The Celestial Wheel   Vedic Commentary   January 1 -- 31, 2011     Back To The Celestial Wheel

January 7, 2011

     The below Heads-Up was emailed directly to Participant Subscribers today.

     January 8 -- Mars/Rahu had one last kick,

Congresswoman Giffords Shot in Tucson

January 11, 2010

Mercury/Rahu

     The below sensitive dates calendar for January was first published in the November 30 In-depth Forecast, The December 2010 Mars/Rahu Conjunction -- Part 2.

    The second to last sensitive date was January 8, when Mars finally left Sagitarius.  Mars had been there since early December with Rahu -- the head-of-the-dragon eclipse point -- stimulating all kinds of harms.  Ironically, the Tucson AZ mass murder at 10 AM occurred less than a day after I published the above January 7 Heads-Up cautioning, Mars is very weak at the edge of the sign/house border ...Mercury and the Moon are also weak in changing signs. As the mental planets, these bring uncertainty, even worry, especially with Mars' courage compromised. 

     The Tucson murders were, as stated above, Mars/Rahu had one last kick.  When the shooting occurred, the U.S. chart planetary cycles (Dasas) were Mars/Jupiter/Sun//Mercury/Moon, and this matching of Dasa planets with the weak transit positions of Mars, Mercury and Moon confirmed the unstable and unbalanced energies tipping over the murderer's mind.  This wasn't the only result, for that evening Baltimore saw 2 dead, including 1 officer, in Baltimore club shooting.

     The last sensitive date is this coming Friday, when forward moving Mercury crashes into backwards moving Rahu.  This unnerves Mercury's nervous system and communications, an influence for feeling under attack.  Expect further and continuing recriminations against vitriolic politicos and their equally fierce defenses -- the latter which do demonstrate their, to be polite, excess zeal.

     I don't know what the repercussions will be -- if this mass murder merely grabs the headlines of  yellow journalism  (see Tug Of War) to sell more adds and subscriptions and gain viewers, if it actually calms media and politicos, if some politicos are caught in that cross hair, and/or if the media's and politician's own fears distract from other harms. Because of this myopia, those are not known yet, or at least not clear in their meaning.  Clues to these can be found in the below predictions for the Mars/Rahu conjunction.

Recap Mars/Rahu Conjunction Predictions

     Yes, it remains to early to score predictions made about the Mars/Rahu conjunction.  Not only is it not over til it's over, but there's also the reporting lag due in part to the above mentioned yellow journalism.  Further, there has been a literal and figurative blizzard of intense events all over the globe, making it a major job just to sort it all out.  One area that naturally does not publish most personal challenges, but certainly many folks have suffered.  Clients have reported:  sciatica, gout, skin cancer, kidney, leg muscle issues and financial setbacks and discords.

     Here's a predictions listing to consider.

Part 1 of that forecast predicted:

...we can expect again major economic losses in stocks and real estate

violences often stemming from revenge with mean and nasty actions and consequences

physical violences are also likely

Generalized anxiety and fears of financial loss and physical safety and anger will arise throughout the month

Part 2 predicted:

...the banks will be finally held accountable. The players refuse to take any more hits,

and the referees are finally calling the fouls

Banks will likely fail under the pressures

January 16, 2011

Astrology's Zodiac Is Debunked

     The above January 11 entry discussed the final challenging disposition in the December and January Mars/Rahu conjunction, The last sensitive date is this coming Friday, when forward moving Mercury crashes into backwards moving Rahu.  This unnerves Mercury's nervous system and communications, an influence for feeling under attack.  To be accurate, this stressful interval should have been called the Mars/Rahu/Mercury conjunction -- for Mercury being in the midst of Mars/Rahu.

     There's been lots going on in the world, perhaps most notably the fall of governments in Lebanon and Tunisia and 102 pilgrims killed in stampede at Indian festival.  Extreme weather continues as well -- the Australia flood continues and Brazil was also hit by a flood. 

