by Somya Devi | Jun 2, 2016 | Astrology, Conjunctions, Retrograde
The next lunar cycle begins with an exalted New Moon of love and abundance on June 4th. The Sun, Moon, and Venus will all join in sidereal Taurus, in Rohini nakshatra. The new lunar cycle begins at 8 p.m. PDT on Saturday, June 4th. This dark night is the time to allow yourself to go inward, reset, and let your heart enjoy the fertile ground offered by Taurus and Rohini.
Of all of the 27 lunar mansions, Rohini is the one where the Moon is considered “exalted.” This means that while Moon is here, we can most easily access peace in our hearts and minds. The position of the Moon relates to our ever-changing thoughts and emotions. He is the planet of the inner heart center, where we find and radiate compassion and selfless love (as long as the heart is at peace). The Moon finds a place to rest in Taurus, the fixed-earth sign ruled by Venus. It is here that the flowing emotions are able to feel grounded and stable and let us enjoy life.
As the Moon transits the zodiac each month, he visits each of the twenty-seven lunar mansions for one night. Our emotions ebb and flow by the mood of each star along the journey. In Vedic lore, these nakshatras were considered the wives of the Moon. 
Of all the twenty-seven, Rohini was said to be his favorite. Rohini is known as “the reddish one,” due to the warm glow of this red giant star (called Aldebaran by astronomers), which is over forty-four times as wide as the Sun. The heart enjoys peace here because of the abundantly nourishing and fertile quality of this star.
Rohini is associated with fertility, commerce, productivity and abundance. Its deity is Brahma, the Lord of Creation, indicating the inspired productive potential of this nakshatra. Its symbols are an ox-cart or a chariot, which both relate to the Taurean ideas of comfort and material stability. This could be a very productive month, materially. The planet who works with Rohini is the Moon, and Venus’ rulership over Taurus doubles this star’s feminine planetary influence, indicating ample love and nourishment coming from this part of the sky. Calling forth your feminine qualities, such as sensitivity and receptivity, will help you to achieve your goals this month.
With Sun and Moon aligned here as we begin this lunar cycle, we embark upon it with a full heart and a sensation of love, compassion, and abundance. Our focus will be on material stability, values, and family. Venus closely joins Sun and Moon (within ½ a degree!) and is highly combust at the time of the New Moon. This instills us with an overflowing, but perhaps frustrated, desire for pleasure, beauty and harmony. We’ll feel more sensually focused this month, and will tend to lean towards the luxurious and hedonistic. It’s a time to watch out for overindulging (in food, sex, or other desires), especially if this is a known tendency.
On the opposite side of the sky, Mars and Saturn remain retrograde and conjunct in sidereal Scorpio. This casts a double aspect of intensity onto the loving lineup of Sun, Moon and Venus in Taurus. Saturn may curb our Venusian indulgence, by reminding us of the bigger picture and adding some pressure and restraint. Mars, on the other hand, may intensify our desires. He also offers the positive potential of giving us the courage to embrace transformation (being situated in Scorpio), instead of clinging too tightly to the material stability being emphasized by the Sun and Moon in Taurus.
In sidereal Leo, the 4th house from this new Moon alignment, Rahu and Jupiter are still conjunct. This inspires more emphasis on heart and home this lunar cycle. Opposing these two, Ketu is in the 10th house from Taurus, so we may shy away from being in the spotlight this month. You will feel your inward-dwelling nature calling to you even more than usual. Don’t worry if you feel the need to take a break from work and care for your inner world and home. This is totally natural given the planetary lineup.
With all planets (except Mercury) aligned on this square axis of fixed signs, this lunar cycle will cause you to really focus on whatever house axis this is in your chart.* Enjoy the exalted new Moon of love and abundance on June 4th.
*You can receive personal coaching on how to understand and work with the planets affecting you through a personal vedic astrology reading.
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by Somya Devi | Mar 21, 2016 | Astrology, Conjunctions, Eclipses, Events, Holy Days
A penumbral lunar eclipse will be visible from most places on earth this Wednesday, including North and South America (except Eastern Brazil), India, Asia, Australia, the Pacific, Antarctica and the Arctic. The greatest moment of the eclipse happens at 4:48am PDT on March 23rd, just before the peak of the Full Moon at 5:01am.
