“Both the Winter and the Summer Solstices are expressions of love. They show us the opposition of light and dark, expansion and contraction, that characterize our experiences in the Earth school so that we can recognize our options as we move through our lives.”
Another Look at the Summer Solstice
Here is a list of “did you know” about the summer solstice that I hope you will find interesting.
Since I love etymology, I looked up the derivation of the word solstice and found it is from the Latin word solstitium. The derivation is from the word sol for sun and sistere which means to come to a stop or make stand still (Online Etymology dictionary)
The solstice does not happen on the same day each year though we have systematized it that way in popular culture. The variance is due do a number of reasons including the difference between the number of days in our Gregorian calendar (365) versus the tropical year, the time it takes for the Sun to pass from one vernal equinox to the next (365.2422 days).
The celebration of the summer solstice is ancient and cross cultural demonstrating its great significance in the life of this planet and its inhabitants. The ancient Chinese festival of ritualizing Yin, the Earth as the feminine, the Native American ritual dances honoring the Sun, the European pagan and fertility festivals and our contemporary ritual of June weddings all reveal the eternal connection described in the Hermetic axiom “As above, so below” and even more completely in the Vedic version “as in the whole so in the parts”.
What is Upaya?
Note: This is a first in a series of articles on upaya (remedial measures)
The word “upaya” can be translated as a means, a strategy, a solution or a remedy. In the context of Jyotisha, we use it as a strategy for dealing with karma phala (outcomes) that produce effects in our life that we experience as obstructive or difficult.
One of the ways we can relate to Jyotisha as the “eyes of the Veda” is that it gives the Jyotishi the ability to see the currents of karma phala including those yet to fructify. It is the compassion of this form of astrology that attracts many of us to it as it would be a bit of a downer to think there is nothing we can do to improve our situation in life.
Therefore the tradition of Jyotisha comes with, so to speak, a toolbox. A Jyotishi is called upon not only diagnose an issue, but address how that person can most effectively handle the problem in a reasonable and often practical manner.
Unfortunately, a shallow understanding of the subtle dynamics in this essential process results in “one size fits all” recommendations and prescriptions that take care of one facet of a horoscope without recognizing the implications for compromising other areas of the life.
Generally speaking, traditional means for countering difficult situations in a chart encompass three main divisions: 1) connecting to the divine 2) charity 3) service. Each of these three areas is a huge study in itself and in the coming issues, I will attempt to address the scope of each and give some examples.
A Long hot Summer
Most of the world looks forward to the joys of summer - vacations, long days, warm nights and the like.
However, a portion of the population suffers greatly from heat related issues that can range from physiological to behavioral. Good strategies around both is essential for significant others in your life or indeed you yourself as vulnerability to heat induced malaise can be a significant problem.
Since many of you fine readers have been around the block with some of these concepts in such subjects as Ayur Veda, I thought I would introduce a yoga that I hadn’t come across in the more popular Jyotisha core texts with which I usually work. I am drawing on some class notes from my study with my teacher Hart deFouw in which he describes a Kopa Yoga. Kopa is easily translated as anger.
A very common misunderstanding when learning a combination such is Kopa Yoga is the notion that when a trait like anger is observed in someone, there is the assumption that it is because the native has Kopa Yoga in his or her chart. Be assured that the laws of karma tend to deliver the misery of anger in a variety of ingenious ways and Kopa Yoga is merely one of them. The way to think of it is like this - if you have this yoga, you are very likely to have the outcome but if you tend to be angry, it is not necessarily true that you will have this particular marker in your chart.
It might be handy to know if the casual friend you are going with to visit the Grand Canyon and other US Southwest monument sites in the dead of summer has this yoga especially if his or her idea of a good dinner is fiery Mexican food.
Kopa yoga is formed when the lord of the ascendant is combust and with a pitta graha. The most reliable form of this yoga would be that the pitta graha be Mars but Ketu could also work. A variant can be if the pitta graha aspects the combust lord of the lagna rather than conjoins it. The lagna lord should be within six degrees of the Sun for this yoga to kick in big time.
Here are a couple of charts that demonstrate this yoga. Enjoy and keep cool!
