Venus Cycles

The Transformation of the Morning Star into the Evening Star
Venus Superior Conjunction August 16, 2011

Venus, the resplendent morning or evening star, outshines all the other planets and stars in the heavens. As its orbit is closer to the Sun than the Earth's, it can never stray very far from its source of luminosity. Its twinkling presence may grace either the eastern horizon in the pre-dawn sky, or the western horizon just after sunset; and is never seen during the night. At most it is visible for a few hours before disappearing into the radiance of the day or evening twilight. Thus Venus rules photography's magic hour when a special effect is captured due to the soft romantic quality of the light. The dazzling brightness of Venus is due to its thick clouds that reflect 70% of the Sun's light back into space, and to its close proximity to the Earth. From our perspective, Venus is the brightest planet in the entire solar system.

Venus also has a unique orbit and rotation. The bright planet rotates in an opposite direction from all the other planets in the solar system, so the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east. A Venus day (243 earth days) is longer than its year (225 earth days). As it takes 243 earth days to make one rotation (day), its day makes an intriguing mathematical harmony with an earth year. A Venus day is 2/3 of an earth year, and because Venus makes a complete revolution around its 177.3 degree axis once every 2/3 of an earth year, it revolves exactly 12 times in an 8 year period. And the orbit and rotation of Venus are synchronized in such a manner that Venus always presents the same face to us when Earth and Venus are at their closest proximity during an inferior conjunction.



In addition, the mathematical harmonies of Venus' orbit and rotation in relation to the earth are even more astounding when you begin to understand its synodic cycle. Viewed from the earth, Venus' full synodic cycle (from inferior conjunction to inferior conjunction with the Sun) takes 584 days, or about 1.6 years. After nearly 8 years and 5 synodic cycles, Venus returns to its starting point drifting westward by about 2-3 degrees. The 5 successive inferior conjunction points that occur during its retrograde cycles trace a pentagram around the zodiac during this time, flavoring each conjunction and pentagram series with its own unique stellar influences. During the past 8 years the zodiac signs impacted by this fivefold pattern are: Taurus, Libra, Pisces, Leo, and Sagittarius (click here for dates of recent inferior conjunction dates). The 2-3 degree drift of the pentagram ticks through the whole zodiac in 1,215 years. It is intriguing that at this point in history two of the signs ruled by the benefic Venus, Taurus and Libra, make up two points of the pentagram. Maya scholars suggest that the Birth of Venus is linked with the creation of the Mayan Calendar, and as we shall see seems to be linked to its completion as well. The points of the pentagram in Sagittarius and Pisces are ruled by the great benefic Jupiter. And the fifth point in Leo is ruled by the Sun. All these signs are related to the growth of the soul or atma (Sun) through love (Venus) and wisdom (Jupiter). Perhaps Venus cycles can reveal to us the pathway to this discovery of our highest selves?



Venus and Phi, a Divine Proportion of Harmony
Curiously 8 earth years (8x365=2920) equals 13 Venus years (225x13=2925), two numbers that have an intriguing relationship. When combined with the 5 of its synodic cycles in 8 earth years with 12 Venusian days, a harmonious pattern emerges. These numbers are familiar to anyone who has played the piano or is familiar with music theory and the Fibonacci sequence. An octave (8) contains 12 white keys and 5 black keys comprising the chromatic scale. The 13th note begins the next octave. The orbital ratio of 13 Venus years to 8 earth years, 13:8, reflects the Fibonacci sequence and ratio that produces the number 1.625, very close to the golden ratio of phi (1.618033). Additionally Venus' synodic cycles also express another Fibonacci ratio: 8:5 as it takes 8 years to complete one 5-fold pattern. 8/5 equals 1.6, again close to phi. This “golden” number, 1.61803399, represented by the Greek letter phi, is known as the Golden Ratio, Golden Proportion, Golden Mean, Golden Section and Divine Proportion. The Golden Ratio is unique in its mathematical properties and pervasive in its appearance throughout nature.

The Fibonacci Series is a sequence of numbers that when the sum is added to the previous number, a formula correlating to growth and harmonic cycles develops-- for example 0, 0+1 = 1, 1+1=2, 2+1=3, 3+2=5, 5+3=8, 8+5=13 ect. When the sum is divided by the previous number the result is the golden ration, or phi (8/5 = 1.6 ~ 1.618). The phi ratio is found throughout the natural world, such as in the spiraling growth pattern of galaxies, plants, shells, cellular structures, breeding patterns and the helix structure of DNA. The video below beautifully illustrations these spiraling ratios.




When the phi ratio is applied to human constructs of music, art, and architecture, the resulting harmonious pattern is said to evoke an aesthetic and emotional reaction that is comforting to the soul as it draws on proportions found in nature. Phi was especially prized by Renaissance artists who sought to find and express the hidden divine order of the cosmo expressed in its mathematical formula. In astrology beauty, art, music, color, harmony in form, order and proportion are all attributes of Venus. The cycles of Venus literally embody harmony and beauty. The bright light of Venus imprints an energetic blueprint as it passes through the twilight skies transmitting a divine harmonious order of the heavens to the Earth.



Two Masks of Venus
Within each 584 day synodic cycle, there are two distinct phases of approximately 263 days which are separated by intervals when the bright planet is totally obscured from sight. The shortest period of darkness marks the beginning of the cycle when Venus is closest to Earth making an inferior conjunction to the Sun. After only 7-9 days of invisibility, Venus reappears dramatically, rising before the Sun in the east as the morning star.



Three weeks later Venus reaches maximum brilliancy (when it is 39 degrees from the Sun), then slowly decreases in light before disappearing a second time at the superior conjunction when she disappears for up to 60 days. The Greeks called the morning star phase Phosphoros meaning "Bringer of Light," or Eosphoros, "Bringer of Dawn.” The evening star phase was Hesperos meaning setting in the west.



The superior conjunction occurs when Venus is at its greatest distance from Earth and passes behind the Sun. During this interval, it is out of sight for almost 60 days. Venus reappears from this much longer period of darkness as an evening star in the west where she sets a little later each night while increasing in brilliance, until she turns retrograde and heads toward her next inferior conjunction with the Sun a month later.

