We’re now halfway through this lunar cycle, which began with a Total Solar Eclipse and a huge pileup of planets in sidereal Aquarius. I’ve heard from many people that this stirred up a lot of issues in their lives, including a lot of deep psychological work. The first eclipse brought forward our shadows around the dichotomy between universal service and our own self-empowerment and personal values, and pushed us to unearth limiting beliefs and negative patterns around the themes of the house that Aquarius is in our personal Vedic chart (download my Free E-Book with the Forecast for your Sign if you haven’t yet!).
The Full Moon point in a cycle is the time to reflect back on the energy that started us out and take a look at how to integrate that energy in a new way. This Full Moon falls in sidereal Virgo, just beyond the Aquarius-balancing sign of Leo. This compels us to look even further, beyond harmonizing the energy that was eclipsed, and into a transformative level. It pushes us to get really clear about the details of whatever shadow work came up for us around March 8th. We need to get down to the nitty-gritty and re-organize our patterns of thinking and behavior, and find some practical routines that will help us to move forward, free from the shadows that have arisen.
The eclipse occurs with the full Moon in the same Vedic sign where Rahu resides, Uttara Phalguni. This Vedic nakshatra bridges Leo and Virgo. This is a very powerful star for helping us to balance universal-love and self-love, which were areas that the solar eclipse challenged us to integrate better. Uttara Phalguni is a star of charity and generosity, ruled by the Sun, and brings forth an energy of leadership, courage, and care for society. It is also related to relaxation, reminding us that we must care for ourselves in order to be able to care for others. Its deity is Aryaman, a deva of friendship, companionship and kindness.
As Rahu’s shadow obscures the Moon in this sign during the Lunar Eclipse, we might feel cut off from these benevolent qualities, and may struggle to find contact with our emotional bodies. It is best not to eat or drink during the eclipse, and not to look at it directly. Instead, do practices like chanting or meditation, and call forth the highest lessons that the eclipse has to offer you. We could either fall into emotional confusion, or we could take this moment to consciously embrace emotional detachment, and step into a space of Virgoan practicality, as we examine the shadows brought forth by the eclipse.
The Mercury-ruled, down-to-earth sign of Virgo aims to give us a much needed sensibility to balance the intensity of our inflamed beliefs (resulting from Jupiter and Rahu in Leo). Watch out though — on the other side of the sky, Virgo’s ruler Mercury sits in combustion and debilitation, in close alignment with the Sun in sidereal Pisces. This could make us a little more steam-headed than usual (as Sun boils Mercury in Piscean waters!), and less on track with those details we so wish we could get organized. Remember that this eclipse cycle is part of a larger one that is running from now through mid-2017, so we will have more chances to get it right.
This lunar eclipse will drive you deeper into exploring the themes of the Aquarius-Leo house axis in your chart. It will be especially potent for anyone who has prominent planets or a rising sign in Uttara Phalguni nakshatra.*
This Full Moon also kicks off the Hindu holiday of “Holi.” In this sportive festival (much like a new year’s celebration), people throw colored powders at each other, as a way to playfully let go of any aggression held from the past year. It’s a time to forgive and start anew, coming just after the Equinox, a balancing point of the solar cycle. It is a fresh start for Mother Nature in the northern hemisphere (great time for a spring cleanse!). If you’re in a place where you can celebrate Holi, go out and playfully participate! Use this collective energy of renewal to help you with the transformative process thrust upon you by the eclipses!
Get ready for another compelling planetary motion later this week, when Saturn comes to a stop and then begins his Retrograde course from now through August. This will give us a final chance to do some deep work around our commitment to transformation, as Saturn’s last period of retrograde motion in Scorpio.
*I’m still offering a special Eclipse Reading Package to help you to navigate through this 1.5-year transit of Rahu and Ketu! You’ll get 3 personal readings around each of the 3 eclipse cycles during this period.
by Somya Devi | Mar 4, 2016 | Astrology, Conjunctions, Eclipses, Events, Holy Days
This coming New Moon on March 8th packs a powerful punch, bringing with it a groundbreaking total solar eclipse. This will be the first in a series of eclipses to occur with the lunar nodes, Rahu and Ketu, on the sidereal Leo-Aquarius axis. The nodes moved into these signs at the end of January and will transit here until August of 2017, affecting us deeply in whatever areas of our lives are influenced in our personal charts. We will experience 3 eclipse cycles (pairs of eclipses, one solar and one lunar) during this transit–one now, one in September, and one in February of 2017. (Don’t miss my Free E-Book with lots of info on this transit and how it will affect your sign!)
