Category Archives: ketu

Musical Genres and the Grahas

cc7a56f2aa64933964c129805f16886a     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

clock picLet 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.

An Example of Finding a Lost Wallet with Astrology

Here is a link to a youtube video I recently made. I was at the post office and realized I had lost my wallet right when I was going to pay. I went all the way back home and it still wasnt in my room where I normally keep it. I looked everywhere and could not find it. It was getting stressful and I was starting to worry so I casted a chart to find the wallet.

This is the Horary/Prashna chart that I cast to see where my wallet is, and if I even will be able to find it.

One more thing I forgot to mention in the video : Mars and Ketu being with Venus, Ketu hides things very well, and this wallet just happened to be blending in with the dark metal frame of the bottom of the drivers side seat, a big part of why I didnt see it when I originally checked my car. Mars rules metals, and so the significator being connected to Mars and Ketu indicates that it was wedged in between dark colored metal and well hidden. And that was the case. I didnt realize this until after the fact, but thought that was a neat additional note.

Astrological Reflections on Nikola Tesla

tesla pic
Nikola Tesla, at the height of his career.

“Within a few years a simple and inexpensive device, readily carried about, will enable one on land or sea, to hear the principle news, to hear a speech, a lecture, a song or play of a musical instrument, conveyed from any other region of the globe. ”     Nikola Tesla, 1856-1943

 

Nikola Tesla is one of the most profoundly interesting, influential, and eccentric figures of the last two centuries.  In the above quote he predicts the advent of smartphones. He did not just conceive the idea, he was the one to invent the technology.  I was unable to find the year that he said this quote*, but we know he died in 1943.  Take a moment to think about how significant that prediction is….  He invented pretty much everything that has made the modern world what it is today, including the alternating current, radio, X-ray technology, remote controls, electric motors, robotics, lasers *, wireless communication and even “limitless free energy”, according to this blog.  We still dont have this last bit of technology, because Tesla was being funded by JP Morgan.  When Morgan realized there was no money to be made off of giving free energy to everyone, he stopped funding Tesla along with making sure that he would never have enough money to succeed in his altruistic goal of providing free energy to all.  This is also part of why he was not as popular as other inventors, because he did not care to make money himself, and in a sense he was a threat to the fortunes of those who did care about money.

A man of such profound karmic impact as Nikola Tesla should logically be expected to have a unique birth chart to match, and its true, though this writing will only scratch the surface…There is so much noteworthy information to share about this man that it will take more than one blog post… In this article, for the sake of brevity, I will focus on just a few unique characteristics this man had, and how they related to the karmas indicated in his natal chart.  If you aren’t familiar with his contributions and eccentricities you may want to watch a documentary on him, or read up on him here, to get the full appreciation.

Nikola Tesla does not have an exact birth time, but it is said that he was born at the stroke of midnight on July 9/10 1856 in the Austrian Empire (modern day Croatia).  He was born in the middle of a lightning storm as well, and as the story goes, midway through the birth, the midwife wrung her hands and declared the lightning to be a bad omen, saying the baby would be a child of darkness.  Tesla’s mother responded saying “No. He will be a child of light”….The mothers instinct again proved correct, as it usually does, in that he did go on to be the foremost master of light and its manipulation and application.  He invented fluorescent lighbulbs and also made the more practical technology for electricity, the alternating current, which we still use today.

Tesla’s Natal Chart –  As it happened, right around midnight on the 9th/10th of July 1856 the sign of Aries was just about to end and the sign of Taurus was just about to rise.  At exact midnight, Taurus was rising at 1 or 2 degrees.  We know that the exact time of midnight may have been difficult to discern exactly back in an Austrian countryside in 1856, and so we cannot be 100% sure what his actual lagna (the sanskrit word for the rising sign) was, Taurus, or Aries…. But as said earlier, a man of such pronounced karmas should have a noticeable birth chart…. When I looked at the two charts, (one as Aries lagna, one as Taurus lagna) it was very clear that he must have been an Aries lagna.

To begin with, Aries is the sign of ideas, and the initial spark of existence. It is the sign of pioneers and heroic acts, as a Ram is born to climb anything in its path.  Aries is the sign of “active fire”, which is electricity.  (The other two fire signs are Leo, the fixed fire, and Sagittarius, the dual fire, which has both fixed and active qualities.  Aries is perhaps the most appropriate sign for pioneering fire or electricity at this fundamental symbolic level) Aries is a sign ruled by Mars, the fire element, and fire is the same as electricity and light in the context of elements.  Also, on the elemental level, fire has to do with intelligence, and cognition, and how well we think.  We know he had a lot of karma involving thinking, conceiving, light, electricity, and pioneering the applications of electricity, all of which are Mars related activities.  Also Rahu and Jupiter are in his first house as an Aries lagna, and Rahu makes one a pioneer in their field, as well as sometimes making one a bit of an outcast to society (sometimes because they are too ahead of their time).  So that is two marks for a pioneer as an Aries lagna.  These qualities strongly marked his path in life, along with a not so mature but still positive idealism (Jupiter with Rahu in okay dignity). Jupiter is also the lord of the fire sign of Sagittarius, another sign that can relate to electricity and lightning.  Jupiters placement here in Aries with Rahu also shows that his path was that of pioneering knowledge and wisdom more than a more classically physical Aries type of path.  Mars ruled people are not always soldiers or police officers.  Mars can also give one a career in surgery, or science, engineering, electricity, as well as mining and work dealing with the minerals of the Earth, to name a few examples.

