I hope these affirmations may be of use to you. These are dark times, tend the flame within. I know there is love in the world because it lives in me. I can overcome unconscious programming with the healing love of my own heart.
One of my favorite James Baldwin lines; “There is reason, after all, that some people wish to colonize the moon, and others dance before it as an ancient friend.”
This is a time of division, polarization and crossroads for our species and the world. This is not a surprise and it’s not without precedent: evolution is hypothesized to have started in the oceans billions of years ago by Darwin and Wallace, though we only recognize Darwin now. It’s a vague suggestion at how processes from the outside affect species inside the body, in the genome and we have seen the world through the lens of that hypothesis since 1858. Natural selection, struggle and survival of the fittest combined with the processes of mutation, genetic recombination, genetic abnormality and reproductive isolation are here essayed to explain the evolutionary origin of the human species as it moved through the iterations: Dryopithecus, Ramapithicus, Australopithecus, Homo Erectus, Homo Sapiens Neanderthal and finally Homo Sapiens Sapiens, the self-reflecting, double thinking monkey.
The human family tree branched at least this many times in our history and very often one branch was not chosen, not favored to survive.
99% of all species that ever inhabited our planet have become extinct, it’s true, so it’s easy to characterize what is happening here as an unending, bloody, struggle, but that is only half the story and it’s seen from a pessimistic perspective. What if we stand it on its head and suppose that there may only be one organism here, despite all the seeming diversity? If that is true then there has been no quantitative loss (although the felt loss, the actual suffering cannot be denied) only a refinement of consciousness. The names and forms were never the point, in our headstand scenario, only the exfoliation of what was really underneath it all, the exposition of what lifeforce really is. I think it’s interesting that Wallce and Darwin chose to explain the diversity of life all around them before they understood what life really is. It’s very odd to me that almost all the ways we have to study and understand life come from studying it once it’s dead, looking at the parts instead of how it functions when it’s whole, at peace with its environment and functioning in dynamic equilibrium. That kind of exploration has to wait until we stop battling nature so fervently?
In the natural zodiac, Scorpio is the 8th house, its ancient ruler is Mars (and in the Vedic tradition, Ketu, the south node) and modern ruler is Pluto (tropical Western). Libra is ruled by Venus. In the chart above, both signs deal with relation to object or other, Libra favors the relational side of the interaction and Scorpio favors the creation of depth. While Libra strives for balance, there is no getting around the fact that it describes a confrontation with an object or an other, else there would be no need for balance. While Scorpio embraces conflict, crisis and mystery, it describes emotional and sexual union, and the spiritual regeneration that comes from recombination of lifeforce between 2 parties. Even though Scorpio teaches us about the alienation we experience when confronted with another, its goal, meaning, purpose and dharma is new life. When we look at the way the darkness is represented in the above illustration, we see it occulting the light, covering it, from half to 2/3rds as we move from Libra to Scorpio. Notice the light is never fully extinguished as we move toward Capricorn and the winter solstice, the longest night, but the same place where the darkness is greatest is where the light of life is renewed. Without fear we would see this natural cycle of renewal a helluva lot more clearly, but we, each of us, have a horse in this race and life on earth is, well, intense. It’s not theory out here, it’s practice.
Tropical Chart of the New Moon
It comes at a poignant time, the Scorpio new moon, for the Western hemisphere. We are certainly having a reckoning around war this Veterans’/Remembrance day. The sun, Mars and the moon are in tight conjunction on one side of the zodiac in Scorpio and all 3 are exactly opposite Uranus in Taurus (and to a lesser opposition, Jupiter). The sun, in western astrology, is the symbol of personal identity, the moon represents the soul and capacity for reflection, adaptation and Mars is the archetype of the penetrating, initiating force of will. All of these combined signal strong desire. These planets clustered together in Scorpio indicates that the urgency of the transformation we want to see is intense. The hurt, pain, sorrow and grief we confront when we realize control of any kind is an illusion characterizes the depth and breath of the seasonal turn toward darkness. The dynamic, immediate action we may want to take to satisfy our desires for control will be in direct confrontation with the sudden, unprecedented change of Uranus in Taurus.
Underneath our egoic, conscious desire, which is like the tip of the iceberg, lies the unconscious Uranus in retrograde in Taurus, the sign of survival, money, capacity, talent and value. This symbolic combination is a confrontation between the ego and the personal unconscious: the intensity of the moment the way it is, and the future we need to live into are not compatible and the need to harmonize them in order to survive will involve jarring, explosive awareness. Deep transformation will be required to carry the human project forward. We will want to control and have to confront the limiting circumstances (Mars square Saturn) within and without that we have not yet recognized. We need to understand where we have been bullied and coerced, that is never pretty. This is the transitional season (fall) that brings the new realization, transformation and transition that will carry the spark of life through the long dark of winter into spring. We need to see what it will take to carry security and comfort with us into our struggle to be free of generational trauma and foreverwar. I am 52. I sure as hell never consented to that, but it was done in my name. I have to reckon with that, first within my heart, then on the earth.
Supportive of this, despite the challenge of the opposition, is Mercury’s presence in Sagittarius and Venus’ in Libra. A new realization must guide this transformation, this rebirth of clarity, meaning and purpose. When we are able to surrender old beliefs, old patterns and old conditioning about the necessity of war (both within ourselves and with others) we are able to penetrate and push through our fear of vulnerability. In Scorpio, the sign of fixed water, we feel like our emotions overwhelm our life force and our soul, our spiritual nourishment seems buried by deep emotional excess: desire, obsession, possession, revenge and jealousy can rule our actions. Mercury is able to travel between the bottom of the emotional lake and the surface to feed the drowning fire of spiritual, moral purpose. The secret potential of Scorpio is its hidden, occulted power over emotion. Scorpio knows that purpose or dharma isn’t at the end of the journey, it is attained by deepening into the fullness of the present moment. We can never control the chaos, but we can control ourselves while we stand in the storm. We can use the fire of our emotions to keep warm when all other lights go out.
Venus, in her home sign Libra, knows how to endure the conflict long enough to achieve harmony. Her presence here is like the soldier (Venus Morning Star of light that ends the dark night) that refuses to obey orders in order to achieve peace, she’s conscientiously dissenting. It’s her conscience versus societal consensus and she knows how to uphold her values. I have stated this opinion of mine about Venus and her signs for the past 2 months and I think it holds true: it’s about the conflict and WHAT IT TAKES to achieve the harmony, the balance and the wholeness from that place of confrontation. Diplomacy is her work, whether she does it in a self-effacing way, in Taurus, or by embodying what she wants to see in Libra. She will assert her own values WHATEVER THE COST. She’s not spiritually bound, she’s morally bound. Neptune in its home sign Pisces also supports the notion of internal peace, harmony, justice and equality among diversity and vastness. It signals that the way forward is partnership, not domination and new, fertile ideas will come from the union (2 fishes are the symbol of Pisces, remember) of higher principles. It’s a perfect moment for redefining our values and where our money goes. Is our money being spent wisely? Morally? How can it be if it supports war decade after decade?