This solar eclipse on the New Moon will set the tone for a tumultuous lunar cycle. The New Moon cycle begins at 5:54pm PST on March 8th, in sidereal Aquarius. The total solar eclipse (peaking around the same time) will be visible from Southeast Asia, most of Australia, the South Pacific and Indian Oceans and Hawaii. The effects will be most perceptible in these areas, but everyone will feel the disturbance at some level.
During the eclipse, the Sun’s light will be blocked out as he and the Moon align with Ketu, who casts a shadow of self-doubt and criticism on the planet of vitality. The results will be feelings of confusion and disconnection from our sense of strength, individual power, and our connection with Source (all things represented by the Sun). This is adding to our already diminished sense of personal empowerment that can come while Sun is in Aquarius, the sign of service and humility.
This solar eclipse, as well as the lunar eclipse to follow on March 23rd, will bring up a lot of our personal shadows around the quest for equilibrium between universal service and self-empowerment. This theme will continue through the broader year-and-a-half eclipse cycle we have entered.
At the time of the eclipse, Mercury and Venus join the Sun, Moon, and Ketu in Aquarius. This will add Ketu’s feelings of confusion, doubt, and aversion to our collective emotional body (the Moon), to our intellectual and analytical side (Mercury), and to our desirous, pleasure-seeking nature (Venus).
Don’t be surprised to see a chaotic departure from inner peace, rational thinking, and cooperative behavior around this eclipse.
This could be aggravated even more by Jupiter and Rahu, who oppose this New Moon cluster from Leo. Their conjunct energies are causing folks to become more and more amped up and self-righteous over their principles and beliefs. (Polarized election madness!) Saturn aspects the duo from his menacing position, joined Mars, in Scorpio, which puts the pressure on even more.
Mars casts his aspect onto the stellium in Aquarius. This could throw some fuel on the potentially explosive fire of transformation that is happening there with the eclipse. Mars in Scorpio gives us the chance to bring forth our warrior-like courage, which we will need in facing all of the disturbance and potential change arising.
This eclipse occurs with Sun, Moon and Ketu in the Vedic nakshatra called Purvabhadrapada. This star-sign falls on the constellation well-known as Pegasus (on the stars Alpha-Pegasi and Beta-Pegasi), bridging the Aquarius and Pisces regions of the sky. As such its symbol is a funeral cot, or bed, related to the fire of purification. This helps to prepare us to enter the darkness of the unknown to be met in Pisces.
The eclipse here will drive us strongly towards purification and transformation. This is for our higher purpose and spiritual development, but it may not be without some difficulty. The deity for this nakshatra is Aja-Ekapada (“the one-footed goat”), who is related to Rudra, a destructive aspect of Lord Shiva. This star is associated with darkness and black magic, which lays the groundwork for a very powerful eclipse.
Eclipses are times when we can literally see shadows in the sky, and they are opportunities to see the ugly psychological shadows lurking in our own subconscious. These need to be uncovered and released so we can free ourselves from them. This is a very important time to do sadhana (spiritual practice) and Self-inquiry, so we can know ourselves better and become enlightened by this gift of seeing what is normally in the dark.
This opportunity is amplified because Sunday night (Pacific, Monday in India) brings the Hindu holy time known as Maha Shivaratri (“the great night of Lord Shiva”). This is the most auspicious night to offer oneself into spiritual practice, in worship of Divine Consciousness. It is typical to stay up all night, fasting and engaging in worship such as mantra, chanting, meditation, and puja. With the eclipse so close at hand, this is an extremely potent time to call upon the light of consciousness and purification.
In Vedic tradition it is thought that the negative energy of the nodes pervades the atmosphere during the time of the eclipse, and it is therefore best not to eat or drink during this time. (The eclipse window is from 3:19pm to 8:34pm PST.) It is also best to refrain from looking at the eclipse directly, or being outside in its atmosphere, especially if you are somewhere the eclipse will be visible.
