8/18/2024, An Auspicious Opportunity

Today, August 18, 2024 there’s a very powerful astrological pattern. The moon, the south node and Jupiter form a grand trine in the lunar signs of Shravana, Hasta, and Rohini. Just as the sun signs draw power from their rulers the moon signs do likewise, and these three are the three of the 27 moon signs that draw their power from the moon.

In the Vedic astrological system Jupiter aspects both the south node whose name is Ketu in Vedic astrology, and the moon, and Jupiter is a planet that brings expansion and abundance to whatever qualities are expressed by the planets and the signs that it aspects. Jupiter is the guru the teacher, the one that helps us to transcend the realm of the senses and takes us to learning about that which is beyond what we can perceive.

Jupiter is in Rohini, the moon’s favorite sign. It is the star of ascent. It is the star that helps us to conceive of something new, to create it in the world, and nurture it so that it grows to bear fruit in our lives. It’s symbol is a chariot. Chariot rides are very fast, very exciting, and sometimes have a slight element of danger. Being intentional with your purpose as you interact with this energy is sure to bring a positive result.

The moon in Shravana is connected to what is called the divine ear or the listening ear and in its highest aspect it allows us to go deep within, to still the senses, to meditate, to chant, or to simply sit and breathe and hear wisdom that has been waiting to break through from our unconscious, sometimes for decades.

Ketu represents shadow energy. It hides the sun, it hides the external world. It hides reality from us, but connects us much more deeply to our inner feelings, to our emotions, to our memories and to our intuition. In Hasta, Ketu is in the star that puts that which we desire into our own hand.

So this is a very fortuitous combination and one that doesn’t occur that often considering Jupiter takes 12 years to complete its cycle and will only return to Rohini in 2036. Ketu takes 18 years to complete its cycle and will only return to Hasta in 2042 and of course, the moon cycles once a month through all 12 signs.

Take some time today to sit quietly, to close your eyes, to take some deep breaths, and then to sink down into the realm below the senses. Focus on a mantra, even something is simple as Om, or focus on your breath, or the flame of a burning candle, all of these can draw you deeper into yourself. If there are questions, you’ve been seeking answers to or there are mysteries you’ve been pondering, or everything is going well, and you simply wonder what might happen being under the influence of this auspicious placement and acting in accordance with it, today is the day to get answers.

Even 10 or 15 minutes could bring up life-changing answer, ideas, or insights.

Astrology is built on observations over tens of thousands of years across all cultures. That it continues to be popular, speaks more than any scientific inquiry to the effectiveness of the stories, the myths, the legends, but especially the life experiences of those who have been observers of this extraordinary, powerful practice .

Ketu connects us to past life karma and will resist new activity until we have cleared our debts with the past. The greatest debt we often have is to ourselves, to let go of shame, to release, anger and sorrow through honest expression of feelings, and to move forward understanding, we are connected to all of life in its attempt to create harmonious growth of consciousness.