Kopa Yoga
Please note that the lord of the ascendant is Venus. It is a very powerful Venus in that it is exalted. It occupies the sixth bhava of the horoscope which has arguing as one of its strong significations. Also note that it is within six degrees of the Sun and is with the pitta graha Mars. That Mars is likewise combust which adds to its crankiness. Though very strong, Venus does not have the benefit of any aspect from a natural benefic. In examining the ascendant itself, we find it is tenanted by the Rahu/Ketu axis with Ketu being in the lagna. The ascendant is aspected by both Saturn and Mars. Therefore, this chart has all of the more virulent natural malefics on the lagna and or the lagna lord.
This is a very confluent pattern for this yoga as that combust Mars is not just on the lagna lord but on the lagna itself with neither lagna or lagna lord having any mitigating factors.
Most unfortunately, this person who had a measure of fame in his life was found guilty of a violent crime of passion and received a life sentence.
Kopa Yoga
In this chart we see another Kopa Yoga with lagna lord Mercury within 6 degrees of the Sun and associated with Mars. Like the first chart, MA is also combust. This is an extremely powerful chart with many combinations for fame and money as well as combinations for passion and anger.
This chart belongs to Jerry Jones described as the mercurial owner of the Dallas Cowboys hell bent on doing things his own way. It is also said that no other NFL owner more revered and reviled than Jones. He was named the least favorite sports owner in Sports Illustrated back in the early 2000’s. He lacked any grace in how he dispatched beloved pillars of the team when he took over and he was fined a few times for public criticism of officials and violations of gag orders.
As owner and manager of the Cowboys, he is truly a majority of one. He might be one of those that really loves those hot tamales! Check out his 2nd lord Venus and for those of you that can spot it, the passion combination it makes.
The Media Corner
The Magic Treehouse Books —Mary Pope Osborne
In a departure from my usual media corner, I would like to introduce anyone with children in their lives to this magical and captivating series. Jack and Annie are a brother and sister living in Frog Creek, PA who happen upon a treehouse sitting in the largest tree in the woods near their house. When exploring it, they find it is totally magical and becomes the vehicle that transports them on all kinds of adventures in service to the highest values of humanity. Jack and Annie have a delightful relationship with the younger sister Annie being the one that draws her more cautious and scholarly elder brother into the action. My grandson would always turn to me at just that juncture in a book and say “That Annie! There she goes again”.
The beauty of these books is that they have a disarming and soft approach to teaching the basic human values that we all aspire to in our lives. It builds appreciation for different cultures, environments, times in history - all accomplished with humor, compassion and vivid and exciting story telling. They are so charming that the adults are completely drawn in and known to continue reading the books on their own even after story time is over! No worries however about good things coming to an end. There are, at last count, fifty three books and counting backed up by thirty one supplemental fact checker books providing adults and kids with more details about the historical figures, lands, animals etc. that Jack and Annie encounter in their travels.
A note of caution: Your kids will be begging for more. Save lots of time for reading.
“ Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future. ” - Robert H. Schuller
The Expanding Cosmic Kaleidoscope
I am thrilled to announce a new website that represents the vision of our saṅgha as it has grown over the last seven years. I hope you will enjoy meeting the awesome teachers who are partnering with me and creating the opportunity for students to pursue studies that are transformational and deeply respectful of the source. We hope those who visit will be inspired and the content will touch the minds and hearts of all of you. There is a very special surprise jewel somewhere in the website. Hoping you all find it. https://www.cosmickaleidoscope.com/
Hope is the Thing with Feathers
The immortal words of Emily Dickinson form a soaring metaphor for the resilience of the human spirit. Just a ray of sunlight, a hint of hope and the human spirit embraces even just the possibility that adversity can be conquered. Somehow that capacity for hope lodged deep in the soul gives strength and resilience even in troubled times.
The sweetness of hope is a unifying force capable of moving mountains. It is one of the most precious resources of a human being and when it moves to a collective, anything can happen. And it never asks a thing of us. It is just there. Here is the complete text of the poem that I hope resounds in all of your hearts over the coming months:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm - I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.
The Race is On
I know I can’t get away with not showing the chart of Kamala Harris. This is not the forum for detailed predictions but a couple of comments on her chart are warranted, comments which might not be the run of the mill.
