Who I am in Vedic astrology, and what I do in Jyotisha.

I am Katharine Faris-Strohm, M.A. Ethnomusicology and M.A. Vedic Astrology, a certified Neo-Vedic Astrologer from the University of Vedic Astrology with Joni Patry. I have been interested in astrology since I was nine years old when my mother had astrology books in our home.  I studied Western astrology for thirty years after that, and then switched to Jyotisha, or Vedic astrology,  in 2010.  I also have been a professional Tarot reader since 1989, and I received a certification with the Builders of the Adytum in Los Angeles through their correspondence course.  I also am a Master level Reiki healing practitioner, and received certification in 2014.

I received my Master's degree in Ethnomusicology from Indiana University, Bloomington in 2012.  I have found that Jyotisha, the Science of Light, shares many theories and concepts with music, because they are both frequency based systems.  In ethnomusicology we use music as a lens to view cultures, and in Jyotisha we use the planets as a lens to view a person's life.  As cosmology is considered the "Queen of the Sciences", I found that studying Jyotisha was a natural extension of studying music.