Many ancient sky-watching cultures interpreted the periods of darkness when Venus disappears from view on the earth as a time when the goddess traveled to the the underworld. The ancient Babylonians called Venus the double-phased Ishtar -- the morning star of war and the evening star of love. As morning star Venus was often represented as a bearded warrior bearing weapons. However, as an evening star the archetype shifts and becomes softer, more attuned to reconciliation, treaties, bringing communication and cooperation to whatever she is uniting. Isn't it interesting that the time period for Venus to shift from its phase as morning star of war to evening star of love is longer than its transformation of evening star of love to morning star of war, by a factor of 10-12! It seems to take a lot more internal work in the underworld to bring out the love.


Some of the earliest references to Venus are found on clay tablets dating as early as 3000 BC from Uruk, an important early Sumerian city in southern Iraq. In ancient Sumer the goddess Inanna was associated with the planet Venus and the Uruk tablets specify her celestial identity as Venus with the symbol of an eight-pointed star.

There are hymns dedicated to Inanna that describe as her astral manifestation of the planet Venus. It is also believed that the myths about Inanna correspond with the movements of the planet Venus in the sky. Inanna's Decent to the Underworld (click here) explains how Inanna is able to descend into the netherworld, pass through a series of tests, and return to the earth by ascending to the heavens. The planet Venus appears to make a similar descent, setting in the West and then rising again in the East. And during her journey to the underworld, the goddess Inanna passes through seven gates (chakras? weeks?) removing an article of clothing at each gate until she is completely naked exposing her bright beauty to the darkest realms. As my partner Joseph pointed out to me: The clothing represents the constructs of our ego and aspects of our false self. It only feels like Hell if we are attached to our egos. By removing her clothes Innana strips down to her bare essence and is given the opportunity to connects to her true self. In order to exit the underworld, Inanna was required to select someone to leave behind in her place. Could this be her shadow? When Innana returned to her kingdom, she finds that her husband Dammuzi had showed no concern for her during her absence. Thus she sent her "unconscious" male aspect, or animus, down to the underworld in her place where he is beaten and gashed with axes. Could the two faces of the Sumerian Venus and cycles of Venus represent the shamanic process of dissolving the ego, anima, and animus to release the divine enlightened self?

The Assyrian and Babylonian name for Inanna is "Ishtar" and may reflect the Sumerian origins of "Easter" and other resurrection themes. In fact, Jesus is also called the morning star:

I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.
~ Revelation 22:16

Something similar may be behind the myth of Inanna/Ishtar's descent into the underworld and the Egyptian myth of Isis and Osiris. In ancient Egypt the planet Venus was called the star of the ship of the Bennu-Asar. Asar is the Egyptian name of Osiris, the Egyptian god of the underworld. The Bennu was a large imaginary bird similar to a heron that is commonly equated with the phoenix, the mythological bird of resurrection. Bennu also means "'the ascending one."



The ankh, or key of life, frequently appears in Egyptian tomb paintings and other art, and is depicted grasped in the hands of a god or goddess of the afterlife, like Osiris. Perhaps it is no accident that the ankh is still used today as the symbol for Venus.



Isis was also associated with the planet Venus (Pliny the Elder), and her search throughout Egypt for her dead husband Osiris is likened to Inanna's descent. Thus the Egyptians may also have associated death and resurrection with the Venus' evening and morning appearances, or perhaps with its conjunctions behind the sun and its periods of visibility.

Mesoamerican astrologers considered the first appearance of Venus morning star to be a dangerous time. The Dresden Codex is a pre-Columbian Maya book that dates to the 11-12th century Maya at Chichen Itza. It is believed to be a copy of an original text dating three or four hundred years earlier. There are six pages in the Dresden Codex that are devoted to the accurate calculation of the heliacal rising of Venus and thereby reveal that the morning star was at the heart of Maya calendars and cosmology. This page from the Dresden Codex serves as a combination of calendar and almanac and charts the significance of specific dates related to the movements of Venus. From evidence in The Dresden Codex, scholars believe that 1 Ahau was the traditional Sacred Day of Venus for the Maya which initiated the Venus Round. The Venus Round was a later calendar created to synchronize the Venus cycle with the Haab and Tzolkin calendars. One Venus Round = 104 Haab or 37,960 days ensuring that if Venus emerges as morning star on the Winter Solstice on the almanac day 1 Ahau, it will take 104 Haab for this to occur again.

The so-called end of the Mayan Calendar, or The Long Count, completes at 13 Ahau, the end of the 13th baktun which is measured from the Birth of Venus. The basis of Calleman's argument for the October 28, 2011 date over the 2012 date is that the later date is out of sync ending at 4 Ahau, and his date does end on 13 Ahau. Ahau means "sun," "light," or "lord" and it seems fitting that astrologically the Sun is rising with Venus on Calleman's end date. (For more see my previous post on understanding the end dates of the Mayan Calendar.) I find this glyph of Ahau to be intriguing as it seems to represent the Sun emitting or being caught by a beam of light surrounded on either side with two dots, perhaps indicating the inner planets Mercury and Venus. Or could they represent the two phases of Venus that figure so prominently in Mayan lore. Ahau also is a day to ask for wisdom and to remember the ancestors thus linking it to a netherworld meme.


Lamat means "star" and is the Mayan glyph for Venus. Lamat is the we of community consciousness, and remembers as in group consciousness. Lamat likes to fight, but is always reaching to operate out of love -- sounds like the two phases of Venus! Both of these glyphs are two of the five Mayan South Suns: Kan, the seed, Lamat, the Venus Star, Eb the Human, Cib the Warrior, and Ahau the Solar Lord. According to Aluna Joy Yaxkin: "The suns of the south, especially Ahau, are idealistic and can ripen what has been started and raise it into full potential within the highest form of manifestation."


