Moon is waning and transits Cancer, Leo, Virgo and into Libra this week. New Moon is on 10.4 in Virgo at 19:35 CDT and ushers in the start of Navaratri on 9.5, or the nine days of mother Divine.
Sun has moved to Virgo and Mercury is now in Libra with Saturn, Rahu and Venus. On 10.2 Venus moves into Scorpio. On 10.5 Mars moves out of its sign of debilitation and into Leo, enlivening the "warrior spirit" for the first day of Navaratri (India time). Since it will be sandhi (in the gap) this week with drishti from Saturn, emotions are extra sensitive. Be aware of your tenderness, emotional outbursts, propensity for anger, and be conscious of others' experiences of the same. Saturn and Rahu slowly begin to separate, though are still in close degrees. This is a time of storm energy, "cleaning house" so to speak, forced change for better or worse. Remember your self care and avoid drugs, alcohol and excess sugar. This is a perfect time to start your fall cleanse. See my articles on Rahu and Saturn in Libra for further details about this transit. As we've passed the fall equinox, we are now in a sandhi time (gap) between seasons where the veil thins and we are able to witness the spiritual, nature, the mirror of the Self in a different way. Fall is that middle ground and the perfect time to cleanse the life- on all levels. This is a celebration of Shakti- the life giving force of Nature. Navaratri begins with three days of worship and reverence to Goddess Durga, who brings chaos- destruction resulting in greater awareness and ultimately healing. The following three days are for worshiping Goddess Lakshmi, the nourisher and provider of abundance, as well as life giving, nourishing and sustaining forces. Finally, the last three days of Navaratri are dedicated to the worship of Goddess Saraswati, who is responsible for expansion of consciousness, knowledge and awareness. She is intimately connected to creativity, the arts and brings a wholeness quality to the celebrations. On the 10th day, Vijayadashmi is celebrated- literally victory day. Because Navaratri is rooted in the story of Durga fighting and overcoming the demon Mahishasura, this is a day of rejoicing in her success, power and greatness. A day when we honor good overcoming negativity, positive forces succeeding over negative ones. The story of Durga (also known as Kali and Sri Bhagavati) is metaphoric for each of us on a physical level, mental and emotional level, as well as spiritual. The dance between light and dark, chaos and calm, freedom and enslavement is continual. Navaratri reminds us of our self-liberation and gives us a time to reflect, honor and worship these divine forces alive within and around each of us. {Don't forget to participate in this wonderful Navaratri Yagya offered through Puja.net} Tap into your creative impulses and utilize your creative, warrior spirit with this week's Jyoti/Expressive Art Therapy Creative Engagement Activity. Creative Engagement for the week of 9.30 ::: *Horoscopes are based on your Vedic rising sign. You can also check your Moon and Sun signs for further insight. Do the same with your Navamsa signs for further clarity. Do not use these horoscopes with your “Western Sign” as there is likely no correlation. These horoscopes are meant to be used as a broad overview of the current transits and obviously do not address the specifics of an individual’s unique chart. Aries: Mentally you are creating new relationships and contracts. Be courageous in your pursuit of self-awareness and how you attract your desires. Some necessary transformations are coming in regard to relationships and how you work with others. Maybe you are finally ready to shift gears and uncover some old, buried fears that have been coming back to haunt you? This is a time of radical self-development. Don't miss this opportunity for change and growth. Taurus: Your mental and emotional bodies are deeply intertwined and give great insight this week if you care to listen, process and digest. There is work to do around relationships, and the coming weeks will provide ample opportunities to work with this theme. Be bold with your inner excavation, dive deep with your emotions, sing and speak for feelings of comfort. Gemini: Expansion, expansion, expansion. You are moving forward on multiple levels of life, clearing and cutting what doesn't serve you. The mind is moving you and passions are high. Don't neglect the physical body and strive for routine and regulation. Your work is in the solar plexus. Be especially aware of your "gut instinct" and let this heighten your decision making ability. Cancer: This is an extra sensitive week for you. Self care and self preservation are crucial. It's ok to be bold as you navigate your mental terrain. Chances are good some old patterns are "up" for you right now. Your inner work is centered around themes with the heart and mother. What pieces here are effecting your relationships? Find the themes and work backwards. Hint: You might get angry and that's ok. Find healthy, creative outlets. Leo: Likely some liberation has been taking place for you- especially if you've been navigating emotions effectively and with curiosity. This week provides opportunities for some unfinished work to find closure- for a loop to be closed. Use courage, bravery and mental depth to find what is below the surface. This is a requirement for