Interviewing Laura Barat on Solar Return Charts AKA Varshaphala

July 1, 2019astrology, astrology courses, Charts, divination, etymology, jyotish, jyotish readings, solar return, tajika, varshaphala, varshaphala readingslaura barat, learning varshaphala, solar return astrology, tajika jyotishCorey

I recently have been very fascinated with the solar return system of astrology called Varshaphala. In Sanskrit the word Varsha can be defined as “year” and phala means “fruits”, so Varshaphala is the system that shows us the “fruits of the year”. I interviewed Laura Barat who has been practicing this ancient system of astrology for over 12 years and has recently taught a course on it.

It is based on the exact moment that the sun goes back to its original degree and minutes that it was at when you were born at the exact place that you were born. We cast a chart for that moment each year , which is not always on your birthday because of the nature of the modern gregorian calendar, but it is usually on the day before, of, or after your birthday. So each year at that exact moment of the Sun returning to its place where it was when you were born, you cast a chart for it. This chart is therefore unique each year, and so you get a completely unique and different chart for each year, and this system works great for predictions.

There is an entirely unique system of techniques that has developed for just this purpose of divining the state of affairs for each year. It was used for Royalty when normal birth chart astrology got too complicated. Check out this interview for great tips on how to read your yearly varshaphala chart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXq6gs7KxJU&lc=z23mdjijdrzpfjzvwacdp43avekrmlt5fdij0kckus1w03c010c

And in part 2 she gives a lot of different examples. I learned a lot here as she was giving chart analysis of Serena Williams, Brad Pitt, Princess Diana, Steve Jobs, and even my own chart as well.

Thoughts on Upaya and Remedial Measures

June 7, 2019Charts, deities, devaprashna, dharma, graha shanti, jyotish, jyotish readings, karma, law of attraction, readings, remedial measures, Upaya, vedic, zodiacastrology and veda, jyotisha, remedial measuresCorey

Lately I have been thinking often on the idea of remedial measures. How some people get great results from a certain astrological remedy that was suggested in the chart, while others do not get such a good result.

There is this idea in Vedic Astrology that if you have issues you can do an “upaya”, or a corrective action that will fix the problem. The word upaya can be thought of as a means of attaining a goal. So if one wants more money they may do a ritual or mantra practice to Laxmi, a goddess of prosperity and wealth. This is the basic idea. And there is a lot of truth to this idea.

It seems like in the past in some ages the masses were not able to comprehend the higher ideals of the vedic religion and as such the wise sages and Rishis of the time had no choice but to issue a general type of recommendation that would be useful to all. So they gave cut and dried rituals and mantras and practices that could be done and yield some good.

In time these rituals may have gotten embellished with more importance than was true of them. Like mixing up the chaff for the wheat. The chaff is important and protects the grain, but it is the grain that is ultimately the most important. If Sri Yukteswar is right and we are in an ascending cycle this would explain why so many are waking up on this planet and finding a renewed appreciation for jyotish. It therefore makes sense to work on shifting this idea of upaya and remedial measures from a habit of relying on “cut and dried”, general prescription, “one size fits all” approaches to a more alive and intelligently informed formula that is catered to the individual and their needs.

Ayurveda is the same way, where at this time it desperately needs practitioners that are experienced and skilled enough to shift away from the cookbook food lists and into a living and inspired form of medical therapy. One catered exactly to the individual and not to “pittas” or “kaphas” exclusively, since no one is a perfect pitta or kapha type, but a unique mix. I have talked with many Ayurveda experts and practitioners about this and they all seem to feel the same way, wanting to keep the tradition alive and human and not based on following a bunch of rules in a book written by someone who never met the client.

So with all this said, that is what I have been focusing on a lot lately with my practice here at Eye of the Veda. Just trying to find the best remedies and approaches to life for the person. But its quite hard because the chart itself seems to show what will work and not work so well for each person, making it require so much personalization. I have made some recent videos talking about different approaches based on the particular chart in question, as well as showing examples of successful remedial measures that have been applied in peoples lives.

Here is one on the idea of planetary remedies in general.

And here is a video on healing through astrology and how that works. I talk about Rahu and Ketu here as well as they are so important for our healing and balancing of our karma.

And in this video I give some examples of people who have had great experiences from mantras or other remedial measures that I have suggested

I hope these videos and thoughts are helpful and give advice to those who have tried upayas and failed or succeeded, and wondered why. Any upaya is good, but it is better to have an upaya that is intelligently selected for you and not just one suggested for the masses as a whole.

Free Course on Omens in Astrology

April 7, 2019astrological synchronicities, deities, devaprashna, dharma, divination, law of attraction, omens, Uncategorizedjyotish, nimmita, omenology, svaraCorey

Astrology itself is just one big system of omen reading. It is the greatest system of omen reading in that we can calculate the past and future with it, and it has a more objective quality than just cards and watching animals in nature. It can get more detailed than other systems like card reading. But sometimes we do not need to get so detailed, and so all jyotishis must be at least somewhat familiar with nimmita, the art of reading omens.

