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.
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 hed 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.
Now that Saturn has completed most of his course through the tropical rasi of Sagittarius, I felt it would be appropriate to go back and relfect on the statements I made one year hence about this placement. Read the Part 1 of this article to get caught up on what I was saying and predicting for this transit in July of 2016.
My main point was that with Sagittarius actually being the a major sign of accidents when cruel planets are in it, we need to watch out for this transit of Saturn through it. Sagittarius is the sign of our ideals, goals, our culture, philosophy, and how we aim for our goals. It is an archer aiming at a target, afterall. But not all goals and aims that man has had have been healthy or good for the world. When this rasi is afflicted in a birthchart, and no other gentle planets help it, the person can have very unrealistic goals and very unhealthy or unwise ways of approaching them. It is only when Sagittarius rasi is strong and well manifested that one can naturally set healthy and ideal goals and actually go about achieving them relatively easily. Now we can see why Jaimini would warn us about Sagittarius rasi, saying “while proceeding, a fall from a height”. The ninth sign has to do with how we proceed down the path of our life as it unfolds, hence it rule the philosophy we approach life with, as one example of this.
I know that this may seem very unusual and most Astrology teachings do not share this idea about Sagittarius. It is normally a sign that is associated more with jovial, lucky, positive things. But test it out for yourself if you do not believe me. Saturn crossing Sagittarius has been a great example of how easily a “fall from a height” can occur when we do not have healthy and realistic ideals and approach our goals wisely.
Continuing from Part 1:
#6: Doreen Virtue Converts To Christianity, Sparks Debate – A well known New Age teacher named Doreen Virtue who has written over 50 different new age books, made oracle cards, angel cards, tarot cards, etc. She is very well known, I have seen her cards before. She released a video on the day of the solar eclipse (No doubt that this influence was important here too, not just Saturn) publicly denouncing fortune telling and card reading and all of the sort. Read the above article for more information, but many people are lifelong followers of her, and feel very betrayed. She is a Sagittarius/Guru type figure, as it is the sign of teachers, gurus, and guides. This is definitely a fall from a height for many of her followers who do not share her shift in opinion, and now feel abandoned, being told even to burn some of the books that she herself wrote.
#7: Bill Cosby’s fall from a height – read the timeline that clearly shows how it was not until just one or two months of Saturn’s ingress into Sagittarius (September of 2014) that the avalanche of accusations against Bill Cosby resurfaced (Nov 2014) after years of silence. Bill Cosby is an Aries rising, ruled by Mars, and it is worth mentioning that the only enemy of Mars is the planet of the Media, and comedians (Mercury). Note how the article speaks of the “joke heard round the world”, and how it was a comedian that in many ways is responsible for bringing it all back to light. Further note that his lawyer has stated that he is legally blind now and “living in his own perpetual hell”. According to an old book in India about Karma and diseases that result from karma, the disease of blindness can be caused by having looked at other peoples wives too much in past lives. In Many ways Cosby fits this Sagittarius situation well as it is also a sign of the parents, as the parents are major guides in our life and this is the sign of guides. As a role model for America, it seems Saturn could no longer allow for him to hold that position anymore and brought about this fall.
#8 More lawsuits and accusations against a guru – This one is creepy and very similar to the Bikram Yoga lawsuit that was covered in part 1. A swami has had several lawsuits filed against him for sexual misconduct. This article states that he has even been caught on video, but has been able to manage to delay the court hearings for some time. According to this article, he even makes disciples sign non-disclosure agreements about the “tantric” practices that are done. It seems like a pretty strong case has been made. Very creepy.
#9 Pretty much the entire situation with the United States Election of 2016. I mean talk about a fall from a height. I dont really need an article to share, because everyone knows about this. It started with Bernie having the primaries rigged against him and having his nomination stolen away from him. Most people couldn’t really picture him winning though, myself included. No one actually liked Hillary Clinton at all really, but millions rallied to her just because? The whole situation was a mess, yet everyone was so confident that Hillary would win that news sites were giving Trump only 1% (remember, afflicted Sagittarius rasi can translate to over optimism, over confidence, confidence that is unfounded. This is the perfect setup for a fall).
No one expected Trump to win, and so him winning was a major fall from a height for most Americans.
What is the lesson to be learned here? (Not a lucky time for gurus and teachers?)
Probably more than one, but my take away is to always pay attention to the Sagittarius rasi and when cruel planets afflict it, and no gentle planets support it, watch out for an accident or fall from a height. If you have these placements in your chart, be more careful about your goals and ideals and make sure you do not have unhealthy, or fanatical beliefs about a thing. We can get ourselves and others into trouble when we are too sure that we are right. Most of the time it seems fanaticism only occurs when our faith begins to flicker anyway. If you feel you need to prove your beliefs or philosophy to someone, you still are probably not living it enough. Be realistic at least for the remaining transit. Have some detachment if you still have not met your long term goals.
May Ganesha smile upon us as we go towards the goal!
This is the second part of an interview I did with Ryan Kurczak of Asheville Vedic Astrology. We talk about the conjunctions of Saturn and the Moon. Take a look if you are curious about the implications of this conjunction.
Also, just for fun, here is a picture of the Alligator that was in my back yard on the day that we did this interview. The Gator and Crocodile are perfect symbols of Saturn.