     Let's hope the world begins to calm now -- or to put it another way, let's hope Vedic Astrology's The Celestial Wheel is correct.  After all, by now, everyone knows about the media buzz that the astrology zodiac is wrong.

     This January 11with FOX News article, Age of Aquarius Actually Age of Capricorn, Thanks to Rotation of the Earth, first raised the issue, as though it were new information and startling news.  Adding to the confusion/concern is the mention of the thirteenth sign, Ophuchicus, which was removed thousands of years ago.

     Other media stories followed, some defending and explaining, but not clarifying the issue.  See:  CBS Why the New Zodiac Changes Nothing, New York Times Did Your Horoscope Predict This? Washington Post New Zodiac sign dates: Don't switch horoscopes yet.  This is a classic case of a news item going viral with no one slowing down to check the facts.  Well, it sure fits with the MercuryRahu conjunction.

     The issue is that the earth has a small and slow wobble in its orientation to the heavens -- one degree every seventy years.  This, called precession, has pushed the zodiac ahead now twenty four degrees of the actual positions of the stars, and thereby the signs (constellations), for those are made of stars.

     This article, Axial precession (astronomy, explains,

     As a picture is worth a thousand words, this drawing from the article shows precession, distinguishing it from the earth's 24 hour rotation.  So, while the earth rotates daily in its year-long journey around the Sun, it also rotates very slowly on its axis.

     The issue began when Ptolomy, a Greek at the library in Alexandria, decided to set the beginning of the first zodiac sign, Aries, to the spring equinox.  In that age of hunting and agriculture, it was vital to know when the seasons began to understand when animals migrated, when to plant crops, when to harvest....  Using this tropical (seasonal) zodiac made simple sense.  It created an observable calendar in the sky.  Doesn't this also jive with the constellations being mostly animal symbols?  Ptolomy knew of precession, which is also naturally called precession of the equinoxes.  The Indians did not adopt this view and have continued to use the sidereal -- star based -- zodiac.  

     For centuries, this didn't cause a problem because the two zodiacs diverge very slowly -- one degree every seventy years.  Later when the Roman Empire fell and the dark ages began, the knowledge of precession was lost.  No one knew to check whether the Western Tropical Zodiac was still accurate or disconnected from the heavens.  See Sidereal astrology, which cogently states the issue,

    The Catholic Church, finding as most churches do, that astrology competed for their believers, burned the astrology books in Europe -- and probably a lot of astrologers.  Another factor is that medieval scientists also believed in alchemy and astrology.  With alchemy gradually debunked because it didn't work, astrology naturally followed. (Note: Hinduism does not have a conflict with astrology because their Vedic Astrology, called Jyoitish, is integral to their religion.)

     By the nineteenth century, Western Tropical Astrology had vanished.  Folks in the latter part of that century began to gather together the bits and pieces of remaining astrology books and consulted with both Arabs and Indians to reinvent Western Astrology.  As psychology was emerging then, folks like Sigmond Frued and Carl Jung, both interested in astrology, stamped the reinvented system as a psychological model.  The library at the American College of Vedic Astrology holds a letter from Jung to the great Indian astrologer, B.V. Raman, inquiring about astrology and explaining he employed it in his work with patients.  A simple way to verify this reinvention of Western Tropical Astrology is to search for a Western Astrology book written before 1870.  There aren't any.

     In the meantime, modern astronomy rediscovered precession, again in the nineteenth century, but curiously, the astrologers didn't look up from their charts to see their Tropical Zodiac was then nearly twenty three degrees advanced beyond the astronomical positions of the stars and hence the constellations which are made of stars.  It wasn't until about 1920 that the connection was made, and by then modern Tropical Astrology was firmly entrenched in the West.

