Solar Eclipse

What an irony,
The god that illuminated the day,
Died
The mortals are alive


Wish god remained a little longer
The darkness of the night
Lesser
Evil while god was being reborn


Do gods die?
Was he not at nether-worlds?
Traveling
Perhaps to a neighboring planet


Now comes the worst,
The maiden casts her dark shadows
Sunday Eclipse
Will there be another reprise

Enjoy the Solar Eclipse. Remember - Never look at the sun-god directly; wear appropriate eye glasses and eye protection.

Why Jotiz? 

Astrology intrigued me from early 1990’s for several reasons. I was looking for a career path then. The soothsayers I came across were only interested in selling gem stones, especially precious stones on account of the huge profits they made. The astrologers would sell you anything like Ruby with Sapphire, Diamond and Emerald, Pearls that knew no upper limits – if you had most of these; then a Yantra or an encasement in 22 carat gold that you would be obliged to pay through your nose.
Incidentally, none of these popular and acclaimed astrologers had a clue around astronomy; where the stars and the celestial bodies were around at anytime around the year. They believed and swore around their misinterpreted charts, in their tantric dogmas and beliefs; none of which agreed with my thinking and rationale.
They had no clue or any idea of where astrology was headed except what they had been subjected to believe without any room for innovation. Had I not ventured to come to the US, my thoughts would have possibly been influenced negatively.
Jotiz is a modern way of looking at classical astrology whether it is Vedic or Christian. Vedic expands into Indian, Indonesian, Cambodian, Sri-Lankan, Celtic, Chinese systems as they are practiced today – I do not confine myself to any single text like Brihat Hora Sastra; but use Phaladeepika, Brihat Jataka, Saravali, Jaiminee, Jataka Tattwa and other texts that make sense into the mix. Christian Astrology owes the scriptures to Lilly and Raphael, to many Arabic and Egyptian narratives. The references to Horary in Jotiz are clearly inclined towards Christian astrology than Vedic.

Therefore Jotiz.

May 5th, 2012

Full Moon conjunct with Saturn! Saturn Retrograde in Cusp in exaltation. Opposition aspect (7th house) from both Sun and Jupiter.  Sun in deep exaltation with powerful spring blaze - it’s the time for the new generation. The old will falter for the next few days – perhaps a fortnight. Is Facebook the winner? From the young and old perspectives – it seems so easy – yes it is.

March 29th

March 29th should be an interesting day. Moon and Saturn exalted, though Saturn is still retrograde. Venus moves from detriment to own house. Sun closer to exaltation; just that Mercury has fallen.

An interesting day nevertheless; with a fallen Mercury anything and everything is possible.

Thank god Mars is not affected.

Metaphors in the night-sky

The last two weeks I am sure many of you have witnessed the South-Western sky with the two bright orbs lighting your path as you would drive back west. Fortunately, the drive back for me from work is west and very evening there appeared the bejeweled sky with Venus and Jupiter really close to one another.

I watched it every day; and back home shared it with family and neighbors. Even my grand daughter was so delighted to see a portion of the sky so intense and bright.

I just realized it was trying to tell us all something - something more than just a spectacle.

"A glowing Venus in close conjunction with Jupiter" - our seers and forefathers were so right - a person is truly wealthy in the presence of real knowledge. Wealth becomes a shining orb in the presence of knowledge and spirituality - a metaphor so profound; so subtle being played out in the vast sky stage right before us.

2012 Winter Sky - A Feast for the Soul

This winter I braced myself a few nights in the bitter cold to witness and capture the night sky on my digital SLR. On the left is the result of my first encounter with a winter moon on February 9, 2012 as it rose in the east. I must have wasted close to hundred shots steadying the aperture and the controls. The results were terrific - this picture was taken handheld.

On February 22nd after a storm, one could virtually count the celestial bodies. It was bitter cold

and the ground was frozen. It was a moonless night - I could get the Orion and Ursa Major. The Ursa Major pictures were awful with light pollutants in the southern sky.

On February 26th, it was a brilliant spectacle with Moon surrounded by Venus in Pisces and Jupiter in Aries. These images were taken with a tripod without any shutter controls.

Tonight, March 3, 2012 was another spectacle on the North-west sky with Jupiter and Venus in Aries and Moon in the mid-heavens (very close to Orion). Lens used - Sigma 200 MM f/11.

Sun's Triple Rebirth

Third Rebirth of the Sun

The ancient Vedic folks observed nature like very few of us do. Under the blazing sun during the day; the morbid but cool starlit sky in the night was one of the few things that they could observe besides contending the other extremes of nature - climate, germs and animals. The dominant Sun; the easiest to observe appears in most doctrines - Vedic, Egyptian, Mayan … to name a few. The Sun appears in our everyday lives at a predestined time and rejuvenates life. Metaphorically, it sets and stays in the underworld to be re-born the next day. Sunrise occurs so frequently that we have taken it for granted. If it were not to reappear (be reborn) the next day, life on earth and the surrounding planets would cease - there is little to debate the celebration of the Sun's appearance (rebirth) everyday. The Vedic seers observed the rebirth of the Sun in many ways through prayers and meditations.

The Sun is at it's powerful in spring and it faces a severe decline in fall (autumn). The very fear that the shorter days of the fall would continue and eventually perish all life on Earth was a matter of contention and the phenomenon clearly shown in earlier astrological and astronomical scripts. The rebirth of the Sun (Mitra) around December 21st was of utmost importance - it showed the increasing longer days which would culminate in spring when Sun was at it's closest - life on this planet could continue undeterred.

From the cities and vantage points where one can observe the night sky, the Seers could witness the Center of the Milky Way - the Center of the Galaxy to which the Sun would eventually belong to someday. The massive belt of the Galaxy was metaphorically observed as the pregnant belly of the mother of all creation - Aditi or perhaps Vishnunabhi and the dark rift around it the Galactic Birth Canal. Every year the Sun as it had done many thousands of years back moves into the Dark Rift and reappears - the third rebirth.

In 1998, the population on Earth witnessed the first of the conjunct phenomenons - the positioning of the Sun at the farthest from the center of the galaxy. The lowest this stellar system could stoop to - the beginning of the end of the Kali Yuga.

In 2012, during winter solstice, the Sun will have its triple rebirth on one single day - a day to rejoice a day marking the end of Kali Yuga declinations and the beginning of Kali Yuga rising to the Golden Period. The Mayan seers perhaps realized it was hard to predict a triple Sun rebirth on a single day and therefore decided not to pursue the Calendar. For the many mortals who would witness the Galactic changes to our Sun - the life giver, it will be a moment to remember.