The word for the sign of Capricorn in Vedic Astrology has always been “Makara”, which translated, literally means “crocodile”. The crocodile is possibly the only animal we know of that has not changed or evolved in any way over hundreds of thousands of years, when we look at it in the fossil records. You can see a skeleton of a crocodile or alligator that lived during the time of the dinosaurs, and it will be the same as a modern skeleton of a crocodile. This perfectly symbolizes the nature of the sign Capricorn, which is the sign of Karma, and action. The best actions we can do are those that are done so right and so effectively to begin with, that they stand the test of time and do not need to be redone or improved upon. This is the nature of Capricorn, and Saturn as well. To do something right the first time, to be patient, to be methodical, and when the right time comes, to execute the appropriate action. Saturn takes 30 years to go around the zodiac, not like the Moon who makes the same course in a Month. We can think of it like this: We want to do work and karmas that are so well done, that Saturn doesn’t have to go back and revisit that work for 30 more years. Observing Alligators and Crocodiles in nature gives us a window into this type of consciousness, and this type of activity. This is also why Mars, the planet of all kinds of action, is exalted in Capricorn. The highest action is that which can stand the test of time.
We all know that the Ides of March was the date of the assassination of Julius Caesar, but it seems to have been conveniently forgotten that this is an astrological statement. We also know that in Shakespeare’s famous “Julius Caesar” play, there is the warning to Caesar from the Astrologer/Reader figure to “Beware the Ides of March”. The “ides” meant the middle of the month, and so this date was taken to mean March 15th or around that time since this was determined by the Moon. This prediction did come true and Caesar was betrayed by his friends and ministers and was assassinated on this day. So why did this particular time frame get singled out? Is there any Astro-logic behind it?
Its actually a very simple logic behind this statement. First off, we do not even have to know Caesar’s birth data to know that a great leader of a great nation such as Rome will obviously be ruled by the Sun. This is the most likely case. So let’s imagine Caesar to have been a Leo lagna (rising sign), and with also the Sun as his atmakaraka, which would likely be the case for someone who ruled the greatest nation at the time. (Of course he may not have had this, but likely had something similar or would not have had the merit to have the life he had.)
If he was indeed a Leo, then during the time of the Ides of March, the Sun would be passing through Pisces, which is the eighth house for a Leo ascendant. The eighth house is the house of death, sudden breaks and changes to one’s life, battles, betrayals, and drama to put it bluntly. Right away we see that this is not the luckiest time for a King. Also when the Sun is in pisces, it is weaker by nature because Pisces is a sign of rest and relaxation, but not a sign of great physical strength or power. He also was 55 when he was killed, which is the natural dasa period of the Sun, so the transits of the Sun would have more bearing on him at this time in his life than other times as well. But these three factors happen often for Sun ruled people, and not so often do they die or get betrayed, so there must be something more to it, but this is a good start.
Now we may recall that the Sun has two enemies, Saturn and Venus. Saturn could have been anywhere at that time, so we will leave Saturn out of the equation. But we do know that Venus would have had to have been either in Aquarius, Pisces, or Aries, as Venus cannot be any further from the Sun astronomically. So focusing on Venus, if Venus was in Pisces, then that would mean that the Sun was being badly “starved” (thrishita, in sanskrit) if it was conjunct its enemy Venus. This is a big problem for the Sun and prevents it from being able to do its job properly (Caesar, in this example). This is even more of a threat because Venus is exalted in Pisces, and so at its strongest possible state! So this Venus is strongly able to starve and afflict the Sun, and the Sun doesn’t have the power to overcome it on his own when in Pisces. Now consider the fact that Venus happens to rule Ministers, and advisors to the King! How did Caesar get betrayed? His advisors, his ministers, his “Venus” in the symbolic sense, conspired against him and had him assassinated! This fits perfectly with the most likely transits to be occurring on the Ides of March. Get an exalted Venus starving the Sun in the eighth house of betrayal and death, this spells bad news for the Sun, which in this case was Julius Caesar.
This may have also had a relation to the Drekkana chart, the third divisional chart in Jyotish. It is called the “Decanates” in Western Astrology, so we know that the Western tradition did have vargas at some point, and likely lost them over time. Perhaps this reader who warned Caesar also used the Decanates or Drekkana chart. If so, they would have likely noticed that the Sun will move from the Cancer drekkana to the Scorpio drekkana around the time of the Ides of March. The Sun would definitely be in the drekkana of Scorpio by the time the Ides of March came, as the Sun would have to be in the last 10 degrees of Pisces at this time. It is a very basic fundamental of Astrology that Scorpio, the eighth sign, has the same qualities as the eighth house we have been discussing, and so Scorpio deals with all of the above themes of death, betrayal, sudden breaks and changes as well. So the Sun’s placement in the Drekkana chart on the Ides of March is also showing the same theme of some type of fall from a height or drama occurring for Caesar at this time.
Oh and what does the Drekkana chart specifically deal with? It is the specific chart we look at to see how one interacts with their siblings, their peers, their ministers, their associates, and the people that they work with who have similar goals. In the context of Caesar, the Drekkana would show the karma’s relating to his Ministers and Advisors, and others who are working towards the similar goal of governing Rome. So this chart is very relevant to the death of Caesar, as it is showing Scorpio/betrayal/death themes very clearly, and it was his associates that betrayed him and murdered him. As many as 60 conspirators were said to have been involved with his death, so he had quite a lot of Drekkana associates to contend with!
This example is made with just the understanding of where two factors were placed in Caesar’s horoscope, the Sun and Venus. Imagine how much more we could see if we had his whole chart? We normally need to see things indicated from a number of different angles, all pointing to the same event, for that event to be able to be predicted confidently. Likely there were even more themes indicating a similar fate for Caesar, but this is what we know was most likely occurring for the Sun and Venus. Mars and Saturn were likely also involved in my opinion. It definitely was not just a simple Sun transit that could have caused this. It is my hope that the reader takes away from this example a more nuanced understanding of the sophistication of astrological predictions along with a newfound appreciation for this idiom.
