Ketu's Gandanta

It’s time to talk about Ketu: the lunar node who, mythologically speaking, represents the tail of the snake or dragon: with Rahu being the head. The lunar nodes in Vedic Astrology often show where we are encountering our shadows. In transit they will show what area of life might suffer from a lack of clarity, and what we are collectively negotiating in terms of karma.

Rahu and Ketu always sit opposite one another in the Zodiac, being the head and tail or the cosmic serpent, so when one transits sign the other shifts to the sign opposite it in the zodiac. They are getting ready to move on 9/23, but until then Ketu is treading into the gandanta or ‘spiritual’ knot between Scorpio and Sagittarius. The nodes move backwards through the zodiac, which shows us that they don't ascribe to what is ‘normal’ or socially acceptable, and often shun social order. So Ketu has one foot in Sagittarius and will soon have one is Scorpio. Rahu does not have to negotiate a gandanta point, since these are always between fire and water signs and Rahu moves from Gemini (air) to Taurus (earth).

So it is, for now, more important to understand what is going on with Ketu at the moment. As I’ve written previously, the gandanta tend to push us into places our minds can’t make sense of—places where the tendency is to resist reality and guard against what is coming, or what we perceive to be coming. On a mental and physical level the result of this is generally a huge amount of tension held in body and mind, which creates a container that is difficult to inhabit.

The indications of the planet which is in gandanta will give us clues as to the subject matter of the tension or collective holding. Ketu is a tricky planet to analyze this way because he can represent absence. He is the moksha karaka or indicator of final emancipation so at his best he’s not actually interested in being in the world. He is the buddhist working one-pointedly toward non-attachment. In his less exalted state he can be a fundamentalist who is not open to other people’s opinions or views (he is the cause of eclipses, along with Rahu, and can essentially ‘eclipse’ the mind into seeing only one perspective. On the positive side he can not be distracted by ‘worldly’ pursuits and so focus on his meditation). Ketu is interested in the ‘inside’ of things, what is under the surface—the manner in which he achieves his objective varies depending on strength and position and the general disposition of the chart.

There could be some collective ‘knotting’ around what has been and will continue to be taken away (Ketu’s “absence”) as we negotiate the changes we’ve all been attempting to adjust to. It should be noted that technically Ketu has been in gandanta since 7/28, and it will only intensify until he is firmly in Scorpio mid-November.

But the more explicit manifestation of the knot that we’re seeing and have already seen is the fundamentalism, particularly in the United States, which most definitely has us tied in knots. To live in the United States right now is to have no choice but to inhabit a knotted position, as it is almost impossible to occupy a ‘neutral’ position right now. So the practice is to continually notice where you are holding tension—psychologically, emotionally, physically—and to feel into it. There is no need to try to ‘fix it’ or eliminate it, just notice what qualities it is characterized by and go deeper into hat inquiry. There is a lot of information contained in the tension dredged up by gandanta planets. And Ketu, being a psychic planet, would appreciate us all tapping into the subtle sensations available to us through our bodies.

On the other side of the knot—once Ketu reaches Scorpio—his focus will be slightly different. Ketu is at home in Scorpio: the 8th sign of the zodiac—and is more interested in initiation into the depths of experience than in occupying a particular religious or spiritual position. He demands spiritual experience over spiritual ‘beliefs’ in other words, and I imagine we will all be ushered into the depths rapid transformation (Ketu indicates sudden and quick events, sometimes emergencies) which it is hard to imagine from here. That is the trick of gandanta! The mind can’t see it’s way across, which can be like trying to run a race in the dark. It’s anxiety provoking, but it certainly wakes you up. And that, after all, is the point.

Vedic Astrology's Many Methods of Timing

There are a nearly infinite number of ways to understand Time through the system of Vedic Astrology. The ancient appreciation for both very large (millions of years) and very small (‘pranas’: one inhale and one exhale or about 4 seconds) segments of Time has lent Vedic Astrology a dynamism that not many other systems of astrology possess.

The entire Vedic philosophy is contextualized by the yugas, which are four ages of humanity that we continually cycle through and encompass enormous portions of Time—hundreds of thousands of years each. The different qualities of each Yuga sets the stage for what takes place within it. We are (as you may have noticed) in the most degraded Yuga which is marked by an absence of morals and corrupt leadership. That is the background inside which we operate.

Then there is the minutia of time, often measured by breath. The measurement of 4 seconds is called a prana, since it is the amount of time it takes the average person to inhale and exhale once. Within that prana there are also subtle qualities which can be measured, just like the yugas. The predominance of various elements in any given moment can be known by where the breathe hits the skin upon exhale. This can actually be used as a way to answer a question during an astrology consultation. Different elements are associated with ‘yes’ and others with ‘no.’

These measurements of both the qualitative and qualitative aspects of Time form the pole-ends of what is relevant to Vedic Astrology, but the backbone of the system of timing is the Dasha system. Dashas are planetary periods which activate a planet in the chart and highlight everything about its placement in the chart. During a planet’s period (which can last up to 20 years) we basically embody the qualities of that planet, and depending on how that planet is disposed in your natal chart you will embody more positive or more negative aspects of it, and the desires that come from that planet will affect different areas of your life (depending on where it is placed by house and sign.)

For example: someone entering a dasha of the planet Mars will automatically experience themselves as more fiery, driven, active and combative. If it is the dasha of a debilitated Mars then some of these aspects of the planet Mars will come out in a more negative fashion: as passive aggressiveness, internalized anger or just a waste of energy. An exalted Mars, on the other hand, will be able to establish and maintain healthy boundaries, apply assertiveness where necessary and be able to accomplish a lot. The specific placement of the planet will further modify these results.

A moon’s dasha, on the other hand, will tend to bring more emotion and more emotional fluctuations. There are a lot of highs and lows, mirrored by the fullness and thinness of the Moon in its waxing and waning cycles. The individual may feel more sensitive, be focused on home and family. But again, the particular situation of the Moon in the natal chart (among other more nuanced factors) will determine how that dasha plays out for a specific individual.

Knowing the dasha you are currently running—as well as what is on the horizon—is key information in the blueprint of your psyche that is the natal horoscope. The dashas are actually a map of your desires as they play out over time. Understanding which planet is at the root of your current drives and dissatisfactions can do a lot to lend perspective to any given moment. And it makes sense to align with those desires rather than work against them. Someone in a Venus dasha with Venus well posited in their chart would be ill-advised to attempt a vow of celibacy during that time. Better to wait until Ketu’s dasha rolls around, when non-attachment can come more naturally.

The junctures between dashas are called dasha-sandhi and are known to be turbulent times. They mark the end of one chapter of your life and beginning of another. And because the changing of dasha is something like the changing of the guard (The guard being a planet in this case) you might experience your life and yourself in an entirely different way on the other side of any given dasha. It is recommended not to make big life changes right at the end of a dasha, as both desires and external circumstances can shift dramatically once a new dasha begins.

I have seen this dasha-sandhi in operation many times and have just recently experienced it myself: I ended an 18 year Rahu dasha in August, to begin a Jupiter dasha. Even leading up to the end of the dasha it was fascinating to note all of the Jupiter elements that were entering my life (including a cabin, the first I’ve ever lived in, made of wood which is ruled by Jupiter and a helpful sound healing system—Jupiter is connected to sound through space) as well as a fairly dramatic shift internally. Rahu’s dasha tends to bring a host of anxiety and ‘problems’ since he is essentially a head without a body and tends to get wrapped up in worry. Jupiter, on the other hand, rules the space element and a strong Jupiter can give a feeling of ‘good space’ and a sense of being embodied (a stark contrast to Rahu’s dasha).

About a week into Jupiter’s dasha I suddenly got an offer to embark on another deep study in the Vedic Sciences (Jupiter is closely associated with the Vedic Sciences and in my chart directly associated with ‘teachings of the guru’) and move to a different state (Jupiter in my chart is associated with the 12th house of moving far away!). Neither of these things were an option or even on the table before I entered Jupiter’s dasha, so you can see why it would not be wise to make any major life changes right before the end of a dasha.

There are many many many other dasha systems outside of the Vimshottari dasha in the Vedic system which I am using as an example. There are dashas to examine soul-level desires and karma, when curses in a chart will become activated, when health events will be triggered and more. The weaving together of these creates the tapestry that is your life at any given moment—essentially a beautiful entanglement of karmic pushes and pulls that creates the human experience. Using a few dasha systems simultaneously (which not all Astrologers are capable of doing!) is like triangulating your location on a topographical map. One dasha alone may not be enough to adequately locate yourself, but two of three together can get you pretty well oriented.

And it is inside the broader context of these dashas that other elements of the chart can be examined, including transits. Just as the Yugas form the broader context for the state of humanity, dashas form the context for other astrological events and combinations.

Wading into the Rift

The sky is beginning to open up, with the retrograde stalemate finally waning and several planets inhabiting or entering their own sign. August and September may be welcome months after the rough skies that have characterized the majority of this year.

While retrograde planets bring delay and effort, planets in their own sign (the sign that they ‘rule’ in the zodiac: for example Sun rules Leo, Moon rules Cancer, etc) tend to bring comfort. They are in their natural environment and can therefore express their strengths more readily.

Both Jupiter and Saturn have been in their own signs AND retrograde since the end of June, and will remain in those positions (Sagitattius and Capricorn, respectively) until later this fall.. The combined qualities of retrograde and own sign suggest adaptation to delay. The negative side of this could be comfort inside dysfunction, which it could be difficult to pull yourself out of before Jupiter and Saturn go direct. My suggestion is to make an effort to somehow enjoy your circumstances as they are right now (as long as they are not endangering anyone), and get on board with the natural momentum to shift habit patterns come November when you’ll have the sky on your side.

Rahu and Ketu remain exalted in Gemini and Sagittarius, where they are strong to give their results as the planets governing extremes of behavior. Their transit has brought the challenge of locating the ‘middle way’ in an environment that nearly necessitates polarization. I think I’ve written before that now is a great time to be a little bit Buddhist and locate that sliver of ground between warring opposites.

Sun and Mars are on their way to their own signs this month, but must first traverse the tenuous gap of sky called gandanta or the ‘spiritual knot.’ There are three gandanta points in the zodiac and they are all located between fire and water signs. Those elements are considered inimical in the Vedic system, so their meeting places will almost inevitably dredge up some sort of psychological storm—which may also translate into actions.

A planet moving through gandanta is insecure, not only because its body is stitching together the two elements that together create an explosion, but because these points in the zodiac are where the lunar zodiac (called the nakshatra) which shows the mental experience of external events reaches the end of one of its three cycles at the same point that the solar zodiac (12 constellations) is changing signs. This means, essentially, that the mind cannot see its way to the other side of this gap. In every other case a nakshatra will hold two signs together showing the mind’s ability to create some continuity in a situation, but with gandanta it’s as if the ground drops off in front of the planet and it must develop a way to navigate that does not involve psychological certainty.