Most importantly, these planetary signatures support finding and remaining in integrity. They signal that it would be at least unwise and at worst incendiary to match energies with what we don’t value, desire or want to move forward with. Others will be reflecting back to us the triggers of the past so we can see ourselves in the choices we make for the future. If you have ever tried to change a bad habit, direction or just walk your talk, you probably already know, that’s when life tests you. It forces you to see exactly where you’re divided within. Some examples from my own life: I decided not to use gasoline ever again. I made it 5 years. I figured we’d be totally electric soon enough. That was in 2009, in 2016 I went to eastern Europe to see if I could just use public transport. In 2018 I bought a $300 truck. In 2020, very dear people gave me a wonderful light truck that I adore and even had to learn how to drive a manual transmission to use. We can tie every major (and most of the minor) military battles that my country has been in since I was born to petroleum (I won’t track the current issues to that here, but if you want to hear my evidence, hit me up). It’s like that, I am not spiritually bound, I am morally bound . . . to petroleum. Breaking habits like this, this vast, is what the next 30 days will be about.
I know that if I value X, but do Y, somewhere in my life things get worse and worse until I am forced to confront the conflict. Moving out of polarity means moving into compassion and empathy for myself first. When I am able to let go of all the jealous, possessiveness of ego that wants all the peace and comfort for me alone, I can find a more stable and lasting comfort for ALL OF US. Saturn is also in Pisces here and the lord of karma (which is really just cause and effect) wants us to eventually and finally surrender all the things that bolster and protect ego in direct contravention to soul, source and lifeforce. In the end he’ll take even that. In his realm we ultimately only REALLY need food, shelter and clothing, NOT power, control and expansion. Those are not real needs. Those are ego games, played by neotenous adolescents. What we really NEED is to return to the internal capacity of our own prana, our own personal empowerment. What we need is to be in clear, certain communication with the highest that’s within each of us. This is true. Conflict can guide us inward to the real source of pain and joy if we let it, if we sit with it. Chiron conjunct the north node in Aries is giving us the fire to know we have every right to exist because WE in fact DO EXIST. No justification needed. No war necessary. We can learn to just be.
Simple, but not easy. Start now.
Sidereal Chart of the New Moon
The new moon falls in Libra in the sidereal chart and marks the festival of lights called Diwali in the Hindu tradition. It’s a celebration of the goddess Lakshmi, and the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance. November 13th and the full lunar cycle of 30 days afterward are a really fitting time to look at life through the lens of your imagination. Examine your life in terms of what you WANT it to be (you all know I am anti-law of attraction, that’s just not how it works). If you have been noticing the downward pull of pessimism (very reasonable) just put that to one side for a moment (not easy, but see if you can) and think of the most meaningful life you could live. And then ask the energies of embodied wealth, prosperity and beauty to help guide you in that direction. Maybe even write it down and come back to it when you need inspiration. Ask for signs from spirit that you are on the right path (my friend Jen taught me this) and be specific about what the signs should be. Invite goddess Laksmi’s blessings into your world and if you are already experiencing prosperity, ask her blessings for another. I feel like that would be the highest use of the festival of light, to bless someone else.
This new moon falls in the lunar mansion called Vishaka, the star with many branches, or special, forked branch. With the moon, sun and Mars conjunct in this nakshatra opposite retrograde Jupiter in Aries, just escaped from Guru Chandal yoga, we can hope toward a fresh start in relationships and diplomacy, and less dirty dealings, generally. Already, the call for accountability and moral action has gone out, let’s continue to hope, pray and focus on a return to compassion. With the sun and moon conjunct Mars here, we must know that our goals are attainable, but will not be reached through reckless, aggressive behavior. Be methodical, exact and plan long-term in relationships where you have established boundaries recently and when in confrontation (eye roll, when are we NOT lately?) seek balance. Ambitions may clash with morality and desires may overrun our values if we do not find and maintain equilibrium within and without. VIshaka nakshatra occupies space in both Libra and Scorpio. We need to begin this lunar cycle as we mean to go on: with the highest caliber view of ourselves and our life’s meaning. Let that be the guiding star that helps us to shift, transmute and realign to maintain integrity and achieve our goals.
In Vishaka we are encouraged to surrender to the guidance of wisdom and bring all our dedication and focus to what we have decided clearly. Vishaka is about the goal, the archway, the portal. The forked branch of connection to source always leads back to unity, return and purpose. Another symbol of Vishaka is the potter’s wheel, think of working the clay with consistent pressure, fire and vision. Focused goals help us make decisions with discernment. It is very likely that in the eclipse window you have discerned ways in which you are being coerced, also likely that you have erected some boundaries to prevent that from happening again because it’s not what you want. But think in terms of what you DO want resulting from what you have decided. This is all about grounded acts of faith (Saturn turned direct), karma is simply cause and effect and what you focus toward, dedicate yourself to and embody with devotion will return to you. Two of the branches of Vishaka extend to Libra (matter), where we confront and sequester what is toxic and contain what would poison the whole and into Scorpio (spirit) where we enter the heavens, craving more than this. No longer satisfied with branches we return to the one tree, the one bright star to guide us over and over to our real purpose. The chakras are a guide, a tree of life. The Muslim tree of life is also a symbol and guide to immortality.
But they are all one tree, the same tree, the same source. Different branches gather light from many different orientations, but the light is always the same. Polarity in the form of many branches is necessary to create the harmony that is the whole tree. Progress cannot be made if we are separate forever and purpose is made up of separate branches bringing light and harmony to the ONE TREE. If it is not about harmony, it is not a true purpose, a worthy goal.
One thing that is abundantly clear to me as we approach this new moon is that we have lost our focus upon worthy goals and what having the highest caliber love for the highest caliber beloved really means. To me it means moral purity. It means striving (and more often than not failing) to be the best I can be and not cooperating with people or institutions that won’t do that. If it’s not a grounded act of faith, I don’t want to do it. If it’s not true, I don’t want to say it. If it hurts someone else or me, I don’t want to be involved. While I am not able to achieve this all the time, this is an excellent moment to release, purge and cleanse myself of the residue of my failures and start over. It is ESPECIALLY important to look at our lives as they are and have been impacted by the generational traumas of unending war. Division within causes this division without and I want to do everything I can to be supportive of life. More and more I can return to wholeness, over and over I can rededicate myself to the goal of a peaceful, healthy world for future generations. We are living in a bargain basement on 3 floors and I want MORE THAN THIS. I want beauty, prosperity, health and wealth for all beings and I want to put aside my ego fear of loss of privilege, my fear of being affected by political carnage and “leaders” that show no concern for life other than their own. I want a world where the work I do lifts others up instead of dragging them under and I dedicate myself to that in the name of the Great Mother Goddess.