Mesoamericans linked the morning phase of Venus with Quetzalcoatl. According to the Aztecs Quetzalcoatl was often considered the morning star, and his twin brother Xolotl was the evening star. The god Quetzalcoatl is depicted as the feathered serpent. Quetzacoatl was also known as Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli, meaning "lord of the star of the dawn." He was a god of the wind, priests, and knowledge. Quetzalcoatl is a primordial god of creation, a giver of life. After the last world, the Fourth Sun had been destroyed, Quetzalcoatl went to Mictlan, the land of the death, and created our current world, the Fifth Sun, by using his own blood, from a wound in his penis, to give new life to bones. Quetzalcoatl is also the giver of maize (corn) to mankind.

Xolotl is a dog-like deity, often depicted with ragged ears. He is identified with sickness and physical deformity. As the twin of Quetzalcoatl, he carries his conch-like ehecailacacozcatl or wind jewel. Xolotl accompanied Quetzalcoatl to Mictlan, Land of the Death or the underworld, to retrieve the bones from those who inhabited the previous world to create new life for the present world. In a sense, this re-creation of life is reacted every night when Xolotl guides the sun through the underworld.

In ancient Mexico, Quetzalcoatl (in Mayan languages called Kukulcan or Gugumatz) represented the deity of light and duality and was seen as the creator of civilization. Legend also has it that he will return at the end of the 5th world. Thus, it has been suggested by many authors that the energies of Christ and Quetzalcoatl are the same, or at least closely associated. According to Carl Calleman:

"If nothing else, it was in the baktun ruled by Quetzalcoatl, AD 40-434, that Christianity expanded to a world religion. This, in contrast to many of the religions that had preceded it, brought a message of love and forgiveness to mankind. On a symbolic level the Cross of Christianity was an expropriation of the World Tree and Quetzalcoatl was really the Serpent that in so many traditions was winding around the World Tree and in this symbolism the two energies are immediately connected."

Christians, Mayans, and Hindus all describe the return of the Morning Star as symbolic of the return of their teachers. Some believe that the Venus transit of 2012 marks the beginning of the end of a long, long, cycle.

Venus Transit
The current 8-year Venus cycle will culminate in a rare Venus transit in front of the Sun during the final leg of this eight year set during the last year of the 2012 Mayan Calendar. A transit of Venus across the Sun takes place when the planet Venus passes directly between the Sun and Earth, obscuring a small portion of the solar disk. It is similar in effect to an eclipse of the Sun by Venus, but instead of blocking all the solar light, Venus can be seen from Earth as a small black disk moving across the face of the Sun. Transits of Venus are among the rarest of predictable astronomical phenomena. They occur in a pattern that repeats every 243 years, with pairs of transits eight years apart separated by long gaps of 121.5 years and 105.5 years. The periodicity is a reflection of the fact that the orbital periods of Earth and Venus are close to 8:13 and 243:395 resonances.

2004 Transit of Venus


2012 Transit of Venus


After 2012, the next transits of Venus will be in December 2117 and December 2125.



The next transit of Venus will begin on June 5–June 6 in 2012 (a day after a partial lunar eclipse in Scorpio), succeeding the previous Venus transit in Taurus/Mrigrashira of June 8, 2004. During the transit of 2012 Venus will return to its own sign of Taurus, but this time will be a few degrees earlier in the nakshatra of Rohini. The star associated with Rohini is the great royal star Aldebaran, the "watcher of the east." The residing deity of Rohini is Prajapati, the Creator who grants our deepest desires. The power associated with this nakshatra is rohana shakti, growth -- as might be expressed in the Fibonacci sequence and phi. Rohini is also called the "star of ascent" giving an increase in status in society, and perhaps to our souls. This Venus Transit will herald a provocative shift in energy at that time in which we may be able to call upon the Creator for the gift of ascension, be it material or spiritual!

Venus Superior Conjunction August 16, 2011
The previous inferior conjunction of Venus occurred in its own sign of Libra at 11 degrees on October 28, 2010. As Venus retrograded away from the Sun, it reappeared a few days later in the morning sky in the nakshatra of Chitra shedding its love attire for warrior wear. Although Libra is ruled by Venus, the nakshatra Chitra is ruled by Mars, thus giving this morning star phase a very contentious energy. During the past 9 months we have certainly seen violence and unrest take center stage.

Currently Venus is still in the warrior morning star phase, but is about to make its superior conjunction on August 16, 2011 at a critical 29 degrees Cancer (conjoined a combust, sande, and retrograde Mercury). Cancer is a very nurturing sign as it is ruled by the Moon. It inspires Venus to give to others and be devotional and accommodating in relationship. However, Venus and the Moon belong to different planetary camps and have very different natures. The Moon is emotional and devotional. It expresses unconditional and selfless love like that of a mother. Venus is concerned with romantic and conditional love that requires diplomacy and boundaries to cultivate. When Venus comes under the Moon's influence it may become more emotional and unable to maintain good boundaries longing for an unconditional connection. Moreover, as Venus will be in the nakshatra of Ashlesha, the "entwining star, "we may become entangled and enmeshed in unhealthy relationships in which we are treated, or treat others, like children.

A coiled snake is the primary symbolism of the nakshatra Ashlesha, and its name may be derived from the serpent king Shesha. Although the snake is feared in today's modern society, serpents were seen as wise and divine creatures with access to other worlds, like the nagas of India. The coiled snake also represents the kundalini energy resting at the base of the human spine, which rises when consciousness is awakened. Thus the higher function of this nakshatra gives insight, intuition, perception, wisdom and cunning to Venus during its 60-day shamanic journey to the underworld.

However, Venus makes its superior conjunction while it's sande (end of a sign/29 degrees) and gandanta (the juncture between water and fire). Gandanta is traditionally described as an inauspicious position causing misery to the area of influence of the planet, in the case Venus the planet of diplomacy, the arts, and desire. As Venus will be both gandanta and combust, matters related to it may be adversely effected. Under the influence of the nakshatra Ashlesha, we may find ourselves entwined with others who are manipulative or toxic. The gift of Ashlesha is visasleshana shakti, the power to inflict with poisonous venom. I can't help but recall the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice who is bitten by a snake and dies, thus initiating Orpheus' journey to the underworld to rescue her. Orpheus used his venusian gift of music to pass by the gates of Hell, and garner sympathy and compassion through the sweet melachony tones of his lyre. Like Inanna his attempt to return to the upper world was conditional. He must not look back. But he did, and failed, losing his beloved Eurydice a second time until they were reunited after his own fateful death.