Why do things so often get grouped up into seven in this world? Have you ever noticed that? Not to say that the number actually occurs more than other numbers, but in the sense of the way we tend to see, group, and categorize things. When we think about our common use and grouping of things, seven seems to have a significance, dare I say, even something sacred about it. It happens with really big things too, like the seven continents of the world, the seven seas, seven openings or cavities in the human face, seven colors in the rainbow or visible spectrum of light that we can see, and almost all mammals have seven cervical vertebrae. These are things we cannot seem to change very much, but what is equally interesting is that there are also many things that we as human beings have intentionally perceived or classified as being seven in type or quality, when we could probably have divided them into other numbers if we wanted to.
Let me give some examples:
There are seven notes on the musical diatonic scale, but other ways of dividing the notes up have also been created. But this is a very popular one, probably the most popular.
We have this idea in folklore of many different cultures (including American/European and Indian) of seven years of bad luck coming to someone for various reasons.
There are said to be seven deadly sins.
There are seven wonders of the ancient world.
There are said to be seven heavens in Islam and many, many other philosophies as well as occult systems of knowledge.
Seven horizontal rows are in the periodic table.
According to the Baltimore classification, there are seven types of viruses.
Seven is the neutral ph value between acidity and alkalinity.
The Bible is overflowing with a sacramental implication of the number seven, the most commonly known being the beginning part wherein the Earth was created in seven days (it also clearly mentions the creation of the “heavenly bodies” for “Signs and seasons”, aka Astrology, by the way).
There are seven temples in the Book of Revelations (Which Edgar Cayce also revealed to each relate to a certain chakra and the sins most associated with that chakra/state of consciousness.)
Seven is the sum of any two opposite sides of dice.
In India there is the Sapta Rishis, or the Seven Sages.
There are also the Seven Sages of Greece.
There are seven main chakras in Yogic philosophy, also seven according to psychic Edgar Cayce.
Seven main endocrine glands (gonads, leydig, adrenal, thymus, thyroid, pineal/hypothalamus, and pituitary.)
We have seven days of the week, which is so ancient that we actually do not know where this originated. The Norse had a seven day week which is where our English names of Friday (Freya/Venus day) and Thursday (Thors/Jupiters day), and Wednesday (Odin/Mercury day). The ancient Indians also had a seven day week, which makes one wonder if any other cultures of antiquity also had this tradition.
There are probably many more classifications of seven in number that I am not recalling, but I feel this has made a strong enough case as these are big parts of our human life. Also you will notice that fiction writers love to use the number seven in their fiction works, simply google the number seven and you will see one after another fantasy book that has something to do with “Seven gemstones of power” or what have you. A modern example of this can be seen in the hugely popular Game of Thrones HBO series, which is based on fiction books. It takes place in a medieval Europe (Kali Yuga-style) fantasy realm and their is of course an emphasis put on the “Seven Kingdoms of Westeros”, which is where the majority of the story takes place. There are also many different faiths throughout the kingdoms but the most popular faith is the “Faith of the Seven”, interestingly enough. Obviously this is influenced from the actual medieval European times when the seven planets were worshipped as deities. It is also made very clear that “The Seven” is one deity, that manifests itself into seven aspects. This is identical with European and Indian style Astrology. { NOTE: Many people still think that Hinduism is polytheistic (believing in many Gods) but if they actually researched it they would learn quickly that it is monotheistic. Hindus acknowledge only one God, but with many different names, aspects, and forms. This is like how there is just one Sun that lights the world, but it can be seen to appear differently depending on where one is on the world, at sunrise, sunset, or midday. We don’t say that there is a different Sun at sunset, even though it may look different than the mid day Sun, with its bright red and orange shades. In the same way, Brahma is the same as Vishnu, and Vishnu is the same as Shiva. } Also even the seven different deities are pretty much the same in this fictional series as they actually are in Astrology, which may have been intentional or not on the part of the writer, but because these archetypes are so prominent in our consciousness, I would not be surprised if the Author of these stories just thought them up himself. (Read the descriptions of “The Seven” here and see for yourself)
Why is this the case? Why does the number seven keep coming up? Could it be that there is something within the human psychology and the way that we are designed that makes us see things in terms of seven? Well, the reason I am bringing all this up is because it is very peculiar in the light of the Jyotish philosophy of India. In Jyotish/Vedic Astrology philosophy, all things that exist on Earth are “produced” by the seven planets that we can see with the naked eye, and can, in a sense, see us. And so there are seven basic states of consciousness, that when mixed, produce all the varied forms and types of consciousness on Earth. Each of the visible planets relate to one of these states of consciousness, and each state is an aspect of the divine. Each planet is a “karaka”, which literally means a “producer” of various things in your life. Based on one’s past life karma, one will incarnate with these various producers in the proper harmony to produce or not produce the life that this soul needs to have for its own development and growth beyond just this one life.
So now we can see that this number seven coming up so much is really a reflection of the seven planets and how they mix and create life on Earth as it appears to be. It validates Astrology, that we have seven of most things, either uncontrollably, or by our own arbitrary intellectual divisions.
To see how this works, let us take the human body as an example:
The Sun produces the bones and the immune system, which are one system in the context of astrological truth, but not current medical books. This is because the immune system relies on the mineral supply stored within the bones to regulate the health of the body. So in a birth chart, a weak Sun in the rasi chart and the D30 (trimsamsa) chart can indicate that one does not have a lot of strength in the bones and may have low mineral density, or low mineral absorption, and should eat a mineral rich diet to balance this. A strong Sun person can eat a lot poorer quality food before there bones start to suffer, because they will tend to have better mineral reserves overall. Strong Sun/Leo people tend to eat a lot of meat and even though meat always leaves a toxic residue on the body, these people can handle that more efficiently than others, and they also have a stronger Agni to burn off these toxins as well.