Weary prophets, tired of warning against disaster unheeded; worried, exhausted and burdened with the joyless need for change, we will need to return to the eternal part of ourselves to be reminded that the anxiety before change is often worse than the change itself.
While my head may demand balance, the Earth is uneven and my feet must know this as they go. Luckily, my heart understands and remembers the way home.
The celebration is through the “nine nights” 10/14 to 10/22, and into the tenth morning known as Vijayadashami, “the day of victory,” on October 23. Worship during Navratri is most generally dedicated to Goddess in the form of Durga, the demon-slayer, but there is much nuance and variation to practice and forms of celebration throughout India. Above all,Spring Navaratri is a personal celebration and observance of the Divine Mother, and the love, abundance and protection she gives.
Jai Ma Durga!
This night begins the celebration of Durga Deva who slew the buffalo headed Mahishasura, who seemed poised to devour the whole world in his hatred. He had no compassion for himself or others, was a mass of addictions and unmet needs. Durga Devi’s first act was to reject his marriage proposal, then she fought him for 9 days and nights. In the end he could not defeat the higher love and dharma that the Great Mother represents: for love is the purpose that turns the world and sustains all. If you reach, sincerely from your most intimate heart toward that love, the very principle of unconditional love and acceptance, willing to meet that within you that has been unmet, unseen . . . you will touch it. You cannot fail, because it is what you are and it is all that there is, no matter how you hide this from yourself, no matter how you veil the love that is the prana of all life from your awareness, you will eventually realize wholeness.
In the spring, Navaratri marks the “waking up” of the devis or the goddesses, of Shakti; the aspects of Natural Law that enliven growth, abundance, prosperity, learning, well being, change and transformation. In the fall, Navaratri invites in destruction, removal, change, transformation and healing. The goddessesDurga, Saraswati and Lakshmi symbolize these parts of life and Nature, while also being parts of our own innate being. The three of them together represent our wholeness, the trinity of life, alive in and around us. These three goddesses also connect to Shakti, the goddess who gives the spark of life to every being, to Nature, and to existence.
Life is full of polarities.
What emerges when two opposing forces merge and co-create?
In the Expressive Art Therapy realm, we call this “the Third”. Some know it as the Transcendent, or simply the emergent. The Masculine and Feminine energies are intimately related to how well you can receive nourishment in your life. The Masculine wants containment and structure. The Feminine needs expansion and fluidity.
Chaitra Navratri is an auspicious Hindu festival which is solely dedicated to the worship of Goddess Durga. This festival holds lots of importance for the entire Gujarati, Bengali and Maharashtrian communities. Navratri itself symbolizes victory over evil. According to some popular legends, devotees believe that Lord Shiva granted permission to his wife Goddess Durga for seeing her mother for just nine days. During that time, Goddess Durga demolished demon Mahishasura. Hence Goddess Durga aka Kali is represented as a symbol of shakti – the ultimate strength. It is also said that Maa Durga has eternal divine power, which can never be created nor destroyed.~india.com
Tonight we celebrate the incarnation of the goddess Durga named Shailaputri.
Shailaputri goddess of strength, courage and COMPOSURE
“She is Devi of the root chakra, who, upon awakening, begins her journey upwards. Sitting on a cow and making her first journey from the Muladhara chakra. As from her father to her husband – the awakening Shakti, beginning her search for Lord Shiva or making a move towards her Shiva. So that, in Navratri pooja the first day Yogis keep their minds concentrated on Muladhara. This is the starting point of their spiritual discipline. They started their Yogasadha from here. Shailaputri is the Muladhara Shakti to be realized within Self and sought for higher depths, in the yogic meditation. It is the rock of spiritual standing and the whole world gets strength from the Shailaputri aspect of Purna Prakriti Durga.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shailaputri
This is the new moon that begins the 9 nights of the Divine Mother Durga Deva and the festival of Navratri. Call to the Divine Mother, the Goddess inherent in nature, the Shakti of all life to help you discern which thoughts and stories that once helped the child within are no longer serving your spiritual development. How can we know if our thoughts and conditioning are helping us? Because they soften us and make us MORE willing to be with reality just as it is, before we have any thoughts about it. Because they emanate more from the heart than the head. And though they may be strong or even emotional, they have no need to force, argue, justify or explain. The thoughts and habits that support us are like the unconditional love of the Great Mother Goddess: an alive and deeply nourishing, vibrant stillness, comfort and peace. Reach toward that, just a little, and it will come to you and help you heal relationships of trauma within and without.
“This new moon initiates the Hindu festival of Chaitra Navratri – the springtime ‘9 nights of the Goddess,’ when the power of the divine feminine grows on earth.
Navaratri is the Hindu festival celebrating the power of the Goddess. For nine nights, as the light of the moon grows brighter, the power of the Divine Feminine will magnify in your life.
Here is some important information to help you make use of these auspicious days by calling in the power of the Goddess in Her Nine Forms.
Shakti is the power of the “Divine Mother” and the supreme energy that runs through the entire universe. It is said to be the dynamic force behind all of existence. When an overpowering demonic force of negativity rises, it is the goddess who must be summoned because her Shakti is all-pervading and unsurpassable.
The goddess can give clarity and positive direction in life. She is the intelligent energy of consciousness and she has the power to dispel self-doubt and confusion. Her influence is called on to clear away deeply entrenched negativity and stubborn diseases. During the nine nights of Navaratri you can invoke her Shakti to break obstacles in your path and propel you forward.
Navaratri (Nava=nine/ Ratri=nights) always begins the day after the new moon and is celebrated five times a year, around equinoxes and solstices. The most important and widely celebrated is the Maha Navaratri – the Navaratri of Autumn(Sharadiya Navaratri) which falls 10/14 to 10/22. MDT” ~ https://anandastrology.com/
This is the simplest mantra I could find, in case you want to do Japa to experience her energy. Shailaputri is an avatar of Ma Durga and a subset of Kali, the destroyer. The pantheon of gods and goddesses describe energies that can be encountered and experienced. Run the experiment and see what comes up for you.