Snake venom can paralyze and kill its victim in minutes, but when used medicinally can cure illness. The question is how will Venus use this shamanic journey to the underworld, where snakes and death lay in wait? Perhaps during this phase of the last synodic cycle of this grand pentagram series, we might be able to do some shamanic work ourselves and look deep into our core to see what we need to discard and leave behind. Or might we bring back information from the other side that will bring love back into our lives? What issues, judgments, and unhealthy choices might be blocking our kundalini from freely rising and enlightening us? This fall promises to be a time for us to discover and heal these blockages. What doesn't kill us will certainly make us stronger.

I leave with the wise musings of Carl Calleman discussing the return of the divine feathered-serpent, Quetzalcoatl:

But then, how is Quetzalcoatl to return? Regardless of by what means, anyone who is able to connect to the Oneness of All at the time of the Celebration will become a living incarnation of Quetzalcoatl. To become real the energy of Quetzalcoatl must manifest in human beings. At this time this must happen through the absorption of the energy of light on the right brain and unifying this with the left. This is really about activating Kundalini energy for which humanity may now be ripe. A winding energy of light in our bodies, a manifestation of the movement of the serpent of light, Quetzalcoatl, may serve this purpose. This will set the road to wholeness in an otherwise turbulent time.

Namaste!

Update:

While I started to write this post last Tuesday, I finished it on Friday July 29, 2011, the same day that this crop circle was found in West Woodhay Down UK.




The synchronicity with the upcoming superior conjunction with Venus on August 16th in Ashlesha is mind-blowing! However it doesn't seem to include the planet Mercury in this configuration, which as I pointed out in my post of July 30th also makes its inferior conjunction at the same degree and time. . . wonder what that means? I would substitute Mercury for the earth in the diagram and then this makes extraordinary sense (at least to my abstract mind).


Addendum:
Just had to add this last bit of mathematical synchronicities between Phi and the I ching for you all to chew on too:

What if we combine the spiral unfolding of the Golden Proportion (PHI=1.618) with the exponential expansion of the I Ching (2,4,8,16,32,64)? This is what we get:

2 x PHI = 3.25 8 x PHI = 13 32 x PHI = 52
4 x PHI = 6.5 16 x PHI = 26 64 x PHI = 104

These are all the essential numbers of the Mayan Venus Round system!

From http://alignment2012.com/fap13.html

Final Eclipse of the Summer

Partial Solar Eclipse Friday, July 1, 2011 1:54 am pdt
The final eclipse of the summer occurs in the wee hours of the morning on Friday, July 1, 2011. As you can see from the graphics at Shadow and Substance, as well as in the illustration to the right, this partial eclipse will only be visible in the southern hemisphere between the tip of Africa to the unpopulated waters of Antarctica. With maximum obscuration of 9.7% it may not even be visible from space. So like the proverbial tree falling in a forest, what is the effect of this occultation if no one is there to witness and experience its darkening effects. Moreover, as this partial eclipse takes place while Ketu, the South Node, and luminaries are in different signs, it seems unlikely that its effects will be very significant. The Moon actually contacts the shadow-making South Node, Ketu, in Taurus on Wednesday June 29, 2011 at 9:00 pm before it conjoins the Sun in Gemini on Friday. Thus the effects of this eclipse span across two signs and two days with a 15 degree separation between Ketu and the New Moon.

So with limited visibility and out-of-sign alignment, why have so many astrologers proposed that this eclipse will be significantly dire? Perhaps it is because this eclipse is the first of a Saros cycle that has not been seen before and will introduce new energies that we do not yet know or understand. Solar eclipses of Saros 156 will all occur at the Moon’s descending node with the Moon traveling northward with each subsequent eclipse. The Saros series 156 begins with Friday's partial eclipse in the southern hemisphere and ends with a partial eclipse in the northern hemisphere on July 14, 3237. The total duration of Saros series 156 is 1226.05 years.



The word Saros appears to come from the ancient Sumerian/Babylonia sar meaning to enclose. Sar also means 3600 in Sumerian and is harmonically related to the measurement of a circle that the Sumerians were the first to divide into 360 degrees. A Saros Cycle is an eclipse period with 223 synodic months (approximately 6585.3213 days, or nearly 18 years 11 1/3 days), that can be used to predict eclipses of the Sun and Moon. Ancient Babylonians may have used a device like the ancient Antikythera mechanism to track these cycles.



Each eclipse of a Saros group happen 18 years apart and are linked together in families. Ancient Babylonian astronomers used these patterns to understand events associated with each family. These families evolve cyclically over time lasting 1200-1400 years encompassing 70-80 eclipses in each series. The entire cycle has a "personality" all its own that colors each family. This Saros personality is based on the first eclipse in the Saros Family which becomes its birthchart for the entire cycle. Each subsequent eclipse in the family is thematically related to this initial chart and raises the energy to the next level. Thus for the next 1200 years the Saros 156 series will repeat itself with the same familial themes, with the same node of Moon, at almost the same distance from Earth. Similar to Saros 136 below, the eclipse location for Saros 156 will slowly move northwards until it completes its run in the Arctic region near the North Pole on July 14, 3237.



As the initial eclipse of the Saros 156 series occurs so close to the South Pole, some astrologers have suggested that the vibrations released with its first eclipse will have an effect on the magnetic resonance of the South Pole. And since the Series ends with an eclipse at the North Pole, the Saros 156 series appears to be bringing in vibrations that effect the very core of the Earth. Thus studying the birthchart of this new family of eclipses might give us a hint of what the future may hold, in particular concerning the poles and axis of the earth.