So, this will be the task in front of us. Mars officially entered gandanta on 8/7 and won’t make it into Aries (from Pisces) until 8/16, which is the same day the Sun moves into his own sign (Leo) from Cancer. Mars won’t find firm footing in Aries until 8/10, when he will pass one degree of Aries, and even then gandanta effects can linger on for another week or so.

The fact that both planets entering gandanta are fire planets suggests that the collective unwinding will be around the indications of this element. Fire is anger, passion, directness and transformation and (speaking more materially) weaponry, war and destruction. Chances are that someone, somewhere is going to lose their temper with this transit.

Once Mars and Sun are rooted in their own signs they can begin to give the gifts that come with a planet in its home: Sun in Leo is a creative placement that is excellent for decision making and leadership. Sun will move into Virgo in mid-September, making the time until then great for planning—particularly creative pursuits or anything related to children. If there has been chaos in your home, now is the time to reign it in and re-build some structure.

Mars in Aries might be a reflection of the season: we are at the tail end of Pitta season and the accumulated heat of long summer days can be felt both in the earth and in our bodies. Aries being the first sign of the zodiac shows the ‘head’ of the body of God which is the zodiac, and suggests a certain ‘hot-headedness.’ This can be beneficial if you’ve been needing to somehow assert yourself and/or begin a new project and become more focused. On the negative sign it can give impulsiveness and anger and a general tendency to mentally overheat. Be friendly with all things cooling this month: seasonal fruits like watermelon help flush heat out of the body which can alleviate some of the psychological pressure that can come with excess heat at the end of summer. We are also approaching cleanse season, and a cleanse is a great way to relieve the body of the burden of excess heat. Here is a link to an online Ayurvedic cleansing option which is gentle and fairly painless.

Mars will be teetering between that gandanta point that straddles Pisces and Aries until the end of December! This lets us know there is something Mars will be attempting to resolve around this particular point of the zodiac. The specific challenge for each individual will depend on their natal horoscope, but if you notice your tension level increasing (and in particular your irritability, frustration, impulsivity and temper) during this time you can employ the #1 strategy to deal with gandanta: spend some time with the physical, psychological and emotional tension you’re holding. Gandanta tends to turn us into giant knots. The process of getting to know the ways in which you might be resisting your own reality—the tightening of that knot— is the best way to begin to gradually let go of some of the ‘holding’ so that the unwinding can begin.

The Obvious Everywhere

We have only a couple of months remaining to extract the lessons of an exalted Rahu in the sign of Gemini! On September 23, Rahu will move backwards into Taurus for the next 1.5 years (the lunar nodes always move in retrograde motion) which is actually another of his signs of exaltation. In Gemini Rahu is exalted for wealth, in Taurus he is exalted for health. Taurus is a sign of nourishment, being symbolized by a pasture and the bull which is associated with milk, Moon gets its exaltation in Taurus because it is the planet of food and nourishment, specifically indicating milk and milk products. Rahu’s time in Taurus will be a good time to prioritize the body’s health and that type of nourishment which we might associate with going home to mom’s kitchen—where we can achieve fullness not only physically but also psychologically and emotionally.

Until then: Rahu continues to whip up a storm in Gemini through an almost unimaginable amount of misinformation and general confusion around communication. But a sub-task of Rahu in Gemini is also to increase addiction and anything that causes numbing. Rahu can act like a stone, absolutely unaffected by any kind of emotional appeal to the point of being almost inert. Rahu in Gemini wants to numb us through the many temptations of larger cities (represented by Gemini) such as bars, gambling, many forms of entertainment and addictions. Rahu is probably doing pretty well on this task at the moment, since due to quarantine many people are self-medicating in various ways.

It is worth investigating why we might retreat to the numbness that Rahu offers: remember he is the head of the cosmic serpent; he is severed from his body and can therefore experience no satiation. His appetite is cerebral and circular: he keeps us running in loops of craving that can never actually be fulfilled. Sounds like fun, right? But the point of the running is to avoid something. Rahu’s other half is Ketu: the body, which is what Rahu’s actions are meant to in some way avoid. The body is the home of the subtle intelligence and feeling capacity that makes us human. Without the map provided by feeling and sensation we can become so completely lost that the temptations of Rahu to remain in the mind can become very convincing. This is dangerous territory, since it is one thing to know you’re off balance and determine to get back on track but an entirely different ball game to be off balance and think it is good for you.

And I would say we are treading into that dangerous disembodied territory, if not already fully immersed in it. The cumulative effect of so much Rahu i.e. so much forgetting and dissociation from self and reality is that it is difficult to see how severe the problem really is. The illusion is so thick that we do not see the extent of the disturbance. And at this point it might be suicide to suddenly feel the devastation of the present historical moment through the lens of a culturally intact ancestor, for example. The blow is softened by the fact that we don’t even realize how much has been lost: culturally, spiritually, morally, and even in terms of overall vitality and ability to contribute to Life.

This Rahu energy has been building for generations, as the building of more and more big cities strengthens the sign of Gemini, the planet which is exalted there-Rahu-is also strengthened. It is not just the accumulated numbness of our own lifetime and generation we are dealing with, but a backlog of numbing handed down to us by traumatized generations preceding us (Rahu also is the indicator of trauma). It all ends in devastation if we are not able to touch the unconsciousness of Rahu with the consciousness of Ketu, or the body (Ketu) with the mind (Rahu).

In short, what I’m suggesting is that the avoidance techniques we might be employing right now go beyond our wanting to avoid ourselves. Because the entire world is in turmoil and we are (for the most part) collectively attempting to avoid the elephant in the room which is: the systems we have in place, our collective foundations are dysfunctional and unsustainable and we cannot with any conscience go on like this—whatever your routine around avoidance might be may also be an attempt to avoid a gigantic backlog of undigested emotion and experience which is the cultural lacunae we are all suffering under. Rahu represents the obvious obstacle that no one can actually see—he shows that type of confusion, where the problem is everywhere but you have adapted to it so don’t necessarily notice it.

Navigating the confusion, numbness and forgetting invoked by Rahu is an incredibly delicate task, as anyone who works with trauma knows. As I said, the next couple of months give us an opportunity to attempt to work consciously with this energy before Rahu moves into Taurus, giving a different focus.

Admittedly, this is some of my least favorite territory. Rahu asks us to wade into our own density: the places where we feel nothing or feel only an unsavory weight and resistance, or a feeling of a ‘stuckness’ that will not abate. I am much more interested in subtlety of feeling and the intuition available in micro-sensations—this is Ketu’s territory. But in order to alchemically join Rahu and Ketu (which is the mythological task) we cannot ignore the dense, heavy, ‘gross’ sensations either. That would be the ‘spiritual bypassing’ which none of us can afford right now. Abiding with the sticky, heavy, numb places requires patience and commitment and is the true test of spiritual practices: where the rubber hits the road, so to speak.

Because there is so much stuck energy in this places of numbness and density, they are also incredible sources of the type of potential energy which can completely transform the landscape of life. There are pockets of this in wait everywhere, which gives me hope for the future of humanity. We can see it already waking up inside the Black Lives Matter movement, where what was hidden to the majority is being exposed and mobilizing a tremendous amount of latent energy.

What we are working with is the blind spots: personal and collective. We are inside one collectively, but we are all each also very likely navigating our own blind spots as well. This is such a critical part of the ‘waking up’ that it would be a mistake to pass it by without getting our hands dirty.

To work here, I recommend becoming a little bit suspicious of yourself—particularly the places where you are ‘certain.’ Imagine that you are navigating at night: in order to chart a successful course and avoid potential dangers you must move slowly and remain constantly alert to what’s going on in your periphery. Your vision is equally attuned to what you can and cannot see. There is an implicit assumption that you are somewhat blind in this type of environment. So translate that to your waking life and assume that you are just as blind.

Try not to stub any toes!

Elements at Birth

The natal birth chart is the map of the sky at the moment of an individual’s birth, fixed to the horizon by the specific place the birth occurred. I always like to return, in my mind, to the fact that it is a specific location on earth which tethers the ascendant of a horoscope—showing which stars are ‘rising’ on the eastern horizon at birth. Even if we move from our place of birth we are wedded to it always in the way it determined the layout of our horoscope, fixing us to a specific set of personality traits, inclinations and quality of intelligence based on the rising sign.

Sometimes features of the landscape or weather at a birth can show up in a divisional chart called the Navamsha, or D-9 which shows a deeper level of the individual. For example, I was born across the street from a very large lake called Lake Mendota in Madison, Wisconsin. I have the Moon (a water planet, which can signify lakes and rivers) placed in the rising sign of this Navamsha chart, showing that I came in with that body of water somehow imprinted on me.

Nikola Tessla was born during an electric storm, a fact which can actually be used to rectify his birth time since it requires a specific combination of planets in specific places in the Navamsha chart. It is this same combination of planets that, later in life, gave him the ability to work with and famously develop electricity.

The environmental context at birth attaches to us in other ways, also. The presence or absence of the father and the overall quality of light at the moment of birth will be indicated by the strength of the sun in the navamsha, which will have other effects later in life. You can imagine that a traumatic birth is also inscribed into the chart in such a way that the individual will carry that trauma with them throughout their life, unless it is actively addressed.

And birth circumstances are no accident. The karma we come in with needs a particular context in which to manifest, You can imagine that the sky and the earth wait for the right circumstances—the right star configuration, the right weather pattern and place— to bring each and every soul in so that they can properly work (and be worked by) their karma. So it’s really not just the people in the room during our delivery that are present for the birth: all of Nature is watching as well, and some of the prominent features of that Nature will be carried through the life, manifesting in all sorts of unexamined ways.

Nikola Tessla was one example of the way that a lightning storm can turn into facility working with electricity. A strong Moon in the rising sign of the Navamsha (which may also indicate that there was a storm or lots of water around at birth) can bestow singing ability. When people with pleasing voices sing we may be enjoying an echo of the water that was present at their birth.

Not only astrologically, but ayurvedically also, the elements we are born into infuse our constitution with their qualities. Those born into a cold, wet climate will carry more kapha (earth and water) in their bodies, while the dry desert will lend more pitta (fire and water) and Vata (air and ether) to a body. And ancestry is a factor as well, with different cultural groups deriving their shared constitutional tendencies from the place(s) they called home, historically.

This is why the ‘one size fits all’ diet, lifestyle and even spiritual practice does not work. What is helpful for one person can be extremely destructive for another, and even what is helpful at one time in a person’s life can be destructive later on, depending on age, climate, lifestyle and more. Navigating toward health, we can see, requires quite a bit of attention. AND what is helpful to one person with a certain approach can be destructive with a very subtle change in approach the next day. A good example is a yoga practice approached with a desire to enjoy the movement and breath-body connection vs. a practice approached masochistically as some kind of punishment. The effects will be completely different.

