Astroweather -- December 2010

December begins under the influence of three malefic planets and fickle Mercury aligning with the Galactic Center in Sagittarius. As the 9th sign of the zodiac, Sagittarius rules over spirituality, religion, law, and politics. When planets transit this field of stellar energy, they transmit their intrinsic energy to these activities. For example, Rahu, the north node of the Moon, amplifies forces of desire and focuses on how to materialize what it wants. As the head of a decapitated demon or Dragon, Rahu's effects are initiated on the mental field, and most often on a subconscious plane. Thus Rahu rules the unknown and anything outside our daily experience, including research beyond known boundaries, hidden realms, foreigner lands and people, microbial life, and alien life. Rahu expands and often distorts perception in order to manifest its desire. So when Rahu travels in the sign of Sagittarius it effects political, religious, and spiritual activities and pushes boundaries to a breaking point. It can bring spiritual progress, but more often Rahu taps into subconscious fears that get activated on a group level or world stage. Rahu also amplifies and intensifies the energy of the planets associated with it, so in this case Pluto's urge for deep transformation escalates and becomes more volatile.

As I illustrated with recent world events in my last post on Starsyncs, the explosive planetary line up was intially activated under the dreadful nakshatra Mula with Pluto's conjunction of Rahu, the North Node, on November 23-24, 2010; and was followed by Mercury and Mars entering Sagittarius on November 25, 2010 and November 30, 2010 respectively. The tension will continue to build as Mercury and Mars get closer to Rahu, and become mixed up in this month's eclipse pattern, culminating with a lunar eclipse on the winter solstice, December 21, 2010. Next week Uranus, the planet of sudden change and revolution stations and goes direct, while Mercury conjoins the lord of the underworld, Pluto, all under a debilitated new moon in Scorpio. The lunation before an eclipse is often extremely powerful and sets the state for the drama to be carried out. This month the new Moon occurs in the purifying water sign of Scorpio, with all the transiting planets rising in the constellation of Sagittarius casting their glance on the horizon. Moreover, the following day the Moon slips into Mula directing this energy right into our psyches, perhaps giving us a preview of the events during this eclipse cycle.

New Moon December 5, 2010 9:36 am pdt
Uranus Station 5:51 pm pdt
Mercury conjoins Pluto

The Nakshatra Jyeshta contains three stars that the ancient seers saw as an umbrella or earring. Its name means the eldest or most senior, and some scholars suggest that originally there were only 18 nakshtras with Jyeshta designating the last lunar mansion. I believe it may also have a deeper astronomical reference.



It also marks the entry to the oldest part of our galaxy, the galactic center, as Jyestha precedes Mula making it the last step before we come back to a rebirth at the root, or Vishnuabi, Vishnu's belly button, the center from which our entire galaxy grew. Depictions of Vishnu, the preserver, often portray him asleep dreaming on the coiled-up thousand-hooded Shesha Naga, with his consort Lakshmi, floating on the Kshira Sagar meaning 'ocean of milk,' the Milky Way.



Indra is the deity associated with Jyeshta. As the King of the Gods and protector of heroes, Indra is known for his daring nature, courage, and power, but also for his vanity, pride, and unreliable character. As god of war and weather, Indra used weapons such as the thunderbolt, bow, net, disc, and hook. The Arohana shakti of Jyeshta gives the power to rise and conquer and give courage in battle. Indra's most notable battle was with the asura Vritra, a terrible dragon, who stole all the water of the world for himself. After a mighty battle, Indra sliced open the asura releasing all the hoarded water, and thus became known as a "dragon slayer."

The theme of snakes and dragons may be revealed in the symbols of Jyeshta: a round earring, ring, or circular talisman that represents the governing forces of the universe, and the world (crown, orb, ring, large hoop earrings worn by kings).


In India the large round earring worn by ancient kings are reminiscent of the ouroboros, a coiled snake consuming its tail, representing ideas of circularity, unity, and infinity. This ancient symbol is found in many ancient cultures, and even today in alchemy, it is a sigel for purification -- the theme of this new moon.



Astronomically Jyeshta is part of the (some say 13th) constellation Ophiuchus, Greek for "the serpent holder" or "the serpent bearer." This snake handler may represent the legendary healer Aesclepius who learned the secrets of keeping death at bay after observing one serpent bringing another serpent healing herbs. Like the Nagas of Hindu mythology, snakes are symbols of wisdom, secret knowledge, and immortality. To prevent the entire human race from becoming immortal, Zeus killed Aesclepius with a bolt of lightning (also one of Indra's favorite weapons), and later placed his image in the heavens to honor his good works.