In 1934 the infamous psychic Edgar Cayce first described a pole-shifting cataclysm:

"The earth will be broken up in the western portion of America. The greater portion of Japan must go into the sea. The upper portion of Europe will be changed as in the twinkling of an eye. Land will appear off the east coast of America. There will be the upheavals in the Arctic and in the Antarctic that will make for the eruption of volcanoes in the torrid areas, and there will be the shifting then of the poles — so that where there has been those of a frigid or the semi-tropical will become the more tropical, and moss and fern will grow."

Since that time the concept of pole shift has been investigated and discussed by scientists and new age thinkers. It became linked to the 2012 phenomenon by authors like Charles Hapsgood, Graham Hancock, and Drunvalo Melchizedek to name a few. I first became aware of this phenomenon when I read Greg Braden's book Awakening to Zero Point which completely changed how I viewed the world.



Whether this pole shift is a geomagnetic reversal or actual cataclysmic axial realignment, there is plenty of evidence pointing to inevitable and imminent earth changes. Thus this new Saros cycle may be heralding that the time is upon us as it is being birthed at the south pole; and its effects over the next 1200 years fit both the scientific and new age time models for pole shift.





As Ketu is the initial eclipsing node, its nature and symbolism becomes especially significant to understanding Saros 156. In the Vedic traditions Ketu is considered the oldest planet and "head" of all the stars and planets (ironic English wording as Ketu has no head). As the oldest planet, Ketu reflects the original primordial forces of chaos and disorder. Its energy is erratic and sublime, sometimes contacting, often dissolving. Thus it represents extremes, such as creation and destruction, beginnings and endings -- perhaps like the chaotic shifts that occur during a pole reversal. Ketu is an enemy of the Sun, and as the Negative Sun may bring self-doubt, lack of confidence and self worth, or its extreme opposite megalomania, during eclipses. It tends to effect the physical body more than the mind, which is more effected by Rahu, and it's shadow may trigger changes in the earth like tectonic movement, or in our own bodies. Ketu is always concerned with the past, and is what attaches us to our roots in the form of family and ancestors. Thus it is intriguing what it might mean for this new family of eclipses, the Saros 156 series.

In The Key of Life Prash Trivedi points out that the main symbols associated with Ketu are a flag fitted to a pole, a mace, the Ouroborous, an arrow and swastika. The flag is an emblem of authority and ownership, like marking the poles with the various national flags. Ketu always indicates a higher authority is at work in any process of change.



The mace is a weapon that represents the potential destructive aspect of Ketu. However, the mace is also associated with Ganesha, the first child of the Universe whose mace overcomes obstacles. The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol of the cyclic nature of time and eternity. The arrow symbolizes how we direct our aim, either reaching for higher consciousness, or dropping into darkness. And finally the swastika is a symbol that represents the spin of magnetic fields. It may described as right or left-handed indicating clockwise, or counterclockwise spin.



Nassim Haramein has developed a fascinating unified theory that describes spin as the key to understanding the structure of the universe.



The magnetic field of the earth acts very much like the Torus in the video above. A shift of spin is a natural occurrence that happens in the macrocosmic layers and cycles of the universe, as well as in the microcosmic levels of our human body. For example, women of reproductive age have a monthly pole shift in their energetic fields that precipitate their menstrual cycle. In Chinese medicine, the chong channel is called the sea of qi and blood, and in women, it flows upward for 3 week and then reverses allowing menstruation to take place. Could a pole reversal be a natural rhythm for the earth, its own menstrual cycle? Thus this initial Ketu eclipse of the Saros 156 cycle may indeed be pointing to the earth's next menstrual cycle, a pole shift that literally begins with this eclipse at the South Pole, the "root chakra" of the Earth and works its way to the "crown chakra" in 1200 years.



Ketu has recently shifted from the sign of Gemini to Taurus, the astrological sign most associated with the Earth, fertility, and accumulation. As Ketu's nature is to dissolve attachment, it is not very comfortable in Taurus. Ketu was separated from its head, Rahu, at the throat, ruled by Taurus. The headless Ketu does not have the traditional five senses to count on (or be distracted by), but instead must rely on the perceptive field of the heart, a magnetic torus, to experience reality. Thus Ketu's effects are unpredictable to the mind, and felt deeply in realms beyond the senses - like the magnetic field.




Currently Ketu is transiting the nakshatra of Mrigashira which like this eclipse spans both signs of Taurus and Gemini. It is connected with the constellation of Orion, the Hunter, and the bright star Bellatrix, and three faint stars resembling a deer's head. Although Mrigashira is ruled by Mars, (which will conjoin Ketu on July 21, 2011) it is a gentle and peaceful nakshatra. Another symbol for Mrigashira is a pot full of Soma, the celestial nectar of the gods. In Hindu mythology, the story of the creation of the nodes has to do with obtaining the elixir of immortality (for more see a previous post). Thus this solar eclipse is triggered by Ketu sipping on the soma of Mrigrashira, first touched by the Sun on June 14, 2011 and then by the Moon on June 29, 2011. So one might say this eclipse has been building during this time.

By the time of the actual eclipse on July 1, 2011 the Sun and Moon will be 15 degrees away in the nakshatra of Ardra, also connected with the constellation of Orion and the bright red star Betelgeuse. The ancient seers saw this bright red star as associated with Rudra, whose name means "the ruddy red one," the fierce red form of Shiva. Rudra was also seen as a Storm god in many ancient texts. Thus this nakshatra is associated with turbulent weather patterns like those that were triggered by full lunar eclipse of December 2010. However, this new moon lunation is far enough away from the south node that its escalating effects may be minimal.



On the other hand, this new moon may have a very significant role in the birth chart of the Saros 156 cycle. All eclipses in this cycle will be marked by the nakshatra Ardra, which means the "moist one" and is often depicted by a teardrop. According to Dennis Harness, "it is described as green, fresh, soft, wet, and shining like a gem." These descriptions reveal an underlying sense of renewal, like the wet grass and fresh air after a spring storm. By releasing the stagnation of accumulation through a series of stormy events, Ardra signals a purifying cleanse.

