starworlds: Astro Weather March 2009

Friday, March 6, 2009

Astro Weather March 2009

Venus retrograde March 6 - April 17, 2009
March begins under the influence of a Venus retrograde cycle. A planet is described as retrograde when it appears to be moving backwards through the zodiac. Astrologers view this change in perceived motion to be alchemically reflected in shifts of consciousness. For example Mercury retrograde cycles change the direction of how we think. Venus retrograde changes the direction of how we receive love and creative inspiration. In Vedic astrology, retrograde planets are believed to be more powerful. In Astrology of the Seers, David Frawley writes:

Retrograde planets often indicate a karmic result. They may be functioning to fulfill some karmic debt or promise or to clear up affairs from the past.

The last time Venus went through a retrograde period was the late summer of 2007 when it passed through the fire/water Gandanta degrees of Leo and Cancer (see Astro weather posts July, August, and September 2007). What was going on during that time may be thematically reflected and/or resolved by this current retrograde cycle.

At 9:15 am PDT an exalted Venus in Pisces turned to retrograde motion. It will remain in watery Pisces during the entire retrograde. When an exalted planet goes retrograde its power is dimmed to near debilitation. As the planet of relationships, arts, and pleasure, Venus retrograde slows down the flow of energy to these areas of our lives. We may feel blocked from receiving the things we love. Or perhaps old loves or unresolved issues from the past may come up for us. It is not a great time to start new relationships, but it is a good time to re-access what gives us pleasure.

During this 44 day period, Venus will pass through the Piscean nakshatras of Revati (3/6 - 3/22) and Uttara Bhadrapada (3/22 - 4/17 - 5/13) and make a close conjunction to the fixed star Alpheratz in the Andromeda constellation. This fixed star is considered auspicious, and relates to the Greek myth of a young Perseus saving Andromeda from the wrath of Poseidon. According to the story, as Perseus was on his journey back to Seriphus, he came upon a beautiful girl named Andromeda, who was chained to a rock in Ethiopia. Her parents had angered Poseidon, who demanded Andromeda’s sacrifice to a horrible sea monster as punishment. Perseus insisted on her hand in marriage in exchange for killing the monster, and her parents agreed. Using his special weapons, he killed the beast, and took his beautiful bride. This constellation has a lot to do with Venusian themes of beauty, love, marriage, and sacrifice.

The nakshatra Revati is associated with wealth, abundance and prosperity as well as with beginnings and endings. Venus will spend most of the retrograde in the nakshatra Uttara Bhadrapada whose deity is Ahirbudhnya, the serpent of the deep, which syncs nicely with the myth of Andromeda.

The sign of Pisces is associated with fish and the deep sea and we may expect to see these watery symbols pop up in the collective consciousness. Today CNN had plenty of synchronistic headlines: Pink (Venus) Dolphin spotted in Louisiana, Inventor Flies Under Water, and Obama to reverse Stem Cell Ban, Unhappily ever after: Why bad marriages hurt women's health (a Venus retrograde headline if I ever heard one -- for more visit mt new sister blog Starsync).

Vedic astrology offers wonderful remedial measures, called upayas, to soothe afflicted planets or difficult transits. Some of these remedies include wearing gemstones and chanting mantra. White crystals, such as diamond and white sapphire, emit a frequency that resonates with Venus. By wearing these crystals we imprint our field with this vibration and thus strengthen the Venus frequency within us. In the Vedic tradition, Venus, Shukra, is the son of the great seer Bhrigu who taught his descendant all spiritual sciences and Vedic scriptures. As Venus rules chanting of mantras, tantra, alchemy and the medical arts, these pursuits are great remedies. Venus retrograde is the perfect time to reconnect with these practices -- especially on Venus' day, Friday. A mantra one might use is: Om shum shukraaye namah.

Morning Star/Evening Star
Venus is perhaps one of the most beautiful celestial bodies in the night sky. There is an eight year cycle associated with her dance and retrograde patterns as viewed from the Earth. A Venus cycle includes 5 retrogrades over 8 years, cutting a path in the shape of a star or pentagram.

This phenomenon was observed by ancient sky-watchers and mystics, and became the basis of many myths involving death and resurrection. Christians, Mayans, and Hindus all describe the return of the morning star as symbolic of the return of their teachers. The Babylonians called Venus the double-phased Ishtar -- the morning star of war and the evening star of love. Greek astrologers called the morning phase of Venus Lucifer ("the light bearer") and the evening phase Hesperus ("setting in the West"). The Mesoamericans linked the morning phase of Venus with Quetzalcoatl, one of their major gods, believing that this was a time when leaders are struck down and natural disasters occur.

Venus will spend the next 44 days retrograding through the stellar influences of Pisces, the most mystical sign of the zodiac. The evening star begins a shamanic journey disappearing behind the sun to become completely combust on Friday, March 27, 2009. She will re-emerged as the morning star in early April and go stationary direct on April 17, 2009. Venus will be the morning star until December 2009. Keep praying for peace.

Namaste!

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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.