Sunday, August 31, 2008

Astro Weather September 2008


New Moon Saturday August 30, 2008

September begins under the influence of the new moon which occurred on Saturday, August 30, 2008 in the sign of Leo and nakshatra of Purva Phalguni. This nakshatra contains two stars, Delta Leonis and Theta Leonis that represent the legs of a cot or poles of a swinging hammock. Anytime a bed appears as a symbol, it indicates rest and recuperation. It is a social and sometimes lazy nakshatra, considered good for self-indulgent and artistic activities. It is ruled by Venus which is currently debilitated in Virgo. Luckily the planet of the fine arts and beauty is accompanied with an exalted Mercury in Virgo lifting her up somewhat. We may enjoy mental pursuits more at this time.

Purva Phalguni is also the nakshatra of Shiva's wedding procession. Traditionally it promises a happy marriage and family life. It bestows prajanana shakti, the power of procreation. The marriage of Shiva and Shakti may be seen as a metaphor for Kundalini rising. Shiva as the masculine principle is still, with a static quality. He is unmanifested consciousness. Shiva has the power to be, but not the power to manifest. Shakti, as the force of Kundalini and the feminine principle is dynamic, energetic and creative. Thus the sacred marriage of Shiva to Shakti represents the rise of Kundalini into the Higher Mind that is represented by the snowy mountains of Kailash. Kailash is the symbol of the highest mind and Shiva has his abode on this mountain where silence reigns eternally. The analogy is between a human wedding which releases the highest ecstasies of the flesh, and the wedding of Kundalini with Shiva, which is a symbol of the highest bliss attainable by an individual soul.

Kundalini is the energy is coiled at the base of the spinal cord and is naturally awakened by the time of the astrological phenomenon called the Uranus opposition that occurs between 38-42 years. As this new moon was in opposition to Uranus, it may have sparked a little kundalini rising here on the planet. Notice how hurricane Gustav increased in intensity during this time. Moreover, the fun of Purva Phalguni may have be dampened by the strong influence of Saturn, also in Leo. Saturn in Leo is not happy and easily disappointed. Saturn is somber and grounding. Perhaps some of us experienced this combination as low energy or being tied down by responsibility. This heaviness should shift by the time Jupiter goes direct on September 7, 2008.

Jupiter Stationary Direct on Sunday, September 7, 2007

Jupiter goes stationary direct on September 7, 2008 in its own sign of Sagittarius. It has been retrograde since May 9th slowing down expansion and making us reassess our philosophical, political and religious beliefs. A retrograde period is about going inward to reevaluate our inner knowledge. Once it goes direct on September 7th we should be able to bring these new insights to the outer world and expand our opportunities.

Full Moon September 15, 2008

The full moon on September 15 will be in Aquarius, in another nakshatra of recuperation, Purva Bhadrapada. Its two stars, Markab and Scheat are located in the body of Pegasus, the winged horse. It has an obscure deity Aja Ekapada, "one footed goat" who is associated with the fierce form of Shiva known as Rudra. Like Western concepts of the devil, the one-footed hindu god is associated with chaotic destructive energy that purifies so that new may be created. There is a diabolical element to this nakshatra that may trigger violence, paranoia, deceit, death and conspiracy. But this one-footed god is fulfilling a divine plan, so the change and discomfort produced under its influence is mainly the pain of transformation. Purva Bhadrapada puts an end to things and thus rules over activities like death, funeral services, risk taking, as well as the harvest of agriculture. Perhaps this last activity is most significant as the Harvest full moon in September often occurs in Purva Bhadrapada.

The Harvest Moon is no ordinary full moon and it behaves in a special way. Throughout the year the Moon rises about 50 minutes later each day. But near the autumnal equinox, the difference in the local time of moon rise is only 30 minutes. This comes in handy for farmers who are working long days to harvest their crops before autumn. The extra hours of light projected by the full Moon closest to the equinox is what gives the Harvest Moon its name. Watch to see what you harvest.

