May 2006

The Star of Purpose: The Full Moon of May 2006
happens on Friday, May 12, at 11:52pm Pacific Time, in the lunar sign of Vishakha. According to vedic astrology, this full moon takes place in the ending degrees of Libra, assisted in buoyancy and optimism by Jupiter's placement in the same sign as the Moon.

The moon's brightness in Vishakha brings to the fore the unambiguous power of the Indra/Agni pairing, symbolized by a triumphal arch or gateway or arbor, bedecked with leaves. Wherever 28 degrees of Libra is in your vedic chart will be infused with this Vishakha Moon's sense of ambition and goal- oriented strategizing towards achievement.

This full moon may surface our underlying knowing that although many things can be done with the help of a support system, there are some things in life that have to be done alone. The inner strength and sense of victory that arises from 'picking yourself up by your own bootstraps' is a decidedly Vishakha kind of feeling.

Rx: Living Yoga Today
Beginning in ancient India, astrologers prescribed "upayas", or remedial measures, for weakened planets in a person's chart, knowing that "taking" the remedy would help the person balance the energies of their chart and live more balanced, fulfilling, prosperous and intelligent lives.

Just like you wouldn't take your grandfather's heart medication, you also wouldn't take just any planetary prescription. Ideally you would seek to understand your birth chart for the purposes of personal and spiritual development and greater life fulfillment, and in so doing, you would stumble on which of the planets in your chart could use strengthening. Sometimes, as with a healthy body, nothing need be done, in which case, practicing virtues acts as a nice preventative measure against diseases of the soul. And sometimes, as with a diseased body, a prescription can help to root out or strengthen imbalances of the life.

Mercury
In this month's newsletter, I'm going to suggest a practical remedy for the planet Mercury, who rules the thinking, logical, rational mind. A strong Mercury allows one to facilitate the "doings" of one's life with ease and precision. A weak Mercury can indicate the feeling of anxiety over accomplishing tasks and errands, a lack of equanimity, poor concentration, poor communication abilities, nervousness and overwhelm.

In order to strengthen the function of Mercury, a person might do one of the traditional vedic astrology remedies such as wearing an emerald. (If you are interested in such a powerful remedy, please ask a vedic astrologer for the details of going about this.)

A simple remedy might be deciding that for one week, (beginning on a Wednesday to honor Mercury on his own day,) you are going to remember the name of every person that you meet, including on tv and in email and on phone calls, etc. At the end of each day, consciously bring to mind each person and their name, visualizing them dissolving back into the Oneness from which they came.

Planning & Scheduling: Living In Accord With The Seasons
All older cultures had their form of an almanac or calendar, and they understood the value in working in accord with the seasons.
In our age of information, we have an unprecedented opportunity to observe earth's seasons with sophisticated instrumentation. These seasons are determined by the movements of the earth with her moon around the sun, and the relationships between all the heavenly bodies sharing our central star. All of this affects life on earth. Farmers have known that since they began farming. So by all means, if you can, just go outside and sense it. And here it is too, spelled out for your calendar:

Full moon on May 12, New Moon on May 26
The two weeks of the waxing Moon leading up to Friday, May 12 are good for initiating important projects, and achieving goals you've set for yourself. The two weeks of the waning Moon from May 12 to May 26 are a time to stand back, ease up, go inward, rebuild, and gather energy. The day of the new moon, May 26/May 27, is particularly powerful for meditation, and silence.

The astrological landscape includes Mercury moving into Aries, on May 3rd until which brings energy and conviction and impatience to communications.

The sidereal Sun moves into Taurus on May 15 and stays there until June 16, getting us to focus on our fixed assets, our material well-being and practical concerns, and the earthy, sensuous enjoyments of life.

Venus moves into Pisces, it's sign of exaltation, on April 29 and stays there until May 25. Compassion, beautification, enjoyment, and friendships bring us the nourishment of exalted Venus.

Mercury is direct from March 25, 2006 until July 4, 2006.
(Mercury goes retrograde from July 4, 2006 until July 28, 2006.)

Do while Mercury's direct:
Initiate new business ventures; sign contracts; get things printed and released; get all dealings with bureacratic institutions finalized before Mercury goes retrograde.
Wait to do until Mercury's retrograde:
reconnect with old friends; revisit old ideas; edit and review art projects, writing projects, photo albums; clean up your hard drive.

Transiting Saturn square transiting Venus and transiting Jupiter opposing transiting Venus:
Monday, 5 June through Wednesday, 7 June, 2006
Energetically, there is support during this time for getting the legwork done on projects that will bring your creations into manifestation. Venus and Jupiter may want to gang up on Saturn, call him nasty names like "spoilsport" and "partypooper" in favor of enjoying the beginning of summer, but if you can just let Saturn influence the situation and get the work done, you'll likely even have fun in the process, and have something to show for it in the end.