The Moon produces the blood of the body, the ocean within the body. A weak or afflicted Moon means that one will need to be more mindful of foods that dirty the blood, because this will happen more easily for them if they eat poor foods. They may also have emotional issues as well as a result of having not the best blood quality. They may need to avoid table salt in favor of good quality sea salt, and add an extra amount of the healthy salty tastes like lettuce. A strong moon person will crave healthier foods for their blood naturally, and will have better blood flow and health overall as a result of having a strong “producer” of blood, a strong moon influence.
Mars produces the nervous system, and the nerve tissue within the body. A weak or afflicted Mars indicates that one has nerve problems. They may get nervous too easily, not what you want in a profession like surgery or war. A strong Mars person can hold the knife steady, and that is why a surgeon usually has a strong Mars “producer” in his chart, producing the healthy nerves needed to do such a job. This is also why someone who isn’t willing to stand up and fight is said to “not have the nerve”.
Mercury produces the cognitive/sense/integumentary system which is to say bluntly that Mercury produces our senses and cognitive ability. A bad mercury means one does not perceive and cognize things accurately. Now we can understand why Mercury is always involved in combinations for mental insanity in the old Indian Texts. A good mercury will be the opposite, and will contribute to rational thinking.
Jupiter produces the endocrine system, an incredibly important system for how one feels and for unfolding the spiritual capacities within us. An afflicted Jupiter means that one does not produce an ideal endocrine system health, and as a result may have hormonal imbalances or other chemical imbalances that interfere with their happiness and emotional health. A strong Jupiter indicates that one has produced a healthy endocrine system and feels good in their own body. It is also noteworthy to mention that in deep meditative states, the endocrine system secretes powerful hormones and antioxidants, that make you very happy, and Jupiter is also the karaka or “producer” of one’s happiness and contentment.
Venus produces the digestive system, and so a weak Venus means one does not absorb nutrients and digest well. This means the body loses its vitality more quickly because it requires more of its own vital energy (Virya, which Venus rules) to digest the food and assimilate it than it should. A strong Venus does the opposite, it helps one absorb and digest well, and leads to a healthy and well built body. This is also why Venus rules rejuvenation, as the health of the digestive system has a big say on whether one will rejuvenate easily or not.
Saturn produces the muscular system of the body. The part of the body that does all the labor, basically. Saturn also produces one’s laborers, servants, and lower level employees, which play the same role but in the context of a business. A weak Saturn shows weak muscles, and so one tends to feel lazier. A strong Saturn shows strong muscles and good lymph and so one will tend to not feel so lazy. A strong Saturn is also associated with accomplishing many deeds in life, and here we can see how that relates on a physical level, to the dignity and strength of the “producer” of the muscles, Saturn. Someone who feels lazy all the time is of course not going to accomplish as much as the opposite type of person.
In this way, the seven grahas mix and produce all things for us, and in accord with our karmas that we are meant to experience in this life. This same idea is the logic behind how we see the good or bad karmas connected to each area of life for a person, and is a fundamental concept for practicing Astrology, both western and eastern. Now we can reflect and see, that it is no surprise that in this world of seven colors, seven seas, and seven continents, that we also have seven visible lights in the sky, guiding us along the path of our Soul in this incarnation.
There is an astrological meaning behind the Christmas holiday that even many Astrologers are not aware of. It is actually a very important day and time of year for a wide array of civilizations and cultures on this planet, and the reason for this is completely astrological in nature. In this post the focus will be mainly on comparing the Christian holiday with the Vedic/Yogic perspective, but it should be noted that this time is incredibly important for almost every culture on this planet and has been for thousands of years.
From the standpoint of Yogic and Vedic philosophy, Christmas day just so happens to be the first day in six months that can at least generally be considered each year to be an auspicious day. This is because it is the first day in six months that the Sun begins to noticeably move north, and the present day lasts longer than the day before. This is not popularly recognized, so don’t be surprised if you are a Hindu/Sanatan Dharma adherent reading this and you do not understand what I am talking about or how Christmas is relating to the Vedic traditions. Please bear with me, as there is a lot to explain to make this point clear. And remember, the aim of this post is only to add more spiritual significance to this day as a Christian holiday and also as a special day for all people on Earth, because of the astronomical activity that occurs on this day. There is no intention to take anything away from the Christian religion or any religion. I have the utmost respect for all religions and enlightenment traditions.
The Sun Moves North on the Winter Solstice
First we need to know why the Solstice matters in the first place. The reason the solstice and equinox times matter is because these are the places where the Sun noticeably changes its course, and where there is a change in the light of the world. This in turn creates the seasons, the natural cycles, the sense of time, and the balance and harmony that makes life on Earth so beautiful. At the Winter Solstice (Dec 21-25th) the Sun reaches its lowest point on the ecliptic (The path that it appears to make around the Earth each day), and stays at that lowest point for three more days. Then on the next day it finally begins to noticeably rise at a more northern place. This day (Dec 25th) is the first day since late June that the daylight, the light of this world, lingers longer than the day before. That is a very big deal, though it may not seem like it in this modern age, with the common person being so divorced from nature. But take away the smart phones and electricity and this knowledge becomes the difference between surviving winter or a painful death. Now we can see why this date has been so important to cultures and civilizations since timeimmemorial. This may be even more appropriate in very northern parts of the world such as Siberia and Russia, where Christmas may have originated. Here the Sun can hardly even be seen at this three day period where it is at its lowest point. Then on the 25th, it rises and continues to do so for six months until the Summer Solstice point, on June 22nd. At the midway point, we find the Spring Equinox, the place where there begins to be more daylight than night and thus, the beginning of Aries, as all of nature cyclically charges forth into being at that time. The Summer Solstice point is where the Sun appears to stall for a moment, and then begins backing down or moving south for six months, thus this space has the qualities of the sign of Cancer, the crab. Crabs appear to go forward and then stall, and start moving sideways back in the opposite direction, which is exactly what the Sun can be observed to do here. Cancer is also the most Yin sign, the sign of the divine feminine, and in many ways it is like the Sun is relaxing and being more Yin at this point, after six months of charging north. (Read more about that here). Then at the Fall equinox in late September marks the point where there begins to be more night than day, and thus the Sun “falls” in the sign of Libra. At this point the Sun is starting to move south quickly and the days are noticeably shorter. Then we get back to the Winter Solstice point and the cycle repeats. Notice that these four points mark the “cardinal” (or moveable) signs in both Western and Vedic Astrology. This is the rough logic behind that, but if you want to read more details on how this relates to the nature of the cardinal signs, read this older blog post.
