#46
The Times They Are A Changin
March 30, 2004

Comments on An Early Spring
     The March 16 Forecast, An Early Spring, recited the tensions and strife during Mars' January 25 to March 11 transit through Aries, as previously predicted.  That Forecast also suggested, the karmic waters will finally calm for a while, with the exception of March 25 and 26, when the Moon would be passing Mars.
     The week beginning March 22  heated up with Richard Clarke's exposé book and testimony before the 9-11 Committee, and March 25 and 26 were indeed the most challenging.  This continuing political contro- versy has crashed through the emerging spring season like an Army Humvee running over a newly planted flower bed -- distracting everyone, but not significantly disrupting world landscape, yet.
     With several impending astronomical events promising to shake up the world later this spring and summ- er, this remains a good time to rest and recoup your energies.  To get a general perspective on the these heightened planetary energies, following is a listing of  upcoming astronomical events:

     This is a good checklist of sensitive dates for you personally, as well as the growing challenges the Bush Administration will face that may very well culminate during the Iraq turnover at the end of June.  Charts for the major players -- Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Tony Blair and John Kerry -- will be analyzed with regard to these astronomical events in upcoming Forecasts.  Birth times are not (yet) available for Condolisa Rice and Colin Powell, but some comments may be made based upon their birth cities and calendar dates.  With so much going on, it will be difficult to isolate and prioritize world events, but the trend change is clear.

     The next section, Spring Astronomy - Five planets Visible, discusses the also unusual astronomy of five planets being visible this Spring and how we can use naked-eye observational astronomy to understand the astrology and thereby relate to the celestial map.  Perhaps there's some grace of God in this unusual opportunity to view the planets as they portend a major transformation in the world.

Spring Astronomy - Five planets Visible

Because Vedic Astrology uses the sidereal zodiac, it is a true celestial astro- logy.  One can merely look up to actu- ally see the planets within the constell- ations, just as ancient Indian astrologers climbed observatories (like the one at Jaipur, right and below)  to calculate charts at the birth of children.

True, planets are often not visible, but right now, we have a spring season treat of all five of the visible planets observed and used by ancient astronomers and astrologers.  Adding the fast-moving Moon, below is the sky map looking south at dusk on March 27 displaying all six planets in white type.       This display of all five observable planets will continue until early April, when Mercury will drop below the horizon.  The remaining four planets, Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter, will all be visible through May.

The April 5 full Moon will be dazzling in Virgo, to the east (left in the map) of Jupiter.      Not visible in the sky is Rahu, an eclipse point, located between Mercury and Venus.  Ketu, the other eclipse point, is both invisible like Rahu and below the horizon.  Also obvi- ously not visible at night is the Sun, positioned below Mercury.  Rahu and the Sun have been added to the sky map in red type.      Below is a Vedic chart for March 27, clockwise compared with the sky map's counterclockwise orientation, but otherwise equivalent.

It's illuminating to see how astronomy and Vedic Astrology actually match up, to directly perceive the connection between the heavens and earth.  It's also empowering to see the astronomy and the astrology, and we can thank the stars there is at least one remaining area not reliant upon technology.      Yet, this is more than an entertaining exer- cise, for as the nights pass, we will also be able to look up to witness how Venus and Mars march together toward Saturn until mid May.  Then, on May 18, Venus goes retrograde and will move away from the approaching conjunc- tion between Mars and Saturn.  Jupiter, retro- grade since January 4, will continue to move slowly backwards until it regains forward motion May 5.   Unseen, of course, will be the movements and relative positions of Mercury, the Sun and the two eclipse points (Rahu and Ketu), although we could calculate these by hand if we wish.

Reverting back to technology for a moment, to the right is a Vedic chart for May 22, when visible Mars reaches Saturn in Gemini with the Moon, Venus has backed away and Jupiter has scarcely moved at all.  Invisible Mercury hasn't advanced much, and this is due to its retrograde from April 7 to May 1.  The invisible Sun will be in Taurus then, and the unseen Rahu/Ketu remain in Aries and Libra respectively.      Since we now know where these four invis- ible planets will be, we can understand the celes- tial map by looking up at the sky during the next eight weeks to watch Mars, Venus, Saturn, the Moon and Jupiter shift positions to reach this provocative configuration.      Provocative means to excite, call up or stimulate, and these are apt terms for the celest- ial signals at that time.

     While there are many disruptive astronomical events this spring and summer (as listed in the above section), Mars' conjunction with Saturn is a primary cause for concern -- tough Saturn resists aggressive Mars to create tension with inherent violence.  A further concern can be seen in all the planets having moved to one side of Rahu and Ketu, which are the head and tail of a serpent in Vedic mythology.  Rahu is the head and indicates the future, while Ketu is the past.  The eclipse points, then, symbolize time.  When all the planets are on one side of the serpent's halves, it captures the planets in a Yoga (special combination) called Kala Sarpa in Sanskrit, which naturally translates into time serpent.  With the planets thus confined, fate is accentuated over free will.