relationships and creative gains. Share what's on your mind, but do so with self-referral. Virgo: Some light has crept back in. Have you noticed the shift? Mental comfort is a huge priority right now. Will you know when you've found it? Use this week to navigate desires, gains, dreams, alone time, the Self, your wealth and sustenance. What is feeding you, nourishing you? What do you need to feel full and comforted? Find ways to get out of the head and into the body. Libra: Headaches are possible both physically and metaphorically. Though you are likely learning a lot right now, make sure to continue to peel back the layers of the onion effectively by examining your emotional responses. Why are these emotions coming up? Where do they come from and what prior responses have triggered these feelings? When dealing with "others", the mirror is strong right now, yet at the same time lot of self growth is possible if used effectively. Remember your self care and avoid drugs, alcohol and excess sugar. Scorpio: Moksha leads the way for you right now. Your creative work can be focused and task-oriented and feed your mental/emotional bodies well. This is a time of healing through you creative pursuits, with depth and awareness. Find clear purpose in your actions. The more clarity, the better. The coming weeks will give your career and offerings a power boost. The ego loves this sort of thing, but who are you really?! Scrape away the personas and get to the core of who you are. Sagittarius: Growth and gains are presenting themselves, but may feel more like a mixed bag of pluses and minuses. You are shining and more people are taking notice. Have you noticed? Great emotional transformations have been happening (or have you been resisting them?). This work can now turn into sustained growth in the coming weeks if conscious effort is used. Capricorn: Work is picking up for you and will be providing you with plenty of self-transformation in the coming weeks. This is a time when finding balance and remembering self-care is essential. You are learning a lot from teachers and teaching, growing from inside out. Notice when you are too externally focused and need to pull back in with a focus on trusting the Self. Ask your gut for answers. Aquarius: You are actively working on self-awareness and expansion. This week provides tools for your process. Working with and digesting hidden parts, emotional frustrations and hurts, and the need for others to validate you, come up. The soul is going through a transformation and is sitting in the dark, bringing up issues from the past. Will you invite these old haunts in for tea, or shut the door on them? Will you lash out at others, or self-refer? Take this time as an opportunity to dive a little deeper, peel back another layer. Embrace the process. Pisces: The transformations continue. The mind is stirring up memories from the past and perhaps making storm clouds. Your relationship with relationships is shifting yet again. This week will bring a final sweep, moving out some old, stagnant energy, leaving a place for something new to enter. Are you ready for divine healing?!
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It is the third day of Navaratri and last day of Ma Durga. May you be showered with her abundant courage, power and strength. Om Shanti*
A question via FB from Nina: "Why does life always feel so hard/emotional during the nine days? I assume I'm not the only one who feels this?" My response: "You are not. This is a particularly potent time for me as well. My mother passed on the full moon just after the last Fall Navaratri, so this is an emotional time for me on many levels. I attribute the "sensitivity" to how thin the veils are. Navaratri is specifically timed (in the Vedic calendar) with how enlivened the Devatas are, how near the Goddess (shakti) is, how much we can touch/taste/see/feel/experience her abundance and power- inner and outer, in nature and within our own nature. Particularly right now, the planets are increasing this sensitivity- you might call it "heightened awareness." It can be painful or overwhelming, but my suggestion is getting embodied, using this sensitivity and emotion in a mental/emotional/physical/spiritual way with Body-centered Expressive Art Therapy techniques. Moving with these tides is essential. The pain comes when we resist our currents. I am asking my Self right now questions like: Where am I holding back? Why is my sadness and depression so heightened? Why am I resistant to moving forward? Where is this fear/anxiety coming from and what is it telling me? Then these are the tools I use (entry points) into my body/centered art therapy practice. A place to start the journey inward.... Check out www.Tamalpa.org as a Resource and also Daria Halprin's book The Expressive Body. Thanks for your question because, I think it's safe to say, many of us are feeling similarly and this is a very powerful time indeed." Moon Mindfulness ::: Mind Your Moon
