Astro Weather August 2008

Solar Eclipse, August 1, 2008
As I've discussed in earlier posts (See August 10, 2007), an eclipse is defined as an astronomical event in which one celestial object moves into the shadow of another. Here on earth eclipses of the sun and moon occur in pairs every six months as the nodes, Rahu and Ketu, align with the full or new moon.

Astrological traditions view eclipse cycles as a karmic time period in which the obscuration of the luminaries brings out psychological disturbances, political unrest, shadow issues, and fear. August begins with the South Node, Ketu eclipsing the new moon on August 1, 2008 at 3:13 am PDT. The qualities of a Ketu eclipse differ than that of a Rahu eclipse and reflect the mysterious energy of the South Node. Ketu is the tail of the dragon. It has no head, but it does have heart which causes it to react instinctively, emotionally, and intuitively rather than intellectually like Rahu, the head of the dragon. Ketu eclipses can trigger irrational fear or moments of enlightenment.

In the wee hours of the morning the new moon will occur in Cancer in one of the most auspicous nakshatras Pushya, meaning the "nourisher" and sometimes translated as "flower". It represents the flowering and nurturing process of the sign Cancer. Its shakti power is the abililty to create spiritual energy, brahmavarchasa shakti and it gives this new moon the energy to mature our spiritual practice.

Ketu is located nearly 10 degrees away, so its effect will not be full. It falls in the nakshatra Ashlesha which is also known as the 'clinging star' or Hydra. At first glance the Hydra and tail of the dragon or snake may seem to have the same instinctive and intuitive predispositions. However, Ketu's fiery nature that burns off karma gets softened in the water sign of Cancer. Its natural tendency towards detachment and rejection of the material realm is confronted with an opportunity to embrace life, especially the bountiful material life of Cancer. Will this eclipse open our spirit to embrace our will and balance out the polarizing play of the nodes? Or will the shakti of the Ashlesha nakshatra visasleshana shakti, the power to inflict with venom paralyze the blooming Pushya energy?

Interestly Mercury is also in Ashlesha, which is a Mercury ruled nakshatra, separating the luminaries from Ketu. Perhaps Mercury in Cancer will be able to bridge the light of the spirit (Sun) and mind (moon) with the emotion of the will and heart (Ketu). As the planets of intuition and psychic insight, the Moon, Mercury and Ketu, align in this highly sensitive formation, I would pay attention to dreams and intuitive feelings.

Namaste!

Astro Weather July 2008

Full Moon 7/18/08
The next full moon occurs early on Friday morning in the sign of Capricorn and in the nakshatra Uttara Ashada, meaning "the latter invincible one". It is known as the "universal star" and gives humanitarian interests. For example, John Lennon, Deepak Chopra, Robert Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln all were born with moon in Uttara Ashada. My last lunation post in January discussed the previous nakshatra Purva Ashada, meaning "undefeated" or "invincible". Purva means "earlier" and Uttara means "latter". There are three sets of nakshatras that are paired: Purva/Uttara Phalguni, Purva/Uttara Ashada, and Purva/Uttara Bhadrapada. All three of these nakshtaras have symbols of beds and thus represent places of relaxtion, healing, and sometimes death. Uttara Ashada, is therefore, the latter "undefeated" or final victory.

Uttara Ashada has ten ruling deities known as the Vishvadevas or Universal Gods. Their names translate into: goodness, truth, willpower, skill, time, desire, firmness, ancestors, brightness and peak. They are benevolent and the guardians of good. Their power is to grant an unchallengable victory, apradhrisya shakti.

According to ancient Vedic legend, the stars of this asterism, which are located at the end of the Sagittarius constellation and early degrees of Capricorn, point to the battle ground where Indra and the divine forces celebrated final victory over demonic forces. Some ancient texts describe a 28th nakshatra called Abhijit, whose translation also means "final victory". Although scholars differ on it's exact degrees, it is referenced as 0-12 degrees Capricorn. In the Bhagavad Gita Krishna says: "Amongst the nakshatras, I am Abhijit." Interestly the blue star Vega is part of this nakshatra, and the hindu deity Krishna is depicted with blue skin. Abhijit is considered a light nakshatra that is auspicious for healing, traveling or starting a business.

As I mentioned in earlier post from August 2007 Astro Weather called Star Dust Memories, the former pole star Vega, is located in Abhijit. Vedic astrology has documented the time when Vega was the north pole star, between 10,000-12,000 BCE. According to David Frawley, "Vega may be the other point of light which governs life and spiritual evolution on Earth." Ancient Egyptians refer to Vega as Maat, the great Egyptian goddess who helped souls move from one life to another. In the movie Contact, Jodi Foster travels through a wormhole to Vega and visits with her deceased father. According to many channeled teachings, some of the oldest root races originate from the star systems of Vega and Lyra and after some galactic calamity escaped to Pleiades and Sirius and established an interstellar portal with the earth. And in Energy Blessings from the Stars Virginia Essene describes Vega as beaming gifts of sound healing to the earth. Perhaps the mythology of the hindu deity Krishna who is both divine warrior and musician reflects an ancient history of a root race.

The full moon will also align with the North Node, Rahu, and Neptune in Capricorn in opposition to the Sun with Venus and the South Node, Ketu in Cancer. Moon/Neptune conjunction in opposition to Venus is a wonderful aspect for meditation, dreaming, music and creative work. As the moon is full around midnight, ask your dream keeper for messages from the ancients or sound masters of Vega.

Namaste!

I'm back!

For the past six months I have been healing my body from chronic Lyme's disease. While not fully recovered, I am feeling better than I have in years thanks to the amazing homeopathy and natural remedies prescribed by my new naturopath. I found her after seeing the newly released documentary, Under Our Skin, which chronicles the journey of three Lyme's patients, their Lyme-literate doctors, and the political controversy that surrounds this disease that effects far more people than official numbers suggest.

For more information see: http://www.underourskin.com
or trailer at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxWgS0XLVqw

I plan to write more about my recovery in future posts. In addition I plan to write a lot more about earth changes and ascension. My goal is to post something new each week. We'll see if that happens.

Namaste!