One more thing to add to the mix on this powerful New Moon: March 8th is also International Women’s Day! Let’s use this transformative time to honor and elevate the sisters, mothers and daughters of this world!
As a special gift to help you navigate through this time, I’ve put together a Free e-Book on Rahu, Ketu, and the Eclipses for the 12 Vedic Rising Signs , which includes a forecast for your personal sign!
Eclipse periods are some of the best times to book a personal reading to help you to understand your personal karma and to process the energy brought up by the nodes.
Top Image Credit: “Eclipsed? Not totally” by James Jordan, CC license Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic
by Somya Devi | Feb 18, 2016 | Uncategorized
There will be a powerful Full Moon on Sunday night, leading up to its peak on the morning of February 22nd at 10:19am PST. This full Moon falls in sidereal Leo, opposing the Sun in sidereal Aquarius. The Moon joins a heavy influence from Jupiter and Rahu, who sit near the end of Leo, ingraining a headstrong movement towards power and responsibility. Meanwhile, the Sun may feel the shadow energy of south-node Ketu joining him in Aquarius, which can bring forth contraction of the physical body or of our sense of connection with spirit.
This full Moon in Leo will really light up our sense of personal power and duty. We are able to get in touch with the emotional sensation that surrounds us when we feel responsible, in charge, and accomplished. This may come as the bounty of an active time of service, as Sun in Aquarius has motivated us to take our bodies and actions towards a place of universal service this month (though we may have neglected self-care a little in the process). We may have felt some confusion around this effort due to Ketu’s recent transit into Aquarius, and Rahu’s into Leo.
Any shadows in our personal subconscious around the relationship between service and personal power are likely to start coming to light now. We must look for how to achieve a symbiotic balance between the two, rather than pin them in our minds as a discordant opposition. Jupiter’s and Rahu’s presence in Leo can amplify any feelings of lust for personal power or greed, which are likely to flare up around this full Moon if we aren’t mindful. The key now is to activate a healthy and complementary interaction between empowered leadership and care for our own “kingdom,” and inspired, humble universal service.
We will really begin to feel the shadows of this opposition (Aquarian vs. Leonine energy) over the next two weeks as we approach an eclipse on this axis on March 8th (around 6pm PST). There are some areas of life where we may go to extremes and allow the call to duty and responsibility to become a greedy power-quest, whereas at other times we may get lost in our grand ideas for humanity and neglect responsibilities that are closer to home. You may realize that you have underlying motivations to possess and harness personal power through so-called acts selfless service, or that you are avoiding allowing your unique and individual expression of divine spirit to shine through in your crusade to enlighten the planet. There is a time and place for both service and empowerment; self-love and universal love are both necessary ingredients for a truly loving existence.
Investigating these themes will continue for the next year-and-a-half, as long as Rahu and Ketu, the north and south nodes of the Moon, transit these signs. Whatever houses these are in your personal chart will be affected, and it’s likely that you will go through a lot of change and revelation in whatever areas of life these are for you. The upcoming eclipses will amplify this energy and give you a good look at what personal work needs to be done throughout the coming year.**
This full Moon is on the Vedic nakshatra (star-sign) called Magha, “the mighty.” Falling across the first thirteen degrees of Leo, this constellation summons forth the kingly, divine stature of the Sun (Leo’s ruler). Magha constellation was often interpreted as a throne, and other times as a Lion. It is one of the brightest nakshatras in the sky, evocative of its royal nature. The deities for this star are the Pitris–“the fathers,” or, our ancient ancestors. This is a powerful full Moon for calling forth ancestral wisdom and knowledge. Furthermore, this star is ruled by Ketu, who also relates to deep-seated subconscious wisdom that may have come from past lives or ancestors.
This full Moon is also receiving a drishti (glance, or aspect) from Saturn, which could be helpful as he reminds us to slow down and not get too headstrong in our grabs for power and responsibility. The Sun receives a drishti from Mars, which may help to rev up our vitality a bit while the solar giant sits with the fatigue-inducing Ketu. Mars will have just transited into Scorpio on February 20th, where he will join Saturn for the greater part of the summer, through September. This combination will bring a lot of intense energy to the sign of Scorpio, and whatever houses and planets lie there in your chart.