Health is found by aligning with your own nature which shows up in the natal horoscope as a map of tendencies, desires, strengths and vulnerabilities and in your constitution in different factors that bring you into or out of balance. Space has to somehow be made for all of it, or there will be neuroses and (maybe worse:) a fundamental sense of being lost.

There is an indigenous belief that if one is sick, they need to return to the place of their birth for rejuvenation. The place that they entered the world is the source of some deep cellular memory which is linked to health. There may be many ways to return home, though I’m not sure any of them can really be a replacement to setting foot on the physical ground of one’s birth.

On a daily basis, tuning into your inner ecology and what it might be asking of you is a good start to getting home. Dropping the habits that keep you off balance, and developing an unflinching honesty with yourself are other ways you can close the gap between the current version of yourself and your inborn nature. It’s heartbreaking to think that we can spend most of our lives estranged from ourselves, wandering in various halls of illusion about who or what we ‘should be’ and completely ignoring who we actually are, which is always a gift.

It’s generally easier to align with yourself when your physical constitution is in balance. I recommend checking out the Ayurvedic guidelines of the season. There’s probably no better way to get yourself out of whack than eating consistently out of season and against the recommendations for your dosha, period of life, habitat and lifestyle. Once you’re balanced physically you can work on more subtle levels toward balance.

The Medicine of the Moment

This seems like an appropriate moment to talk about setbacks, obstacles, enemies and disturbance. With the planet of obstacles and disturbances—Rahu—being exalted in the sky (since March of 2019) we are all no doubt becoming familiar with the amount of flexibility required to adapt to thwarted plans, and also the toll it can take emotionally and psychologically.

At some point I think we will have collectively encountered enough disturbance to be interested in an altogether different approach to time and experience—one that is less concerned with accomplishing aims and more interested in being educated by circumstance. This seems to require a wide-angle lens on life, which I think astrology does a pretty good job of offering. The mythologies surrounding the planets, in particular, are hugely helpful in granting context to personal setbacks.

The best way of describing the benefits of agitation may be seen through the alchemical story of the Churning of the Cosmic Ocean, from which the Soma or nectar of immortality was mythologically extracted. This story shows up in many different traditions, with variations in names and nuance.

In the Vedic story, Rahu and Ketu (the lunar nodes in astrology) form mythological snake whose body was wrapped around the tip of a mountain and pulled on each end by the devas (gods) and asuras (demons) in order to agitate the ocean so that it might produce this coveted nectar. The whole process is much like the old fashioned way of churning butter, or making fire with a spindle and fire board. In both cases friction and disturbance are necessary to produce the birth of something new.

As concerned as we might be with the idea of a Nectar of Immortality (i.e. the end result of the efforts) we might not normally consider how the rope used to turn the spindle feels during this process, or the experience of the Ocean itself, as its being disturbed through the continual spinning of the mountain inside its waters. Most processes in nature which produce a ‘desirable’ outcome are uncomfortable for the elements of nature involved. Think of the intense pressure and time required to form a diamond, for example, or the energy that must be put forth for a seed to burst open underground to produce a sprout. That seed opens into its own death so that it might eventually produce something which feeds life. This is a reminder of why a culture focused on comfort is almost automatically antithetical to life.

If we consider disturbance inside this larger context of Nature’s aims, we might be able to relax into our own process and wonder into what Nature might be making of us.

Even this agitation that we’re all confronting on a large scale may have a larger intended aim. Being agitated is by nature confusing, that is the point. it’s okay to be confused right now, and disturbed. If you can allow yourself that you might be able to get inside the flavor and texture of the moment enough to let it teach you something. From the perspective of Nature you are one small component of a much larger process with aims that are unknowable even to the human imagination.

I think what I’m attempting to get at with the help of the mythology is that although disturbance, setbacks and even enemies may appear to be categorically ‘bad',’ at some point we have to ask: “from whose perspective?”

Maybe our aims were misguided in the first place and they should have been thwarted. Maybe the clearly inauspicious omens of all hell breaking loose on a world-wide scale are letting us know in a not-so-gentle way that we we’ve been moving in the wrong direction. And we can see that such loud warnings were actually required because even still it looks as though we will, as soon as possible, proceed with business as usual as long as we can get away with it.

It’s hard for me to see any part of astrology (or life, for that matter) in terms of good and bad. So even a planet like Rahu, who has been demonized even within the Vedic system is a shadowy teacher. And in fact, Rahu and Ketu are the mythological snake which is related to the Dragon which is Her in many of the old stories. They can be considered the body of the goddess, who has historically been demonized as a way to undercut her power. If we experience the workings of this dragon-snake as disturbance, it may be because we are now at odds with her intentions which always have to do with ensuring that the heart of Nature (which is also the Soma) can go on living.

Because Rahu and Ketu are both in exaltation right now, we could surmise that this historical moment is a ‘win’ from the larger perspective of nature and the deities in the sky, who are interested in making some large-scale medicine. Whenever a dragon is exalted—as you can imagine—it is best to get out of the way and let her go to work and allow yourself to be churned. At various moments you may be the head or tail of the snake, the mountain being spun or the ocean itself in full-blown agitation. Eventually you may also be the nectar.

In terms of practical advice regarding how to step into the churning, the story again advises: Rahu and Ketu represent extremes of the mind, with Rahu being excessive attachment and desire and Ketu being non-attachment and liberation. In the astrological chart they pull us between mental/emotional extremes—they are the lunar nodes after all, and affect us primarily on a mental/emotional level (moon being the indicator for mind in the chart).

The medicine is actually made in the place where the two meet: the middle ground, so to speak, which translates fairly well to the '“middle path” of Buddhism. The basic idea, as far as I can tell, with the Buddhist approach is to witness the internal field of experience without either attachment or aversion. Eventually this can draw you into the resting place between extremes where you are actually inside the body of life, expertly riding its currents without being consumed by its diversions (anyone who has been here can attest to the fact that this experience itself tastes like Soma; is deeply nourishing).

This objective perspective can allow obstacles and setbacks in an entirely new light: as messenger of Nature herself, carrying critical information which will be completely missed if met with aversion.

The Story Behind the Story

One of the most striking features of this particular historical moment is the astounding difficulty in figuring out what in the hell is actually going on. The number of simultaneous and conflicting narratives pulling for our attention is probably more than any one person can sift through without being plunged into existential despair or some form of nihilism. This is mirrored in the conjunction of Rahu (the planet of disturbance) and Mercury (the planet of communication and information). Rahu essentially eclipses, or darkens any planet he conjoins and he happens to be exalted in the sign of Gemini, so his ability to do so is very strong. Rahu in Gemini alone can have this effect, but the conjunction with mercury since the end of May has intensified the issue. While Mercury will move on from Gemini the first week of August, Rahu will remain until the end of September. Perhaps clarity will not require such an elaborate treasure-hunt after that time.

This is where all that talk about the importance of stories comes in. You can see the very tangible effects of any one story-line: the virus is perhaps the most obvious—it being considered a world-wide threat to health turned us all into mask-wearing-compulsive-hand-washer-hermits almost overnight. The impact of this story line is seen in stark relief when we see that even Dr. Anthony Fauci is now downgrading the threat and saying that the impacts of the virus may be “ akin to those of a severe seasonal influenza.” The world has been turned upside down as a result of this story, however accurate it may or may not be.

With Rahu exalted the collective tendency toward panic and anxiety is particularly high, making us susceptible to fear-provoking narratives. What we are suffering is essentially a collective disturbance of prana. That being said, I don’t think the goal is necessarily to exist in a perpetual state of equilibrium, particularly when that ‘sense of peace’ requires some serious denial of reality as it is i.e. the outsourcing of discomfort to subjugated segments of the population and/or your consciousness. Right now is actually an excellent time to be disturbed, as the planet of disturbance in exaltation in the sky reflects. If you are not disturbed you are numb (another effect of Rahu) which in my book is the worst possible outcome: numbness being a sort of living death.

A story-line that’s come under fire is the one that says that police and people in power will always protect those that need protecting, and that we are all somehow on equal playing-ground regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, physical ability and appearance i.e. that humans have somehow moved beyond bias. Bias is absolutely impossible to escape as long as we each have personal histories that cause us to see the world in certain patterns. We can certainly begin to pry our predilections open a bit with some concerted effort, but to be human is to fall into certain unavoidable patterns of thought and behavior. Rather than imagine these don’t exist, it’s best to factor them in and assume that our one story is incomplete and do our best to expand it. From an astrological perspective this can be seen from the way in which the zodiac is considered the body of God, and we all enter into that body from a slightly different angle (rising sign) and with different patterns of attention (placement and strength of planets) which lead to different philosophies and beliefs.

Jupiter is the story-teller of the zodiac, and Sagittarius is the place where that story is told, generally by a teacher or guide of some sort for whom the story is not just bits of undigested information, but fully assimilated living wisdom. In deeper history, knowledge was transmitted through oral teaching, and even the gigantic storehouse of information that is the Vedas (from which the Vedic Sciences such as Vedic Astrology, Ayurveda and Yoga derive) was probably passed down from teacher to student for thousands of years before it was eventually written down. And the story goes that the decision to put it on paper came with Kali Yuga—the ‘dark age’ of human kind which began around the birth of Christ—when it became obvious that the ability to hold such subtle wisdom through spoken word only would be threatened by the coming moral decline, spiritual darkness, forgetfulness and the blindness that would cloud our ability to prioritize what actually matters i.e. the deeper truths. This larger context of which ‘age’ we’re in is important to consider, since it’s been predicted for millennia that this Kali Yuga would bring a lack of morals and overall disintegration of human integrity which we are seeing realized in many ways. Just a statement that lives that have been marginalized ‘matter’ is considered controversial, for example.

For some more context: Jupiter is retrograde and debilitated—AND severely afflicted by three malefic planets at the moment. The planet that holds reality together through the web of story—the fascia of the zodiac— is fighting for its survival. This is also the planet that rules the element of space or Akash/ether. And you can see how the disturbance and confusion around what’s going on alters the collective space we inhabit. If there’s one thing we are all sharing it’s tension; for most people this moment does not feel particularly spacious.

But this is not necessarily bad news. This may mean that the ‘truth’ is elusive and we must dig deep to find the subterranean river that is a story which can quench our thirst for understanding and help guide us forward. But something about the effort required in this quest means that we may uncover deeper truths in the process, which were waiting just below the surface of things. Despite the heart-breaking difficulty of what we’ve seen exposed around race-relations in America, there is something relieving, I think, in seeing one’s own false stories eroded by the constant onslaught of undeniable reality. What we are walking into is one or many collective lacunae—the blindspots we have all habitually avoided through any means necessary without even realizing that’s what we’re doing. Lacunae are extremely capable of causing us to ‘check-out’—through denial or avoidance or any form of unconsciousness. These parts of collective and personal history were blocked out and shoved into the cellar of unconsciousness for a reason: they were too painful to face. So their resurfacing can be extremely unpleasant.

