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 | 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!
by Somya Devi | Dec 10, 2015 | Astrology
The new Moon cycle begins in the early hours of Friday, December 11th, at 2:30am PST. The Dark Moon night is December 10th, and is a good time to stay quiet and still and to prepare for the next cycle. Feeling introverted? With Sun and Moon in Scorpio, as well as Saturn, we’re likely to be feeling extra sensitive and inward both now and throughout this cycle, due to the nature of this sign.
Scorpio is a water sign–emotional, intuitive, and flowy, yet it’s also a fixed sign, which can keep us from surrendering to those waves of emotions at times. It’s ruled by Mars, a fiery planet, which adds intensity and passion to whatever we are feeling. It is also a feminine sign, which compels us to tune inward and reflect on our own energies and emotions. We’re more likely to keep them to ourselves and brew over them than to act out right now. With celestial energies gathered here, we’re not likely to take things lightly.
Scorpio energy is also potentially transformative, however. With Scorpio energies heightened we become aware of our vulnerability. We may feel intensely passionate towards some things (or people), but the emotional intuition and watery nature ultimately alerts us to the fact that everything ebbs and flows, and despite our desire to keep things fixed, there is always movement and change. The Martian energy of Scorpio helps us to face this awareness with courage, and to strengthen our capacity to go with the flow and accept our deepest desires and the emotional waves that accompany them.
Saturn is also in sidereal Scorpio with Sun and Moon, adding his influence to the new cycle. Saturn has sat here for a little over a year now. He is the planet that makes us aware of time, and how our choices will reverberate into the long term. Saturn in Scorpio has made us face our commitment to our own process of emotional strengthening and personal transformation. Saturn also relates to fear and pressure, and his influence here brings awareness of how we handle these things. His transit here is a great opportunity to face our fear, our vulnerability, and where we are most deeply sensitive, and to find the courage to make changes that will help us in the long term. This Moon cycle will also highlight that opportunity for self-examination and our commitment to transformation. Now is a good time to re-commit to the tools and practices you have chosen to assist your personal growth process.
This cycle begins with Sun and Moon joined near the end of sidereal Scorpio constellation, in the part of the sky called Jyeshtha in the Vedas. The deity for Jyeshtha is Indra, the King of the Gods, who is associated with storms and lightning, which also bring the power of purification and transformation. This star brings courage and the potential for great accomplishment. It also relates to Vishnu and his spinning disc (sudarshana chakra). While you are taking stock of your emotional body this month, consider how best to manage your own power. Personal health is still an important factor, as Sun joined with Saturn can put stress on our nervous system.
Venus remains in Libra, his own sign, which can add pleasantry and cooperation to our relationships. At the same time, however, Rahu and Mars are joined in Virgo, which can bring out anger or intensity with others when it comes to material organization (especially when the Moon transits here later this cycle). Jupiter in Leo is still bringing a lot of power to philosophical debates. He is now aspecting Mercury in Sagittarius as well, which will make us extra loquacious about this during the coming cycle. The new Moon in Jyeshtha nakshatra in sidereal Scorpio initiates a cycle where all of these energies are present.
The New Year is a great time to receive a personal reading to help you anticipate coming changes! It is also a great holiday gift to offer to loved ones.
by Somya Devi | Nov 23, 2015 | Astrology, Conjunctions
The Full Moon will peak on Wednesday, November 25th at 2:44pm PST. The night of the fullest waxing Moon is Tuesday, November 24th. This Full Moon occurs in Krittika nakshatra in the Vedic system, located where we identify the Pleiades cluster, near the mid-degrees of Taurus constellation. With the Sun in sidereal Scorpio, this full Moon will illuminate the opposing energies of Scorpio and Taurus. From the watery, emotional and uncertain depths of Scorpio, our divine light shines forth and onto the place in us that can achieve stability in the heart (Taurus).
This lunar cycle began with Sun in Libra, where we were reminded to take care of our health and vitality and that self-care is as important as caring for others. Since then, Sun has moved into Scorpio, joining Saturn, a vata planet. Saturn can feel drying and exhausting to the nervous system, so our physical strength and vitality may continue to be tested as Sun (our health and energy) joins him here. Saturn also tends to slow things down, so it is likely that our energy might feel like it just hit the brakes, even though Mars’ rulership of Scorpio fills us with the passion that makes us still want to do a lot. Try to take advantage of this alignment mindfully by consciously slowing yourself down and doing nourishing practices. Apply oil to the bottoms of your feet before bed and get as much rest as your body tells you it needs. Otherwise you may experience unwanted exhaustion that could be accompanied by illness.
With the divine light of the Sun emanating from sidereal Scorpio, we often feel the need to purify ourselves by peering into our deep emotional waters. We get to have a soul-experience this month like what Scorpio people have all the time. This can naturally be a bit scary, but Mars’ rulership here also brings us the courage it takes to face ourselves where we feel the most vulnerable. Saturn’s company here makes us look at what will really serve our spirit in the long term. This is a great opportunity for strengthening the vulnerable caverns of our hearts by facing fears.
Mercury, the planet of the intellect and communication, is also conjunct Sun and Saturn in Scorpio, so it’s a potent time for doing some serious communicating about your vulnerabilities. Call forth your Martian bravery before opening conversations (and watch that it isn’t just fear or uncertainty that does the talking). It’s okay to seek the support you need and to rely on expert advice that offers you tools for coping with delicate emotions. Meditation will also be a support that brings structure to the inner work that you’re doing.
The Moon is the planet of emotion that reflects the divine light of the Sun through the heart and interprets what it feels like to go through our human experiences. While we are working on facing and strengthening emotions and fears in Scorpio, the full Moon in Taurus will illuminate a sensation of emotional stability for us, through its fixed-earth qualities. With the Moon here, our hearts are reminded that we are safe and secure, despite whatever turbulent waves the emotions may go through while we are connecting with their depths.
The Moon will be full in Krittika nakshatra, the constellation commonly known as the Pleiades. Krittika is translated as “the cutter” and is represented by a razor or an axe. What needs to be cut away right now for you to feel peace in the heart? Its deities are Agni (fire personified) and Kartikeya (the Lord of War). Its ruling planet is the Sun, the ultimate purifier. All of this symbology indicates that with the full Moon here, we have the opportunity to bravely and boldly cut away what we don’t need and to stand in peaceful strength after forging through a purification process.
Whatever fears have come up as we face our vulnerability, regarding our physical or emotional strength (or lack thereof), now is the chance to offer ourselves to divine purification. The Moon is close to its point of exaltation (greatest strength) right now, and we are reminded that we can achieve emotional stability and evenness after the process occurs. This balancing point between Scorpio and Taurus is a powerful one, when we are able to recognize and tune into both our deep vulnerability as well as the stable energetic ground on which the divine universe offers us rest. Both Scorpio and Taurus are feminine, or reflective signs, showing that this full Moon will direct us towards taking personal inventory and Self-examination.