I have composed a short series of videos with examples of how I have read animal omens in life and during readings in order to answer questions. This is useful and fun and an enriching thing to know. We do not always have to stare at the chart, sometimes just looking up and observing nature will help do the trick.

► Play all

Check out my youtube channel for more videos on astrology

https://www.youtube.com/eyeoftheveda

Lajjitaadi Avasthas of Venus: Free Course

January 21, 2019aquarius, Aries, astrology, Cancer, gemini, rasi, Shukra, signs, Taurus, Uncategorized, venus, Venus exaltedCorey

Over the last few months I have been making a free learning course on my youtube channel. This course is focusing on just one planet, Venus, and covering the avasthas of Venus. What are Avasthas? Avastha is a sanskrit word that can basically mean a “condition” or a “state” to be in. For example Krishna tells Arjuna in the Bhagavad Gita to act from the standpoint or mental state of yoga, or the “Yogavastha”. In the context of Jyotish, an avastha can show the various states of karmic well being a planet is in. These avasthas I cover are the ones specific to Parashara, the Lajjitaadi avasthas. Not to be confused with the deeptaadi, or balaadi, or jagradaadi avasthas. These Lajjitaadi Avasthas are described in ways such as “starved, shamed, proud.” As such, the implication is that they show a great deal of how we feel about that planet and what it is doing in our charts. So Venus can have good yogas for marriage and get one married. We all know that. But how do we determine how fulfilled various people will actually feel in their marriage? For this, the lajjitaadi avasthas are great.

So please enjoy this free series if you want to understand how Venus will feel in each of the various signs it falls in, and to grasp the deeper layers of what Venus represents in the natal chart.

This is a playlist, and be sure to check out the other videos I have on my youtube channel as well.

Musical Genres and the Grahas

August 21, 2018grahas, jupiter, ketu, mars, mercury, moon, music and astrology, Rahu, saturn, sun, Uncategorized, venusCorey

The old Jyotish texts of India clearly explain how the five elements (Sky, Wind, Fire, Water, and Earth) create all that is in existence in this world through the agency of the grahas, or the 9 planets of astrology as we call them in English. As an example, Venus represents the water element of nourishment, and so Venus represents good food, or the touch of a loved one, or a vehicle. All of these are things that help support us, nourish us, and make things more comfortable for us as we go down the path of our life. So the old books would relate the wife to Venus. This is a very simple example. The fun part is that many modern things now exist that were not around when our foundational texts were written, and so it is the task of the modern jyotishi to find out what planets and what elements will correlate to all the various people, places, and things in this world.

I imagine that if the shastras were written in a more modern time, they may have included different types of music and what planets they relate to. There are so many new and modern forms of music to have come about and most certainly would relate to the various planets and their admixtures.

First we must know that the Moon rules music overall. So the Moon rules all types of music. (The Moon makes one a musician as well, and the Sun makes one a singer and rules singing according to Jaimini.) But within that very very broad spectrum of all the types of music that exist, we can further divide them up by what planets would rule each branch of music, or each musical genre as they are called. And there will often be a lot of overlap, but some genres will stick out more as containing much more of a concentration of one planetary energy. Those are the main ones I included here. The more mixed musical genres I have mainly left out, but we can always remember that Mercury rules the mixed things. Here is what I have found so far:

SUN:

The Sun seems to rule any traditional nationalistic music that has no exportable appeal but is a part of national pride. The Sun also seems to rule spiritual, gospels, hymns, and bhajans. The Sun is the singer and Jaimini directly correlates this to singing the Vedas, and being “filled with inspiration.” So we can imagine that the Sun rules chanting the Vedas as well, and any sort of inspired spiritual singing such as Kirtan. Likely also Gregorian chants. I would also correlate the Sun to occapella music, as it is a very singular form of music, and it is only singing which we know to be the Sun. I also suspect Folk music to be under the umbrella of Surya as folk music is often sung by a singular person, and does not require a band like the Moon does. Also folk music is very nationally connected usually, and has a spiritual quality to it sometimes.

Moon:

Moon of course rules all music as said above, but particularly the Moon rules instrumental music. In particular, the Moon rules the masses, moving them as it moves the tides of the planet, and therefore the Moon would relate strongly to Pop music. Disco music is the Moon, a genre that is not very heavy or fearful, but dancy and uplifting and associated with the nightlife of the Moon. Perhaps that is why the shiny glittering white Lunar “disco ball” came to fit so naturally with disco. It was a trendy thing as well, just like the pop culture pull of the Moon’s energy.

Soundtracks of movies would of course be the Moon, as Moon relates strongly to movies and these are usually very instrumental to begin with.

Jazz music is also one I would relate to the Moon, as Jazz is very rhythm based and requires a very intimate connection between the bandmembers. The Moon rules musicians but not singers because musicians must be able to keep in rhythm with the rest of the band as the main skill. That is the Moons great quality and so to be a great Jazz musician really speaks to having a very strong Lunar side. Jazz is also instrumental most of the time. And it has a soft quality to it, but also a mysterious dark or void side of it. As we know when you listen to jazz you are supposed to listen to the “notes they arent playing” as Lisa Simpson would say. This is a lunar quality as well, since the Moon has two sides and one is a dark side we do not see, or hear in this sense.