How this relates to Christianity
So what better of a time of year to celebrate the birth of the “Son of God” then the exact astronomical time when the physical “Sun of God” has just been noticeably reborn? It’s even more interesting when we consider that in the Northern regions of the Earth the Sun can literally not be seen for three days, because it is so far south, hence a perfect symbol for death and resurrection. The northern areas of Russia and Siberia seem to have the oldest connections to the reindeer and other symbols associated with Christmas. It is well known and well documented that the Christian tradition wisely co-opted these symbols to strengthen their own relevance at the time. And it certainly seems to fit nicely….But we really don’t know when Christ was born, so he may have been born at that time or not; we really just don’t know. But it certainly does make sense to celebrate the birth of Jesus at this time though, due to the astrological synchronization explained above.
How this relates to Hinduism
In the Hindu/Yogic perspective, the time of the winter solstice, and the Sun’s change of direction to move north is incredibly important. This same time is called the Makara Sankranti, which can be translated to “The ingress into Capricorn”. Sankranti is Sanskrit for ingress, basically. Makara is sanskrit for crocodile, which is what Capricorn is the symbol of in Vedic Astrology, and most likely in the original western astrology as well, but that will have to be explained in another post. So this is an important time and it traditionally is celebrated as such by flying kites and other activities as it is said to be an auspicious date. It is currently celebrated about three weeks late by most in India due to calculation errors that put the Capricorn ingress around January 14th. The Solar ingress celebrations are meant to be calculated with the seasonal Tropical zodiac and this is something that Sri Yukteswar was very adamant about. To explain this fully would also take another post, but understand that this same celebration is actually supposed to coincide with Christmas, for the exact same reasons as Christmas does; because the Sun moves north.
This Northern change of the Solar energy is also called the Uttarayana, in Vedic philosophy. Uttara means “North” in Sanskrit, and Ayana means “movement”, or “time pass” in Sanskrit. The Uttarayana has been mentioned in ancient Vedic texts as being extremely important from the spiritual perspective, and this basis is astrological. Any auspicious deed or project we want to accomplish, we want to start it when the Sun is moving north. This way we start the project in rhythm with nature and all of the elements, as all of nature is growing with each new day as the Sun is moving north. In the same way, whatever projects we start at this time will “coincide” and therefore be more likely to grow stronger each day along with the Sun, the Soul of the Universe. We want to do things in harmony with the Universal Soul whenever possible.
So Christmas day marks the first generally great day to do auspicious deeds in six months! This is not to say that for six months of the year one should avoid doing good deeds, not at all. In the six months that the Sun moves south one can find many other shorter windows of time when the muhurta/electional astrology factors are all lining up in a fortunate way for the goal in mind…. But if the goal in mind is very important and it can wait, it should wait for this time, the Uttarayana. And then if possible, one should have an astrologer find the exact day and hour and minute that one should implement this action, if it is a truly important undertaking and one wants to make the best of it. This way whatever negative karma one has from birth that may prevent the full realization of the goal can be minimized and negated by choosing the most auspicious date to begin that would neutralize those negative factors. This is much of the basis behind Electional Astrology, or Muhurta as it is called in India.
Now it makes sense why we all give gifts on this day
Now we can see why it is so astronomically perfect to give gifts to each other on December 25th. It is the first auspicious day in six months, and what better way to make use of that than by giving gifts to all of your loved ones! Its also very interesting because this date was mentioned in the ancient Indian text, the Mahabarata, and one character refuses to die until the Sun starts moving north, because he knows how much more auspicious it is to die when the Sun starts moving north, then when it is moving south. There are spiritual reasons for this significance as well, and one will notice that generally more saintly and spiritually evolved beings tend to leave their bodies as the Sun moves north. Likewise more people tend to commit suicide as the Sun moves south and particularly around November and December, when the Sun is very low and weak in strength. The Sun is our self-esteem, and a weak Sun leads to depression more easily. It is likely that people who have difficult depression placements in their charts get more heavily impacted by this weak Sun transit than the average person, but most people will agree that November and December can be times when depression seems to set in more easily.
There is a lot more to this cycle and how it affects us psychologically, but this will have to wait for another post, as this one is long enough for now. In the next post we will go into how this relates to Yogic philosophy and the esoteric meaning of the Sun.