For example, I am struck by the symmetry of the graha distributions. Jupiter and Mars are on either side of the lagna followed by Venus and Moon being equidistant from the lagna in the 3rd and 11th and Sun/Mercury in the 5th equidistant from the lagna with Saturn in the 9th, completing the pattern. In śāstra there are specific descriptions of planetary distributions that constitute a number of yogas but they all exclude Rāhu and Ketu and are thus formed by the seven “true” grahas. They are known as Nābhasa Yogas.
Interestingly, if Mars and Jupiter were in the 1st and 7th, it would have been a Cakra yoga whereby the native would be “an emperor at whose feet will be the prostrating kings’ heads”! Ah so close but no cigar. However, along with the symmetrical pattern present in Harris’s chart, note that like the Cakra yoga, the seven grahas occupy six separate bhāvas.
This is known as a Dāma or Vardāma yoga meaning a garland or line. Not every Dāma yoga, however, is made in such a symmetrical way and that close to being a Cakra yoga. This symmetry might heighten the positive results that are indicated across the śāstras for the Dāma yoga—statements such as helpful to others, famous, generous, devoted to public welfare, patient etc.
The other comment I would like to make involves the Rāja Yoga of the 5th and 9th lord, which I have dubbed a “trikona rāja yoga”. It is formed by Venus and Saturn. This catches my attention for a couple of reasons. The first is that Harris is running a Rāhu daśā and Venus bhukti starting in February 2024 so this yoga will be operative. And even more importantly, transiting Saturn is back in its natal position recreating that yoga and will remain there until early spring 2025. I will leave it at that for now.
Media Corner - The Audacity of Hope
This seems like an appropriate time to revisit the book that changed history. Its message of hope caught fire and the messenger became the first African American president of the US. Perhaps history will repeat itself.
“ We cannot cure the world of sorrows but we can choose to live in JOY” - Joseph Campbell
The great Leonard Cohen penned a beautiful song called Anthem which is particularly relevant in times like this. I would like to highlight the chorus of this song as it is the inspiration for this particular newsletter written on the winter solstice. I have linked a video of him singing the entire song in The Media Corner.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in
I dedicate this newsletter to bringing in the light. How do we do it?
Studying the Light
There are many among you reading this newsletter who have an abiding interest in the ancient wisdom tradition of Jyotiṣa - the study of the lights of the heavens. The planetary patterns are a language. If we could but learn that language, we might understand and communicate the destiny patterns of own-selves, of others and even of great nations. For those inclined to bring in the light through this study, we would be honored to have you join our new student group beginning in January. https://www.cosmickaleidoscope.com/
Understanding the Light
There are probably many among you who have had their destiny patterns unfolded for them by skilled practitioners of Jyotiṣa. In that unfolding is the story of the play you wrote and how all of us come into this lifetime with an even measure of light (sattva) and darkness (tamas). Understanding the river of karma, which cannot be detected by our senses (adṛṣṭa) and yet propels us towards actions, is a powerful tool. Those actions can bring us grace (puṇya karmas) or create future obstacles (pāpa karmas). Conditioning patterns that are brought to the conscious awareness can be worked on whereas those operating below the conscious level may continue to undermine us. This is a rich source for moving towards a more illumined version of ourselves.
Spreading the Light
One of the great beacons of light comes from those who commit to what might be called “the yoga of the tongue”. This concept is taught in the Bhagavad Gītā, the Manusmṛti (a great text on dharma) and other śāstras. It addresses perhaps the most pervasive way that we turn away from the light. The ancient texts relate that the most important trait of a person who is sattvic is the one who does no harm—ahiṃsā. It is thought that the most harm is done through speech—something as simple as arguing and bickering all the way to hate speech that incites violence.
The yoga of the tongue is not easy but would change the world. The teaching is that considered speech would have three qualities. It would be appropriate (hitam bruyāt), pleasing or at least constructive (priyam bruyāt) and truthful (satyam bruyāt). One of my teachers demonstrated this in a riveting way when he brought us into a room where there was a lovely young girl of around 20 sitting with tears rolling down her cheeks. With fire in his eyes, he told us that some jyotiṣi said to this young girl “You will never marry”. Was this appropriate to say to a young girl especially if she did not ask about relationships? Violation of hitam. Was it constructive? Neither constructive or pleasing. Was it true? Possibly in the chart it might have shown an issue but two out of the three strictures were violated and great harm was done to this girl. Could some difficult patterns around relationships be communicated in a constructive way? Absolutely but that requires skill and a sense of timing along with the person asking for input in that area of life.