Mars:

Mars would of course rule Rock n roll music, and most of its offspring. Some of them may have more Saturn mixed in, but we can definitely see Rock, Alternative Rock, Grunge, and Punk Rock being mainly martian. Metal could start to bridge into Saturn more as we shall see that Saturn rules very dark music. The funny thing about Mars ruling Rock music is that Rock music is admittedly mainly a genre that was “stolen” from the black blues musicians of the southern United States. They simply took it and sped up the tempo and added more drums to it and other things and it became what we now know. Take the early Led Zeppelin and Rolling Stones albums as key examples of this transformation. I note this because Mars rules theives, and stealing, whether for a good or bad reason. So it is interesting that even Mick Jagger and many other pioneers of it have admitted that it was highly influenced or possibly somewhat stolen from blues musicians.

Mercury:

Mercury, being the one most fond of and skilled at wordplay, would of course rule over Hip Hop. Other highly lyrical or verbal based music that doesnt come under the Sun’s influence may also fall under Mercury. Mercury would of course rule comedic music too, and parody music like Weird Al Yankovich. Mercury also seems to rule over electronic music. It is interesting how the most deep thinking planet Jupiter is starved by Mercury, and Hip Hop as a genre seems to have a harder time getting out of a superficial place and having more meaningful content. Having a message other than how great the rapper is doesnt seem to be as important for a song to be successful in this genre, and there may be an archetypal reason for this. Of course there is a lot of very meaninful hip hop out there as well, to be sure. But in general we can see how Jupiter gets a bit starved in this genre more than others. But Venus, as the great friend of Mercury, seems to do well (wink).

Jupiter:

Jupiter is the planet that rules the Ether element. Or the “Akash”, which is a sanskrit word that means “sky”. The Akash chakra, as many of you will know, is the throat chakra, related to Sound. Vibration and sound is very close to Jupiter. As such, Jupiter seems to rule any kind of musical sound, not a particular type of style, but more about the power and meaning behind the music. So Jupiter relates to deep and soulful music that stirs the depths of our beings. This is not limited to just one genre. He can relate to any philosophical music or any music with a real message and purpose behind it. He therefore represents devotional chants and mantra music and will share some overlap with the Sun in this regard. Mantra and Naada Yoga music, sitars and ragas are very Jupiterian.

Soul is a genre that has the qualities of Jupiter embedded in it. One thing is that Jupiter is not as likely to sing as the Sun is. So music similar to the Sun’s category, but with less lyrics and more room for contemplation would be under Guru’s domain.

He also seems to have a say on culturally rich music, similar to the Sun. Though not with a national appeal but a cultural appeal. Music that is simple and yet powerful and uplifting is Jupiterian. So in this regard Folk can connect to Jupiter, as it is a simple music that any common folk person can make, but often has no value without an equal amount of soul and truth behind the lyrics. Classical music of Bach, Beethoven, and that sort are also a category that is predominantly Jupiterian. Reggae may also be Jupiterian, as it is so initimately connected with the Rastafarian religion.

Venus:

Venus is the main planet of entertainment, and so music that is made primarily for entertainment purposes is Venusian music. And music designed for dance and sexual appeal. So Venus therefore rules almost all of the modern popular music being made nowadays. Venus can rule dance, R & B, Calypso, Flamenco, Funk, Ska, and Latin music to name a few. And of course any beautiful music with wonderful harmony would be of the Venusian vibration. Music that makes you want to get up and dance is Venus.

Saturn:

Saturn is the planet of sorrow. Therefore the main category that is most Saturnian to me is the blues. Saturn also is closely connected to the color blue, interestingly enough. Blues is just Saturn through and through, I dont think anyone will debate that. It also was born out of the struggling black culture of the United States in the last 100 years. Saturn is the one who makes great things come out of great sufferring.

Of course all dark music genres will mainly have the influence of Shani, so Metal and “Doom metal” (whatever that is) and all those sorts of things are likely falling under Saturns umbrella, though I actually havent listened to most of these genres myself. I am just gonna assume they are as dark as they sound. Saturn would also relate to very old music as well, and especially if it doesnt fit into any of the previously mentioned categories.

Rahu/Ketu:

Rahu and Ketu dont rule any particular genre but Rahu will make any genre more technologically centered, and more innovative. It will be less acoustic and natural sounding and more electronic and overly produced. More avant-garde. Most of the garbage pop music you hear nowadays would be a mixture of Moon and Rahu, an unpleasant combination. (That is actually a placement that gets people involved or interested in hypnotism amongst other things. And it is interesting how there has been enormous amounts of money invested in researching what type of ways to make pop music get stuck in peoples heads more easily, therefore making them want to buy that song or that album more. It seems to have an unpleasantly hypnotic quality to it. When you are in the grocery store you can hear 30 seconds of one of those songs and it can be in your head for hours after.)