ॐ देवी शैलपुत्र्यै नमः॥ Om Devi Shailaputryai Namah॥
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When you eat the forbidden fruit, when you open the book of Thoth, when you incarnate on the earth as a human being, you are enveloped into a dimension of cycles. You enter a realm ruled by spiraling energies: epochs, ellipses, eclipses and yugas. Spirals connect inner and outer worlds; just as the inward moving energies of the feminine connect the earth to the outward moving energies of the masculine and the upward moving spiral of the eagle is connected by the earth to the downward moving spiral of the snake. The equinoxes and solstices are connected to the cross of time and space in the cycle of the Great Year and precession of the equinoxes. All of these cycles are dual, they all occlude our true nature, they all reveal parts and versions of the truth and parts and versions of lies. One side of the cycle creates, the other destroys and we hold the line in the middle, sustaining our lives and cultures. The cycles describe an emotional, mental, physical and spiritual crisis of cause and effect that some call karma, but all can agree denies us access to our own true nature, the nature of reality and shrouds our lives in eternal mystery. We cannot be sure of our past, we certainly don’t know the future, all we can be sure of is a present moment that is constantly slipping away.
The Principle of One, the root of all Vedic teachings, is Sanatana Dharma: that there is no such thing as physical form, only energy in different states of vibration. Potential becomes energy, energy becomes awareness, awareness becomes consciousness, consciousness becomes life, life becomes human nature and the exact inverse is also true. Spirals of energy from life to death become spirals of energy from death to new life, but what is the vehicle of transformation? What moves us through the spirals? We experience life through the mind and in a physical body, so the transformation begins with division, with the experience of a vibration that is different from our own, then the differences become more specific: different qualities, elemental expressions, trajectories, goals and finally intelligences. My mind is certainly different from an octopus mind, yet Vedic thought maintains (and quantum physics confirms) that they are both part of one spectrum of energy. We need more information to help us grasp this reality and while we are awash in information, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day, we cannot seem to access this gnosis at a collective level. Just as every one of us has lost sight of our true nature as the one source of energy that creates all the diversity we inhabit, we simply cannot see our fellow humans, the plants and animals and the earth as part of ourselves . . . yet.
The palpable pressure we collectively connect to at the dark of this moon is like the darkest part of night before the revelation of the dawn. Social and economic collapse, says Giovanna Andreotti, isn’t buffered in the global south, it’s not in the future, it’s in the present and it has been since colonialism. The north has been buffered from the reality of famines, floods, fires and wars, but the cycle of safety and comfort is ending for us too. In her book, Hospicing Modernity, Andreotti explains that the fires, floods, famines and wars are within us, and the coming collapse is internal. She likens our predicament to walking a tightrope with an abyss of desperate hope on one side and an abyss of reckless hopelessness on the other. Modernity has given us a compass of neglect for the land and each other. Modernity proclaims that anything “not me” anything “other” is not my responsibility. As we navigate the way forward on the wire we must find our honesty, humility, humor, hyper self-reflection and reflexivity. We must do more than react or respond. We have to become more than we believe we can be. Responsibility for the land and each other requires remaining balanced above the abysses that may force us to turn on each other and continue the violence that’s being visited on us. Even my beloved nondualism creates a reversal of binary hierarchy, where indigenous wisdom is supposed to pull our chestnuts out of the fire. What modernity has always considered sub-human is now required to become super-human and my imposed projection, my romantic ideal is mined and pumped for product: a solution to the cycle of epoch and ellipse. That’s violence, to use people in that way.
There’s no one practice, no one way to serve life. There’s no one thing that saved our ancestors from the annihilation that killed the giant sloths, wooly mammoths and saber-tooth cats. There were, I’m sure, many honest, humble, humorous, reflexive actions and ideas, but what they all shared was a commitment to the continuity of life on planet earth. Individuals acted to save their own hides, sure, but the collective consciousness, the oversoul of all that lives, endures and abides by some magic no one of us possesses alone, acted through them. Only together do we get a sense of sharing integrity toward a better life. Only as humanity have we been able to strive toward a healthier, stronger, more enduring existence on the surface of a planet moving through space. When I stop to think about our situation in space and time, earth really looks like the kind of place where we have the best chance to get rowing in the same direction, but the reason we don’t do that, Andreotti implies, and I tend to agree, is because we have not yet learned the value, breadth and beauty of the mantle of our responsibility here. When reality becomes clear to us in the north, the way it has long been clear in the global south, we will. May it not be too late.
Tropical Chart of the new moon
Life is the ultimate rebellion and this new moon’s symbols: Virgo the Virgin and Leo the King perfectly describe the path ahead: we must create from our own wholeness, from the nobility of what we are, a new way forward out of the end of the cycle of crisis. Virgo is the sign of the harvest and every harvest is a crisis of labor, of daylight, of preservation of resources. Leo is the royalty of the heart, the generosity and loyalty that inspires the work and the divine precision with which good works are executed. The equinoxial and solsticial megalithic monuments that are scattered all over the globe point to the importance of times like these in our ancestral past and celebrate their harvests. They did not drop the ball and neither will we, but between the desperate hope of vacating our pain by following some guru or ism and the reckless hedonistic hopelessness of “living our best escape”, we will have to get hold of the best that is within us, each and every one. In my view, this means fully embracing the mistakes we have learned the most from.
How we use what we have been given is of utmost importance and much has been wasted, we each have a personal harvest of errors that this pause (with every planet retrograde but Mars and Venus, there is a cosmic pause here) gives us a moment to reflect on them, to create some boundaries around them, maybe burn a few bridges so we won’t be tempted to stray back into old errors. Learning requires risking error, error is hugely human and deepens our relationship to the present moment and the resources inherent in it. Systems of natural intelligence require maintenance and service (good Virgo words) for efficiency, but natural systems cannot be forced to produce. To do so is violent and opposes the larger forces that organize intelligence on a grand scale. It’s an obvious mistake to oppose the larger universal forces of nature: they are already safe, controlled and working. Virgo encourages us to discern what they are and realign with them. This new moon is a moment to turn, swivel, spin, revolve and pivot back into alignment with what serves life. Some call that Dharma, dutiful service to life using what is at hand to serve this moment, then meeting the next moment on the terms of its context, some call it right relation.
Systems of sensitive energetic connection, nuance and integrity require frequent purification and paring down what’s superfluous to help those within them discern new directions, new meaning and fruitful devotion. Virgo is the keeper of the flame, it discerns and simplifies to achieve that one goal: illumination. We have to notice and respond to the fact that our planet is being destroyed from within and devise an elegant, sophisticated plan to return to simplicity, purity and ecological devotion. If it’s true that humanity is the poison in this scenario, as reckless hopelessness would have us believe, then we are also, in the right dosage, the cure. In the yogic practice tratak one stares at the candle flame, unblinking, until tears clear and clean the eyes. Our daily practice can be like that, for what we do daily is what makes up our individual lives and our collective relationship to the earth. If the eyes can clean the eyes, if they have everything they need to heal themselves and they are just one part of our sensitive, energetic system, surely the whole system would benefit from devoted efforts like that, small and local as they may be.
