starworlds: January 2009

Friday, January 9, 2009

Astro Weather January 2009

Full Moon January 10, 2009, 7:37 pm

Saturday night the full moon in the sign of Gemini is the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. This "perigee Moon" is up to 14% wider and 30% brighter than other Full Moons in 2009. As Johannes Kepler observed 400 years ago, the Moon's orbit around Earth is not a circle, but an ellipse with one side 50,000 km closer to Earth than the other. Astronomers call the point of closest approach "perigee". Perigee full Moons may occur once or twice a year, and 2008 ended with a spectacular one which will be surpassed by the next.

Astrologically speaking this full moon is placed in the lunar mansion called Punarvasu. This nakshatra is ruled by Mercury, which is about to go retrograde, and Jupiter, which is in its sign of debilitation. The combination of Mercury and Jupiter usually expands the mind inspiring new intellectual and spiritual insights. However, due to the current positions of Mercury and Jupiter, the mind may feel a little confused and overwhelmed. On a mundane level Mercury rules commerce and Jupiter rules the law, so we may see some changes coming to how the government controls the economy. And because Mercury will be retrograde until the end of the month, what gets planned during this period may in fact be re-written -- keeping with the re-assessment promised by the Saturn retrograde period that I discussed in my previous post.

The nakshatra Punarvasu consists of two bright stars, Castor and Pollux, above the constellation of Orion. Punar translates as "repetition", "repeat", or "again" and vasu means "ray of light" or "gem". Many ancient cultures saw these stars as twins or lovers, but ancient Vedic seers interpreted them as a "quiver of arrows" -- but these are not ordinary arrows. They are like boomerangs or divine astras that magically return after fulfilling their function or mission. Their perigee is the moment they hit their target, but that is not the end as the arrow must bring its rewards by returning. Thus Punarvasu symbolizes renewal, regeneration and endless beginnings. What ever we set our intent for under this influence is bound to be a completed mission. On a personal level, I have been waiting to start a 40 day Abundance meditation and journal as described by John Randolph Price in The Abundance Book; and tomorrow's full moon seems like the perfect moment to set, and ultimately complete, this intentional work. And since the ruling deity of Punarvasu is the mother goddess Aditi whose power is the ability to gain wealth or substance, vasutva prapana shakti, the timing appears especially fortuitous.

Aditi is a sky goddess and relates to space. Prash Trivedi writes:

Aditi, or space, is the sinequanon for any motion or movement. If there is no space, there is no motion. . . Just like the space which accommodates all, Punarvasu is very accommodating of people, situations, circumstances, and energies.

So perhaps this full moon will offer the opportunity for all of us to reach for our magical arrow, send it off with well planned intent, and request sacred space for movement and abundance to be generated not just for ourselves, but for all earthkind.

Namaste!

Mercury retrograde Sunday January 11, 2009 - February 1, 2009
Mercury will go retrograde in the sign of Capricorn on Sunday and will transit this sign until February 1, 2009 when it stations direct in the last degrees of Sagittarius. Mercury in Capricorn is purposeful, attentive to duty, frugal, manages according to the rules, and conventional. It rules commerce and we may expect new information to come up that we previously missed. It is a great time to pay off old debt, look inside and journal, dream, and revise; but it's not a great time to start something new, sign legal documents, or take an oath of office. Mercury, the significator of commerce, will make an exact conjunction with the Sun, the significator of king and leader, and become combust (weakened because the planet is too close to the Sun) on Inauguration Day. What saves the day is that the Sun is in mutual exchange with Saturn, the significator of government and ruler of Barack Obama's chart. This exchange indicates that President-elect Obama is representing the interests of the people and not making himself "ruler" as he takes office. However, the Moon, which is the significator of the people, is debilitated in Scorpio, perhaps representing the state of the nation. The first 100 days should be fascinating.

Namaste!

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Happy New Year 2009

Saturn Retrograde December 31, 2008 - May 17, 2009
The new year begins under the influence of Saturn in Leo stationing to retrograde motion. Saturn has been traveling in the sign of Leo for the past 18 months, and will spend the next five months of the year retracing its steps. In Vedic astrology a retrograde is believed to amplify the power that a planet already has, in this case the power of renunciation, limitations and delay. The greatness of Saturn is that it creates these intense pressures which ultimately turn, and some would say crush, the carbon of our old patterns into a multifaceted diamond -- the strongest substance known to man.