Ketu would do the opposite and make one’s music more introverted, more myopic, more acoustic and “raw” and underproduced. Often times when a musician first puts out an album, before he is famous, this album is often underproduced and more raw sounding, and this is usually the person’s best album because it is their most Ketu album. It is there most heartfelt and sincere album. Then of course they get famous and Rahu muddies up their inner vision and they cannot seem to get back to that previous sound no matter how nice of a guitar they have now…That is one way we can see the Rahu and Ketu influence on music and musicians.

Conclusion:

The Grahas put their mark on all things in this world, we only need to be perceptive enough to see it. Music and its many genres are no exception. This is all from my own insights and observations and I may adjust these over time. This is only what I have found to be true so far.

Astrological Origins of the Clock

May 31, 2018astrological synchronicities, Clocks and Astrology, Clocks in Ancient Times, kala, ketu, time, UncategorizedCorey

Let us think about the old-fashioned clock for a moment. A clock is a device that tells time in a very simple manner, with one arrow that steadily moves around a circle and points to the hour of the day. Another longer arrow points out the minutes accrued within that hour of the day. It is a thing that is beautiful in its simplicity and practicality while also having a symbolic value. The clock could really count to any number, but it happens to count to 12. It is made a certain way. The way in which the clock is designed clearly implies that it was designed by Astrologers, as it works within their unique system of units and measurements. We have 12 hours set up in the day, and 60 minutes within each hour. Further, there are 60 seconds within each minute. This is how it has come to be in modern times.

The clock just happens to have two main arrows or “hands”, just like how we have two main lights or markers in the sky, the Sun and Moon. The shorter and slower moving hand is the one that indicates the hour of the day. The longer hand indicates the minute of the hour, and together they tell the current time. The shorter hand is like a symbol for the Sun, and the longer hand is like the Moon. The Moon moves around the entire zodiac of twelve signs in the time it takes the Sun to move through one. This is just like how the longer hand moves through all the numbers in the time it takes the shorter hand to move through one, indicating an hour has passed. We also can see how it is 12 hours we are working with and the zodiac is comprised of 12 signs.

So to an Astrologer, a clock actually happens to look just like a mini zodiac with only the Sun and Moon being charted. And since Astrologers were the first people to be in charge of telling time, it is very obvious that this idea of keeping track of time must have come from Astrologers of ancient times.

Another point that really seems to solidify this is that the other main number on the clock is 60. And the fact that we use a base 60 system to keep time is very revealing. Why not 100? Who decided to have 60 minutes and not 100 in an hour? Who decided to make there be 2 sets of 12 hours in a day? I do not know but it is worthwhile to consider this. Vedic Astrology is very clear about using a base 60 system. All planetary aspects are calculated within a point system of 0 to 60 still to this day. In fact, most agree that the most important text on Vedic astrology we have now is the ancient Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra. In this text, the sage Parashara is very clear to instruct that using this base 60 point system of measuring planetary aspects (Graha Sputa Drishti) is actually the ancient way of doing it. So he says that this is the ancient way of doing it. So it appears that astrologers have been using a base 60 for a very long time. Now when we know this, looking back at the clock, it is no surprise that it has a 60 point system embedded in it as well. (Vedic culture also had six seasons instead of 4, and each season would essentially consist of 60 degrees of a circle. This was referred to in the Rig Veda as the six-spoked wheel of time.)

Also, did you notice how that text is called the “Hora Shastra”? That sounds like the word “hour” doesn’t it? Well, the word hour actually comes from “hora” as that is the Sanskrit word for “hour”. So there is a relationship there as well. It also can mean “half of a zodiac sign” because that is how much of a sign that progresses in the course of an hour. Shastra means “science”. Brihat means “great” or “extended”. Therefore the name Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra means roughly “The great teaching from Parashara on Astrological Science”.

I suspect the clock originated from Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, or a mixture of all three. From what I have learned of Mesopotamia and Babylon, they also had a base 60 system I believe.

And to be clear, Vedic timekeeping did not have hours and minutes, but it had Ghatis, Palas, and Vipalas. 1 day is 60 Ghatis. 1 Ghati is 24 minutes. 1 Pala is 24 seconds. 1 Vipala is 0.4 of a second. Also, there are even more intricate measurements for time that they had. They have 60 Liptas in Vipala, a 0.4 second long span of time. Then there are 60 Viliptas in a Lipta, and 60 Paras in 1 Villipta. And even beyond that, there are 60 Taraparas in 1 para. Just thinking about all of that math can make your head hurt!

The modern western world has lost more of its ancient timekeeping knowledge in comparison, but when we look at the clock with this understanding, we can still see a lot in common with our ancient ancestors and their culture.