Astronomical images of Ophiuchus depict Aesculepius resting his foot on Scorpius, the Scorpion. In Greek lore the great earth goddess Gaia sent Scorpius to kill Orion, the Hunter, who had threatened to hunt down all the animals of the Earth. Scorpius stings Orion, who would have died had it not been for the intervention of Aesculapius. Aesculepius gave Orion a sip of the Divine Elixir, revealed by serpents, that restored him to health. In Hindu myth amrita is the divine elixir of mortality that Rahu so desperately desired and ultimately drank. So it seems the ancient Gods did not want humans or demons to drink this potion and share in the ultimate gift of immortality.




The Rod of Aesculepius is the symbol for Ophiuchus, and is often confused with Caduceus of Mercury -- interesting sync in Vedic Astrology that Jyestra is ruled by Mercury. The confusion regarding the supposed medical significance of the caduceus appears to have arisen as a result the military using it for the US Army Medical Corps in the early 20th century -- and may in fact stem from Babylonian symbols depicting Ishtar as 'an awakener of life and vegetation in the spring' -- which is a whole other kettle of fish that I will refrain from discussing, today.

It is intriguing that the 13th constellation is also described as the "eldest" sign both Western and Vedic traditions. Johannes Kepler depicted an allegorical and astronomical Ophiuchus in the drawing posted below.



Kepler was fascinated by Ophiuchus as it is the location of the last visible supernova. Supernover 1604 is also known as Kepler's Star. It no doubt caused quite a stir as it was visible and bright. First observed on October 9, 1604 Supernova 1604 was brighter at its peak than any other star in the night sky -- and all the planets other than Venus -- with apparent magnitude 2.5. It was visible during the day for over three weeks at the end of the 12 baktun, and beginning of the last and 13th baktun of the Mayan Calendar which we all know resets at the ends of 2012. There have been no observable supernova in the Milky Way since that time. Now that we are approaching the end of the 13th baktun, perhaps history will repeat itself and another galactic wave message might be sent from this area of space? There is another recurrent nova in Ophiuchus that may go supernova in our lifetime, RS Ophiuchi.

The constellation Ophiuchus is opposite the constellation Orion along the axis of the Milky Way. Orion is speculated home of our alien ancestors, possible binary twin Sirius, and supposed stargate/wormhole. Could Ophiuchus also contain a wormhole, an energetic ouroboros, that was opened in 1604, or be an astrological marker for us to pay attention to our galactic birth place?



Ophiuchus contains star systems that are much closer to earth than Orion. I'm not the only one to consider space travel to Ophiucus. In fact the 1970s Project Daedalus selected Barnard's Star which is on one of the nearest stars to our Solar System located in the Ophiucus constellation, as a plausible site for a visit from an unmanned spacecraft.

Mercury conjoins Pluto
Mercury conjoins the modern ruler of Scorpio, Pluto, under the new Moon in Scorpio and in Jyeshta which is ruled by Mercury. Although Mercury is usually helpful in diplomatic discussions, this time around it is keeping company with some intense malefic planetary players. As the planet of communication tends to absorb the energy of the planets around it, Mercury may assimilate some of Rahu's tendency towards amplification, obfuscation, and exaggeration. Couple Jyeshta promise of courage to do battle with Pluto's demand for explosive transformation and monumental change, communication will be intense, and potentially explosive. Mercury pertains to our individual and collective thinking processes, so these influences will give negative qualities to the mindset of the world. In Greek Mythology Mercury/Hermes took souls down to the underworld ruled by Hades/Pluto. Thus, Mercury is the god of thresholds and rites of passage. He is the god of twilight and dawn. He rules places where two things seemed joined and yet not joined (sounds like the Korean Peninsula), ie places that aren't clearly one thing or another. Mercury is invoked at crossroads of life. When it meets Pluto it may be a crossroad of death. Are you ready?

Scorpio likes to go deep into the darkest mysteries and all the diverging avenues, as is apparent in this post. So I say let the ancient wisdom of Jyestha inspire you to dig into a great mystery, purify in sauna, hot springs, or with sacred water, uncover a plot, give care to elders, or set some grand plan into motion. Let Mercury's meeting with Pluto loosen all those negative thought patterns that keep you locked in samscara. Observe and record your dreams, as your subconscious may go on a very deep journey. The next day you may find yourself past the threshold of death, being reborn as the Moon draws in new instructions from the galactic center.

Namaste!

UPDATE: As Mercury heads to its conjunction with Pluto, the ruler of radioactivity, this story was release: Surprise: Radioactive Mercury Decays Into Uneven Chunks

AND

UPDATE: On the new moon in Scorpio on December 5, Iran claimed it could now use domestically mined uranium to produce nuclear fuel, giving the country complete control over a process the West suspects is geared toward producing weapons.