Moreover, Prash Trivedi describes Rudra's stormy nature as auspicious:

"Rudra is intimately connected with the constellation of Orion, the Hunter. It is revered in all the Vedic texts as the gateway from where the souls descend to begin their earthly life and is thus called the "Giver of Life." It aids in the evolutionary process of humanity through triggering important changes. Some of these changes may appear destructive on an individual or collective level like a violent storm, but they are always auspicious in the sense that they trigger new growth."

Thus whatever this new eclipse series brings, there is a promise of renewal and evolutionary progress. Most astrologers agree that eclipses are not an auspicious a time for any activity except meditation, mantra, and prayers, which may be up to 1,000 stronger under these special conditions. If this is the case, then it would be wise to pray for the protection and enlightenment for all sentient beings during this potentially stormy shift.

Namaste!!

Update: This beautiful prayer was posted on my Facebook by an astrological friend. I think it is quite appropriate for this eclipse.

There is peace in the planetary region; there is peace in the atmosphere; there is peace on earth; there is coolness in the water; the medicinal herbs are healing; the plants are peace giving; there is peace in the planets; there is perfection in the eternal knowledge; everything in the universe is peaceful; peace pervades everywhere. May that peace come to me. Om shanti, shanti, shanti, peace, peace, peace. --Yajur Veda

Full Lunar Eclipse

Full Lunar Eclipse Wednesday June 15, 2011 will begin at will begin at 10:24 am PDT (17:24 GMT) and last until 4 pm PDT (23:00 GMT)

On Wednesday afternoon the longest total lunar eclipse since July 2000 will occur in the night skies over Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Australia. Although it will not be visible to those of us in the United States (click here for an illustration of its path), its effects will still be felt as the shadow of Rahu, the dragon's head, appears to swallow the Moon obscuring its bright light with a blood red veil. When the Moon passes through the dragon's mouth, it dims as the dragon feeds on its light, blocking it from its children on Earth. In astrology the Moon represents our emotional body and reflective mind. Thus Rahu casts a bizarre shadow on our emotions and perceptions which may create fear or bring new perceptions depending on how you use the energy.



Most astrologers agree that it is not a time for any activity except meditation, mantra, and prayers, which may be up to 1,000 stronger under these special conditions. As many people will not, or can not, heed this advice, the collective is particularly susceptible to its intoxicating and illusionary power which propels us into the inevitable dramas that unfold under this obstructive and often destructive cloud. But clouds do pass; and sometimes the day of the eclipse is calm, like the eye of a hurricane, when the destructive force of the storm hit you before and after.



You may have already noticed the emotional field heating up over the past two weeks since the kick-off of this current eclipse cycle. I have certainly witnessed an increase in emotional and physical stress expressed by my acupuncture patients, but then this eclipse is effecting the 10th house of my natal chart which represents my career and public life. I am also running Rahu's maha dasha which heightens these eclipse periods like a giant karmic exclamation mark. Unfortunately you do not need to be running Rahu's dasha to feel it disturbing waves because Rahu's shadow is full and potent in the sign of its mulatrikona, Scorpio; and since Rahu effects the collective, just associating with those of us under its sway may effect those who may not be under its immediate astrological grasp.



During the next three days the Moon will occupy its sign of debilitation, Scorpio. On the day of the eclipse it will remain in Scorpio for most of the morning leading up to totality, when it shifts into Sagittarius and makes the Full Moon opposition to the Sun at 0 degrees that afternoon. Thus this lunar eclipse spans two signs and two nakshatras through critical gandantic degrees of both water and fire (click here for previous post). As the Moon transits across the galactic center from the dark rift of Jyeshta towards the galactic core of Mula, it receives the shakti vibrations emanating from that area of space. However, when the head of the dragon, Rahu, casts its shadow across the bright face of the Moon, it sucks up the soma for itself mixing its with own intoxicating saliva. As the bite of a serpent may kill or heal, so too is the power of Rahu. In its lowest expression it might create anxiety and fear, in its highest form it might bring insight into our karmic bonds and how to release them.



Rahu entered the late degrees of Scorpio on June 6, 2011 and has been hovering in the stellar fields of the Jyeshta for the past week. This nakshatra contains three stars that the ancient seers described as an umbrella, ring, earring, or round talisman. All of these circular shapes are representations of cycles and the protective,governing forces of the universe. They have been embedded in royal symbolism around the world in objects like crowns, orbs, rings, and earrings like those below worn by ancient kings in India.



The deity associated with Jyeshta is Indra, the divine warrior who reflects the power of this nakshatra to rise and conquer and gain courage in battle (arohana shakti). In a famous myth, Indra must face a dragon-demon named Vritra, who had taken and hoarded all the waters of the earth causing a devastating drought over the world. To prepare for battle, Indra drank a large quantity of soma, the divine elixir of immortality, which also endowed him enormous strength. When he stormed the dragon's lair, the divine warrior split the belly of the demon with his thunderbolt, releasing the waters and regenerating life onto the planet. Some sources suggest that Indra's defeat of Vritra takes place again whenever strong winds and rains, such as those associated with a monsoon, arrive after a seasonal drought.



So what happens when a dragon, Rahu, eclipses the Moon in the sign of the dragon slayer? Well, shadow issues may rise for warriors and those leaders involved in conflict. We may also see may an increase in drought, hoarding of water and other natural resources; or we might see the opposite effect, an increase in monsoon rains -- amplified under the influence of Rahu. Even before this eclipse, there has been unusual rains and catastrophic flooding in China, Tibet, India, Pakistan, Japan, the US, and Cyprus to name just a few.



Although Rahu cannot contain the Moon in its jaws for for long as it has no body, its effects do last about a month for a lunar eclipse (and six months for a solar eclipse). And keep in mind the peak moment of this eclipse occurs in Sagittarius, a fire sign, so we may also see fires and volcanic activity such as the fires in Arizona and Canada, and the erupting Chilean volcano Puyehue with its eery thunderbolts (Indra).