A new study on Astrology came out in May of 2015 that indicates more celebrities to be born in the time of year from December to March. It particularly noted Aquarius to be the most likely, followed by Pisces. The study was done by Dr. Mark Hamilton from the University of Connecticut. It was published in the journal, Comprehensive Psychology. The research was only conducted on 300 people, which is not enough people in my opinion. The work was of course criticized voraciously just by the virtue of it being a study that could possibly validate Astrology. One thing was hard to ignore however, a very obvious fact that the researchers just did not seem to be informed about. They did not seem to be aware of the fact that Aquarius is considered the sign of “Influential People”, and celebrities, as a whole. It seemed baffling to me that no one made this point in any of the articles that I found about this research online, and seems to point again to the sad fact that most people who criticize astrology simply have not researched it enough for themselves. They simply do not know anything about the signs or what it all means themselves, and so would not know what to look for even when they find it. This research is an example. Read on to see more elaboration on the connection between Aquarius and celebrities:
To begin with, Aquarius is the 11th sign, and the last air sign. The Air signs relate to our desires, to kama, in sanskrit. The 11th sign is the last sign of our desires therefore, and is where we gain our desires, essentially. This is why the 11th house (which has similar qualities to the 11th sign, Aquarius) is the house of gains. This is a fundamental rule of jyotish practice. All planets are good in the 11th. And in a very similar way, celebrities are usually associated with the gain of some desire. We project our desires on them, sometimes even to a degree of idolatry. This only happens because we somehow relate them to the fulfillment of a strong desire within us.
Aquarius, and also the 11th house, is associated with our dreams. Not the dreams we have when we are sleeping, which is the 12th house, or 12th sign Pisces. The 11th sign and house is our conscious dreams that we aspire to realize. For example, if one has Venus or Jupiter (gentle, lucky and fortunate planets) aspecting on the 11th house, or to the 11th sign Aquarius, that is one indication for a greater likelihood that this person will achieve something very important that they dreamed about doing at some point in their life. Thats essentially what most celebrities are, people who actually DID the thing that they dreamed about, or at least got closer to their dream then the average person. So in astrological terms, most celebrities are people who have a strong 11th house.
Aquarius is a sign of humanitarians, and it is funny how celebrities are always getting involved in all kinds of humanitarian activities. It has even become a sort of stereotype about the ultra rich and famous types like Oprah Winfrey and Angelina Jolie. This makes sense when we remember that Aquarius is ruled by Saturn, the planet of service and Karma Yoga. Aquarius individuals often have a strong sense of emptiness or lack within themselves, and so they often try to do things to improve the quality of life for all concerned, as some small way to remedy the situation at least for others. This is why Aquarius is the “water bearer”, and the “maker of tanks and ponds” according to Jaimini. Providing water is perhaps the most basic need that all humans have, so Aquarius is just about trying to relieve the burdens of life on Earth, thus humanitarian activity.
This leads to another important point about Aquarius, the emptiness within the water pot. (Read more about this, here.) Having an Aquarius sun sign means automatically that the individual’s Sun is “starved” by Saturn, its enemy. This is the defining mark of an Aquarius, the tendency to feel and act off the feeling that no matter what they do in life and with themselves and in the world, they still don’t feel very good about themselves. The Aquarius person just suffers from low self esteem. Period. I refuse to sugar coat this like so many astrologers do. This is because the Sun represents our deep down soul nature, and Saturn our lack. When the Sun gets starved by Saturn one tries and tries to find some action (Sun) that will rid them of the low self esteem (Saturn). It varies in strength depending on the chart in question, but it is often quite difficult to deal with, and usually just takes time and acceptance, which Saturn rules. As time goes on we naturally mature and accept ourselves and move past the low self esteem feelings.
Whats interesting is that this psychological issue is seen quite evidently in the lives of celebrities. How often do celebrities have breakdowns or turn out to do things that indicate an incredibly low sense of self esteem, which surprises us? It happens quite often, go read a tabloid or trashy news website if you do not believe me. Celebrities are often depressed and getting addicted to drugs or other vices, and these are both natural tendencies that the Aquarius individual struggles with, as they try to fill the symbolic emptiness within their water pot. Thats why the old Indian books relate Aquarius as the most likely sign to be a drunkard or a sexual deviant of some kind. We certainly see similar trends with celebrities in our modern culture.
So while there are many types of celebrities, and certainly many astrological configurations that could produce them as such, the Aquarius sun-sign celebrity is actually not likely going to be any happier with themselves after becoming a successful celebrity. Aquarius is described as cold and not very charming or fun to talk to, and celebrities are often surprisingly rude and cold people. Otherwise why would we make it such a big deal when one of them is not rude to us? We are always like “Oh he was so cool to me”. Why shouldn’t he have been? Everyone else is. But the Aquarius isn’t, because their self esteem is starved by Saturn. This noticeable trait has become a part of our common conceptions about celebrities.
From the viewpoint of Astrology, the Aquarian or Celebrity individual will actually have to go the opposite direction they usually have been going and become their most natural selves. They have to start doing what they love and stop doing what they think they should do, or what they do to compensate for who they think they need to be. They have to start accepting themselves and their low self esteem and make peace with it, instead of constantly trying to ignore or forget it, or do something to compensate for it. This is very hard to do, and usually we dont even start to notice the need for this type of psychological maturation until after our first Saturn return, by around the age of 30, give or take a year or two. Theres more to it then that, but this help should clarify this point a little bit more, and help us see the logic as to why there might be more celebrities born in the time of Aquarius.
“The active expression of virtue gives rise to the keenest intelligence.” – Sri Yukteswar (1855-1936)
The above quote by the yogi Swami Sri Yukteswar is ripe with spiritual and astrological truth. When we act virtuously, we start to see things more clearly and intelligently. Likewise, when we really know something our actions tend to demonstrate that knowledge in a natural fashion. This can be attractive and appealing to see someone like this. It is possibly for this reason that saints and mystics often seem so attractive or magnetizing to spiritual seekers, because they have gone through a great range of experience and their actions naturally demonstrate such experience in a spontaneous way. Also in the opposite sense, when we think we know something but really do not, our actions can be a clear give away of our lack of knowledge. There is a clear relationship that can be seen here when we look at the zodiac, between our “active expression of virtue” and the development of intelligence within us.