Deep care for the integration and integrity of collective knowledge, where all viewpoints are honored, each seen as whole unto themselves, can help us create from the innate healing resources of the body. This conscious creation of an autonomous “temple space” involves pairing down all the exterior distractions so the central nervous system is calm and whole, and a sort of internal sanctuary can be created that is sustainable and discrete. The body appears in awareness, awareness does not appear in the body. Awareness is primary, that’s what we keep overlooking: awareness comes first. This point seems accentuated at this new moon, since Virgo’s ruling planet, Mercury, is stationed and will go direct on Friday the 15th, and the messenger of the gods is opposing Saturn at 2 degrees of Pisces. Slowing down to pay attention to the details, asking appropriate questions about what supports the basic structures of our lives and severs unnecessary complications may yield new clarity and revelations about what feels right.
Among the many complicated formations in this new moon chart is a grand earth trine which gives way to a kite. The earth trine has the sun and moon at its apex (except it’s sideways, there on the DSC) while Pluto in Capricorn and Uranus in Taurus form the base. To me, this says that our unconscious power will come into form through the senses of the body, that harmonious change and earthly abundance can be attained when we release attachment to the bean-counting, reductionist, abstraction and get our asses into the present moment. I could cite examples of lack of housing and healthcare for our own people while billions flow outward abroad, but I get the sense that Uranus’ presence here in strong tension with Pluto will make that point for me soon enough. With flooding in Massachusetts, enduring record high temperatures in Arizona and devastated trout populations in our own state, we cannot deny the earthly changes that are happening. They are bound to trigger more economic changes as well as earthly innovations that bring sudden fluctuations of consciousness and ultimately, harmonious support through unforeseen channels. That’s what earth trines do, eventually, they turn the bad beat around. Jupiter is also in Taurus with Uranus, so we can hope (cautiously, not desperately) that releasing old, complicated, weird patterns we haven’t questioned before that hide our true nature, will meet with beneficial, positive results.
Then, if you look to the left of the chart, to the part that says ASC, you will see Neptune, the cosmic fog machine, pulling the bow back on this triune method of refining spiritual sensitivity. Neptune is the “not Saturn” planet, so if we see Saturn as limitation, privacy and that which gives invisible structure to the world of form, then Neptune (which is the hardest of all the planets to perceive and apprehend, imho) is the oceanic, rising tide of biological life. To me, this looks like the merging of life and death, the space where the 2 spirals meet. Saturns’ articulation and hard lines balance out the illusory veil that is the mystery of lifeforce (Neptune). Pluto balances and purifies by destruction. The buried, unconscious beliefs that we have about our bodies, our lives on earth and physical incarnation that we believe are writ in adamantine may just disprove themselves. There’s magic in this, but it requires discernment to see it and it’s not easily put into language.
A more refined, elegant spiritual sensitivity, which I feel evolving, but cannot explain in my own life, has me questioning my Virgoan tendency to overwork, overcompensate, over analyze and basically over everything. When I notice myself falling toward those tendencies and neglecting my need to spend time in the mystery, my need for self-compassion and my need for time alone in quiet, I am responding more often these days, honoring the wounds of my heart by making time for best practices (that I develop from the wealth of experiences and experimentation I own and continually create). I absolutely have to slow down, jettison the crap and eliminate distraction to follow that thread though. The wounded healer, asteroid Chiron, opposes Mars and Trines Venus, newly become the morning star, and starting to inch forward in this chart. Her pre-dawn light show in the east is pretty impressive (stars twinkle, planets shine), and for the next week she’s accompanied by a newly discovered (and visible!) comet on the eastern horizon, north of Venus. It points upward, a cautiously hopeful good omen, and its tail is green. Saturn is due south at night, say 10:30-11pm and Jupiter is due East. I can tell you all about it, but there’s nothing like seeing it for yourself. To me, this speaks of novelty, innovation, creativity and just being purely loving and allowing what is true to bubble up over the next few weeks. Real action can come from what you allow to surface during the near future, when Mercury leaves its shadow in October.
Sidereal chart of the new moon
In the sidereal view of this Leo new moon with Mercury stationed in the fiery, active rulership of the sun, Mars in Mercury’s sign Virgo and the emphasis on communication and thought, there is a real sense of indignation toward authority and physical movement toward speaking truth to power. Mercury’s sawing retrograde here has seen more striking workers and record high numbers of violations of workers’ rights, but very little mainstream media reporting on the subject. In the US alone from 10/22 to 7/23, 4,474 children were found to be employed illegally, in violation of federal child labor laws in 765 child labor cases concluded by the Department of Labor. Child labor laws are under attack at the state level with families in poverty and immigrants suffering the most. Protections of all kinds related to workers’ rights in industry are under fire. This is not my opinion, it’s what is happening. At the same time, pressure to disband the free, public educational system in lieu of privatization is giving people in poverty fewer choices about their sources of income: hazardous occupations are often not accepted by choice. Student loans work against those who borrow, creating permanent debt, while many countries of the world subsidize higher education for the good of their constituency and the planet. This new moon suggests that there will be repercussions for this inequity in the form of more protests, strikes and public displays of dissent. I suspect they will reach a new level, like going global, or vast regions will collaborate to defy corporate and governmental will.
Jupiter trine the sun and moon here is a hopeful, harmonious aspect and Uranus trine the same luminaries suggests an unexpected class crossing, like Prometheus siding with the dying humanity and giving them the divine fire to carry on. It could be a boundary-crossing invention or innovation or discovery, but it looks like positive, action-oriented creativity in leadership being communicated and distributed to the working class. This is the influence of the nakshatra (one of 27 lunar mansions exclusive to Jyotish) Uttara Phalguni, one of the 12 sons of Aditi (who rules Punarvasu). The ruler of this lunar mansion is Aryaman, god of patronage and kindness. Much, much more on him later, but we should expect a noble, reliable, civilizing and sophisticated influence to respond to outspoken communication from the masses. It may even be a good time to talk to your own boss or people who have authority in your life.We can cautiously hope (not desperately nor recklessly hope) for a kingly, divine response toward the duty, responsibility and dependency of life on the planet and its stewardship.