It’s relevant that Jupiter is debilitated in the sign of Capricorn because he is concerned with purity. Capricorn is anything but pure—being the burial ground of the zodiac and the place of left-handed tantra—and Jupiter is a little uneasy, to say the least, in such an environment. But there can be no question that Jupiter’s walkabout to the darker side of life and his mingling with the ghosts in the closet will enrich his capacity—spiritual and otherwise—to hold the difficult elements of the human experience. I think this is a pertinent message for white people the world over who might feel destabilized by the understanding that the stories they held to be true about the world they are living in were by and large hugely incomplete. Everyone is strengthened when the unconscious parts of a shared reality are brought to light.

Jupiter’s retrogradation will actually serve to create a reversal wherein—after much effort—he becomes exalted. This means there can be a huge payoff for the dedication to bringing to the surface deeply buried inequalities and injustices which we see as a shift in the “dominant narrative” circulating through our country and culture. Jupiter in exaltation is extremely expansive, so we can expect that whatever contraction we may be feeling now—in our lives and in the world—will eventually create more space and a more expansive story line in the future, provided we do the hard work of rooting out the collective ghosts. And it must be kept in mind that any ‘truth’ which emerges will still have to go through the wringer of Rahu/Mercury twisting facts and obscuring reality.

So the work right now is complex. To actually get a good handle on what is going on requires incorporating the context not only of who you are, but where you are, when you are and who/where/when everyone else is now and hundreds of thousands of years into history and the interaction between all those who/when/wheres. Cultural lacunae doesn’t allow for this more comprehensive understanding that the seeds of the patterns we’re enmeshed in now were planted long ago in the form of stories lines. Good that we are at least beginning to wake up. Be open to your own un-doing! That is what you came here for.

Navigating Tense Times

Have you noticed that life seems to be increasingly difficult to navigate? First there was the world-wide outbreak of a still little-understood virus which has required all sorts of measures around cleanliness and protection to be put in place so that even a trip to the grocery store can become a stressful event. Now there is the surfacing of racial inequality that is—as we speak—shifting everyone’s dynamic with others, or should be. So in stepping outside of one's home one has the complicated task of navigating a world that seems incredibly confusing and increasingly tense.

It might be worthwhile to take a step back here and view the whole morass of social, physical and economic upheaval as a whole in terms of its effect. I have often had the feeling that I am walking through a world that is booby trapped, as there are so many hoops and hand washings and authority figures to be weary of that it is as if we must constantly be on guard. I think there is something else going on here, judging from the astrology of the moment. The new shapes we must take and patterns we are in some ways forced to create may point to a deeper unfolding.

We are in a liminal space, collectively. I’ve written about the change of epochs taking place, sandwiching us between the last 200 year cycle and the one that is arriving. A chunk of time like that requires quite the guard-change, so it is no surprise that we find ourselves in chaos.

Liminal space is a space between. They are tight spaces in other words—much like the one we’re navigating— where you might be forced into new patterns and faced with stressful tasks. I’ve written about certain landscapes taking the shape of liminality (you can find the published article here) and in those places, if we are listening, both the opportunity and the danger are palpable. The opportunity is in the fact that old ways or systems no longer have the hold on us that they once did, there being a bit of distance between ourselves and enmeshment in the world we’re moving away from. The danger is in stalling in this liminal world which is not a place to live perpetually, but a transition zone. It is the temporal equivalent of a rite of passage, where initiates are stripped of their former life and prepared for a new world full of social and spiritual responsibility and participation. You can see the extreme cases of getting stuck in liminal zones with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses that if held properly can actually be the unfolding of a process of awakening. If the cultural context is not conducive to radical psychological changes such as the ones instigated in the powerful visions and experiences of someone experiencing the kundalini awakening that in our culture is mistaken for schizophrenia, then the individual may not escape that liminal zone which was originally intended to be temporary.

And maybe you can see how we could all go a little insane right now. It is imperative that there be a story line that can hold the dramatic changes we’re seeing in our world and experiencing personally in our life. If the story we subscribe to is that this is some sort of nightmare that we hope will end soon then we will take the stance of ‘waiting it out’ and find our personal life disintegrating in the increasing amount of tension we hold in resistance to the reality of the situation. If, on the other hand, we can cultivate a story that sees a purpose behind all of the upheaval unfolding, however gruesome and damaging it may be, then we can allow this period of time to lead us to a fundamentally new place, as all good stories do.

My suggestion is to do everything you can to get on the side of change. Be vigilant about your own patterns and the opportunities that present themselves to make substantial shifts: these may come in the form of seeds that you could almost miss if you’re not paying attention, but may contain an entire system of new life inside them with some sustained attention. Also be careful with who you surround yourself with and what they are spewing, so to speak, in terms of personal opinions about all that’s going on.

There is also something to be said for making space for everything that shows up on your (physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual) doorstep. Notice where there is resistance and spend some time with it. I would say that the way to ‘stall’ here is to become so tense and contracted that all forward movement ceases. Beware of the ways you are consistently resisting reality and inquire into what that’s about. Welcome your own difficult emotions so that you can create some space for your own experience. It’s a fascinating moment in history and it would be a shame to let it go to waste. If you are feeling stuck, know that there is something wanting to move in you and be gentle in attempting to invite it in.

And know that everyone and everything (including Time itself and babies in their entrance into the world) goes through cycles of expansion and contraction. This is a contracted moment, with a huge amount of potential to create eventual expansion.

Ayurveda and Individual Medicine

Vedic Astrology comes from a very fertile root from which other “sister sciences” were also born and bred. The more familiar of these are Yoga and Ayurveda. Traditionally they would all be practiced together: an astrologer would be thoroughly trained in Ayurveda and vice versa and would understand the techniques and aims of Yoga (which do not include, by the way, looking good in yoga pants). Rooted in this way of practicing is the understanding that an individual’s life and health have to be looked at holistically: the stars have an impact on our experience, as do diet and routine and environment. The individual’s birth stars will actually influence what diet and routine and environment are chosen, but these factors still need to be addressed. And similarly, lifestyle choices will have a reverberating effect on how the planets are acting in the chart: certain tastes, foods and colors will either strengthen or pacify the planets. So you can see that there are many angles of experience to consider and address when looking at just one life. .

Ayurveda is based on qualities: soft, hard, mobile, light, dull, heavy, etc. These qualities-taken together-define our experience. We can actually begin to treat ourselves when we become conscious of what qualities we’re carrying at any given time, how those qualities are influenced by the food we eat, the season, our environment, age and emotional state. Spring is a season that holds a lot of water, so is considered kapha (a constitution built in earth and water). There can be a tendency to feel heavy and dull, particularly if you already have a lot of water and earth in your constitution. If you are feeling this way you can take steps to introduce opposing qualities: mobility, warmth and lightness all counteract an overload of kapha. These can be brought into your life through food, physical activity or even a shift in mental/emotional approach.

Sometimes I will take stock of my internal state in the morning and make a point to choose an approach to the day that introduces an opposing quality. If I wake up feeling dull and heavy I can let that observation influence how I conduct the rest of my day. I know that I will need to move my body, introduce some inspiration into my situation, and maybe eat some lighter foods. I may even choose energizing colors like bright orange, pink and yellow.

If you wake up in such a way and don’t take notice you are likely to ‘add like to like’ and perpetuate whatever mood you’re in. You may eat a heavy breakfast for comfort, skip the meditation or yoga, wear dark colors and be sedentary—leading to the high possibility of waking up the same way the next morning. And actually if this persists for a long period of time you might think this is who are you. That’s how personalities, addictions and mental illness is born.

Our awareness alone is quite powerful for transforming our experience. Just noticing what state we’re in already brings some medicine to the situation, allowing us to not take our current state too seriously. And then if you have some knowledge of Ayurveda and your constitution you can make very intelligent decisions about how to balance your own situation. Not only can this bring peace and an ability to function more effectively in the world, but it connects you very elegantly with the cycles of nature. You can begin to feel the effects of the weather and changing of seasons on your internal state, and in adjusting your routine to those environmental factors you are actually aligning yourself with nature’s intelligence.

The birth chart is a powerful tool to see inborn constitution and the ways it is likely to become imbalanced (and the time-line for the various imbalances), what foods should be avoided and which are helpful in building strength and resilience, how the immune system and various tissue layers are functioning as well as mental health and any blockages to it. This is all part of the birth karma. It can be particularly fascinating to start to work inside your own karmic patterns with your eyes open, gently shifting negative tendencies alongside remedial measures to make your way back to your own nature!

Divisions, Decision: Dynamics of Consciousness

The current configurations in the sky are challenging, that is for certain. But as I witness the upheaval around the globe, what is more concerning to me than the transits is the divisiveness that seems to be showing itself not only in the country I call home, but seemingly everywhere. The ‘challenge zone’ that the sky is pushing us into, collectively, is not necessarily creating a polarization but revealing the divisions that have been present for some time.

I always like to take an observation of an external phenomenon and investigate it internally, in an attempt to draw parallels between the macrocosm and the microcosm. On an individual level, you may notice that the pressure of the global situation may have amplified pre-existing difficulties in your own life. if there were bad habits or addictions, you may feel pushed to reach for the substances that can bring a small amount of comfort in an uncertain time. If your relationships were already tense, that difficulty may be more acutely felt. At the same time, you may have noticed pockets of opportunity to change something or begin something you’ve been contemplating for a while, perhaps a new drive to be your best.

It can be dizzying, this type of internal division between the part of you that wants to rise to the occasion and the one that just cannot seem to get on board and remains stuck in the muck of self-defeating patterns. These internal pushes and pulls exist always, but can be heightened in times of stress. It would be normal to be up and down and ‘on track’ one day and ‘off the bandwagon’ the next. This is a process of deep reorientation and we are all trying to find our way in uncharted territory.

The mystifying dynamics of the conscious and unconscious mind can do a lot to explain these internal divisions which are also manifesting outwardly in a populace that seems increasingly at odds with one another (sometimes violently so). This is a topic very relevant to the study of astrology, since the outcome of both positive and negative configurations of planets in a given chart will depend, in large part, on the degree of consciousness brought to their manifestations. Difficult placements in the chart of someone who is fairly ‘awake’ can serve to only further progress them on the spiritual path, whereas for someone who has never had a self-reflective moment in their life (i’m thinking of one very public person in particular, who happens to have been born on an eclipse) they are sure to be under the complete control of those planetary placements and will manifest their most negative forms. Distance from the grip of the planets (in Vedic terms they are called ‘grahas’ which literally means ‘graspers’) only comes with an ability to step back from the immediacy of a situation in order to observe its patterns, something that psychologists have made their profession.

