Volume 38, 23 September 2017
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.”
Shifting Seasons and Shifting Grahas
Big changes are happening for all the slow moving grahas. Saturn is the slowest of all and will finally leave the constellation of Scorpio and head into Sagittarius on October 26th*. Depending on where Sagittarius is in your chart, the themes of that bhava will be highlighted especially if a Saturn dasha or bhukti is going on. It is not always a downer. It depends on what is natally indicated in that particular area of the chart.
From there, Saturn will aspect Gemini (whatever bhava that is for you) along with its own rashi of Aquarius and Virgo. Same caveats as above. Everyone’s chart is unique and the effects of this Saturn transit will be specific to each person. However, with four different bhavas of the chart under Saturn’s gaze, you can expect some shifts. Certainly there are two improvements overall. Saturn is no longer transiting the rashi of enemy Mars. The Moon, who is debilitated in the rashi of Scorpio, will no longer have the monthly double whammy of simultaneously being debilitated AND with Saturn.
Jupiter just moved from Virgo to Libra on September 11th. Most often this is considered to be supportive to the areas of the chart that Jupiter will now activate. As indicated above, it is most significant when Jupiter dasha or bhukti is running and when natal Jupiter affects the same area.
Rahu and Ketu already shifted on the 18th of August from the Leo/Aquarius axis to Cancer/Capricorn. This transit is about eighteen months long. They generally bring something foreign, sudden and potentially confusing but again, the devil is in the details and the local conditions of your chart are the arbiter.
* Please note there are different calendars in India and they may show these transits at different times.Saturn Through Sagittarius - Example Chart
This is the chart of actress/singer Katherine McPhee. Her career has risen significantly during her Mars and Rahu mahadasha periods. Foremost among her several diverse and successful projects has been her starring role in the CBS syndicated prime time show “Scorpion”. It began to air in 2014 and has been picked up for its third season this fall. She was running RA RA when she was signed and is currently running RA JU. She is now at her highest earnings to date. Her yogic 2nd house has both its lord Jupiter and 9th lord MO, creating a big money combination.
She will move to RA SA in the spring while SA is transiting that same 2nd house. Note that natal SA aspects the house and its lord. Though the 2nd house combinations have given her excellent results especially in RA JU, the transit of SA over the second house in RA SA has downside potential.
Katherine had an eating disorder starting in her MO RA period at 13 years old. The natal trigger for that is the powerful SA on her natal MO. At 17, in her MO SA period, she became bulimic. She entered a rehab program in her MA dasha and finally recovered. She struggled a bit in other ways in MA SA indicating that SA bhukti periods should be carefully watched.
When she enters RA SA, transiting SA will reinforce the natal affliction to the 2nd house This could create an eating or substance abuse issue or perhaps something else linked to the 2nd house like a voice problem or financial losses. Note that the second lord Jupiter will be transiting the 12th house during this timeframe as well.
Karma and Karmaphala
So many Sanskrit words have found their way into our English vernacular. Such and such is a tennis guru; the boss’s mantra is work till you drop etc. etc. Karma is another ubiquitous example but is it used correctly? Depends on how fussy you are!
For example, one might say “I have good karma when it comes to finding parking spaces”. But if you examine the root of the word karma, you will find it comes from kri which has the principal meaning of “to do”. Therefore karma is an action. “I am doing my karmas” can mean I am doing my daily prescribed activities.
The compound word karmaphala can be broken into its two parts - karma and phala (fruit). Karmaphala means the fruit or result of one’s actions. So in our parking space example, it is one’s good karmaphala that allows success in easily scoring parking spaces. Since it can be awkward to speak of one’s good or bad karmaphala, it is acceptable to shorten it to karma as long as everyone understands the context.
Libraries could be filled with writings on the profundity of the intricate concept of karma. All of astrology is based on karma and its various categories. A natal chart is a pictorial representation of one’s prarabdha karma - the stream of karma that will ripen in a particular lifetime. We will explore the various kinds of karma in subsequent newsletters.
Media Corner
Probably you all have eclipse fatigue following the recent media storm covering the total solar eclipse. However, I wanted you to have a link to what I consider to be one of the finest videos in terms of explaining and illustrating solar and lunar eclipses.