Rahu and Ketu Transiting the 12 houses

March 23, 20182nd house, 3rd house, 4th house, north node astrology, Rahu in 10th house, Rahu in 11th house, Rahu in 12th house, Rahu in 1st house, Rahu in 2nd house, Rahu in 3rd house, Rahu in 4th house, Rahu in 5th house, Rahu in 6th house, Rahu in 7th house, Rahu in 8th house, Rahu in 9th house, Rahu in all houses, UncategorizedCorey

Rahu and Ketu are one of the most important long-term transits to take note of. When we talk of transits, we must remember that they only give the fruits of what your chart already shows. For example, if there are very little wealth yogas in your chart, a lucky transit for wealth will simply not deliver the same amount of money as it would for a very rich person who has a lot of wealth yogas in their chart. This simply means that the rich person put more effort into this area of life in a past incarnation, and deserves the greater fruits of wealth as a result. The person with few wealth yogas overall and a chart that shows they need to work hard to accumulate wealth is simply not meant to have lots of money come from a transit, no matter how great it is. This factor is not often stated by astrologers or in horoscopes, and ignorance of it leads to a greater misunderstanding of astrology itself.

With that said, here are some of the results that Rahu and Ketu can give as they transit the 12 houses, but always keep your own birth chart in mind and factor that in with the outcome.

Rahu through the 1st house/Ketu through the 7th:

This can be a time of confusion for a person about how to best move forward in life. Ketu transiting the 7th can indicate that one has been over-focused on enjoying life or on social aspects of life. The 7th being furthest from the 1st, there is a need to shift attention back to one’s self and to pay more attention to self-development. Sometimes this can mean also to focus more on one’s health if other parts of the chart show that. Ketu crossing the 7th can give breakups to long-lasting relationships, and abrupt changes with one’s relationships or ways of going about them.

Rahu through 2nd house/Ketu through the 8th house:

Rahu moving through the 2nd bhava shows the need to focus more on the earning capacity and there is often a need to bring in more money that somehow arises during this transit. Ketu through the 8th can give a sense of lack of support from relationships that were previously going fine, which often cause the native to shift back attention to supporting themselves more at this time.

Rahu passing over the 3rd/Ketu moving through the 9th:

When Ketu is crossing the 9th house one finds themselves less comfortable within the culture that they live or around the teachers and guides they are finding in life. Rahu in the 3rd is pointing to a need to update one’s own experience of life and one’s own understanding based on their own intellect and not that of another. It is a good time to explore curiosities and hobbies that one has been putting off. A good time to learn a new skill.

Rahu moving through the 4th/Ketu through the 10th:

This can cause one to be much more likely to move during this 18-month window that Rahu crosses the 4th. Or they may purchase a vehicle, or travel a bit more than usual. During this transit, the workplace can seem less fulfilling and one may find themselves spending more time at home for some reason.

Rahu crossing over the 5th house/Ketu crossing the 11th:

Rahu is pointing to the 5th house that deals with managing all of the affairs of our life. So often when Ketu is crossing the 11th one has been too tied up in social circles or organizations of some sort. The 11th house represents groups and society, organizations, and universities. This transit shows the need to pay less attention to one’s social situation and more on handling their own affairs and getting their own life in order so that they can do what they love more easily.

Rahu traversing the 6th house/Ketu transiting the 12th:

This can be a time when the native needs to pay more attention to paying their bills and keeping up with debts and financial matters. Situations call for a need to pay more attention to the material side of life and less to the spiritual or pleasurable side of life when Ketu crosses the 12th house. A need to focus more on one’s health, diet, and daily routine can arise.

Rahu going through the 7th/Ketu crossing 1st:

A time to be more social and focus more on relationships. May want to just stay at home but really needs to “put themselves out there” more during this time. It may not pay off initially but later on after Rahu leaves this place, some of the friends, relationships, or business partners they made will end up developing into good things down the road. This transit can also lead to children and getting pregnant, depending on the situation. That’s definitely one way that one can find themselves needing to pay more attention to a relationship.

Rahu passing through the 8th/Ketu transiting 2nd:

Often can lead to a lot of “drama” or stressful and surprising situations during this transit. One may find themselves having to depend more on a marriage partner at this time. Money problems can come up. Vulnerabilities come up that need to be addressed.

Rahu navigating the 9th/Ketu crossing 3rd:

Time to let go of developing one’s own skills so much and instead help others develop theirs. Can feel more critical of others at this time. Can cause difficulty with parents and younger siblings. One’s talents and skills don’t seem to mean anything if they do not fit in with a greater purpose and applicability to life as a whole. This transit makes one focus more on the bigger picture. What purpose can one put their skills towards?

Rahu crossing the 10th/Ketu crossing the 4th:

Now is the time for action, and this period can also make one leave their home and move away. Often this is because of a need for achievement or a job opportunity, some 10th house factor. Moving location and changing jobs are very common at this time. More attention needs to be given to the career at this time.

Rahu passing through the 11th house/Ketu crossing the 5th:

This is a time to pay more attention to the groups one is involved in, and one may need to switch up their social circles. The 11th house represents impersonal groups that can validate us, so one may desire to go and get a degree in something from a university at this time. Or one may be doing the same work but want to reach out and connect to a social group or organization. One may have been “in their own world” and needs to put themselves out there more at this time.

Rahu crossing 12th/ Ketu in the 6th:

This is a time to relax more, take more vacations, and not be as focused on the material side of life. It is good to spend time by the ocean during this transit, or take vacations that involve water. One may start spending more at this time, and that can be an issue to watch out for if the chart speaks to that as well.

