Within 3 hours of Sun entering Capricorn (Cap), Mercury (Mer) turns retrograde (R) in Cap. Since, Mer is exalted in an Earth sign (Virgo), Cap’s energy (Earth sign) aids Mer. Mer is the minister or advisor to the king (Sun). Mer represents our intellect, all forms of communication (verbal, written, electronic, virtual, non-virtual), our capacity...
Makar (Capricorn) Sankranti (Sun’s ingress) is celebrated all over India with grandiose. Sun ingresses into a new zodiac sign every month (West-East motion in our sky); hence there are 12 Sankranti. Of the 12, Makar Sankranti is celebrated all over India as this coincided with winter solstice or northward course of Sun (Uttarayana) about 2000...
Gandhanta (Gand = knot, anta = end) literally means a knot at the end of flow of energy, like, the knot at the end of a sewing needle & thread that holds the stitch together (bottom pic). At the end of every 9 nakshatras, there’s a gandhanta, a knot that stitches the energy of those...
If you are one of those who are setting off your new year’s resolutions, take notes. January 1st as a new year is a random date picked up to account for a new cycle of Earth going around the Sun. There is no astronomical event pinning the new year to the sky. It makes more...
These are the last few hours before winter solstice, the moment when Sun changes its course & moves northwards. The exact moment of winter solstice is 7:59am PST. As the light emerges again in the Northern Hemisphere, the Southern Hemisphere commences its journey inwards – not to be confused with Makar Sankranti (Uttarayana & Makar...
Yes, it is one more thing to give life a twist before we close 2021. Retrograde (Rx) motion is an optical illusion created by apparent motion of objects. Venus Rx occurs about once every 18 months for ~40days. Venus turned Rx in sidereal Capricorn & will travel backwards (from our vantage) into Sagittarius . Venus...
“Of the (12) months, I am Margashirsha” Shri Krsna tells Arjuna at the dawn of the Kurukshetra war – Bhagvad Gita, ch.10. This Full Moon (FM, on 12/18) in Gemini in the nakshatra of Mrigashira (MS) marks the lunar month (in fact the midway point) of Margashirsha or Marghazi (Tamil). Bhagvad Gita describes this month...
In Indian mythology, Vaikunta Ekadasi, the 11th lunar phase in the waxing cycle (Shukla Paksha) in the lunar month of Margashirsha is said to be the day when Vishnu wakes up from his deep slumber, & the doors to Vaikuntha open. Vaikuntha is loosely translated in English as heaven but it is the realm where...
Yes, you may feel the need to blow-off steam now. But why is that? Mars entered Scorpio on 12/4/21 right as we were finishing the solar eclipse. In fact, spatially speaking, Mars in Libra was really close to Ketu influencing the eclipse. When in Libra, Mars was already bringing fire to issues of justice,...
This is Jupiter’s last, albeit short stint in Aquarius for next 12 years. It poked its head in Aquarius earlier this year (from Jun-Sep 2020). Expect similar themes to unravel in the next 4 months as that of summer of 2020. After we have faced our tangible fears in Capricorn, Aquarius is the sign where...