As a Mercury retrograde pattern often offers the opportunity to reassess information, and complete unfinished business, a Saturn retrograde period ensures that we reassess that which we are building to make sure it is being done right, even if it takes longer than we originally planned. For example, for those of us who are struggling to pay off debt and trying to become more financially responsible, Saturn might throw a few delays/lessons our way to help us refine our plan.

An interesting news story on Saturn was released the day after it went retrograde: Is Saturn Losing its Rings? Wait, "back up". The answer to this hook is no. However, the angle we are viewing it from the earth makes it appear to be shrinking. Every 14 to 15 years (when Saturn is in Leo and in its own sign Aquarius), we on Earth see the rings edge-on. In reality the rings are still there, but they appear nearly invisible from Earth. The phenomenon, which stumped Galileo in the 1600s, is called a “ring plane crossing.” While the Earth has an equinox every six months, Saturn’s occur over a much longer period. The planet orbits the sun once every 29.5 years with its "equinox" at 14-15 year intervals. In 2009 the rings will appear thinner and thinner until September 4th when they will seem to have vanished.

Astrologically speaking Saturn is not comfortable in the warm sign of Leo because the social causes of Saturn conflict with the creative and self interests of Leo. Thus during this time issues of self vs society may highlighted. We may be asked to sacrifice the needs of the few for the many -- our golden rings appearing to vanish for a short period of time. At the same time as the Saturn station, a beautiful Moon-Venus conjunction occurred in the opposite sign of Aquarius. Saturn rules Aquarius and the conjunction of these benefics suggests that the hearts and minds of the public are ready for this change.

Namaste!

Future posts:
Full Moon, January 10,2009 7:27 pm

New Moon Solar Eclipse, January 25, 2009, 11:55 pm

Mercury Retrograde January 11-31, 2009

Chinese New Year: Earth Ox January 26, 2009 Ox

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Aum saraswateye vidmahe, bramputriye dhi-mahi, tanno sarawati prachodayat

Saraswati is the Goddess of leaming, knowledge, and wisdom. The Sanskrit word sara means "essence" and swa means "self." Thus Saraswati means "the essence of the self." Saraswati is represented in Hindu mythology as the divine consort of Lord Brahma, the Creator of the universe. Since knowledge is necessary for creation, Saraswati symbolizes the creative power of Brahma. Goddess Saraswati is worshipped by all persons interested in knowledge, especially students, teachers, scholars, and scientists.

What is the Difference between Vedic and Western Astrology: 23 Degrees, Nakshatras, and Sidereal

Twenty-three is my quick answer to the question: "what is the difference between Vedic Astrology and Western astrology?" I don't mean to be cryptic, but 23 degrees is literally the difference between the Tropical and Sidereal zodiacs. It is called the Ayanamsha -- in Sanskrit ayana meaning solstice and amsha meaning portion -- and it refers to the difference between Tropical and Sidereal zodiacs.

The zodiac is a ring of constellations often referred to as signs, such as Aquarius, Leo, Scorpio and Taurus. It is a cosmic clock around which our solar systems operates and how astrologers measure cycles of time. Most people do not realize that there are two distinct zodiacs. Vedic astrologers use the Sidereal zodiac and Western astrologers use the Tropical zodiac. The Sidereal zodiac is based on observations of planets lining up against the backdrop of the fixed stars. It is oriented to the center of the galaxy. On the other hand, the Tropical zodiac is based on the relationship between the sun and earth. It is oriented to the equinoxes. In Western astrology the spring equinox sets the beginning of the Tropical zodiac at 1 degree Aries, even though the sun is astronomically traveling in the light fields of Pisces. In other words, it does not correspond to observable position. Vedic astrology is called Jyotisha in Sanskrit, meaning the science of light, and Vedic astrology describes how the light emitted from the stars effects us. When Western astrology was in its early stages, the two zodiacs may have lined up; but over time the two moved apart approximately 50 seconds per year to the current 23 degrees of separation (even that number is debated, but the standard of India, the Lahiri ayanamsha is 23 degrees 10 seconds).