Eclipse cycles, as we are entering now, are very important times to boost or maintain your spiritual practice, so as not to feel tossed about by the powerful subconscious drives and changes that arise. Meditation, routine, and grounding practices are key, as these energies can tend to throw us off-balance. Lighting a candle is a particularly helpful part of practice to incorporate, to call forth illumination to the shadowy, smokey energy of the nodes, Rahu and Ketu.
**Eclipse cycles such as now are very helpful times to receive a personal reading to understand how you will feel affected individually. We will also cover what the Mars-Saturn conjunction in Scorpio means for you.
**I am sharing a free Rahu-Ketu report to help you understand the effects of this transit and the coming eclipses for each individual Vedic rising sign, available for free at somyadevi.com.
by Somya Devi | Jan 20, 2016 | Astrology, Eclipses, Planets Changing Signs, Retrograde
This Saturday, January 23rd, we will have a Full Moon in sidereal Cancer at 5:46pm PST. Opposite the Sun who is in the austere, Saturn-ruled sign of Capricorn, the full Moon in the loving, comfort-seeking sign of Cancer compels us to cozy up and nourish ourselves and others during this cold, vata season. Moon is in the Vedic star-sign or nakshatra called Pushya, which is all about nourishment.
Pushya literally translates as “nourishment,” and its symbol is the udder of a cow, another emblem of sustenance. Cows are revered in Hindu tradition for this reason. They give so much towards our own livelihood — dairy, meat, bones, leather. Ghee (clarified butter derived from cow milk) is one of the most sacred substances in Vedic practice. It is used to light oil lamps, is offered to deities in worship, and is also one of the most nourishing substances for the human body to consume, according to the tradition of Ayurveda (the health science of the Vedic tradition). It is easily absorbed and metabolized by all the layers of tissue in the body, and for that reason is also the best medium for taking medicinal and nutritive herbs.
The deity for Pushya is Brihaspati, a form of Jupiter, a Brahmin priest who is the guru or teacher of the devas (Gods). A well-known story of Brihaspati is that of his marriage with Tara. The story goes that Tara ran away with Chandra, the Moon, and had an affair (some say she was abducted), which resulted in the birth of Budha (the planet Mercury). Eventually Tara returned to Brihaspati, and he graciously accepted her and even raised Budha as his own. This caring benevolence is a quality of the nakshatra Pushya, and of the energy around this Full Moon. It is a time when compassion will be high, and you can tap into your qualities of forgiveness and acceptance and offer that forward wherever it is required in your life.
Mercury is still in his retrograde course, and is joined with Venus in Sagittarius. We may have big ideals for our relationships right now but may be holding back a little in communicating them. Jupiter rules Sagittarius where these two are residing, and is also aspecting them from his retrograde position in Leo. This period of Jupiter retrograde gives us a chance to slow down before projecting our philosophies and ideals out into the world. It’s a good time for meditating on which belief systems and sets of teachings are serving us the most, and to resist imposing them on others, especially when we are still in contemplation. We may reevaluate some of our convictions over the next few months and expand our vision to encompass new ideas.
A very important transit will be happening on January 29th, opening up a new chapter for us all for the next year-and-a-half. Rahu and Ketu, the north and south nodes of the Moon, are finally shifting from the Virgo-Pisces axis into the Leo-Aquarius axis. They sat in Virgo and Pisces for the last year-and-a-half, which brought light to our shadow work that needed to be done around our tendencies of over-organizing vs. escaping and avoiding responsibility. Some of us tend towards one extreme in some cases and the opposite in others. The themes apply especially to what houses those signs occupy, which is different for each individual according to your birth chart.
For the next-year-and-a-half, Rahu and Ketu will be stirring things up around our Leo-Aquarius issues. This means we’ll really be examining our sense of personal power and strength, vs. our sense of commitment to universal duty and service. These things may sometimes come in conflict with one another, or we may emphasize one more than the other in different places in our lives. Both need attention and balance, to be utilized in a healthy way without going to extremes in either direction. We will particularly feel the affects of this transit around the Eclipse Cycles (the first of which comes in March), and around the houses in your chart that fall on Leo and Aquarius. Personal readings are available now to help you understand what themes this transit will raise for you in the coming year.
For now, enjoy the Full Moon light from the loving, maternal sign of Cancer, and the caring, paternal constellation of Pushya!