To fully see this relationship, lets clear up a few things about intelligence in the context of an astrological chart. When I am speaking about intelligence, I mean specifically the ability to arrive at the correct conclusion, to arrive at truth. And in life we see that different methods can be used to arrive at the same correct conclusion. Some people use logic to figure something out, others use feeling and emotions to figure the same thing out and get the same conclusion. In the same way, each planet has a unique type of intelligence that it expresses. For example, Mars would be the intelligence of logic. Venus is the intelligence of poetry, the ability to grasp the meaning behind the words, the real heart of the message. This post will not go into each planets intelligence, which would require an entire post in itself.
With this having been said, all the grahas give intelligence but the main one that Astrologers tend to emphasize is Mercury, as he rules the “buddhi”, the Intellect. But when we read the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, the Sage Parashara gives the descriptions of the different planets. In this, he does not describe Mercury as being intelligent necessarily. He does start off, however, by saying that the Sun is intelligent. This is very interesting. He gives many complements to Mercury as well as the other grahas but does not assign intelligence to Mercury, and instead gives it to the Sun. So the implication is that the Sun is the real planet that thinks through situations and arrives at truth. (In case you were wondering, he describes the Moon as “All knowing”, which is similar to how many western astrologers attribute the Moon to a pyschic, right brain type of ability to arrive at truth)
I have noticed in studying charts that when Mercury is joined the Sun, which is happening 1/3 of the time anyway, then Mercury gives intelligence yes. This is also called a BudhaAditya Yoga, which is said to give intelligence amongst other things. When not connected to the Sun however, I do not necessarily see Mercury giving intelligence in the sense of arriving at truth. (I can hear the astrologers gasping while reading this…bear with me) Now if strong, this person’s Mercury will still be able to cognize quite well, and of course still be able to memorize and organize data very well. This person may speak very fast and sharply and come off as very smart and intelligent. They may have lots of information to articulate and be multi-talented and skillful. But that is where we get mistaken. Those qualities are not intelligence. One can organize information extremely well, regardless of whether it is true or untrue information. One can be very multi talented and know a lot of things but still miss the truth of life, and the truth of any given situation. These days we sometimes seem to mistake having information about something with having intelligence, or knowledge of that thing. These are different words and have different meanings. Nowadays people consider having googled something to equate to having “knowledge” of that thing. They are mistaken. When you read old books the word “knowledge” did not mean “information” and was never used in that context. It meant experience and the direct knowing of something that one gets from experiencing it for themselves. For example, you know that you are you, and you don’t have to look that up or ask anyone else to convince you of being yourself, because you know this from experience. This would be “knowledge”, as opposed to “information”.
So while Mercury gives the intellect, that intellect can see things a million different ways and until one is Self-Realized there is no promise that Mercury will give the intelligence to see the real truth in life. That is the “keenest intelligence” that Sri Yukteswar is referring to, and that, as Parashara states, emanates from the Sun.
How we see this in the Zodiac
We can see how and why the Sun would give this intelligence by examining the mechanics of the zodiac itself. Aries is the sign of virtue, action, inspiration and nobility. Thus, Aries is the sign of the “active expression of virtue” that Sri Yukteswar mentions. The Sun gets exalted here, meaning it is the strongest it can possibly be. So the highest or “keenest intelligence” (The strongest the Sun can be) is brought about by developing the qualities of Aries, the “active expression of virtue”. Pretty cool huh?
Also from the sign of Aries, the Sun rules the 5th house from there, Leo. The 5th house is said to be the house of the mind, and the intelligence we use to manage our lives. So when we act virtuously in order to manage our lives more effectively, that is like the Aries, putting the 5th lord, the Sun, in the first house, of one’s action and expression, and in this case the sign of the same things, Aries. And what does that do? That makes the Sun exalted, as strong as it can be. And when the Solar force is strongest the innate intelligence we have is strongest, and we can be “King” of our life. This is the logic and mechanics behind this great quote from Sri Yukteswar. He was also an advanced Jyotishi, so perhaps he was aware of this connection in the zodiac as well as in his real life experience.
This is the Astrological reason why, at least on planet Earth, we can have all kinds of ideas or information, and we may think it to be true or not true…But until we apply it in our lives and act from it, and see the result, we do not really know if that information or idea is true or not. Remember that real intelligence is brought about by virtuous actions. The results of this truth are very evident in the spiritual growth world nowadays. Many people can absorb spiritual ideas quickly, and can read spiritual texts and understand them very well, but don’t apply the truths in day to day life nearly enough, and then wonder why they haven’t experienced authentic spiritual growth. The people who shine with spiritual happiness are the people who have applied spiritual truths in their lives, and in their day to day actions, and have expressed these virtues in real time, not just on the internet or in their minds. We have to apply what we learn or we get a sort of “mental indigestion”. This happens when we just go about reading one after another metaphysical, or spiritual self help book, but never implement it into daily life. For this we need the strength of the Sun and Mars, the two warrior caste/fire element planets to give us the courage to act virtuously. This is also where a jyotish reading can help someone, because if we see that they are a spiritual seeker, but the Sun and Mars are afflicted, they probably have difficulties with actively expressing virtues. In this case we can advise certain mantras, gemstones, meditations, behavior adjustments, and other remedial measures to combat this negative karma and make the best of the situation at hand. In this way we can see why Jyotish was such a beloved tool of Yogis seeking Self-Realization, as it reveals the obstacles that are in the way of experiencing the goal of our incarnation.
“Vahni (Fire), Ambu (Water), Shikhija (Skanda), Vishnu, Vidauja (Indra), Sachi, and Ka (Brahma), O’ Twice Born, from the Sun and the other Grahas in their order are known the Devas.” – Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra Chapter 3:18
This quote is from a foundation text of Vedic Astrology, the Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, on the allotment of different deities to the Grahas (The Sanskrit word for the planets). These are not the only associations that the Grahas have to different deities, however. It should be remembered that all the many deities of Hinduism are considered to act through the agency of the different Grahas for their purposes and responsibilities as custodians of the various forces of nature on Planet Earth. So while this list is not meant to be the only correlation of Deities to Grahas, it is a very insightful list to consider, shedding much valuable information on the nature of the different energies of the Planets. In this post, for brevity’s sake, we will just be focusing on Saturn’s correlation to Brahma as it is quite interesting to contemplate.