Freud was one of the first to get serious about the unconscious, which he surmised was the driving force of neuroses and compulsions of all kinds: those habits you seem completely unable to control despite your better knowing, as well as personality traits and tendencies that you may be completely unaware of, so absorbed in them you are. The process of therapy is meant to bring to light these hidden contents so that the individual can live an integrated and creative life, not completely driven by unconscious desires and external conditioning..

When an integration of these ignored contents of the mind and emotions is not attempted then the unconscious will continually assert itself at the most inopportune moments and through such means as addiction, compulsion, health issues, difficult relationships, etc. Basically: the more the unconscious is ignored, the stronger it becomes and the more an individual—and a society—will be at the complete mercy of their horoscope as well as the sky of the moment which I often speak of in terms of transits.

If a society or culture is carrying a large amount of undigested history then there can be a similar phenomenon wherein its members are pushed either into ‘waking up’ or a full descent into their unconscious conditioning. As you can imagine, this creates a necessary division in the populace and discord is likely. It should also be noted that the more historical baggage a society has, the more alluring unconsciousness will be—in the same that an individual with a history of trauma is much more susceptible to addiction than someone who has a healthy past.

I see this moment astrologically as a door swinging open: a hinge-point in time between epochs (which I’ve discussed here), giving us the opportunity to walk through and begin to move in a different direction, or remain stuck in place. It is interesting that at these threshold moments a choice has to be made, one way or the other. There is not much room for ambiguity. And we’re seeing that reflected in some cultural dynamics which seem to divide this country in half.. And it’s true that although ambiguity can provide a type of creative fertility, allowing us the ability to hold more than one possibility as potentially true, there are also defining moments that require us to act in a clear direction. One can think of certain historical moments when victories for humanity were won: the end of slavery, women’s right to vote, the end of Nazi Germany. You can also probably think of moments in your own life when to hesitate and wallow in uncertainty could have proved unproductive at best and fatal at worst.

So the tendency may be to become divided, in one way or another, but the sky is actually wanting us to become decisive: in other words to get clear about our priories and what drives us and on which side of the open door we will stand i.e. are you moving toward waking up or going into an even deeper sleep?

This is a time to approach everything like a Buddhist-natural historian, if you can imagine such a person: pay attention to patterns, stay awake to everything taking place around you and inside you but remain as objective as possible, staying firmly in the position of ‘witnesser’ to the experience instead of getting trapped by it. It might help to take notes, make sketches and do some research. Staying educated is critical. You may also begin to notice and get curious about any indecisiveness you may be experiencing, or a difficulty in making decisions (even if they seem like small, insignificant decisions).

Important note: this is delicate territory, being that true decisiveness and allegiance to moral integrity can become easily confused with the type of certainty which is actual a result of cultural conditioning. This second type of ‘certainty’ is often violent, unthinking and unwilling to examine itself. It can get murky in there, so best to dedicate some attention to being completely honest with yourself about where you stand on various matters—it will help in charting a course.

The Astrology of Transitions

What can be learned from the sky about how to navigate this tenuous time? The crisis was written in the stars and has been prophesied in a number of traditions: in some cases with extreme accuracy. This suggests that it is not a mistake: we are meant to be right where we are, watching a broken system labor in its attempts to hang on to its inherent dysfunction.

The transits in the sky, if read correctly, are forms of communication. The entire practice of astrology is one of decoding these planetary positions to understand their impact and what they are asking of us. There is an undeniable message from the sky at this time that the way of life that has been in operation for the past 200 years has been fundamentally disrupted in such a way that it is not a viable option for moving forward. We will have to collectively disassemble the system that we inherited, using our innate human creativity to figure out a different way. If we resist this change or attempt to build on top of a broken system I am quite sure we will see more catastrophe.

We are being asked to change, and each of us must be digested by the mind of this crisis so that we might come out on the other side a contributing part of an evolving society. In this overhaul of life as we know it there is a chance to create a culture worth living in and for. Up to now we’ve been entangled in an overarching system that is incredibly destructive to nature, hypnotized by material and financial gain and with no real collective goal other than to be comfortable. In the words of one of my teachers: “comfort facilitates dysfunction,” so that may not be the best goal to be striving for. This is not to say there has not been some beauty, also, in that system—but those granules of beauty are forced to struggle for survival.

There are several principles embedded in the system of Vedic Astrology that can help us navigate this time, and ANY time of intense change. One is gandanta: the transition wherein planets move from a water sign into a fire sign. These elements, being naturally inimical invariably cause some sort of internal explosion and tension. Navigating the divergent qualities of fire and water is similar to moving through the change of epoch we are currently experiencing (and written about in detail here). We are entering a new landscape, but still in the very early stages when the tendency is to cling to old ways. Essentially, we lean back into what has historically been comfortable, even if it has also been limiting. This is a completely natural human tendency which is rooted in the habit patterns we’ve created individually over a lifetime, and culturally over generations. Rewiring a habit pattern is no easy task, and cannot be successfully approached only superficially through the use of willpower or other forcible measures. It requires awareness, sensitivity, and ability to listen. Only through deep listening can we know how to respond. There is a way to effectively straddle fire and water, or any apparently opposite elements of life, and a tremendous amount of strength and spiritual maturity can be acquired in doing so. In an attempt to help build the collective muscle for positively engaging and releasing habit patterns and building some healthy coping skills I’ll be offering a meditation course. This will be similar to previous ones I’ve taught, but without the astrological component.

Another astrological principle that can help here is the is the archetypal nature of the planets, which basically mandates that something about their house and sign placement is fulfilled through our lives. The planets operate almost on the level of instinct, and we all know how well things go when we try to subvert or ignore a basic human instinct.

If we can understand what their energy at any given time is asking of us then we can generally chose to incorporate it consciously, instead of being pushed around unconsciously by the impulses generated by the planets. I think I’ve given the example previously about mars moving into someone’s 7th house of relationship. Mars is too aggressive and fiery for the house of relationship, generally bringing arguments. But if it is known that Mars will be moving here then we can decide to take a martial arts class with our partner.

In the context of the crisis we can begin by understanding the archetypal nature of the sign Capricorn—which can be known through its planetary rulership, elemental and moveable nature, mythologies, assigned gender and more—and the heavy-hitter planets currently involved in this dramatic transit: Saturn and Jupiter. That is a big subject, which will be addressed in an upcoming eight week course called The Astrology of Transitions which aims to equip participants with an astrological map to chart a course through this difficult terrain.

And then of course there is the topic of offering, prayer and donation which is another way to deal with difficult planetary energies, as well as a way to begin a reciprocal relationship to the “more-than-human” realm of presences of which the sky is only one of many. I see this is as the organic growth from 1. becoming familiar with and comfortable in the ‘gandanta’ space mentioned above, wherein the mind is capable of relaxing into the physical body even in very stressful situations, and 2. starting a conversation with archetypal energies such as the planets. When we finally approach to make the offering, we can know where to make the offering and can also be fully present to the way our bodies and minds are wired to engage in just such a ritual.

The Story of Now

The word for star in Sanskrit is ‘tara’ which also means ‘a bridge.’ The stars are the bridge between human kind and the deities. One could say they are actually the deities themselves, who generously provide us a sky map through their configurations which astrologers have been decoding for millennia.

The stars occupy a liminal space between earth and everything that is out of visible sight to our sky: the rest of the universe. It is no wonder that throughout human history these same stars have been the focus of so much dreaming, imagining and mythology. Every culture mapped onto or derived their stories from the play of the celestial lights. These were the sustaining myths of a people. And the stories changed with the seasons, as new stars occupied the night sky at different times of year.

The horizon was traditionally thought of as a sort of division between worlds. When certain stories were playing out in the sky through the constellations they might be absent from earth and vice versa. For example, the Pleiades which in some traditions are considered to be a bunch of grapes (they are clustered in a way that is definitely suggestive of this), occupied the night sky in winter in the northern hemisphere when there was no fruit on earth. And when Pleiades was absent the night sky in summer, grapes were to grow on the earth. (Sidenote: Pleiades is part of the constellation of Taurus, which is associated with farms and animal husbandry—places where grapes would be cultivated).

This interplay between sky and earth was (and is) considered absolutely essential to the continuation of life. It is part of keeping the story alive. In the changing of the seasons the responsibility for different parts of the story shift. This is explained, in part, by the idea that the stars are the roots of trees growing in the world above ours. That world may not be visible but it is has a tremendous influence on the affairs of our world, and the traditional idea is that we must work in concert with it; maintaining a relationship with these unseen presences. The instructional manual for how, exactly, to do this is written in the stars in the form of myth.

Joseph Campbell said, in his phenomenal interview with Bill Moyers many years ago that “The myths and rites were means of putting the mind in accord with the body and the way of life in accord with the way that nature dictates.” You can imagine what happens in the absence of a meaningful mythology. We may have, at some point in our collective history, mistaken dissociation for freedom. In walking away from the stories—a process that likely occurred over millennia—a relationship with both the body and nature was severed.

The stories are still there, in the sky, if we care to direct our attention above the horizon of human affairs. And we are actually playing out some of those star stories in our lives, unconsciously. The danger in turning away from the sky and stories therein is that most of that plot becomes necessarily unconscious, where before it was invited consciously into the lives of humans as a co-creative process between humans and nature.

The individual horoscope is a story which shows where, how and when the personal story intersects with the larger story of nature and the cosmos. It also shows where we have forgotten to give a gift. These are the places where we generally experience difficulty in our lives: career, relationship, health, etc. Everyone has challenges somewhere. Understanding the roots of these challenges and giving a gift specifically to that place can alleviate a huge amount of suffering. Not to mention there is something deeply human in us that desperately wants to offer to the presences that give us life. When there is collective difficulty we can know that an entire culture or species needs to begin offering. (I have some ideas in the work for instigating some group gift-giving to the places that need it the most in the zodiac right now: more on that later).

I don’t think there is any better time to begin forging a relationship with the invisible underpinnings of life. I actually don’t think there is any other path forward for our species at this point. So much about where we are right now is a result of that broken relationship between humans and nature and between our minds and our bodies. At some point we must all admit how deeply disconnected we are from the essence of life. There is so much distraction it is easy to float above that realization. But the only way through is to get our feet firmly on the ground, allow ourselves to be dismembered inside the grief of having wasted so much time and done so much collective damage, and begin reassembling the pieces of a natural memory of what being human is actually about: feeding Nature and being opened by Her beauty.