Vedic astrology is considered by scholars to pre-date Western astrology and is the only system that has accounted for the precession of the equinoxes. What is the precession of the equinoxes? The answer to that involves another occurrence of the number 23 (those familiar with the enigma of 23, like LOST and RAW fans, may find this amusing). Because Earth's axis is tilted 23° 27' in its orbit around the sun, its equatorial plane is tilted with respect to the ecliptic plane, the plane created by Earth's orbit. These two intersecting planes create an intersecting line called the vernal axis that occurs on the first day of spring, or Vernal equinox. As the Earth spins on its axis, its axis wobbles (precesses 50.3 seconds of arc per year or 1 degree every 71.6 years) very slowly over a period of about 24,000 to 26,000 years. As this occurs, the pole of the Earth inscribes an arc in the heavens called the precessional arc. The Earth's pole aligns with different stars throughout the precessional period. The current pole star is Polaris. Approximately 13,000 year ago it was Vega, one of my favorite stars. Earth's precessional cycle is also referred to as Earth's Great Year in the alchemical tradition, World Ages, or Yugas in the Vedas. David Frawley describes it a one year in the life of humanity.

In Vedic astrology there is a line of thought that suggests this 24,000-26,000 cycle (and even wobble of the earth itself) maybe be generated by a grand cycle of our sun with a companion dark star. Modern astronomy is studying this possibility as well. The ancient Vedic seers divided up the cycle into four world ages: the Satya(Truth or Golden), Treta (Third or Silver), Dwapara (Third or Bronze) and Kali (first or Iron) Ages. Each age describes a stage of awareness for mankind in which consciousness ascends, descends, and ascends in unending cycles perhaps due to the influence of this yet to be discovered companion star. Although New Age philosophers have described humanity as entering the Age of Aquarius, astronomically speaking that will not happen for approximately 300-400 years.

According to Vedic thought, the cycles of ascending and descending consciousness are connected not only to our rotation around a companion star, but also our cycle around the galactic center. According to David Frawley, "Vedic astrology orients the zodiac to the galactic center, or the central galactic sun, whose influence comes to us through fixed stars of the constellation Sagittarius." The galactic center is like our cosmic belly button -- it is sometimes called Vishnunabhi, or the navel of Vishnu-- the point from which our galaxy grew and expanded. Many ancient cultures studied and recorded their observations about this area of the night sky, including the Mayans whose calendar marks an astronomical event of our winter solstice aligning with the galactic center in 2012. It's like the earth's pole or antenna will be aligned and open to receive message from the source itself. [H]ohm is calling.

One of the most brilliant developments of the ancient Vedic seers was to further divide the zodiac into more identifiable parts. They did this by creating the Nakshatra system. In Sanskrit Nakshatra means lunar mansion. As the moon travels through the entire zodiac in 27-28 days, the ancient seers ascribed a Nakshatra for each day simplifying its location. Although too vast a subject to go into in this post, it is interesting to point out that the name for the Nakstratra that marks the galactic center is Mula, meaning root or source.

Another difference between Western and Vedic astrology is the modern use of non-observable planets and asteroids. As a Neo-Vedic astrologer I do consider some of the outer planets when I look at a chart, but I tend to be more interested in the fixed stars and Nakshatras. I marvel at how Western astrologers bring in new astronomical discoveries to their chart interpretations. Basically I see Western charts as a map of the same terrain as a Vedic chart, but indicating different types or levels of information. It's like comparing a topological map with a road map. I don't need to know the difference of elevation between Broadway and 3rd Avenue, but I might like to know the street number of Benaroya Hall. It all depends on what type of information one is seeking. Vedic astrologers come from a tradition and philosophy that focuses on the four aims of life: dharma (purpose), arthra (attainment), kama (desire),and the most important moksha (liberation). Western astrology is enriched by many diverse traditions and the information gleaned from it may be quite extensive and more suited for the modern mind. But for me, I've always been drawn to the stars in the night sky and have felt them speak to me in the language of light. And as Jyotisha is the science of light, it is the tool and filter I use to translate this information.

For a good video overview on precession click here.