Moon in Mula — The Origin and Root of All

Mula Nakshatra Holds Today’s Moon

As the Sun emerges from the Moon’s shadow and the Moon begins a new cycle in Mula this is a day for thinking about roots. Mula is the “origin” or “root star,” located in the first 13 degrees 20 minutes of Sagittarius. Ruled by Ketu and in an active Jupiter-ruled sign, Mula marks the beginning point of the transformation from material to spiritual form.

Jupiter grants expansion, abundance, and joy in all things, and in enthusiastic Sagittarius one often finds wealth-building activities. But these are offset by the quality of dissolution from Ketu, whose energy remains especially strong following an eclipse. And in Mula, one finds the power to disassemble, tear apart, and disperse all of the parts of an element or situation, and through this act of destruction, to find the root source of its existence.

The meditation practice of self-negation is often fruitful under Mula. It begins with “I am, but I am not. I am not my body. I am not my mind. I am not my home. I am not my family. I am not my consciousness.” By stripping away the illusions of fixed and permanent self-identity that are rooted in the world, one eventually gains awareness that one is thought and feeling within a greater consciousness that knows no boundaries. And even that may be stripped away to reveal the naked ground of all creation, the pure and perfect wholeness with the freedom to recreate space and time or simply to repose in perfect peace. Words don’t do justice to this meditation. Experiencing the dissolution that happens as one sits in stillness without regard for time softens the borders between the material and immaterial and this is a good time to begin such practices.

Because of the airy and fierce nature of Ketu and Mula, the mind overly attached to material pleasures is subject to addiction, as is the person trapped in the pose of the victim of external forces. The tragic life of Judy Garland reflected her Mula Moon. Finding success and fame at a young age, she struggled against addictions and a public image that wasn’t felt within. The stripping away of reason and dissolution of her body were a terrible tragedy that played out on stage and in the entertainment media.

Under any strong Ketu influence, a person is forced to confront the root source of being, and to release ideas of separateness in the form of selfish independence and material grounding. Ketu teaches us that what we see as the self (body, mind, job, image) is powerless against time and nature. The first of the 12-steps of Alcoholics Anonymous is very similar to what Ketu teaches. Interestingly, AA in the United Kingdom held its first meeting with both the Sun (self) and Venus (indulgence) in Mula.

Both Ashwini and Magha Nakshatras also have Ketu rulership. Magha was on the Ascendant when the first UK AA meeting convened.

The most significant lesson of Mula for me is that through pain and the taking apart of anything I am attached to, it reveals its root source and its connection to the eternal creative force and ultimately, the love both for what it cost in terms of sacrifice and what it is now free to become through unconditional love.