Crisis and Initiation

I have written about some of the astrological mechanisms of the current pandemic, but it must be remembered that the planets are not ‘causing’ the crisis. The planets are simply indicating what is happening, has happened, and will happen. They are karmic carriers that deliver to us the fruits of our past actions, so there is nothing good to come of ‘blaming’ the planets. They can actually be extremely helpful waypoints on the convoluted map of human experience, making times of crisis a perfect time to look to the sky for guidance.

It is important to note that although this is a collective crisis, it will impact each individual differently. The place where most of the action is taking place right now is the sign of Capricorn. Saturn and Jupiter’s entrance into this sign are ushering in a new 200 year epoch by their change of elements. Any major shift in the foundations of society is going to be preceded by a crisis. A major reorientation has to take place in order to acclimate to a fundamentally new working order. (For more information about this change in epoch please see The Era of Earth).

Inside this larger crisis will be smaller, personal crises which may feel gigantic. Medically the word crisis indicates a “decisive point in the progress of a disease” and comes from the Latinized form of the Greek word krisis: “turning point in a disease, that change which indicates recovery or death.” Interestingly, the same word can also mean “judgement, results of a trial.”

The way we use the word now apparently evolved from its medical use. There is an apt German word for mid-life crisis—Torschlusspanik—which alludes to a fear of being on the wrong side of a closing gate.

These etymologies all relate to crises as arising due to being at the center of change. In the meeting of two opposing qualities—whether they be lifestyles, belief systems, or states of health—the human creature can feel severed between a’ before’ and ‘after’ that they are unwillingly thrust into. The goal of traditional initiations was to support the youth across this gaping vertical gap between their former identity as a child and their new life as an adult and contributing member of society. No initiate will ever chose this, as it feels like death. It requires the participation of the whole community to foster this incredible transformation. The reality is that western culture is full of non-initiates. We lost our systems of initiation as well as our cultural memory long ago and so collectively we are still adolescents. True adulthood and being a real human being requires a relationship with Nature, there is no way around it. It is an adolescent mentality (and one I do no exempt myself from) that assumes that Mother Earth should give endlessly with no reciprocation. And there is really no fault involved here since most of us came in to a perception of Nature that was completely devoid of animism. Most of our ancestors were sent running due to one traumatic event or another and in the process lost a lot of the culture that held the keys to right relationship with Nature: the stories, the food, the music, the initiation rituals which almost every culture enacted yearly.

Because of this, it was inevitable that we would require a collective initiation, which we are edging up to now.The goal of the initiation, as I said, is to develop a sensitivity to Nature that will allow us to serve Nature, instead of using and abusing her. The point of life is not to get what we want (despite what every commercial and billboard ad will tell you), it is to ensure life keeps on living: most importantly the wild ecosystems of the world and the animals that depend on them. Humans are meant to work in concert with Nature, always offering to the things that give us life and praising the beauty of life with our words. Collectively we have forgotten this and so we are being thrust into the liminal space of (potentially violent) reorientation.

Liminal space is the space between what we once knew and what is coming, which we cannot yet see. This is the space all initiates enter when they leave their old lives and selves behind and await the process of becoming a true human being. It is natural to want things to go back to ‘normal’ and to cling to the small, familiar securities you might still be able to maintain. But this only slows the process of change.

Shifting from a mindset of ‘waiting it out’ to preparing for a complete overhaul of life as you knew is critically important right now. Get excited! Many of us knew that the way we were operating was not sustainable in the long run, and that a major shift would be inevitable! New technologies were never going to save us from making the lifestyle changes required to truly live sustainably and in respect of Nature. (As a side note: It is interesting to me that this virus lives longest on plastic surfaces, the material that is so pervasive and harmful to the environment. To slow the spread of the virus it makes sense to eliminate as much plastic from your life as possible (something we all should have done long ago, myself included!)

Even with any excitement you are able to muster, moving through any crisis is never easy. And an absolute requirement is to honor the grief of losing a lifestyle or an identity that you were attached to, however dysfunctional it may have been. I suspect that grief is an important part of this pandemic because the virus has its primary impact in the lungs, which in Traditional Chinese Medicine are the organ of grief. Those with repressed or unacknowledged grief may have a harder time here, and can work to somehow let that go to support their physical health. Although it’s definitely helpful to keep moving and not get immobilized by fear and panic, I would say that this is not a time to ‘suck it up’ and just try to get through. It is a time for honoring the individual and collective devastation involved in watching an old system crumble before a new one is built.

As I said, each person will be effected differently depending on where this transit it taking place in their astrological chart. The sign and house involved will require major overhaul and go through various stages of ‘crisis’ over the coming months and potentially years. System overhauls are neither short nor pretty, generally speaking. Most of us have become attached to comfort but there are new priorities asserting themselves, so be prepared to be changed. Remember that your personal difficulty is attached to a larger turning, and we must all work out our piece of the puzzle to the best of our ability in order to align ourselves with Nature so that life might go on living.

Astrology of a Pandemic

Can you feel the ground moving under your feet? Saturn is squarely in Capricorn: the sign of moveable earth, where he will be for the next 2+years. As I wrote in a previous post, this transit is globally significant, as it is the hinge between 200 year cycles. Saturn is testing all our previous hypotheses and ‘good ideas’ against the unbending laws of Nature. We seem to be failing, though I do have hope for the human capacity to evolve in the face of adversity.

Given the overwhelming evidence that a major overhaul of ‘business as usual’ is unavoidable, I’ve been inspired to take a deeper look into the astrology of the widespread sickness that has been making news everywhere. I have been aware that the timing of Saturn’s transit was a major instigating force in the spread of this sickness, and in particular in China—a country whose chart is hit hard by this transit. But I wanted to get more specific with transits alongside the timeline of the outbreak and spread of the sickness to understand the astrological mechanics and implications of this global event:

The first cases of something that looked like pneumonia but turned out to be the virus were on December 31 of 2019. This is five days after the hugely impactful solar eclipse which involved the majority of the planets in the zodiac. It was clear from this extreme configuration that the impact of the eclipse would be large. The impacts of an eclipse can last months or sometimes up to a year, making the sign they occur in sensitive. It is likely that the sickness was being contracted around this time and/or the pathogen was let loose and only diagnosed as of the 31st.

The sign of Sagittarius was the focus of this eclipse, which I wrote about on my Facebook group.. Part of what I said in that post is that “Sagittarius is the place where our individual life attaches to the bigger story, and every planet in this sign right now is attempting to work out the mechanics of that.”

We are seeing in a rather appalling way the way in which we as individuals are connected as a species to this larger story simply by way of being in a body that is susceptible to contagion. This is the more gruesome form of this insight, which ideally arrives in the form of softer insights and elated experiences, though those may still be accessible if we can keep our heads screwed on properly. The flavor of this moment reminds me of the explosion of the atom bomb and the radioactive fallout which has been found in even the most remote places on the planet. The discovery of the intricate interconnectedness of the ecosystem came in such a morbid way, as strontium 90 was showing up in breast milk.

Another task of Sagittarius is to make a connection between the tangible and intangible, the abstract and the concrete, the spiritual and the material. Foreign or “other” in general is supposed to be reconciled into one’s own being in this sign, which is shown by a Centaur which is half horse, half man. In his body is the reconciliation of the tension between the human and animal worlds. There are some rich parallels here between what is being reconciled through many bodies at this moment—a pathogen which in one way or another escaped from the body of a wild animal (evidence points at this time to it having come either from a wild game market in Wuhan or a virology lab dealing with bat coronavirus for the purposes of biological warfare). There is a certain terror that comes with the human/animal interface, as we realize how little control we have over what is wild and untamed. The virus, too, is Nature in Her ferocious form, and I believe she is pissed (and who could blame Her?)

It is interesting to consider the origin of the issue, and to understand that its seed was planted in some small mistake. Mistakes are ruled by the planet Ketu, which was one of the lunar nodes directly involved in the eclipse. Sagittarius is the sign of warfare in general which make me suspect that this mistake was related to the biological warfare, not the wild game market.

It was Frued’s fervent belief that ‘mistakes’ are caused when the unconscious contents of the mind bubble to the surface, causing us to veer from our intended (or conscious) course. This happens all the time on an individual level, but now we are wading into the world of collective karma where impacts are felt through the majority of a population as the collective unconscious begins to surface. Capricorn is the sign of the burial ground, so what has been buried in the unconscious begins to open. In the Vedic system the unconscious is basically equated with past karma.: both are forces we have little to no control over.

Here is a fascinating excerpt from an Ayurvedic text describing the root cause of pandemics, which is related to dharma or ‘unrighteous action’:

“Thus when the reigning heads of countries, cities, trade guilds etc. govern the people irresponsibly by transgressing the virtuous path, then their officers, sub-ordinates and under- subordinates, people of the city and community and traders deviate from their duties as well and propagate such unrighteous acts further. Their sinful acts perforce causes the righteous acts to disappear. Because of the disappearance of righteous acts, even the Gods desert the people living in such places. This causes seasons to get impaired in these places. There is no rain in time, or never at all, or abnormal rain occurs; the air does not blow properly; the land is afflicted, the water reservoirs dry up, and herbs lose their true properties and suffer deterioration. As a consequence, the people perish as the result of infectious contact or ingestion of polluted food and water.”

Many of what is described here is very accurate to the times. And we can see that the root cause of the disturbance is “transgression of the virtuous path” but that the reason shit really hits the fan is because “even the Gods desert the people.” Calling the Gods back then becomes an important part of navigating this tumultuous time., and/or behaving in such a way that would cause them to consider favoring us again. This seems like an appropriate time for prayer. Regardless of how this ‘pandemic’ will actually play out it is clear that there is change brewing and I suspect there will be more following on the heals of this most recent crisis, based on the transits approaching.

If we can posit the ‘seed’ of this global event at or around the eclipse (which is really just a conjecture since we may never know for certain how this all began) then the configuration of the sky is important for understanding something about the nature of the events’ unfolding. This is a principle of Vedic Astrology which considers the moment an event begins to contain the seed of its entire unfolding.

Moon was posited in Purvashadha nakshatra which is ruled by a goddess named Apas: a personification of water. The element and the deity were under considerable duress during this eclipse, meaning that they both would become sensitive. Water is historically (and spiritually) associated with purity and cleanliness. Apas is worshipped to destroy poisons and cleanse the impurities of ignorance. It strikes me as interesting that this illness is so entangled with water: being primarily spread through contact with mucous membranes, and our best protection against it being hand washing. Water is also connectivity, both practically and metaphorically. And what seems to be developing is a consciousness of connectivity, as well as a consciousness of cleanliness.

After the initial cases that seem localized mostly to China the spread of the outbreak occurred alongside the transit of Saturn on 1/24 (more on that in this article). There are other contributing factors, such as Mercury’s transit through a constellation which has to do with difficult to cure illnesses (Shatabisha nakshatra).