Being the Light
The great Vedānta guru Swami Dayananda Sarasvati always had an answer when someone came and asked what they should do. He said “do what needs to be done”. Implicit in that answer was always do what is dharmic. Dharma means to be in accordance with natural law, that which supports and upholds. Following dharma can be very inconvenient, but adherence to the golden rule brings in sattva as the very epithet “golden rule” implies. This concept appears in some form in all the great teachings be they religious or philosophical.
Thoughts From Others
In the days following the November election, there was and still is a lot of despair. I got communications from many seeking to contextualize, understand and come to terms with the consequences. Perhaps the most impactful is one I sent around right after the election but worth republishing for any who have not seen it. It is a Facebook posted by Rosa Harper, a student in our sangha and also studying Ayurveda.It spawned many responses some of which I include below:
“This morning as I was pondering what the purpose for this choice we made was and what the outcomes might be, my mind (as it so often does these days) circled back to Ayurveda.
The Ayurvedic perspective on disease and healing is elegant, simple, and all about balance. Disease starts with an imbalance. If the imbalance goes unchecked, disease will naturally spring up in the most vulnerable area of the system (which varies person to person). If still nothing changes and the environment (internal and external) continues to support the disease process, the death process will eventually come in to reestablish balance by taking things back to zero.
There are many ways to reverse the disease process. In the early stages simply applying opposites through diet and lifestyle can bring a system back into balance. If the imbalance continues to a point where disease has taken root (established qualitative changes in the tissues), the body actually starts to crave the very things that created the imbalance, making the road to healing even harder. This is an interesting phenomenon that seems like a mistake on the part of nature/biology, but might actually also be aimed at balance. It takes great will power to say no to an unhealthy craving. Exercising this willpower can awaken a great healing force within. Sometimes it takes a “wake up call” to summon the power of our own commitment to health and well being, as individuals and as a society.
Panchakarma is one of the primary tools used in Ayurveda to help reverse the disease process and restore balance to the body. Translated it means “five actions” and these actions are all purgative measures. I won’t get into the details of Panchakarma now, but I bring it up to point out that purgation is an essential part of the healing process. Some of the purgative measures actually involve provoking the causes of the imbalance first in order to bring them to the surface so that they can be eliminated (for my Ayurvedic friends, think of vamana therapy). Another classic example of the provocation method is bringing a boil “to a head” by the application of heat and other irritating substances.
As unflattering as this analogy is, it’s the best one I can find for our current situation. We’ve got some deep toxins that need to be purged. What American can honestly deny that? We had the choice to go in a direction that might have masked some of the symptoms for longer (but ultimately allowed the disease process to continue by avoiding real change), but we chose the option that seems likely to exacerbate the symptoms and bring them “to a head.”
There is a healing force underneath the inflammation, the puss, the discomfort and the embarrassment that I hope we are able to be present with and utilize. Can we face the giant boil as it shows itself? Can we look at what we have created in this country without fear and judgment? Can we approach it the way Mother Teresa’s followers approached the diseased bodies of their brothers and sisters on the streets of Calcutta? It’s going to take real maturity and some trust in a higher power.
I have to trust in what is happening and keep trusting in the intelligence of a system much larger than myself. After seeing the way people have responded to a crisis here (which is making the election seem almost trivial at the moment) I believe it is not only possible, it’s already happening.”
And here are some responses to this beautiful submission:
“It is always the light that arises and leads in our darkest moments”
‘This is a lovely reminder there are larger forces at work that we may not see at the moment. May grace flow through all experiences.”
“This really resonates. It’s what I have been coming back to, an abscess can’t heal unless it’s lanced and drained of the pus. It will take a lot of faith in a higher power. I am grateful for you taking the time to connect and to send comfort during this time of upheaval. The light with in me bows to the light with in you.”
“I have been leaning into the fact that we do not know the direction Reality will go with this new turn of events. But one thing I do know for sure: life always supports life, and endings are very much a part of that support.