In addition to earth changes, this lunar eclipse may inspire a shift in consciousness as it takes place against the backdrop of two nakshatras associated with galactic cycles. The nakshatra Jyeshta is the last step before we come back to a rebirth at the root of the Galaxy, literally Mula also called the Vishnuabi, or 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. Here the Dragon or serpent is a benevolent naga, perhaps a distant relative of Rahu. Mula is ruled by Ketu, the tail of the dragon, indicator of enlightenment, and according to some sources the oldest planetary being of our solar system. The power of Mula is to ruin, destroy and break things apart (barhana shakti). It dissolves our physical attachments, so we may return to our own vishnuabhi or divine center.



What if the enlightening rays of this nakshatra are meant not only for the human spirit, but also for our planetary guides. Although a sworn enemy of the Moon, Rahu still desires the lunar light, and by consuming it draws in its wisdom and grace. By grasping for an expression of full divine feminine aligned with the galactic core, even our shadows may be transformed. Thus this lunar eclipse may prove to be uplifting for many sentient beings. I pray that we all make time for sacred space and ask that our prayers and understanding be amplified under these cosmic conditions. Mantras to Durga and Ganesha are particularly protective and beneficial under eclipse periods. May Indra's thunderbolt awaken and release the divine waters within each of us.

Namaste!

Saturn, the Lord of Time, Stands Still

Saturn stations June 12-14, 2011

This week the most visually stunning and mysterious gas giant, Saturn, will momentarily appear to stand still in the stars of Virgo as it end its westward, or retrograde, motion and returns to its direct, eastward motion for the next 8 months. Avid sky watchers will be able to clearly view its spectacular rings and dragon storm from backyard telescopes. Even the Washington Post mentions its center place in the night sky this summer:

"The evening show through the late spring and early summer weeks has Saturn at center stage. Find the ringed planet high in the south at zero magnitude (bright). By the middle of June, it has shifted to the western sky at dusk. You might notice the planet’s current travel companion Spica, a star in the constellation Virgo, lower and to the east of Saturn. In the waning days of June, Saturn sets just after midnight."

At first glance it might seem strange that The Washington Post would highlight this news story that seems more pertinent for an astronomy magazine or blog. However, as the constellation of Virgo figures prominently in countless artistic references throughout the architecture, paintings, statuary, and facades of Washington, D.C., there may be more to the story than meets the all-seeing eye. Yes, that's right, I'm talking about the Masonic symbolism embedded in our nation's capital city. While controversial, the author David Ovason does make a fascinating case in his book: The Secret Architecture of Our Nation’s Capital (1999).




From these diagrams, you can see how the architectural layout of the streets around the Federal Triangle (the Washington Monument, the White House and Capitol) are aligned in a similar fashion as the constellation of Virgo and the fixed star Spica. Moreover, it is said that the construction of all three were connected astrologically to the sign of Virgo, including the cornerstone ceremony for the Washington Monument which occurred precisely when Spica was rising (August 7, 1880 at 10:59 AM). Even today NORAD refers to Virgo in its references to a series of ongoing exercises called Falcon-Virgo that are designed to test airspace security, especially around major American cities like New York and Washington, D.C. (click here). (Falcon is a reference to the Egyptian god Horus, whose all seeing eye is immortalized on our one dollar bill.) Thus some might say that Saturn's passage through the stars of Virgo may draw the shakti power of these asterisms down to special centers of power that were designed to collect this energy at specific points and times. Or the alignment of key architectural structures with these stars act as an astronomical clock pointing to the dawn a new age, the return of Atlantis, or New World Order.



Or perhaps the unusual spotlight on Virgo and Saturn's movement through this part of the summer sky is an unconscious expression of Saturn's role in the U.S. birth chart. The great planet Saturn rules the Aquarius ascendant of U.S. Scorpionic chart (David Solté). This version of the nation's birth chart is based on the signing of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union(on November 15, 1777 at 12:26 pm in York, PA) giving the United States an Aquarius ascendant ruled by an exalted Saturn conjoined Mercury and Venus in the fortunate 9th house (sidereal). Below is the commemorative stamp for the 200th birthday of the signing of the Articles of Confederation: a 13 cent stamp not only representing the 13 colonies, but also the thirteen bits of Horus' father Osiris. (Horus, the falcon rules the air, and his father, Osiris, rules the underworld.)



During the past two years Saturn's transit through Virgo has taken it through the 8th house of the U.S. chart, which is the house associated with debt, joint money (taxes), death (and longevity), sex, secrets, and metaphysics. Saturn has certainly been keeping these issues in the headlines. By the time it returns to its sign of exaltation in November, it will mark the 8th Saturn return for the nation.



Even as I write this post, the waxing Moon meets up with Saturn and Spica. Spica is the brightest star in the constellation of Virgo, the Virgin or Maiden, and represents the sheath of wheat that the goddess dropped to form the Milky Way. (According to Masonic tradition, Virgo represents the goddess Isis, sister-wife of Osiris and mother of Horus.)



In Brady's Book of Fixed Stars, Bernadette Brady writes that the ancient goddess in the sky was probably part of the original six zodiac constellation and is considered by some astronomers to be part of human awareness for over 15,000 years when Virgo was the sign of the spring equinox. The Golden Age was said to have ended when this goddess no longer governed the solstices. This shift in the night sky gave rise to the belief that the goddess left the earth in distress at the declining behavior of humans in the darkening age; but as the goddess also ruled cycles of all kinds, there was also a promise of her return to rule again during the next Golden Age.



Western mythologies also associate Saturn with ruling a lost Golden Age, so eloquently described by Tracy R. Twyman in her two-part article: Regnum in Potentia: Saturn’s Kingdom Transformed Into the Golden Age:

"Saturn was thought of as the Lord of Unrule, and during this epoch, his subjects wanted for nothing. There was no money, nobody had to work for a living, and all things were held in common. It was a paradise in which everyone was free to do as they wished because there no lack, and therefore no need for involuntary compulsion through violent force. Or so it is implied. . . As I stated in Money Grows on the Tree of Knowledge, there is a moral dilemma implied in the story of Chronos/Saturn. Saturn is associated with liberty, and a Golden Age of peaceful anarchy. Yet we know that in order to maintain this form of rule, he killed his own children to prevent them from growing up to overtake him. The only reason the Golden Age was so golden was because Saturn’s children were paying the price of the sacrifice. . . . What these myths of the Golden Age, Garden of Eden, and other primordial paradises really point to is the concept of a cosmic center: a kingdom that doesn’t really exist, except in the Otherworld, in potentia. But it is said to be at the heart of our own existence, and its essence can be felt everywhere. It is a place where there is no time as we know it. Rather, all points of time exist simultaneously, and all space as well. This is why the people who live there are said to never grow old".