Later in the month (3/22) mars will move into Capricorn where he is exalted. A harsh planet such as mars being exalted is not necessarily a positive thing, as it intensifies his violent energy. This does not bode well for the situation (and also happens to create a possibility for earthquakes) through the duration of the transit which ends on 5/4. Jupiter will join the mix on 3/29 but will be debilitated, so it is not clear how much he will actually be able to help the situation.

Obviously I am not a health expert, but based on what I’m seeing I’d suggest making friends with water by staying well hydrated and performing a daily prayer to Apas. The mantra of praise for this deity is om jaladevaya namah.

There are many other immune supporting practices which can be done, as well as remedial measures to address health specifically. The Sun is the primary indicator of health in the chart, so getting some sunshine and making prayers to the sun are ways to invite health into your life. None of this can hurt, and it might help.

If you’d like some personalized guidance consider a consultation.

The Era of Earth

This is quite the chaotic moment in history, eh? The drama unfolding on the political stage, a seemingly immanent global health crisis, the natural world rebelling: this is really only the tip of the iceberg and doesn’t begin to touch other longstanding collective issues which are so embedded in the fabric of our culture that there may be no extricating them without burning the whole thing down and starting again.

What is the best course of action when living inside a highly dysfunctional system? My first thought it: conversations with God, or the gods or goddesses or plants and animals. Conversations with those outside of the human field, anyway, because we seem to be the center of crazy. Times like these create the context for the birth of real spirituality, where non-human (and sometimes unseen) presences can be leaned on.

And then honesty, I think. And most importantly with oneself. Witnessing the whirlwind of corruption, collusion and greed on a global scale, I’ve been inspired to be very real with myself regarding the ways I may still be acting against my own nature in various ways. I think we don’t have the luxury of being lax and messing around anymore with the various indulgences that keep us numb and disconnected. There is work to be done in the world (Saturn in Capricorn for the next 2+years will not let us forget) and it seems to require getting beyond our personal hang-ups as much as possible. Anything that is an unnecessary energy drain must be eliminated.

This transit ushers in a change in eras. Jupiter will join Saturn in Capricorn at the end of March, and these two outer planets join in a sign only every twenty years. The element of the sign which they join in changes every 200 years. This is historically the way that changes in regimes and rulership as well as the dissolution of civilizations has been understood. These two planets have such a radical impact on the earth and its people because they are both heavy, slow moving planets and together they generate a tremendous amount of force to create change.

For the last 200 years Saturn and Jupiter have been conjoining in fire signs, and this year their conjunction moves to earth signs. It is worthwhile to take a gander back into the mists of history to understand what type of influence this most recent cycle has had on humanity so that we might know how things could change with the shift to a different element.

It was in 1790 (230 years ago) that the American Industrial Revolution officially began: a revolution which depended in large part of fire: the coal and iron industries explicitly relied on heat, but other burgeoning industries such as railroads and textiles relied on physical exertion by individual humans, which is the metaphorical use of fire through effort.

The second Industrial Revolution brought the expansion of electricity, petroleum and steel: all industries involving heat and extraction. It must be understood that all of the elements function in both the physical, literal sense and also metaphorical. So fire is the fire that we see when we light a gas stove, but it is also an extension of all the qualities we observe in physical fire to other areas of experience. Fire is illuminating, and much has been “seen” in the realm of science and technology, but fire is also destructive and we can see that the cost of some of this illumination has been high, particularly to the environment. Fire is sharp and directed (those with a lot of fire in their constitutions will want to always be moving forward and accomplishing tasks, and can become irritated when something gets in the way of their ‘progress’) and you can see that since the dawn of the industrial revolution the dominant cultural mythology is focused on ‘progress’ and ‘evolution’—these are linear concepts. With fire, the cyclic nature of time, life and natural cycles is easily neglected. Fire is too busy moving towards its (sometimes destructive) aim to notice the bigger picture.

Smartphones, the internet, and many of the modern conveniences we now enjoy were born in this last 200 year fire cycle. Life as we know it was shaped by the Jupiter-Saturn conjunctions in Aries, Leo and Sagittarius.

But there is life beyond what we ‘know,’ and it is moving towards us now. Jupiter-Saturn in Capricorn will usher in this new era dominated by the earth element.

First and foremost, the earth element brings the focus to our planet: an effect which we are already beginning to see ahead of the actual transit (this is often the case, with effects of planetary periods and major transits felt before they actually take place). There is also a certain way in which the earth element tests our abstract ideas and philosophies against the actual body of nature. This is where the ‘rubber hits the road,’ so to speak, and anything that sounded like a good idea (such as the technologies born of the Industrial Age to save us all from ourselves) may in fact turn out to not really ‘work’ in practice, or to have unintended side effects. Overlooked outcomes and forgotten externalities come to light against the hard fact of nature’s laws.

This is true on an individual level, as we all find ourselves to be at the absolute mercy of our own earth, which is our bodies. The individual impact of these larger cycles in considered to be of less importance than the global, cultural changes it engenders, but its influence will still be felt. You might notice yourself suddenly embodying a vessel with all sorts of glitches and maintenance issues, which will force you to either take care of your own health or succumb to the inevitable deterioration that comes as a result of neglecting your ‘earth.’

Earth is also structure and stability, and these aspects of your life will become more significant with this new cycle. Like I said, all the flaws in our extravagant ‘plans’ and ideas come to light against the bare bones of earth. Everything will be tested and verified by Mother Nature herself in this new ‘earth era.’

With this, a certain amount of chaos is inevitable. There is a ‘changing of the guard’ happening and it is rare for that to be smooth. You can see already the chaos that has ensued in advance of the actual transit. Unintended consequences of so called ‘good ideas’ (many of them related to technology and science- products of the industrial revolution) seem to be surfacing everywhere, including in the case of biological warfare, which is quite possibly the cause of the Coronavirus epidemic we’re now seeing, and we can expect to see many more cases of failed or backfiring technology with the coming of the Jupiter-Saturn in earth signs conjunctions.

China is particularly affected by this Saturn transit because their country’s chart is Capricorn rising, with the moon placed in its rising sign and an angry mars aspecting from Cancer. This means that the whole country is in a Sade Sati transit, which is Saturn’s transit of the natal moon—a particularly inauspicious transit, especially when it’s on the rising sign.

This first conjunction in Capricorn has a particularly destructive quality to it because Capricorn is not only ruled by Saturn but is also considered to be a burial ground. It is moveable earth, meaning that it has the substance and power to create a substantial change, and that change is not always experienced as pleasant. There is usually a feeling of getting your hands a bit dirtier than you would’ve liked in this sign, or having to deal in matters you’d rather avoid. This conjunction will demand that we face head on the issues we’ve been avoiding, which may at times feel too big too approach.

There is not going to be much more wiggle room for ‘making nice’ and pretending that the elephants in the room don’t exist. The skeletons in the closet are getting rather antsy and the collective shadow is ready to surface. So, like I said: conversations with god(s), and honesty.

The Mind of Saturn

Having closed out the last decade with a powerful solar eclipse, involving the majority of the planets, we begin 2020 with still quite a bit of tension in the sky. Today, five planets remain in the sign of Sagittarius, whose effects I have written extensively about on the Facebook group. Saturn is now edging toward Capricorn, his own sign, where he will be stationed starting at the end of January.

But already his energy has shifted slightly with his entrance into a new nakshatra, or ‘lunar mansion.’ These nakshatras are the houses of the lunar zodiac, which in the Vedic system precedes the solar zodiac historically and gives us a unique lens into the psychological and emotional approach of planets as they circulate through the solar zodiac. The nakshatras, in other words, tells us about the ‘mind’ of the planet at that moment, which becomes our mental approach and emotional experience in whatever area of life they are influencing.

Saturn’s nakshatra placement will show a collective weakness, and he stays in each nakshatra for about one year. He was in purvashada nakshatra from November of 2018 until December 27, 2019. Purvashadha is ruled by the deity Apas, who is the goddess of water. This nakshatra has to do with sensitivity and the development of emotional intelligence, which may have been somehow a tender spot in last year. This is a place where we can get our feelings hurt easily, so Saturn’s transit may have thinned our collective skin, which could account for the volume of violence and extreme protective behavior over this time period, which will generally have its root in an underlying fear of being hurt.

In December Saturn moved into Uttarashada nakshatra, which translates as ‘the later victory’ and forms a pair with Purvashadha, which is ‘the former victory.’ If Purvashada had to do with cleaning up your emotional life, uncovering the internal ghosts and encountering what might have been formerly hidden (the ‘former victory’ I interpret to relate to a spiritual victory on a personal level), then Uttarashadha has to do with universalizing the awakening and realizations that may have come with delving into your deepest recesses.

Uttarashadha is concerned with ‘the many,’ and its victory comes by transforming those hard-won personal gems of insight and spiritual depth into connective tissue between yourself and other living beings. This next year is the time to share what you’ve learned and found, and maybe been keeping to yourself. Many others may have been on parallel paths of diving deep into themselves, asking big questions and sometimes making themselves emotionally raw in the process. And many may be guarding these experiences because they feel so tender, particularly given the current cultural climate. It’s hard to know where it is safe to expose what feels most central to one’s own experience.

Despite the upheaval around us, more maybe because of it, now is the time to connect deeply with others so that a web of emotional and spiritual integrity can be woven which might somehow support us in these troubled times. Surfaces are no longer very relevant here, depth has been carried to the surface over the past year, and now that depth wants to run out into the streets and find other depths that it can mingle with, so that it might transform into some magical creative creature that can serve us at this historical moment.

This is the task of Saturn over the coming year, and particularly once he moves into Capricorn at the end of this month I believe he will take it very seriously. Saturn in Capricorn is concerned with practicalities. You may find yourself realizing that exposing your deepest fears, sorrows and longings with those around you is the logical next step in the process of tilling the ground of this stale cultural model into something that means something to anyone with a soul. It is the composting of shame and guilt (which come from exposure) into empathy which is truly the connective tissue of any culture worth its weight. Genuine change on the scale that it is now required can only come from a powerful meeting of hearts.

So empathy is something you can keep in the back of your mind for this coming year. “The ability to share and understand the feelings of others.” And when you find you can neither share nor understand the feelings of others, you can at least pause and allow space for them to exist with their foreign feelings and imagine how you might, at some later date, be able to share and understand those feelings. This practice begins to build the muscle that would respond, rather than react.

Saturn in this placement may also want to translate the sensitivity and insight he collected over the past year into action which can somehow benefit the world. Organizing a group to discuss issues related to something close to your heart would be extremely beneficial during this transit.