Namaste!!


Next post:
Autumnal Equinox Monday September 22, 2008
Mercury Retrograde September 24, 2008 - October 15, 2008
New Moon September 29, 2008

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Astro Weather August 2008


Full Moon, Lunar Eclipse
The next full moon occurs on Saturday, August 16, 2008 at 2:16pm. Although out of sign, it is also a lunar eclipse. (I feel that the previous full moon in July packed more of a punch since the north node and moon were in the same sign of Capricorn that month.)

This month the full moon falls in the earliest degrees of Aquarius in the Nakshatra of Dhanishtha, the 'star of symphony'. It's symbol is the drum. If you've ever listened to the amazing vocals of Sheila Chandra (chandra means moon), you may have heard her vocal percussion that originated from an Indian technique of calculation for drummers. This South indian vocal art form is called konnakol. See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rtVgV-pi0mA

As a drum is used to keep time and thythm, this nakshatra is also associated then with time and rhythms. It follows the nakshatra of Shravana that bestows the gift of listening. As Dhanishtha follows in order, it suggests that the next step is to translate what was whispered by the divine in the cosmic realms to playing earthly music. This would be a great time to dance under the light of the moon.

Namaste



8-8-8 Crop Circle


As if to validate the significance of the date, this crop circle appeared on 08/08/08.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

8-8-8




There are lots of news stories this week on the favorable or inauspicious promise of the upcoming date: 8-8-8.

China chose to start the Olympics at 8:08 pm on 08/08/08. Simultaneously thousands of Chinese couples will be married at that time believing that 8 is a prosperous number. Eight is revered in China because the word for eight, ba, sounds like the word for prosperity, fa. Eight is also a mystical number in Taoism and relates to the 8 directions (N,S,E,W,NE,NW,SE,SW) or bagua, familar to feng shui enthusiasts. The bagua are 8 sets of broken and/or straight lines called trigrams that symbolize how yin transforms into yang, and yang into yin. The I Ching, or Book of Changes, was created 4000 years ago and interprets the 64 (8 X 8) possible combinations of trigrams in reference to how energy changes.

In music there are 8 changes between octaves called notes. An octave is an interval of 8 diatonic degrees between two tones of same name, the higher of which has twice as many vibrations per second as the lower. An octave marks the place of transformation between musical intervals, like an evolutionary step up or down in frequency. When 8 is turned on its side, it becomes the symbol for infinity. We may consider the infinite intervals of an octave to be like the infinite levels of evolution for the soul.

According to Vedic astrological traditions, 8 is a powerful number of transformation and evolution. The 8th house in an astrological chart represents the field of activity relating to Scorpio such as hidden things, sex, the occult, death and longevity. According to some Vedic Numerological traditions Saturn rules the number 8 and also rules over death and darkness. [It is interesting to note that Mars is exalted in Saturn's sign, Capricorn, but Saturn is debilitated in Mars' sign of Aries.] The 8th house is also the house of spousal income, so getting married on that day may bring more energy to eighth house matters like sex and dowry.

The 8th house also rules over the occult and conspiracies and the internet is filled with speculation on possible terrorist attacks -- like those that occurred on 7-7-2005 (2+2005=7) in London. According to conspiracy authors secret societies like to use master numbers (any number multiplied by 11) as ritualistic dates, like 9-11. There was even a video posted on Youtube called 8-8-8 Olympic Conspiracy, but it was pulled. Hmm. The Olympics themselves are seen as an Illuminati controlled world event symbolized by the torch (see David Icke for more on Illuminati symbolism), so it is no surprise that this date intrigues many internet detectives.

If these secret societies are using numerology for some sort of ritual, they really should have consulted an astrologer, because start time of the Olympics, 8:08 pm, is at least a half hour too late to trigger any death inflicting event. So let's hope the good juju of the ancient Taoists still is resonnating in the land of China. May the spirits of these alchemists will turn the lead/dark shadows of current eclipse period into gold for the most talented Olympic athletes.