As much of Twyman's work reveals, the Saturn-Chronos archetype of the Western Alchemical tradition is not only embedded into our rituals and traditions, but also into our minds. We all yearn for this peaceful paradise that seems so elusive in the current age, yet whose frightening shadow is deeply repressed. Saturn's transit through the sign of Virgo seems to have triggered this longing for freedom as many have taken to the streets in protest of current economic, political, and social structures. It has also revealed the shadow of our collective denial around money, debt, and improper use of world energy resources how this karma will effect future generations. Although Saturn transits through the stellar fields of Virgo every 30 years, this time around it coincides with a period of increasing earth changes which many prophecies concerning a rebirth or return of the Golden Age.



Saturn's passing association with the fixed star Spica is said to bring a gift of brilliance or a skill that is out of the ordinary. This star represents the sheaf of wheat held by the goddess. Wheat is a life-giving plant that is subject to repeating cycles: the seed, fruit, and then the harvested kernels. Thereafter, the seeds returns to the earth to grow again in unending cycles. The potential energy packed in a seed waiting for its release is much like the pure energy of the divine hidden deeply in matter, and in ourselves. Spica reminds us of our hidden divine potential which Saturn may lead to the harvest this fall.



In addition to its brush with the fixed star Spica, MSNBC announced that Saturn will also dance by another binary pair of stars:

"Saturn will spend the entire month within half a degree or less of a third-magnitude double star in Virgo named Porrima."

Porrima is the Latin name for a binary star that lies on the waist or hip of the Virgin. It is named after one of the two sister goddesses of prophecy: Porrima and Postorta. Postorta was believed to tap into the past, while her sister Porrima predicts the future. Other traditions suggest that Porrima and Postorta may be two aspects of the Roman goddess of childbirth, Carmenta, who may have been invoked by two names, Prorsa (head first) and Postversa (feet first), the two positions in which a child can be born. As Western alchemical traditions portray Saturn as the child-eating king of the lost Golden Age, his association with the goddess(es) of childbirth may be a bit ominous during these summer months.



However, I have yet to find a story describing Saturn's penchant for eating children to preserve a place of kingship among the gods in the Vedas; but Shani, as Saturn is called in Sanskrit, is equally frightening. In the Vedic tradition Saturn is an indicator of death and destruction causing fear in both men and gods. But Shani's death and destruction is of the ego, of the body, and other temporal illusions that keep us trapped in this illusion of what we believe is reality.



As Robert Svoboda describes in The Greatness of Saturn: a Therapeutic Myth/Shani Mahatma:

"Saturn is the supreme terrifier among planets. All beings fear him, for he rules bereavements and misfortunes. If pleased he will give you a kingdom, but if irate he will snatch everything away from you in the moment. . . Saturn determines longevity and death for he is Lord of Time."

This summer Saturn stations in the 13th nakshatra of Hasta, the hand, located in the constellation of Corvus, the crow.



As the crow is Saturn's vahana, or mount, this is a friendly placement of support for the greatest malefic. The Vedic seers perceived the five stars of this nakshatra as five fingers of a hand offering blessings to humanity, similar in spirit to Spica. The deity of this nakshatra is Savitar, the Sun god who gives life and aids in childbirth, repeating the similar theme found its association with Porrima. However, Saturn is not a huge fan of the Sun, his father.



Yes, the Sun is the father of Saturn, whose wife Samja tired of his excessive effulgence and left a shadow, Chaya, in her place. While she was away, the Sun did not perceive the switch and conceived three children with Chaya: Saturn, Savarni, and Tapati. Thus Saturn is born from the shadow of the divine feminine. As soon as Saturn was born, his gaze fell on his father and caused vitiligo (sunspots?), next it broke the leg of the Sun's charioteer, and blinded his father's seven horses. It was only when he left, that these afflictions cleared.

Thus, as Saturn is born from the Sun's union with shadow, he has a connection to the other shadow planets like the nodes of the Moon, Rahu and Ketu. Like the nodes, Saturn has the power to eclipse the luminaries and thus bring darkness, devastation, disease and most of all fear. The Western alchemical tradition also makes this connection between Saturn and the Nodes in its depiction of Saturn's chariot pulled by snakes and/or dragons. In addition, both Saturn and the Nodes are said to rule the poles, the mythological portals to both inner and outer worlds.



Although the power of Saturn to destroy and bring misfortune should not be minimized, it may also bring positive lessons about the truth of reality and help us break through the bonds of fear (f=false, e=evidence/experience, a=appearing, r=real). As David Frawley writes:

"Saturn shows us the limitation of this realm, which is the necessary but painful lesson we must learn to find our way into the unlimited. Saturn is death that takes us beyond the limitations of mortal life, which is the gateway to the eternal, though straight and narrow as the razor's edge."

Thus while Saturn travels through the nakshatra of Hasta, we may experience either the blessings of an open hand, or the gripping control of a closed fist. It all depends on our relationship with Saturn. Hasta's special shakti power is the ability to manifest what we are seeking and to place it in our hands (hasta sthapaniya agama shakti). So if we are seeking illusion, we may be in for some rude awakening, but if we are seeking truth, we may be blessed with a true awakening.

Om Hlim Sham Shanaye Namah

Namaste!

In this spectacular video of a compilation of Cassini's images, we are gifted an extraordinary glimpse of Saturn, the gateway to truth and the Golden Age, in all its mysterious glory complete with appropriate melancholy soundtrack. Please check it out.

CASSINI MISSION from Chris Abbas on Vimeo.