Hopefully you find these notes helpful as a guide through the houses, and rememeber to use the chart as well to see what potentialities will be triggered by these transits.

I taught a course on the Nodes recently, you can find that in the “Astrology Courses” section of this site.

The Nodes are a tricky and subtle energy, but without them, life just wouldn’t be the same.

A New Course On Rahu and Ketu

February 12, 2018UncategorizedCorey

I recently taught a course on the Lunar Nodes in Astrology with Nadia Smirnova, and it is now edited and available for purchase. This is a 4 hour course, with a 1 hour introduction to the Rahu and Ketu from Nadia, for only $35. I think that is a great price, personally. The real value of this course is all the examples we give. We read the charts of 12 students in the class, and as I read and interpret their node positions, you get real-time live feedback about them from the people who experienced it. This helps us all learn so much more quickly than working on a theoretical level of astrology. Seeing the principles applied over and over in a live setting really reinforces how they work for the student. Click this link below to see the details of the course:

https://www.astrologyisscience.com/courses/lunar-nodes-in-astrology

Nadia is a very skilled Western Astrologer with an impressive science background, having been a nuclear physicist for the USSR. She explains the Lunar Nodes with really wonderful scientific diagrams that actually show you what is going on visually when eclipses happen, and how that impacts us. This is very helpful for giving your intuition a sort of visual framework to refer to when dealing with these concepts. This first hour is an introduction for those who know nothing about the Lunar Nodes.

After the first hour, I then step in and cover the Lunar Nodes more in detail, their mythology, what they represent, what they point to, and how they frequently play out as they are placed in different signs. We sort of follow a pattern of explaining a point, then applying it to charts. Then we explain another point and apply that to another chart, and so on.

We cover:

Rahu and Ketu’s movements, what is actually happening visually
Rahu and Ketu’s formation and mythology
Rahu and Ketu in all of the signs
Rahu and Ketu in all of the houses
Rahu and Ketu conjunct all of the planets.
Rahu and Ketu as significators of Ancestral Karma
What Rahu and Ketu represent overall
How to interpret the past life indications that Ketu is showing, with over 12 example charts.
How to interpret the present life karmas that Rahu is pointing towards, with over 12 example charts.
Painting of the mythological description of Rahu, by Shristi Wilhelm. See more of her work here http://srishtiart.net/home

Lunar Eclipse: Train Crash of January 31st

February 1, 20184th house, aquarius, dainya yoga, eclipse, lunar eclipse, moon, prashna, Uncategorizeddainya yoga, lajjita, mercury ashamed, sun agitated by saturn, venus ashamedCorey

In Vedic Astrology, eclipses are seen as inauspicious events. These are not times to do anything really important, that could be put off for another day. Many of the enlightened Yogis and Masters throughout India have spoken of the importance of prayer and meditation during these times as a way to make the best use of the heightened psychic energy that is present during the times of an eclipse. So while this writing is about an unfortunate event, do not forget that these times can give great breakthroughs in our development as people. As an astrologer, I have plenty of bad transits going over my chart to be aware of as it is, and I know my chart well already, eclipses can just add to that mental chatter. So I choose not to dwell on the negative and worry over that, instead focusing on my self-development during those times. Sometimes a bad thing must occur in order for our greater development as human beings. Eclipse periods usually are harder times, I cannot deny it. But the more effort I put into working out my Rahu and Ketu issues during an eclipse, the more magnified the results are. So in this way, we can look forward to the eclipse periods and not fear them.

With that said, we already have one major accident or tragedy that has occurred on this day of the total Lunar eclipse, January 31st, 2018. My heart goes out to all that have been affected. One person has died and several have been injured, and it really is a tragedy to hear about this.

It seems that while the sign of the Taurus was rising, a train that was taking GOP lawmakers to a retreat in West Virginia somehow hit a garbage truck, killing at least one person and injuring others. The lawmakers themselves seem to be safe, but the garbage truck was hit.

It is astrologically significant that this occurred right at the time that the eclipsed Moon was in the 4th house of vehicles, and in the sign of Government, Leo. This Moon was getting the rasi aspect of Saturn and the full eclipse effect of Rahu. When Saturn and Rahu both aspect a place, there is likely to be some trouble there. In this case it was in the 4th house of vehicles.

Here is the chart of the moment of the crash

The lord of the Moon was the Sun, which was quite afflicted also by being in the sign of his enemy, Saturn, and by being with his other enemy Venus, as well as Ketu. With the Sun being afflicted on 3 accounts, we could imagine something inauspicious related to Government could occur on this eclipse. We also saw a lot of unfortunate government related things going on with the last eclipse in August, (Riots in US, N. Korea threats,etc.) but that would be discussed in another article.