The lunar nodes are stationed at 0 degrees of Aries (Rahu) and 29 degrees of Libra (Ketu) until they complete their 18 year cycle on the 30th of November. This is the gandanta point between fire (Aries) and water (Pisces), the karmic knot, the symbolic ‘drowning’, that moment of soul growth that we have all had so much experience with since late 2019 (groan). This passage will be marked by rebellion (see previous paragraphs) against some sort of technological innovation when Uranus goes direct in January of 2024. This is the nakshatra of Ashwini, the twin, horse-headed healers of the gods. Aries is completion for Rahu and also culmination of a trajectory in the Aries and Libra houses in each of our charts which relates to the axis of self versus others. Rahu represents deception. It’s the electromagnetic impulse that is invisible to the eye, but makes up the vibration we collectively call the material universe. In much the same way that radiation moves, we cannot apprehend the energy of Rahu with our physical senses, but when we are aligned (good Virgo word) we can find it in an extrasensory way.
Rahu is the rebel shaman healing the hunter gathering tribe from hyperspace despite the will of the gods. Like a reverse Prometheus, he sends a volley of spiritual fire back toward the deities in defense of his people. Rahu is the king of the Kaliyuga, the lord of reversal and he honors his desire above all else (reckless hopelessness anyone?). It’s his Dharma to create chaos and with a double Aries, double Mars signature here, he has the firepower to do it. Ashwini is Ketu’s nakshatra so there’s a vibe of disgust, descent and dissatisfaction in his out-of-control new beginnings at this new moon. We have seen the influence of Rahu since 2005 in the tension between the “old order vs. new order” across the societal spectrum. This is the head of the dragon’s game. Jupiter, retrograde since 9/4 will approach the shadow planet and aid us in bringing knowledge and wisdom to Rahu’s illusions, even as verbal arguments will increase and escalate until the most random (Rahu), nonsensical (again, Rahu) event opens the floodgates for the background shadow emission to flow forth. It’s always helpful to remember that Rahu is just the product of our own Tamasic energy within. There is even shelter in the shade if it is balanced with Sattva and Rajas.
While Rahu uses illusion to make us believe negative and “bad” mental states and can create the illusion of paranormal activity, Jupiter will help us to see the truth and Rahu can have a beneficial effect on researchers, innovators and any sort of technician. Rahu will surrender to a higher, holistic healing. After all he was beheaded and became a shadow planet for stealing Amrit, the nectar of the gods and desiring immortality. He can also help the meek, tired and overwhelmed make the leap of faith that can end poverty, oppression and violence. Rahu can break barriers with his mysterious shadow strength. He overcomes fear, since fear is the inner shade and Ashwini is the dawn. Though the battle within may increase tenfold between this moon and the 30th of October, and this double Mars signature may be violently severing, it is also transactional and it will bring these torments to a close. Closure and endings will mark these seasonal and temporary eras of darkness. Yoga shows us the way by reminding us to continually focus on the light within and let all other lights dim in comparison. Rahu challenges are well met by cleaning, detoxifying, fasting and praying to lord Hanuman. Ask the god of devotion or use whatever you are most devoted to, to guide you.
So back to Uttara Phalguni, the first binary stars in the nakshatra Zodiac, (possibly) Delta and Theta Leonis in the rump of the Leo constellation (there are 3 stars and which constitute the Yogathara of Purva Phalguni is disputed). Delta Leonis has my vote; it’s double the size of the sun and emits 15 times more light. The 2 stars of the binary (trinary?) are differentiated by the terms Purva (early) and Uttara (later) but share the moniker Phalguni which means marriage bed. So Purva Phalguni is a symbol of the first spark of romantic love, but Uttara Phalguni is what makes love real, true and what makes it last. Bhaga, the deity of Purva Phalguni, is the Aditya of pleasure and the initial attraction of love, but Aryaman is the god of marriage, community and partnership. He’s a solar deity and his name means moving or progressing together to bring forth the truth in a way that persists. It has the sense of being true, reliable, devoted and dedicated. It means coming together to form a trustworthy unit and to build upon a foundation of trust and friendship, then build community upon that. It’s the way we take the first spark of love and carry that light to the end of our days. But what is the secret to devotion? How did Hanuman achieve it?
Krishna names himself as this Pitri, Aryaman, in the Bhagavad Gita and there it is translated as affection. Affection is the key to true family. Where there is affection but no blood relation, there is still family, where there is blood, but no affection, no family exists. The most important bond that holds family together is affection. Aryaman is never invoked independently in the Vedas, he is always invoked with his brothers and almost always with Bhaga. Pleasure and love cannot exist without each other. This is the secret to devotion, the commitment will not last without pleasure and affection. Affection is the essence of happiness. The Rg Veda says that this happiness is so supreme that it will never fail to provide pleasure, even at the end of the cycles of epoch and ellipse. There is no disaster it cannot withstand. True affection can endure any catastrophe. It brings pleasure even in pain and it smooths any path. Compatibility merely describes how few bumps are in the road, but affection speaks to how smooth you can make it, for each other, with each other and in happiness, together. Affection is the thing that makes any path walkable. The devotion, dedication and commitment to love is the very essence of beauty. Love is beauty and beauty is love. And affectionate, enduring, devoted love is what pulls our chestnuts out of the fire and keeps the cycles spinning. We don’t yet have it for each other, but we will.
Mind Your Heart, May it Guide You to What You Truly Love,
We do not have to plan the beating of our hearts, it’s not necessary to choose a pathway for the blood to flow to it either. We don’t tell the rain when or where to fall, the sun to shine, nor the moon to rise. The world is a magical, enchanted place, but only if we remember, respect and insist upon it being so. If we don’t attend to it, pay attention to the wonder and magic, they are lost to us. The ancient world was probably full of awed creatures. The night sky, unobstructed by light pollution, must have been thrilling to see. Jean Gebser, a Swiss cultural philosopher, would have said our archaic ancestors, Australopithecus and Homo habilis, lived in a state of near complete instinct. The impulse toward self-transcendence, where the boundary between subject and object is permeable and ecstatic experience is available, may have given them the type of insights that we in the rational, thinking mind cannot access.
For example, the Vedic Ages are described as follows:
Since we “know” that no one alive at the time of their formulation would have survived the 4,320,000 year Maha Yuga to record the entire cycle, this knowledge must have been passed down orally until it was finally recorded in the Ramayana and the Mahabharata between 1500 to 800 BCE. It is mysterious and astonishing to think that our ancestors held such galactic wisdom, but what is not immediately evident is that understanding of the precession of the equinoxes is encoded in the mathematics of the Maha Yuga cycle. This means that our ancestors had knowledge of the (approximately) 26,000 year cycle of the sun moving around the ecliptic (zodiac) AND they knew that the earth was not perfectly spherical, but moved like a spinning top. It has a wobble. There is also some evidence that they may have known about the cycle of Sirius, the dog star, that gave warning to them about the flooding of the Nile every 4 years, since the Sirian year is a harmonic of the Tretya yuga (a 1,296,000 year period which, when divided by the length of the precessional cycle yields 50).