04.12.13 Moon in Aries transiting Krittika nakshatra. Moon has now passed over Ketu and is sandhi (in the gap), moving into Taurus (its place of exaltation) at 21:18 this evening. Krittika is about purifying, clarifying, burning and razor sharp exactness. Ruled by Agni, the fire of life, there is an essence of alchemy here, transformations, changes, and all that it takes for this to transpire. The most basic example of Agni's transformational abilities deals with food and digestion- literally Agni gives life as a result of the digestive fire. Truly a metaphor for life! Fire is purification. Fire is growth, change and evolution. When we feel the heat, when we are being "cooked" by its heat, when we suffer and stew, we have the ability to grow in consciousness and awareness. Agni can be that link that connects us to the higher realms. Sacred fire ensures that the essence of our offerings make their way to the gods/goddesses. Agni is essential for all yagyas. As the second day of Navaratri and day of Durga, Agni is a perfect ingredient for the day. Durga (and her many incarnations) is a fierce goddess, connected to health, warfare, strength and transformation. Ask her to journey with you on this Path and she will grant her guidance- in all its forms- providing you strength and courage to navigate changes. She brings us her purifying fires, her razors of exactness, her ability to destroy and slaughter. Where are we holding back? Where are we refusing to change? Where are we still burning? Stand in your fire, and use this as the sacred flame, the alchemy that is essential for this One True Life to be realized. With the heat gaining strength in Aries now, we have the ability for personal development and realizations on a high level. Light your flames. Check my horoscopes this week (link below) for possible hints. Mars has moved to Aries now (its own sign) and joins Venus and Ketu there. Mars and Venus in Ashwini nakshatra, Ketu in Bharani. The heat is building in Aries. Stay cool and fan the flames. Sun joins the pack tomorrow! This will mean that three planets have successfully made it across the tricky gandanta passage from Pisces to Aries. Planets are still weak in degrees (vulnerable) so care and patience with your Self and others is necessary. http://www.swatijrjyotish.com/1/post/2013/04/horoscopes-for-the-week-of-40813.html Moon Mindfulness ::: Mind Your Moon
04.11.13 Moon is now waxing, though still small and delicate, transiting Bharani nakshatra. It is the first day of Navaratri- the first three days of Durga have commenced. (Read details below). Bharani nakshatra is ruled by the deity Yama, and has to do with death, transformations, control and restraint, as well as dharma since Yama is called Dharmaraja- King of Dharma. There is no escaping Yama's judgment- he is the deciding factor in outcome and literally decides where we go upon dying. He carries out the law- Natural Law. And though we seem to understand our Man Made laws, we really have no understanding of Karma (action) and the myriad of possibilities/reactions of each and every action. Only Natural Law can decide our fate. Bharani is a bit bitter in its truths, is extremely sensitive (symbol is a yoni) and is a nakshatra used for successful killing, sacrifice, arguments and attacks, breaking ties and unions, using spells and magic and working with ghosts and the like. Worshiping goddess Durga, is essential here and restores any imbalances within Bharani's realms. Today, first day of Durga in the Navaratri celebration, and moon nears conjunction with Ketu the Moksha planet. (Moon will cross Ketu tomorrow late morning). This conjunction will give us perfect (if not ample) opportunities to navigate Bharani's territory. What needs cutting and dismembering in our psyche? What are the sacrifices we are or are not willing to make for this new year? What unions need severing? What is essential for dharma? Burn and shred the rest. Offer your findings on the altar to Ma Durga. Ask her for guidance as you navigate, sift, and burn. Abundant Navaratri Blessings!! Om Shanti* http://www.swatijrjyotish.com/1/post/2013/04/transiting-the-gap-pisces-to-aries-the-power-of-navaratri.html Transiting the Gap: Pisces to Aries + the Power of Navaratri
This is a particularly powerful week. By Saturday the 13th, four planets will have moved to Aries, and they will all be sitting with Ketu. The moon kicks off the momentum Monday crossing Sun, Mars and Venus in Pisces and then into Aries on Wednesday the 10th, just on the tail of Venus crossing over into Aries as well. Mars moves to Aries (it’s own sign) on Friday and then Sun to Aries on Saturday (its place of exaltation). This will bring a lot of heat, passion and creativity to Aries, and add the complexity and fire of Ketu into the mix, and there’s bound to be some changes, excitement, heat and combustion, explosions and unknowns as well. The week ends with Moon going exalted in Taurus on Sunday, in the passionate and sattvic (pure) nakshatra, Rohini. So what does all of this momentum mean and why is this particular change of signs so intense? For the last several weeks, we have had a lot of energy in Pisces with Mars, Sun and Venus transiting the last sign of the zodiac. There is a nod to the twelfth house with Pisces, and all things related to it. Endings, solitude, foreign travel, losses, ashrams, bed pleasures, marriage and more. The Pisces energy is related to water, temples, caves, fish, movement and cleansing as well as the aforementioned twelfth house matters. We have been experiencing this energy in our relationships, business and work experiences, spiritual pursuits and ancestral connections among other things. This junction from Pisces to Aries is particularly challenging and poignant. As with any ending, a