by Somya Devi | Aug 4, 2016 | Astrology, Conjunctions, Planets Changing Signs
Get ready for a shift from radical idealistic movements and power-struggles to more practical and reflective earth-based philosophies, both individually and throughout society at large.
Jupiter in Leo
Jupiter has been transiting sidereal Leo for a little over a year now. During this time, the planet of philosophy, luck, expansion, growth and beliefs has been in the sign of power. A masculine fire sign ruled by the Sun, Leo is where we tap into our inherent divinity and strength and learn how to wield it, whether selfishly or selflessly. The Sun wants us to find our connection to source, our strength and vitality, our power, and ultimately our dharma and generous sense of responsibility.
For the last year we have seen the struggle over power and beliefs in a very prominent light. Jupiter has expanded efforts to claim power and authority through ideology, especially in the realm of government. Throughout society, we have seen the expansion and importance of many principle-based movements coming to the forefront.
The Sun, Leo’s ruler, has offered energy to help us to purify our philosophies and hold them up to its illuminating power. We have watched some progressive beliefs gain more traction in the world, while at the same time a more orthodox conservatism took hold in other places. Since January of this year, Rahu has been joining Jupiter in Leo, adding a radical, confusing and shadowy energy to this quest for ideological dominance. We have experienced radical actions throughout society based on ideologies of all sorts.
Jupiter in Virgo
On August 11th, Jupiter will be making his transition from Leo into Virgo.* After this time and for the coming year, we will experience a shift from big, bold, power-hungry philosophies to ones that are more practical and earthly. Virgo is a feminine earth sign ruled by Mercury, the planet of the intellect. Mercury is impartial, fact-oriented, playful and curious. For this reason, the proliferation of beliefs and social movements may begin to take a more rational, universal and intellectual tone.
The feminine nature of Virgo also means that Jupiter’s transit here will cause us to adopt a more self-reflective approach to our beliefs. As Virgo is a mutable sign, we may become much more flexible around ideas, compared to the dogmatic nature of beliefs we experienced with Jupiter in the fixed sign of Leo. With Jupiter moving from a fire sign to an earth sign, it’s time to take those big illuminated ideas and work out the details around how to move them from the visionary into the physical plane.
Jupiter is the planet of optimism, and Virgo is perhaps the most practical of all the signs, so it is possible that we may feel a slight deflation of our idealism as rationalist philosophies become more popular again. At least Jupiter is parting ways with Rahu, so we may actually welcome a little linear Virgoan thinking, after some of the radical ideological battles we have experienced recently.
Jupiter For You
In this coming year we will feel Jupiter’s expansive potential shift from one area of our lives to another, depending on each individual’s rising sign. Leo rising individuals have had Jupiter’s (Guru’s) grace over the last year, while Virgo rising folks may have actually experienced more loss and confusion as he transited their 12th house. Now Virgo ascendants will feel more of a sense of luck and expansion as the Gas Giant makes his way across their first house. For the next year, Jupiter’s influence will permeate four different areas of your life, those indicated by Virgo as well as Capricorn, Pisces, and Taurus in your Vedic chart, where he will now cast his aspect.
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*Jupiter is moving from Leo to Virgo according to the Vedic/sidereal zodiac, which correlates with how we see the stars and planets from Earth in real time. Just look up at night and you can see he is between Leo/Virgo now! According to the Western/tropical zodiac, based on the seasons, he is said to be in Virgo and moving to Libra soon.
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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 8, 2016 | Astrology, Planets Changing Signs
The New Moon cycle begins tomorrow morning, February 8th, at 6:39am PST in sidereal Capricorn. This New Moon will occur in Dhanishtha, the Vedic nakshatra (star-sign) related to wealth, dignity, and musical ability. The symbol of this star is the drum and its energy brings the power of rhythm. As we surge ahead in the new year, we can begin to really get into our new rhythm. It’s a great time to establish routines wherever we are choosing to focus our energy this year.
With Sun and Moon together in Capricorn, this New Moon can really help us to get clear on our priorities. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, who compels us to check in with our responsibilities and prioritize that which brings value to our lives in the long-term. He gives the ability to put in the hard work necessary to take care of what is important. Since Capricorn is a feminine earth-sign, we can tune into this emotionally and trust our gut when it tells us what is really worth our time and effort. The earthy nature of Capricorn brings practicality and helps us to establish routines that support our values.
The heavy nature of Saturn can often bring a feeling of pressure, and since Saturn is also aspecting this new Moon from sidereal Scorpio, his power and pressure may feel doubled right now. Be sure to take it easy and take lots of deep breaths, especially if your inventory of priorities feels overwhelming. Yogic breathing is a great way to connect with the energy of Saturn. The sharp nature of Mars is also influencing this new cycle, as he aspects Sun and Moon from his position in sidereal Libra. This can elevate our feeling of gut-instinct about what to put first on our list of plans, but could also add a fierceness to our efforts to be practical. Be sure to take it easy on your loved ones when trying to establish your own routines and regimens.
The energy of both Saturn and Mars is most helpful when we turn it on ourselves, not against others. Saturn gives us a sense of pressure and reminds us we must endure the temporary ups and downs of life, while remembering the eternal nature of our soul and cosmic energy. He pushes us towards the hard-work that must be done in life as part of this endurance effort. Doing our own work happily with devotion and surrender is the task at hand, not trying to organize those around us or delegate our to-do lists to them.
Mars’ energy gives us an energized impetus to “get-er-done,” and may compel you to speed up tasks that must be done with patience. He could also push you to command others to get in line with your vision plan, but again, his energy is best utilized internally, calling forth the self-discipline needed to create and support a steady structure around you. Meditation will help you to center yourself and internalize (rather than project) whatever pressure and impetus you feel towards focalizing your routines and efforts. New Moon in general is a great time to meditate and go inward, so with this New Moon in Capricorn, slow down and take some time to get clear on how to establish your own healthy rhythm for managing your responsibilities while honoring your emotional needs, with care and respect for those around you.
We are also beginning to feel a new rhythm for the coming year as Rahu and Ketu are settling into their new seats in Leo and Aquarius, respectively. This brings us into a new year-and-a-half cycle where the lunar nodes will open the doors of our psyche around that particular house axis, bringing forth our inner struggle for balance between personal empowerment and service to the greater good. This will have far-reaching affects for you depending on which houses this axis overlays in your personal Vedic chart. Visit somyadevi.com to sign up for a personal reading to find out what this year brings for you, as well as receive a copy of my free Rahu-Ketu 2016 report.
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!
On August 11th, Jupiter will be making his transition from Leo into Virgo.* After this time and for the coming year, we will experience a shift from big, bold, power-hungry philosophies to ones that are more practical and earthly. Virgo is a feminine earth sign ruled by Mercury, the planet of the intellect. Mercury is impartial, fact-oriented, playful and curious. For this reason, the proliferation of beliefs and social movements may begin to take a more rational, universal and intellectual tone.
