaching, showing how to integrate the Rashi chart and harmonic charts in a clear, simple, and elegant way. This class includes practical methods, case studies, and a simple operating procedure for using harmonic charts in real readings.
6.15pm BST Dr Dennis Harness: Kala Sarpa Yoga
Kala Sarpa Yoga is considered one of the most challenging planetary combinations in Jyotish. This lecture will demonstrate how the various types of Kala Sarpa Yoga are formed in the birth chart. Both negative and positive effects of this mysterious yoga will be examined.
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