Super-Moon and Summer Solstice

What a day! What a night! 

The Sun fiercely crossed the Summer Solstice or was it this planet. Never mind the relative motions; the sun was certainly fierce today. 

The moon on the seventh house rose immediately after a deep sunset - was it the moon? It was the Supermoon!

The celestial gods blessed us with quite a sight - the day and the night.

The Sun and the Moon have so many differences - so many conflicts and yet many areas of agreement. This was not their best moments; it was a mere feast for mortal eyes only.

The moon and sun are in constant tensions when they are a quadrant away. The moon in positions 1, 4,7,10 from the sun are never without tensions. Though Varaha Mihira states Full Moon (180 degrees between the sun and moon are good), I tend to differ. 

The Kendrasthans are not good between sun and moon. Neither is the 5th position. Only 3rd, 6th, 8th, 9th and 11th are good combinations between the two fast moving celestial planets. If the moon is blessed by aspects from Jupiter and Venus; the yoga combinations above and the aspects are extremely important indications for happiness and wealth.

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.