Reach for the light no matter the consequences. Your life is not about “them”.
~ me
How do you face unresolved/unresolvable pain and not become consumed by it? What do you do to keep pain from becoming hate? What do you need to keep your scarred heart open? How do you trust your vulnerable body? How do I protect myself while I learn what I need to feel safe, fulfilled and satisfied? What do I hunger for and how can I find it without becoming an instrument of control? A tool to restrict and contain the power of another so I can access their love? If there is going to be a solution, a satisfying resolution, it’s going to be found in the embodied now, not the past or the future. Just knowing what I need and saying how I feel is an empowering act and it encourages others to do the same. How do I navigate the path between authenticity and self honesty on one side, versus belonging and community on the other?
Think of your belly for a moment: it’s the center of your electromagnetic field, your center of gravity. It’s home to your solar plexus chakra; to your soul and its power as your emotional energy is transmuted into your physical passion. It’s where intuition (above the waist) and instinct (below the waist) come together. The ability to stand up for ourselves and become self-reliant is centered here and this home of compassion and self care is the root of compassion for others. The belly is the place where we get the grit, the determination and will to take risks, handle crises and develop a moral code. It’s the home of our first connection to the world via the umbilical, it’s the strongest link to others on the feeling level. It’s where heaven and earth meet from the macrocosm (chi & prana of the earth and cosmos) to the microcosm (energy centers and organs of the body).
To reclaim our lost power, to reconnect to our energetic centers, we have to confront and change the emotional patterning recorded in the subconscious over and over again as we grew up. This requires diligent emotional commitment, devotion, willingness and guts. It is literally the solar plexus that keeps the brain supplied with blood, the dialogue between the “two brains” could not be more essential to our humanness, nor more vital to our uniqueness. The abdominal area carries the body’s largest mass of nerve ganglia. It’s not a power which one has under control, but if we develop it, it is a power in which we can stand. The digestive tract is made up of a knot of one hundred billion brain nerve cells, more than in the spinal cord. Sometimes we follow our gut reactions without consciously knowing why, this may be the source for unconscious decisions formed before we had the brain capacity to knowingly decide and certainly determines many of our physical reactions once we are grown.
“The one thing the separate self cannot stand is being clearly seen. To see the separate self clearly is to see its non-existence.” – Rupert Spira, The Ashes of Love
The Hindu Vedic scriptures (Vedas) are the world’s oldest spiritual writings. In the tradition of Ayurveda (the medicinal arm of the Vedas) spinning vortices of energy, generated at the major nerve ganglia are called “chakras” literally meaning wheels or disks. Each disk contains habitual energetic patterns which enable our life force to interact with various other kinds of earthly energy, for example: physical, sexual, emotional, mental or spiritual energies. They act like gears that move us along in our journey. They are analogous to a galaxy of planets, each spinning on axis points along the spinal column. Chakras are based in anatomy, corresponding to the five main nerve ganglia of the spinal column and two areas of the brain: the reptilian hind-brain (or amygdala) and the mammalian forebrain (neocortex). The chakras in Ayurveda, the meridians of Chinese acupuncture and the sefirot of the kabbalistic tree of life represent the interface between the cosmic energy of creation and the anatomical systems of the body. Each tradition has a way of describing the precipitation of divine energy in physical manifestation: it’s chi in Chinese, ki in Japan, prana in India, mana for the (ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiians) and Jesus called it light.
This energy is represented in Hindu symbolism as a coiled snake at the base of the spine. It resides in the triangular bone called the sacrum and is called kundalini. The sacrum is considered sacred in many traditions, including Latin and Greek cultures. It is the last bone to be destroyed when the body is burnt and is symbolized by the sign of Aquarius, the water-bearer, the holder of the Holy Grail, the shared water of our collective biological life. Aquarius is an air sign, so within this one glyph we have the sacrum and the symbol for thought and sacred water. Similarly, Capricorn, the sea-goat, is an earth sign with a fish’s tail. Rather than being contradictions, these zodiacal symbols are pointing to non-dual embodiment: the reservoir of great creative energy that is the power of consciousness: the integrated force of our physiological, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies. The spinal column is the superhighway for the transmission of vital force. Chakras spin in pure or ascending vibration and spin out impure or depressing vibration when they are functioning with health. Their turning becomes disrupted whenever we accept, consciously or unconsciously, depressing, immobilizing, descending thoughts or feelings about ourselves, thus diminishing the vital organs and cells of the body. Tender, loving communication with our own vital energy enables and sustains well-being for each and all of us. There is an ongoing dialogue between our minds and bodies and what we look and feel like is a direct representation of what gets said. This full moon represents a potent time to listen in carefully on that conversation.
We face seemingly impossible challenges to the continuity of biological life on the throne of planet earth. This gem of a planet, this vulnerable little blue oasis floating in the spiral arm of a remote galaxy is the only known location of life in the universe. The stakes for keeping it alive could not be higher. Everywhere we turn we see images of illness, torture, pollution, greed, anger and war. Images become thoughts and impure thoughts, so say the mystics that understood the ganglia of the spinal nerves and the lobes of the brain more than 5 thousand years ago, can make you sick. Pure thoughts can sustain and enhance well being. Beliefs like this can be found in many mystical traditions For example: between the orbit of Uranus and Saturn exists an asteroid called Chariklo. In Greek myth she was the wife of Chiron, the centaur-healer of the gods who was struck lame by a poison from Hercules’ arrow. Since Chiron was immortal, he seemed doomed to suffer the pain and lameness of the poisoning forever. Chariklo was a water nymph. Before Chiron was injured she saw him approach her home, but knew he could not see her, as she was not in form (nymphs are invisible until they take shape, water nymphs are said to usually take the shape of a dragonfly). Out of love for him she chose to become a centaur. They lived happily together in Pelios and fostered a bevy of children who were outcasts, too different to live among the Greeks gods in “normal” society. The band of misfits lived happily in the mountains, out of reach of those who would deny them light. In exile, Chariklo and Chiron were able to foster the unique and individual talents of the orphaned children of the gods. These two magical healers held space and grace for others with their combined skills and love. As masters of the arts, they taught the abandoned sons and daughters of the gods to nurture their talents, forgotten in their desperation to survive exile.