Over in the 7th house, the house of the other party in the case of a crash like this, we happen to see the planet Jupiter, which is the 8th lord, the lord of tragedies and death in a chart. That 7th house is rashi aspected by Saturn which happens to be the planet that indisputably rules over garbage men or a garbage truck. Jupiter is ruling Mars and Mars is ruling Jupiter. So what we have here is a dainya yoga, an interchange between the lords of the 8th and 7th houses. This is an unfortunate interchange, and indicates some sort of theme of misery in ones life if found in the birth chart. Here it seems to point to the theme of a death, an 8th house event, while traveling (7th). Another way to put it would be that the 8th lord in the 7th speaks to a dangerous event while traveling, and the 7th lord in 8th speaks to an equally unfortunate event to be experienced with another party, or while traveling or conducting business, so putting those together is not good for travel. Jupiter ruling the 12th cusp of losses and hospitalization and being in the 7th, that does not look good either. Jupiter in the 7th house is a “maraka” or killer for a Taurus lagna as well, but I am not sure if that idea should really be carried over here in this context.

Venus rules vehicles so we have to examine Venus, which is delighted by Saturn. That is good and may help the chances of survival of everyone involved. But Venus is afflicted by Ketu, who is strong at the time of an eclipse. Venus also is agitated by the Sun, and “combust” by the Sun as well. Even further, Venus is “ashamed” by the Sun, as well as Mercury. Quite a lot of bad things going on in this 10th house, and all connecting to the planet of vehicles and lawmakers, Venus. Note also that Venus rules the 6th house of accidents if Taurus is rising, giving even more of a vehicular type of 6th house karma to be experienced. The 3rd house and its Lord are significant for journeys within one’s nation as this is, and notice that it is the eclipsed Moon that is the lord of journeys at this time. The Sun and Venus both deal with politicians, but lawmakers and these sorts are definitely under the Venus category of politicians. It just so happens to be that Venus rules over both the type of people involved (lawmakers) in the accident, and the nature of the accident itself (being in a vehicle.)

Also noteworthy is that the eclipsed Moon was in Asleesha nakshtra, a nakshatra of serpents. The Moon and serpents both have in common a quality of creeping along the ground. For example, The Moon is said to rule the types of plants that creep along, in the context of plants… like vines and English Ivy and such. Trains are definitely the most serpent like form of movement that a person can travel by and I wonder if this had something to do with Aslesha nakshatra.

To conclude, this was not a lucky moment astrologically, and even in this day and age of technology we should not neglect the proper role of Muhurta. Muhurta is called “electional astrology” in the west and is the art of finding the most harmonious and auspicious time to undertake an endeavor such as traveling. This also serves as an example of the use of Prashna techniques to determine details of a situation in the moment.

Also, here is another news clip about the crash, and towards the 5 minute mark they also start to talk about another news story related to the eclipse: Forest Fires. Several Astrologers predicted that the last August eclipse and this eclipse, both occurring in the fire sign of Leo, were likely to cause forest fire problems. Juliana Swanson is one astrologer who definitely mentioned this in writing, and I do think I mentioned this on my facebook page at some point. Forest fires have been a very serious problem over the last six months, and as they mention in this video, over the last several days they had many break out in their region of Texas.

Here is a wikipedia entry on the event:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_Crozet,_Virginia_train_crash

Saturn in Sagittarius- Update “Fall from a Height” (Part 3)

December 15, 2017UncategorizedCorey

Saturn seems to have been very busy in the sign of Sagittarius. When I first wrote about this back in 2016, I never would have guessed we would have seen so many patriarchial male role model figures take so many falls from heights during this 2.5 year period. By the time I put the 2nd one out it was seeming very clear and so I wanted to share. Now there have been many more stories in the media that correlate to this whole transit, so here is a part 3.

I want to begin by saying that these are just my observations, and I do not wish to offend anyone who has followed or learned from a guru, role model, or church leader that I mention. I am not a spiritual authority and I cannot say ultimately about some of these topics since I was not there myself. But after writing part 2, I was told of a number of other incidents that seemed to “fit the bill” of this transit of Saturn in Sagittarius and “a fall from a height”. (I thank all of you readers who shared feedback of other events.) So while I do not seek to condemn anyone myself, I do wish to write about this in order to reiterate the very important point that when Saturn and other cruel planets are transiting and rasi aspecting Sagittarius, there can be accidents or falls from heights. If gentle planets are there or aspecting, this can prevent it. And also with Sagittarius being a sign of teachers, it does seem logical that if a teacher or guru figure was not being genuine, that he would be more likely to face the negative consequences of his karma and take a fall at this time, as opposed to other times. (But in truth, each individuals chart will show the details, and a teacher could take a fall at another time because of other factors, of course. )

Joel Olsteen falling from a height – In short, as the Hurricane Harvey ripped through and laid waste to much of Houston, Texas, a leader of a megachurch in Houston refused to open the church’s doors for the safety of the people. People were outraged because he even claimed the church was flooded and yet people were taking pictures of the massive facility looking completely accessible and safe, posting them to twitter and shaming him into opening the church eventually. This man was a huge Sagittarian/role model/church leader figure for the area, and he was rightfully called out and taken down by the common folk on twitter, pointing out his hypocrisy and blatant lies. (we must remember that Saturn rules the common folk.)

(it is also worth noting as the “Lajjitavastha” aka the “shame” condition, was occurring in the sky. This )Note that the Sun was rasi aspecting with Saturn in Sag, so one more factor pushing for a fall.

