Astro Weather May 2009

New Moon May 24, 2009 at 5:15 am PDT

Today's new moon occurred at sunrise with Mercury retrograding away from it in the moon's sign of exhaltation, Taurus. The Sun, Moon and Mercury were lined up on the horizon against the stellar backdrop of the nakshatra Krittika. As I mentioned in the May 7, 2009 post, the symbols of Krittika are a flame, razor, and knife that cut away negativity to reveal the greatest truth. It is a star of purification whose dahana shakti gives the power to burn away not only physical impurities, but also adverse karma itself. The ruling deity is Agni, the god of fire. It is an auspicious time to perform a fire ceremony, practice breath of fire pranayama, purify the dietary fire, or stimulate mental fire and creativity. Both my partner and I were up earlier than usual for a Sunday morning, restless and wired by this fire energy.

This 'star of fire' is also known as 'the cutters' perhaps referring to the weapons wielded by its other deity, Karttikeya, one of Shiva's sons. According to Vedic traditions, Shiva promised to produce a son who would destroy the demons that had taken over the heavens. For his protection, the infant Karttikeya was hidden away by the 7 Wives of the 7 Seers, the 7 bright stars of the Pleiades. In this place of refuge, they instructed and prepared him for his destiny. Thus this asterism symbolizes the celestial training ground where one receives instruction on one's life purpose.

As I mentioned in a previous post, whenever I see Pleiades I immediately think: Stargate or Portal, and relate it to modern sci-fi mythologies like that of Star Trek. Today's new moon on the horizon begins a lunation cycle in which these mythologies may be acted out in daily life over the next 28 days.

Namaste!