We have been incredibly supported with the nurturing from this sangha and all the other teachers of how to apply grounded love and light in our lives. Now, we can put these gifts to use in the world. And we are endlessly supported in that.
Thich Nhat hanh said a garden will always produce refuse, but if you cut it away and put the refuse back into the garden it will make the garden stronger.
We will be challenged for sure! And we are supported by the greater force of life to meet these challenges and transmute/metabolize/nullify/digest the toxins of this world and allow Life to flow into its new creation that that endings always initiate.”
This is what we are being called to live. As we each digest and expel the refuse of the toxins in our lives and communities, the expression of the ground of Life and Being will get stronger. “
May we always recognize and lean into the unending support of that which is the Source of all. Om.🙏”
My profound thanks to all the contributors. I am constantly in awe of the beauty of your hearts and profoundly grateful that you have chosen to be part of this sangha.
“ Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future. ” - Robert H. Schuller
The Expanding Cosmic Kaleidoscope
I am thrilled to announce a new website that represents the vision of our saṅgha as it has grown over the last seven years. I hope you will enjoy meeting the awesome teachers who are partnering with me and creating the opportunity for students to pursue studies that are transformational and deeply respectful of the source. We hope those who visit will be inspired and the content will touch the minds and hearts of all of you. There is a very special surprise jewel somewhere in the website. Hoping you all find it. https://www.cosmickaleidoscope.com/
Hope is the Thing with Feathers
The immortal words of Emily Dickinson form a soaring metaphor for the resilience of the human spirit. Just a ray of sunlight, a hint of hope and the human spirit embraces even just the possibility that adversity can be conquered. Somehow that capacity for hope lodged deep in the soul gives strength and resilience even in troubled times.
The sweetness of hope is a unifying force capable of moving mountains. It is one of the most precious resources of a human being and when it moves to a collective, anything can happen. And it never asks a thing of us. It is just there. Here is the complete text of the poem that I hope resounds in all of your hearts over the coming months:
“Hope” is the thing with feathers - That perches in the soul - And sings the tune without the words - And never stops - at all - And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard - And sore must be the storm - That could abash the little Bird That kept so many warm - I’ve heard it in the chillest land - And on the strangest Sea - Yet - never - in Extremity, It asked a crumb - of me.
The Race is On
I know I can’t get away with not showing the chart of Kamala Harris. This is not the forum for detailed predictions but a couple of comments on her chart are warranted, comments which might not be the run of the mill.
For example, I am struck by the symmetry of the graha distributions. Jupiter and Mars are on either side of the lagna followed by Venus and Moon being equidistant from the lagna in the 3rd and 11th and Sun/Mercury in the 5th equidistant from the lagna with Saturn in the 9th, completing the pattern. In śāstra there are specific descriptions of planetary distributions that constitute a number of yogas but they all exclude Rāhu and Ketu and are thus formed by the seven “true” grahas. They are known as Nābhasa Yogas.
Interestingly, if Mars and Jupiter were in the 1st and 7th, it would have been a Cakra yoga whereby the native would be “an emperor at whose feet will be the prostrating kings’ heads”! Ah so close but no cigar. However, along with the symmetrical pattern present in Harris’s chart, note that like the Cakra yoga, the seven grahas occupy six separate bhāvas.
This is known as a Dāma or Vardāma yoga meaning a garland or line. Not every Dāma yoga, however, is made in such a symmetrical way and that close to being a Cakra yoga. This symmetry might heighten the positive results that are indicated across the śāstras for the Dāma yoga—statements such as helpful to others, famous, generous, devoted to public welfare, patient etc.
The other comment I would like to make involves the Rāja Yoga of the 5th and 9th lord, which I have dubbed a “trikona rāja yoga”. It is formed by Venus and Saturn. This catches my attention for a couple of reasons. The first is that Harris is running a Rāhu daśā and Venus bhukti starting in February 2024 so this yoga will be operative. And even more importantly, transiting Saturn is back in its natal position recreating that yoga and will remain there until early spring 2025. I will leave it at that for now.
Media Corner - The Audacity of Hope
This seems like an appropriate time to revisit the book that changed history. Its message of hope caught fire and the messenger became the first African American president of the US. Perhaps history will repeat itself.