This relation of Saturn to Brahma is very confusing and hard to understand for most. If you study Jyotish you are probably already wondering where I am going with this, but lets first make sure we understand a little about Saturn. He is in many ways the toughest planet to understand… Saturn rules death, lack, loss, negative karma, disease, depression, sorrow, and those things we must do that we are not good at doing. When well placed in the birth chart, He is the planet that does the hardest jobs that no one else cares to do. He does it without concern for himself and just for the sake of others. When Saturn is weak one is not able to do the hard things they know they must do for success and therefore usually are not very successful in the world, as most successful people in the world didn’t get that way by avoiding or not wanting to roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty. Saturn is the one who does that. Jaimini says that if Saturn is in the 10th from the swamsha (atmakaraka in navamsa) the person will live a life of “accomplished deeds”. Meaning this person gets things done in the world.
The word for the absolute God without attributes is Brahman in Hinduism. The names of the threefold aspect of God as Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva respectively. This correlates to Christianity and its holy trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, actually. Brahma is the God of creation, he creates but does not get involved with creation and does not destroy or transform it, those are Vishnu and Shiva’s roles… Everybody knows that, so what is my point? Well Saturn is not the planet of creativity, so you would think Jupiter or Sun would be related to the creative aspect of God (Brahma). But they arent… Why is that?
I am not asserting to know exactly why that is, but here are some interesting ideas about why that may be the case:
Brahma is the force that releases just the right finite amount of God’s infinite potential of energy to create a galaxy and cause creation to occur. Too much or too little of God’s infinite potentiality would cause tremendous imbalances in the grand scheme of the creation… So Brahma is that force which releases just the right amount of energy, but not too much. In this way we can see that for creation to occur most perfectly from God’s standpoint, there needs to be a Saturnian element of restraint involved for the creation to be harmonious and properly balanced…If new worlds were constantly created before the old ones got destroyed then everything would be off and their would be less purpose to creation. In a smaller way this is why I think the yogic guidelines Patanjali gave in the Yoga Sutras called one of the Yamas “Brahmacharya”. In plain english, this is one of the 10 do’s and dont’s of Raja/Kriya Yoga and it is normally translated as “celibacy”. This is a bad job of translating though. Brahma means God’s creative energy, and Charya means “going, driving”. So it simply means “going the way that God goes”. And God doesn’t waste It’s creative energy in frivolous sexual pursuits. So Brahmacharya really means to use one’s creative energy wisely and like God would, so as not to waste the spiritual force generated from Yoga practice. Its true that sexual over-indulgence is the fastest way to waste that force for most people and so this is why it has slowly come to mean that, though it really means much more. Talking excessively, being on social media unnecessarily, and eating bad foods that take too much energy to digest are just as obvious and popular ways of wasting one’s spiritual force in this modern age as sexual indulgence is. And in the same way but on a smaller level, when Saturn is strong in a birth chart that individual will usually be much more focused on important works and not be as easily distracted or waste its energy on over-socializing, overeating, or overstimulation in general. And so from the perspective of God it may be more that creation is not real, it is an illusion, but it is Brahma/Saturn’s job to continue this illusion for the purpose of individuals to grow beyond whatever separates them from God and to eventually unite with God. So in this sense creation is very much an “Accomplished Deed” and thus related to Saturn. Also we must remember that we dont incarnate unless there is some Karmic debt (Saturn) that must be worked out. Even having too much good karma can cause a need to reincarnate and live an awesome life, which happens often for Saints and Yogis. Even this is still a karmic debt that must be spent before the positive and negative karmic-balancing scale can go back to zero and one can finally become liberated. Its like a bank account balance, it has to be zero to close out (get liberated), so a positive balance must be spent in an incarnation, and a negative balance must be worked off in an incarnation. So when we see that Creation is actually just this path we must navigate to get beyond our lack and separation, and to merge back with God, we can see how similar it is to Saturn’s astrological role.
Here is another way to see how creation is related to Saturn, and this is basically paraphrasing what Ernst Wilhelm has written in his book Graha Sutras, so all credit goes to him on this perspective: In order to have creation, the Absolute God must hide himself and be “veiled” in order to make creation seem real and separate from himself. The veil is called “maya” in sanskrit and is created by each person’s “Avidya”- the ignorance of their soul nature as pure Spirit. Saturn is responsible for each person’s ignorance and so this is how we can see his connection to creation from the perspective of having to create illusion/separation/lack from our real Self. Ernst even goes so far as to say that Saturn rules the flow of life force into the nerves, making us sense things as cold/hot, fast/slow, dark/bright, etc. and not as God essentially. So in this way Brahma requires and uses Saturn to create the world and the ignorance of our soul nature that so often accompanies our incarnation.
Another interesting factor is that Brahma is the most neglected of the trinity by far, as there are very few temples to Him and He is hardly mentioned compared to Vishnu and Shiva. Saturn is similarly always the most neglected planet as well! This is really because Saturn is misunderstood, and gets blamed for being the worst planet, but it is really because He has the most enemies from the standpoint of the lajjitaadi avasthas, and so therefore on average will be the weakest and most afflicted planet. So then when his dasa or transits occur, we experience those weaknesses and difficulties. But this is not because Saturn wants to wreck our life, it is because our Saturn is often not strong enough to deal with all the negative karma that we have and so during his periods there are difficulties.