And of course there was the option, as there always is, over the last year for those with thick armor to not make contact with their internal experience, and guard the upwelling sensitivity even more ferociously, thus creating an even thicker layer of armor. It will be a tougher road ahead for these individuals, as the empathy that comes organically from contact with your own emotional experience may be less available. If you are, or are in close contact, with someone in this situation then the best course of action may be simply to lead by example. If they witness you creating deep relationships with those around you through bringing to the surface what was formerly buried, they may at some point reach out for help.

The Birth of Light

Today we are on the other side of darkest darkness, edging our way once again slowly into a rhythm defined by a predominance of light, however thin that margin of majority may be. Life on earth depends on such small and sometimes barely discernible margins, most of them operating below the threshold of our awareness.

The celestial weight has shifted, and earthly life must follow. We, of course, are implicated in earthly life so something in us must also be recalibrating now that the sun has been reborn into its own lengthening of light.

In many traditional cultures the winter solstice is seen as the day the sun dies and is reborn. It is fitting, then, that this important date takes place while the Sun is in the sign of Sagittarius, which has everything to do with the touching of two worlds. As I’ve written in the past, this sign is signified by a centaur, which is a man with a horses’s body. It’s symbol alone tells us of a union of sorts: between animal instincts and human intelligence, and between spiritual ideals and material reality. The conjoining of these apparently divergent phenomena necessitate a birth. In the coming together of what might appear as opposites, something new is created which requires the attributes of both.

Perhaps the first birth that took place on this earth was that of light. And we experience this birth anew each morning as the sun emerges from the womb of night, his head cresting over the eastern horizon to birth a new day. Traditionally the sunrise is seen as a very tenuous moment, with the sun’s success in entering the day not necessarily guaranteed. Prayers were offered on his behalf, and encouragement, so that he might have the strength to free himself from the weight of night.

A part of us is in the process now, in one way or another, and we may also require prayer and encouragement to successfully traverse this seam of Time. I think of the winter solstice as the lowest point on the trampoline bounce, when the feet have swung so low as to almost touch the ground. There is one short moment of pause before the momentum begins to move in the upward direction. But if you don’t have the context for the swings in movement (if you don’t realize you are on a trampoline, or on an earth whose cycles have a gigantic impact on your internal experience) then you can feel like you’re at an unnatural all-time low. But you are supposed to be. As the cycles become more conscious you can actually plan these swings and shifts into your life so that you don’t have to feel like a crazy person being thrown around by forces that seem to be outside of your control. You can begin to cooperate with the cycles and even enjoy them.

But for now, for today, consider what you will do with the gift of light. And don’t throw away the gems that were made in the pressure cooker of night. Now is when their multifaceted beauty can begin to be seen in the reflection of the sun’s rays.

A Moment of Stillness

It is a bit dizzying to contemplate (and feel) the contrast between nature’s rhythm and the collective cultural rhythms which we can’t help but be influenced by.

Today may mark a moment of stillness and the deepest dark of the year, but you wouldn’t know it from taking a look around (at least in most parts of the Western world). Despite the activity which is ramping up with the coming holidays, there is some part of us that feels the gravity of this day and this season, when external light and energy are at a minimum. Something very ancient and creaturely in us remembers this special recipe of earth’s tilt and sun’s angle, and the ancestor’s in us probably still crave the ceremony’s and practices that would have traditionally accompanied this day.

it is a little daunting to look down the dark hall of ancestral history and realize we know so very little about what preceded us, particularly when it comes to spiritual practices. Many of those practices that remain have been diluted, and even had they not been many of us are so remote from ourselves that we would not be able to connect to the deeper sentiment inside the ceremony.

Despite this lack of connection to the culture’s and practices that would have formerly embedded us in the cycles of nature, we are, after all, nature. Our bodies are made of the minerals and elements of earth. So somewhere in the inherited intelligence of our bodies we still have access to a memory of connectedness, however faint it might be.

And we can make space for this, by incorporating the stillness and silence required to connect to the subtlety where these memories live. Today is an excellent day to begin such a practice, however small that practice may be. If you are still and quiet for even a few moments you may feel the pleasant weight of the stillness pulling you inward; a slowness in your bones that would like to be respected. Even if you have to go about your day and keep up with the incessant rush of life, just having connected with the body’s natural rhythm for a moment keeps you not completely unhinged from nature.

Time, Patterns and the Close of a Decade

It is a difficult task, to process and digest a portion of Time as large as a decade: To extract meaning from the multitude of moments in retrospect, flipping them over in your hand to examine and understand them in the context of life as it is now. This is a worthwhile task. Although a ‘decade’ might be a construct of the human imagination, it still helps us frame our experience and measure our growth against the background of never-ending Time.

From within each individual moment it seems impossible that a decade can even exist, or that we can survive it. Time is tricky that way: ever present but intangible, slipping through cracks and collecting in corners where we might forget it completely or let it slip away unnoticed.

As we near the close of this second decade of the 21st century I find myself and many people around me thoughtfully gazing back into the mists of all that has transpired since 2010. I think one of the most valuable effects of this exercise is the unavoidable realization that actions have consequences, and that each step you take in a certain direction becomes a part of your story which you cannot erase.

It is easy to be careless with time, or to think that moments in which we are not true to what we care about most can somehow be erased or ‘don’t count.’ How we are in each moment of our lives sets us up for certain habit patterns which over time can come to take on a life of their own. Instead of us drinking the coffee or the alcohol, it starts drinking us. Some people are capable of using a substance without eventually becoming used by it, others (and I would say most) are not. If the texture of our day is mostly defined by these compulsions, then we are falling asleep to our own life.

This seems like a great time to be reminded that although Time may be everlasting and infinite, the particular incarnation that we are currently inhabiting is not. And further, the decisions that we are making on a daily basis set the stage for how we might come in in future lives (according to Vedic philosophy). In this light, every moment becomes an indelible imprint on the canvas of Time. The question becomes: what kind of picture do you want to paint with your life?

We could easily get stuck at the finger-painting stage, unable to create any discernible or meaningful work of art through the sum total of our actions. I think it is not an easy task to push past this stage, where life seems a big bundle of meaningless chaos and we are prone to ‘cheat’ our way through moments, violating our deeper sense of integrity and being subsumed by the larger confusion of a culture-less culture (or a “cultural avoidance system',’ as one of my teacher refers to American culture).

But if we are able to push past, maybe even in small moments where one gesture creates a meaningful imprint on this Time-canvas, then not only do we create beauty, but we become beautiful in the process. The excess material, the sloppy misdirection and waste slowly become reduced and there is alignment with what matters most, which is undeniably beautiful no matter what its physical form looks like.

These days our senses are tuned to big events, shiny pictures, loud noises. It is easy to dismiss all that is small, subtle, deep when we are so perpetually tuned to surfaces and stimulation. But I do believe that in this current cultural-historical climate it is small acts that might matter most. Many of us are debilitated by attempts to fix everything at once, and sometimes these attempts betray a certain inner violence and fixation on perfection that is ultimately not helpful.

In these last weeks of the close of this decade it might be an interesting exercise to anchor yourself to small moments of integrity, where your deepest inner desires are completely in line with your outer actions. In the beginning it might look more like noticing when they are not. That is a good starting point. Then maybe once each day you catch yourself there and decide to change course: a mark of beauty is made on the canvas. This is a small miracle. From the perspective of Vedic Astrology, this is you becoming conscious of your karmic tendencies. Nature rejoices!

P.S. If you’re interested in learning more about these dynamics of karma and habit patterns consider joining my upcoming online course to align with your deepest nature in the coming year/decade!

The Stars are Alive

If astrology seems ‘abstract’ and unrelated to our lives it is because we are abstracted from the night sky and have no relationship to its stories.

The zodiac is a real-live belt of burning stars that encircles the earth, and through which (from our perspective here on earth) the other planets move. Each constellation is made of a specific collection of these stars, with astronomical names and histories. And these groupings of stars are further divided into the lunar zodiac of 27 nakshatras. It can be said that these nakshatras hold an even deeper influence than the signs themselves, which are characterized partly by the qualities of the lunar mansions they contain (each solar sign will hold about 2.5 lunar mansions).

All of the planets will be in one of these lunar mansions in a horoscope, which will distinctly flavor our experience of that planet and what it brings into our life. But by far the most significant placement to analyze in regard to the nakshatras is the placement of the individual’s moon. The moon has a special affinity for the nakshatras both mythologically and astronomically. Astronomically, the movement of the moon defines the different stars associated with the lunar mansions (I’m using the word ‘nakshatra’ interchangeably with ‘lunar mansion’ here, as they are the same thing), and mythologically the lunar mansions were the wives of the moon, which he would visit each one for one day on his rotation through the sky.

I’ve said before that the placement of an individual’s moon in a nakshatra will determine the particular bent of the mind. It is the lens through which we see the world which will determine our course through life, our priorities, how we relate to other people, where we put our attention and where our blind spots are (among many other things). Essentially, the configurations of the chart have to be filtered through this moon’s placement, as the mind is, for a human being, pretty much the leader of the show and will determine how these placements are being utilized.

So at the moment you were born your moon was located somewhere in the sky, whether above or below the earth. It will be placed in or near a particular star or group of stars which will decide your nakshatra. If you were born with Krittika moon, for example, your moon was near the Pleiades—or seven sisters—when you were born. This is a mythologically-rich set of stars, considered to be the wives of the Vedic Rishis and very significant for the unfoldment of the divine plan on our planet. They were intrugal in caring for one of the heroes who overtook a ‘demon’ that was attempting to destroy the world. The many stories associated with these seven stars will play themselves out through the life of the native. These people will likely wrestle throughout their lives with the forces which attempt to carry them against the current of the divine plan, and will need to create within themselves the strength to overtake the internal demons which might destroy their personal evolution.

Each of us is born with an intimate relationship with a star in this way. Those born in Jyestha nakshatra are born in the heart of the Scorpion under the star Antares, while those born under Chitra are governed by the star Spica. Developing a connection with these stars in the sky can be like discovering a lost twin. Gazing up into its face at night can begin to unlock an awe which lubricates a lot of the inner ‘stuck-ness’ we can experience when abstracted from the divinity continually attempting to get our attention.

If you do not know what’s called your Janma nakshatra or birth star then you can develop a relationship with the constellations themselves, observing them in the night sky and noticing the planet’s procession through their bodies, remembering that the zodiac in Vedic Astrology is called the Kalapurusha or ‘Body of God’.

There is a whole lot going on up there below our awareness, as the night sky has become like another unconscious for us. It continues rolling on beneath our awareness, being that most of us cannot even see it due to pervasive light pollution. Finding ways to reach across that thickening divide is one way to make contact with the parts of yourself you might be estranged from. You can even make a prayer to the stars, asking for insight or blessing their brave endurance. If that world does not seem ‘real’ it is only because you have not attempted to touch it.