This daily mail article below literally says it all in the title, although it is a ridiculously long title for an article : “How social media shamed Houston televangelist Joel Osteen into opening his dry megachurch to Hurricane Harvey evacuees after he claimed it was inaccessible and flooded”

https://www.capitalgrio.com/sites/news/1143026-joel-osteen-fails-to-address-hurricane-harvey-scandal.html

Lars Anderson Rocks the Archery World

Here is a more fun and positive example of Saturn’s transit. Sagittarius is the sign of the Archer. As we know, Saturn is the planet of great changes in life, as he moves the slowest and signifies the greatest increments of change in the flow of time. He has more lasting effects than the rest. In South India, they have a saying: “when Shani (Saturn) decides to give, no other planet can take away”. This man taught himself Archery, by sheer practice and time, and even going back into ancient texts and trying to be as true to them as possible, even if the techniques were not considered to be acceptable in the mainstream archery world. The things he learned and was able to do were not “in vogue” and so he sparked a lot of controversy and negative reactions from people. This is often the case with Shani, he has to do many of the deeds that others would deem unpleasant, and he is often wrongly looked down upon by others. He is the servant amongst the grahas, after all. This video came out within days of Shani first entering into tropical Sagittarius, in January of 2015. The youtube video below was uploaded on January 23rd, 2015. Saturn had just entered Sagittarius on December 23rd, 2014. So this is really a remarkable synchronicity. At the time of this writing, it has 44 Million views! As you will see in the video, his whole approach is “unorthodox” as is the nature of Saturn. But Saturn is the most practical and keeps things from being overly complex. Notice how simple his style is, taken from the ancient archery masters he studied. Even his dress is what I have previously described in my article Astrology and clothing, to be the “uniform of Saturn”; AKA blue jeans and a black t-shirt. Saturn rules simplicity, looking to the past, blue jeans, and the color black.

But Shani also tends to reveal to us our own failures and weaknesses. Perhaps it is this that made the archery world so outraged at this video. There were a few videos made to rebuke this mans claims and undeniable skill. So much that he actually had to make a follow up video where he does even more crazy archery stunts and clarifies his approach.

His skill is obvious. But still it may take time before the archery world shifts and adapts to this newer (but actually older) way of doing things, just as Shani is a necessary force, but is often unwelcome at first. Most people that are in the archery world are not into this guy at all, or try to act unimpressed by him for various reasons. He is very controversial. But no one can deny his authority in this area. But again, this sort of petty human behavior is common when we face someone who is way ahead of our time, as it is much easier to reject one person than to consider that they may be correct and that we have been the one who was not correct for such a long time.

Rockstar Baba with Millions of followers gets sentenced to jail

I will just leave this article here and you can read it if you want to, but it is an unpleasant topic. So dont even read this article if you are sensitive or easily bothered by unpleasanat news stories. This person was first being investigated back in 2002, and it seems during this transit his karma is finally catching up to him.

BBC Article on Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh

Here is a video of him, he has a large following. One article said there were riots at the court when he got sentenced.

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar facing controversy over comments

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar is a very well known guru around the world, and got a lot of attention for some comments he made. (Again, this is not a judgemental thing here, just watching cause and effect of the planets and people. As above, so below.)

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-sri-sri-ravi-shankar-says-malala-doesnt-deserve-nobel-prize-20160502-story.html

Malala is a powerful Saturnian individual in the world right now, and I do feel she deserves the Nobel Prize. She stood up to terrorists and was shot in the head and still somehow survived, talk about a strong Saturn. She works hard for women’s education rights and education all over the world. Also, she first made her debut to most western audiences on one of the nights of Navratri, the 9 nights of the Goddess.

In this article posted above, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar reportedly said that, when asked if he would accept a Nobel Prize if it was offered to him: “I was in the past offered the Nobel Peace Prize, but I had rejected it as I only believe in working and not in being honored for my work. We should always honor only to those who deserve it, and I am totally against honoring Malala Yousafzai with the prize and it is of no use,” he was quoted as saying in the Deccan Chronicle, a reputed Indian newspaper.

The article points it out very clearly further below: “He went on to say that Yousafzai had done nothing to merit the Nobel and that awards generally were not his concern, especially the Nobel. A quick perusal of the Art of Living Foundation’s website shows that Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who is commonly conferred with the double honorific in front of his given name, has been the recipient of countless awards. They include this year’s Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honor, and Mongolia’s Order of the Pole Star, that country’s highest recognition. He has earned 15 honorary doctorates, and the list of bestowed titles requires some scrolling to get through.”

I have to say that the writer of the article does make a strong point here, and it seems unnecessary to criticize Malala for her incredible good karmas she has set forth in her life.

So it seems Shani, the lord of Karma, was also displeased by this, as Sri Sri Ravi Shankar faced more bad publicity from this event than most of the publicity of his good efforts he has made, which seem to have been many. And maybe if he had a different name Shani would let it slide, but how can one criticize giving people honorary titles when they themselves have two honorary and excessively repeating titles in their own name? Saturn is not a fan of hypocrisy, or spiritual jingoism. Not in the least.

To be continued…