This full moon in tropical Capricorn and Sidereal Sagittarius is the Hindu festival called Guru Purnima. In Karma yoga, this is the celebration of the connection between the creator and creation. Imagine it from this perspective: everything you see, are and do is creator creating creation. There is no need to adopt a static name or form for this being/process as it is always becoming. There is no beginning to this being/process because it is outside causation, but there is an end to the illusion of the names and forms it seems to have assumed. The end is called “enlightenment” and the guru or teacher is said to be the dispeller of darkness or ignorance when they are able to see the whole of life as one unitive movement. When all of life is seen as one whole perception not many diverse subjects and objects, a guru is born. It’s really hard to talk about because the conventions of our language have paved the world in subject-object dualism. This point is so important to yogic (yoking) thought: who or what we really are is constantly unfolding all around us, but we have learned to see ourselves as discreet body/minds with names and forms as a concession to language and for superficial connection to EACH OTHER. There is a deeper world than this and it is here, now. Some people know it and can teach it. I am not one of them, but I think I get what is being pointed to. Maybe.
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To summarize where we came from last time: Buddhist, Tantric and Yogic traditions were concerned with developing means of transcending the human condition and realizing the oneness of the cosmic-historical stage (aka spacetime). Most importantly, the rupture of plane needed to be adapted to the kali yuga, when spirit is hidden or “fallen” into a carnal condition. Tantrism often gets its sexual reputation because of its misunderstood rite called the maithuna. In reality, this rite involves voluntary immobilization of the bodhicitta (the mind of one who seeks mastery to end suffering) through bandhas (vital energy locks) and mudras (vital energy gestures or asana (poses)) through which the adept is able to control the nerves and muscles in the pelvis. Thus the adept is able to control semen and ecstasy the same way the breath is controlled in pranayama, to arrest them the way the breath is held in kumbhaka (retention). This stillness is always connected to immobilization of consciousness; the Sanskrit phrase “yogas chitta vritti nirodha” (Patanjali 1.2) is commonly translated as “yoga is the stilling or controlling of the modifications or fluctuations of the mind.”
Simply, the sexual rite is not carnal. It is approached in its intrinsic mystical value as if pondering the mysterious secret of nature, and not flowers & butterflies mind you, but raging waterfalls and orcas. These adepts would be brahmacharya (celebate) and loss of control would represent a LOT of hard work and sacrifice down the drain. For our purposes here, we must remember that the union of opposites, the end of dualism, is what must be attained so that the experience of integration of cosmic principles can be felt in the body. If the initiate does not feel the same terrifying, ego-dissolving absence of boundaries that unites them to all that is, THERE IS NO RITE, no initiation into the mystery, there’s only the secular, sexual, carnal act with all its karmic consequences. To break it down as far as I can: the goal is to free the initiate from the sense of “I” and to reunite them with all that is. Death and rebirth. What was ends and a new way of being begins.
This is the symbol of the new moon: a return to a primordial state of nondifferentiation, the conjunction of sun and moon represents the “big crunch” (ne bang) of mind (moon) and ego (sun). Hatha yoga seeks to obtain the immobility of mind and reproductive fluid: to halt or reverse manifestation. The goal is to rupture the mortal plane and remember divinity. When we “unite the sun and the moon” by unifying the breath and vital energies circulating in the ida and pingala, the Hathayogapradipika says that the sushumna “devours time” (See diagram below.) This is the culmination of a long effort to “cosmicize” the body and map the cosmos within. This stillness is first realized through pranayama (controlled breathing). Through her own respiratory rhythm the initiate repeats and relives the cosmic yugas: the periodic creations and destructions of the universe. By arresting manifestation, unifying all of creation in the sushumna, the phenomenal world is transcended. To transcend “day and night”, uniting “sun and moon” is to reabsorb the cosmos through inversion of all the processes through which it comes into being in us. It’s the reintegration of the primordial androgyne, the conjunction, in one’s own being, of the male (outgoing) and female (incoming) principles. The goal is the reclamation of the completeness that precedes creation.
Immortality in these texts is not concerned with striving to live forever in the body, but to reveal the eternal reality of the one being. It’s a complete, total and permanent understanding that the dashboard we overlay upon reality in order to live in the body is not reality itself. The map is not the terrain. The menu is not the meal, but something deeply mysterious and profound underlies the world that we can perceive with our senses. The nostalgia for primordial completion is what animates and informs all the techniques that lead to the union of opposites; the rupture of the space-time-causal plane. Symbolism for this coincidentia oppositorum is everywhere in the archaic world. It’s the anticipation of the reabsorption process that occurs at death: the ritual initiation of death and resurrection. As the Buddha was awakened from ignorance by knowledge of the omnipresent pure consciousness, the mind of the initiate is liberated from the borrowed consciousness of the body into the intrinsic consciousness of “sat chit ananda” (pure being awareness; bliss).
Just as fire cannot be separate from the light and heat it gives, the ocean is not different from the wave and the earring is none other than the gold it is made of, yogic techne gives us the ability to remember that these bodies borrow their existence from the one pure being. The knowledge of that is veiled by maya and this veil of samsara is represented symbolically by the air sign Gemini, where this new moon falls in both Sidereal and Tropical zodiacs. It’s about intuitive information gathering and choices and from the vantage point of the twins. The sun and the moon square Neptune in Pisces. We are trying to throw off some of the most deeply ingrained conditioning beliefs of our species and realize our divine, important connection. The temptation to unknowingly project characteristics we find unacceptable in ourselves onto others can be strong here. Conversely there is the temptation to see what we want to see in the words and reactions of other people.
True ignorance is not the absence of knowledge, but the refusal to acquire it.” ~ Karl Popper
Brahma is a creator god. Brahman is the personal version of this supreme cosmic spirit. Together they represent the immanent (personal) and transcendent (divine) ultimate reality. A single day in Brahma’s life is a thousand yugas or ages. A cycle of yugas has been calculated at 4,320,000 years. A single yuga consists of four ages: the Krita, the Treta, the Dvapara and the kali (very important point: this is NOT the goddess Kali, this is the color black). Each age represents the availability of truth on the material plane and is marked by increasing decay as the cycle progresses in the order listed above. In the first, the Krita, people have full access to the truth of reality, so everyone is virtuous and it’s easy to live in. But as the yugas progress so does confusion, disorganization and wrongdoing. We all exist in the kali-yuga and civilization is at its worst. No question about it. Everything is inverted: law corrupts justice, medicine harms health, society creates poverty, democracy creates oppression, on and on and the root cause is that there is very little access to the divine truth that the immanent and the transcendent are one. We appear to be very separate from divinity from our perspective here on earth.
dogmoonyoga 