EYE ON THE SKY: THE FIRST WEEK OF THE NEW YEAR OF 2017
We are still dealing with the exact conjunction of Mars and Neptune right around Midnight as we welcome in the New Year. Neptune will be within a few degrees of Mars and will most impact Mars on Tuesday most which Mars rules. Positives to look forward to include more energy and enthusiasm to chase your dreams and spiritual goals but maybe do not too be too dreamy with your New Year’s resolution. Negatives to watch out for include a tendency to over idealize partners and leave yourself open to deception and scandal. Keep yourself grounded in the real world as much as possible. Your desire to help others can easily be taken advantage of. Your body is more susceptible to poisons, drugs, alcohol, medication and infection. People ruled by Mars such as Scorpio and Aries rising or having Mars in the 1st house or Aquarius or Leo Rising may feel the impact of this transit more. Rest more. Neptune is a watery influence and puts out the fire of Ketu and Mars and that has been a blessing in calming the violence and terrorist influences that we were afraid of but not enough to help Turkey. Heart goes out to that country. Neptune may dampen digestive power and you may need more exercise and stimulation of the solar plexus by touching your toes or other digestive stimulants.
Sun moved into the constellation of Purvashada nakshatra over the long weekend (13.20 Sagittarius-26.40) and stays there until Jan 10th. Astronomers know this constellation as Epsilon, Delta and Sagittarii which are three stars close to the Milky Way . The Sanskrit name translates into meaning “the former Invincible One” or the “undefeated.” The deity of this constellation is Apah, a little known water goddess sometimes associated with the ocean goddess like Aphrodite. She is the mythical mermaid who is sensitive, alluring, mysterious and exciting. She is the feminine counterpart of the Ocean god, Varuna. Her positive side is a procreative fecundity and on the negative side is the poison that she can generate which reminds us of the dangers of gossip. Still she embodies the higher qualities of Venus and real love and compassion.
This constellation is connected with wisdom and creativity and should foster artistic development and creative writing. Still the connection with an unhappy Venus moving toward Mars and Ketu may bring quirky spiritual people into your life or crazy artists. Still the Sun may bring a deep understanding of spirituality and religion in this part of the sky as it stays connected with Jupiter in Sagittarius.
Sun is conjunct Pluto on Saturday Jan. 7th. This conjunction is rather intense and may challenge you to go deeply into a situation and problem. It may be as simple as repairing a broken down appliance or auto or it may involve making a radical change in your life. If you planets at or near 22 Sagittarius or are Leo Rising or Sag. rising, you may feel this aspect more intensely and if you were born with this signature in your natal chart it may may trigger something in transit. People born with this conjunction have a distaste for superficiality and they quickly read between the lines. They are determined to uncover the truth.
For the world, this aspect may lead to power struggles between the obligarchy and leadership–old and new. In Mundane astrology, Pluto represents everything hidden, covert, secretive and perhaps the “shadow” of the collective. We can think of the shadow government /secret state that pulls the strings behind the scenes like dynasty families like the Rothchilds, they may be upset realizing their loss of power as the Trump inauguration approaches. Pluto is also associated with collective, psychotic outbreaks and deep collective behavior such as the mass anger we have seen around the election losses in the US and the take-down of the Korean leader. I suspect this Sun/Pluto conjunction in the US sign of Sagittarius is kindling a rebirth and mass collective change. Just as Pluto transits tend to “erase” our former life, with strength, a new form of life is reborn. It does not appear this is hitting any major country’s natal chart in a big way except an old chart of London and Vietnam and Iceland.
The Sun in mundane astrology will indicate the essential character of the state or nation, or an organization. It stands for supreme authority; the sovereign body; the leader, king, queen or prime minister or president. Will this aspect trigger anything major for our President elect? More than likely something with the obligarchy and the shadow government will come to the surface as Obama, the lame duck President tries to leave his mark and exert more power before he leaves. (Note : I am politically neutral and feel it is important to support our President and I am optimistic that all we fear will not come to pass.)
Venus will have an exact conjunction with Ketu on Saturday, Jan. 7th and will have a 3 degrees of influence between Jan. 4-Jan. 10th. Ketu, the South Node, is the the fiery and spiritual monkish planet and will influence Venus Jan. 3-10th. If you were born with this combination, it can create unresolved past life relationships that are unhappy or painful. You may attract spiritual or emotional partners with a lot of baggage and you may change partners frequently or may reject partners for fear of being rejected yourself.
Venus governs reproductive areas for women and is responsible for reproducing semen for men and is connected to the prostrate and also the kidneys and bladder and seems to impact the 2nd chakra area. Be patient if problems arise in this area over the next week with the Ketu affliction and make sure to drink plenty of water and keep these areas healthy and vital. The lion pose in yoga can support Venus when it is weak so lean into the 2nd chakra area and roar like a line to stimulate 2nd chakra energy for creativity and sexual vitality if it seems like it is at a low point.
For Libra rising, the Ketu transit may foster deep spiritual experiences or romances or adventures as it is a 5th house transit of the chart lord. For Taurus rising, it will bring up unexpected problems in the workplace. Those running a Venus mahadasha or Aquarius period will feel it more strongly. Aries rising will benefit from income and Scorpio rising may have expenditures around the home and vehicles and more domestic quarrels. Pisces rising may have passionate sexual experiences while Cancer rising may have big problems with deep karmic issues from the past. Aquarius rising will feel a bit lighter for having the transit of a good friend visiting and creating deeper connections and may increase the desire for new and unconventional clothes. Geminis will have deep spiritual experiences or go on luxury trips to foreign lands and Virgos will have to watch illness related to the reproductive area, kidneys or bladder or pancreas. Again all of this is very individual to the larger cycles that you are running.
Finally Mercury goes stationary/ direct in the early morning of Sunday, Jan 8th and that will put communications and logic and computers back in order but Mercury does not get out of the troubling Mula nakshatra until Jan. 21st and we have written about this transit previously. (see: https://www.appliedvedicastrology.com/mercury-retrograde-mula/ ) Mercury remains strong with its exchange of signs with Jupiter in Virgo into early Feb. and will continue to support writing and deep wisdom and its expression but the benefits are most for the fixed signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius because of the positive houses impacted.
If you need help understanding your chart, view our services at https://www.appliedvedicastrology.com/category/services/ or take our new class starting Jan 14th on understanding and timing your personal chart. We are running a New Years sale til Jan. 3rd for 99.00 for the 4 classes. https://www.appliedvedicastrology.com/products-2/timing-your-life/. Learn some of the secrets and simple techniques for understanding how to time from my 30 years experience. This is not material that you will get from a book as a lot of secret relationships and insights will be revealed.
Note: Peoples charts and transits are very individual and we write general articles that maybe useful to all our readers. In reality, Vedic astrology is very much like reading very specific strands of DNA.
Wishing you a warm and happy new year. Enjoy the cool brilliance and silence of the winter and move toward more wisdom as Jupiter and Mercury continue to support deep spiritual knowledge through early Feb with their wonderful exchange of houses. .