If he were a Taurus lagna, his ruling planet would be Venus, which does have to do with making life more enjoyable for everyone, but does not have any strong fundamental association with fire, electricity, inventing, pioneering or being a scientist.  Also his Venus falls in the 3rd house (which does fit him in some ways) but is strongly starved by Saturn, Sun and Moon.  This means Venus is afflicted in every possible way in the context of Lajjitaadi Avasthas.  Such an afflicted benefic as the ruling planet in the 3rd would indicate very weak willpower and wanting to have things done for oneself too much and throughout life…. This is not the case, as he had an incredibly strong willpower.  It also does not fit his sharp and exacting personality as much as the Aries lagna.

Tesla’s celibacy- Nikola Tesla never married and was celibate.  As an Aries lagna, we can see that his ruling planet is Mars.  Mars is a planet that is said to be “Brahmachari”, meaning one who is celibate and does not marry, so as to fully pursue their goals and focus that they have in this lifetime.  (note: One could be brahmachari for many reasons, not just the traditional reason of expediting one’s spiritual progression.  A person could choose a celibate lifestyle just because they prefer the freedom it affords them to continue doing other things they are drawn to.)  This was the case with Nikola Tesla, as he was strongly sought after by women while he lived in the west, but never engaged in a single sexual relationship (according to him) and preferred to be celibate.  That is not very common.  We can see this shown in his chart by the placement of his ruling planet Mars.  Mars falls in Libra in the seventh house, and is in a temporary friend dignity because of Venus being four houses away.  Mars is with Ketu and the waxing Moon, a benefic and a friend to Mars.  Ketu can show where we have a strong karmic foundation in past lives, and here it shows that there is already a lot of karmic development in respect to relationships.  There is also  attachment (shown by the Moon here also) as well as frustrations (Mars) being shown.  So he is not going to find as much happiness in the area of relationships as a whole in this incarnation, due to having already exhausted those karmas in recent previous lives.  Rahu represents the area of life we are destined to develop in this incarnation.  In Tesla’s chart it is in the opposite sign, Aries, his first house, putting the spotlight on himself.  Rahu in Aries in the first house also speaks to a life of self development, and Tesla was an incredibly disciplined person.  Rahu is with Jupiter, showing that in this life he is wanting to develop faith in himself and all of his amazing ideas and noble endeavors, rather than focus on his enjoyment of life or relationships. But as is often times the case with those planets that are connected to Rahu, many of the Jupiterian goals he had were never realized, such as providing free energy to the entire world.  He did do many great deeds for the world as a whole, though.  Aries is also a sign that is fundamentally about being pure and virtuous, (Mars rules our Sattvam, our strength of character as well) which is why the most pure planet, the Sun, is exalted there.  Another interesting thing about his apparent celibacy is that he directly attributed it to his amazing intellectual abilities, which is a viewpoint also held by most Yogis.  As one example, he had the ability to visualize every invention in his mind down to the final stage.  Due to this uncanny skill, each of his inventions was said by his assistants to have been made correctly the first time, never needing to be revised, and never even leaving a blueprint behind!

Tesla_colorado_adjusted
“I do not think you can name many great inventions that have been made by married men.” -Nikola Tesla

Another unique thing about his ruling planet Mars being with Ketu and The Moon in the seventh is that this means Mars is “delighted” (mudita, in sanskrit) by the Moon.  The Moon is the ego mind, and when Mars is delighted by the Moon then one has a consciousness that can more easily act on the desires that are specific to it’s particular incarnation.  This also just empowers Mars overall, which is his ruling planet. The moon helping his lagna lord is showing that he has a lot of consciousness to work with.  We know this was the case with his extreme productivity, and his ability to only sleep 2 hours a night and an occasional nap.  Mars is also a planet that when strong, gives one the drive to stay awake all night working, to go hungry all day, or to do whatever it takes to get the job done.  Mars is described in Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra as “Cruel with red eyes…”  As Ernst Wilhelm has explained, we get red eyes when we have been up all night working and not sleeping, and this is the nature of mars, to keep pushing all through the night if he has to.

Life in the public eye- His lagna lord being in the seventh house and seventh sign is significant to his path in life for many reasons. To begin with, he was known to the public, and in the eye of the public. The seventh house is the house of the public as well as a house of foreign lands, and relationships. Having the ascendant lord in the seventh house in good dignity often causes one to live in foreign lands or to be involved in the public in some way.  Libra represents the western direction, where his ascendant lord falls, representing him in action in life.  He did have to travel west to America to leave his legacy for us all to enjoy.  He was well liked by the public and had many worthwhile relationships with prominent figures such as Mark Twain, Swami Vivekananda, and Rudyard Kipling.  Also it is interesting that his sexuality was known to the public, especially back in those days…..perhaps his ascendant lord being in the 7th house and 7th sign also had to do with his sexuality being known to the public.  The 7th house also has to do with our dynasty that we leave for the world and public at large.  In this way the 7th house has to do with the Saptamsha, the 7th divisional chart, which relates to children, the main dynasty that most people will leave for the world.  Jupiter is the key karaka for the Saptamsha, as this planet also relates to children and the dynasty that we leave for the world.  There is a strong double reinforcement in his chart on dealing with leaving some kind of legacy to the world.  One being the lagna lord in the 7th as previously mentioned.  The other being Rahu conjunct Jupiter on the ascendant, showing the focus of his life to be on some kind of dynasty, child, or creation to leave for the world.  His dynasty was much greater than one child. (Perhaps he knew this and it was also a reason for his celibacy, as he was very clairvoyant.) His child is every single light bulb, every single smartphone, every single i-pad or ebook.  His dynasty is this entire modern world we are living in.

 

to be continued in part 2….

 

*There is actually evidence he was not the first human to have laser technology, see the book Ancient Secrets of the Lost Ark by Laurence Gardner, which gives evidence that ancient Egyptians may have used rubies to create lasers from the Sun’s light, which possibly may explain how they were able to cut certain stone materials, but does not explain all of Egypt’s mysteries by any means.