beginning presents it self. So with the endings of Pisces/twelfth house matters, we can expect some shredding and discarding, letting go along with it. Passing from Pisces to Aries is a challenging path because Pisces is water and Aries is fire, and as we know, fire and water don’t mix well. Symbolically, we could literally say that the fire is going out, getting washed out and extinguished, with some of our pursuits over the course of this passage. What remains after the flood will be pieces that we can use to build on and with. Consider them your clues. These scraps that remain will be what we use for this next cycle around the zodiac, so pay particular attention to what is being left and let go of, and what is here to stay (for now). There’s another catch though: Ketu. By the end of this week, Venus, Mars and Sun will have crossed this tricky junction and have made it into Aries, only to sit for the next few weeks with Ketu, the moksha planet. Ketu always throws us a few curve balls, because he cuts away our attachments (we could call his work on us, our ‘refinement’). So even though some of our “belongings” safely make it across the treacherous threshold of endings (Pisces/water) into beginnings (Aries/fire), we then must contend with Ketu’s shenanigans. What remains with us after this transit through Aries will be a better indication of what materials we are working with for the next cycle through the zodiac. So the next month will be yet another of change, endings, and transformations. The fact that Ketu is currently in Bharani nakshatra is an indication that we will be working directly with Yama, lord of death and dharma. Yama is restriction, restraint, the enforcer of rules. Bharani brings clarity and purification with him and extreme sensitivity, as the symbol for Bharani is the Yoni. Ruled by Venus, Bharani will also be bringing relationships, passion, creativity and abundance into focus. Expect further clarity, cutting, severing ties and success with destruction and the removal of anything that does not serve you. Be sensitive to what needs to be let go. Suffering comes when we cling to, or hold on too tightly to our attachments. Use this time for spring cleaning on all levels of your life- emotionally, mentally, physically and spiritually. By letting go of the old, we create space for the new and the new that more closely aligns with our higher vibrations. While in Aries, Venus, Sun and Mars will be receiving a direct aspect from both Rahu and retrograde Saturn (read more about this combination via my previous articles). Simultaneously, we will have a debilitated and weak Mercury in Pisces as of the 9th. This may increase issues with communication, mental confusion, slow thinking and processing as well as business and finances. Adding further intensity to this week and what it symbolizes, Navaratri begins on Thursday the 11th, just after the new moon in Pisces on the 10th (yet another symbolic layer of this particular time we are in). Navaratri is the celebration of the Divine Feminine as it is expressed through the goddesses Durga, Lakshmi and Saraswati. This nine day celebration takes place in the fall and in the spring, during the seasonal junction times, or sandhi (gap) times. These particular nine days in the Vedic calendar indicate when the Laws of Nature are most alive and awakened and can be utilized most profoundly. In the fall, these goddess energies are helping Nature (this includes us) to transition into the winter of life- rest, silence, endings, transformations. In the spring, their energy is moving us into a phase of enlivening, awakening, and the transformations that come with this increase in energy. The first three days of Navaratri are connected with Durga and associated with clearing and cutting that which is not serving us (perfectly aligned with the planetary transits indeed!) The next three days Lakshmi is enlivened. Once we have cleared and cleansed with Durga, we are prepared for the soothing and nurturing, the abundance and thriving of Lakshmi. The final three days of celebration are associated with goddess Saraswati who brings her guidance, abundant knowledge, wisdom and creativity to us. We are then prepared for her gifts of insights, illumination and enlightenment. The day after Navaratri is Lord Rama’s birthday, Sri Ram Navami, and seals the power gained over the previous nine days with gifts from the King. This is a particularly potent and powerful week. We have multiple planets transiting a very challenging gap and bound for transformation, coupled with a new moon and an exalted moon. Additionally, we begin Navaratri and align with Durga’s energy of fierce, cutting and healing forces. Moon will be exalted on Sunday the 14th in Rohini nakshatra on the first day of Lakshmi, so expect an intense swell of love, passion, compassion and creativity to move through you. Surrender to the intensity and power of this week and let your own subtle awareness be present. Dedicate time for your practice and be diligent with rest, meditation, movement practices, mantras and altar offerings. Using this sacred time for listening, carving out space for being in silence, and aligning with its sacred potential, will increase the guidance you receive. Use this week for transformations and use it as momentum for your new year ahead. |
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