     When I first began studying astrology under James Braha in 1996, he asked me to read some Western Tropical texts as well.  After all, even this pioneer in bringing Eastern Vedic Astrology to the West was first a Western Astrologer.  One never completely gives up ones native tongue.  I didn't care for this psychological model astrology, as it seemed to be just that, not an events and circumstances predictive craft, which Vedic Astrology offered. That astrology's disconnection from the heavens also caused concern.  I acknowledge, however, that Western Tropical Astrology has value in its psychology because its primary tool is aspects -- the relationships the planets have to each other, which don't change with the starting point of the zodiac.  Similarly, it doesn't matter when an auto race starts with regard to how the cars are aligned at the finish.

     Western Astrologers don't dispute this history, nor the fact that their astrology is a psychological one, not predictive.  Still, as people naturally visit astrologers to learn their future, Western Astrologers respond, with a psychological orientation.  Well, don't other counselors do the same?  Visit a physician, and he'll give you a treatment of some kind, even if he doesn't really know what's wrong with you.  Does this add to the confusion?  Yup.  Consider too that nearly all the early Vedic astrologers in the West studied Western Tropical first. Since then, Western converts to Vedic Astrology have the same issue. Some even call themselves Neo-Vedic Astrologers -- meaning New Vedic.  Frankly, I would not be so bold as to change this truly ancient astrology which has been empirically tested for millennia by astrologers in India's enduring society, which, by the way, can still today read original Sanskrit texts. 

     Will this issue ever be settled?  Probably not.  Belief systems, whether astrological, religious, social or political, don't easily yield.

     I will close here with one particularly prickly issue -- the Sun Sign.  Western Astrology uses ten planets.  Relying upon your Sun's sign -- ignoring the other nine planets -- is like going into a store to buy a new shirt but not defining the size, fabric, style, cost....  Of course, if you're a Libra, you'll make a well balanced choice.

PS Don't sweat the new sign/constellation Ophuchicus.  It was discarded over two thousand years ago, and no one has missed it until FOX News made that claim.

January 21, 2011

Mars/Sun

      The Mars/Rahu (with Mercury) conjunction from early December through mid January is thankfully over.  I'll do a Predictions Check forecast as soon the the dust settles.

     Now we have to contend with a pretty long conjunction of the Pitta (fiery) planets the Sun and Mars.  This is not unusual, for it happens every 1 1/2 to 2 years as the Sun in its annual trek around the zodiac runs into slower moving Mars.   The last Sun/Mars conjunction was in late November 2008.  A surge of violences at home and abroad resulted, as described in the November 29, 2008 Short-subject Commentary.  That was particularly difficult because Mercury was included, and the location was dangerous Scorpio in the U.S. twelfth house of loss.  Still, that experience gives us historical characteristics for this combination.

     Before readers mutter, Here we go again -- more Darth Vedic doom, keep in mind, there is always something going on, just like with the weather.  And, it's good to have a planetary weather forecast to plan your activities.

      The Sun and Mars are both Pitta (fiery) planets.  The Sun is leadership, power, confidence, initiative, health matters, courage, authority and gold.  The Sun is the father and governs the head, right eye, heart, circulation, spine and skeleton.  Mars is similarly action-oriented, but his tone is less civil, and certainly not gracious.  Mars is anger, disputes, oppression, fighting, war, accidents, engineering, fire, weapons, machinery sports and sex. He's also the hands, brothers, animals, infections and farmers.  Physically he governs blood, muscles, strength.

     The location is Capricorn, ruled by restrictive Saturn.  The Sun is constrained here, but Mars is exalted, even though he doesn't get along with Saturn either.  It is said Mars is so powerful in Capricorn because he fights his hardest in the sign of his great enemy.  This tilts the energy balance toward Mars, making Sun significations the loser.

     Sensitive areas include: fighting for government power, leaders attacked, fires/explosions, arguments, temper tantrums, fires, head, eye and hand injuries, cardiac stress, back pain, infections, muscle contractions, dog injuries,  and emergency room visits. Gold prices may spike up.  Specific effects relate to the individual chart. If the first house, then arguments and accidents.  If the second house, discord in the home and income problems.....  Overall, it's best to to be circumspect in ones activities, especially if you're a risk taker, whether in sports, investments, etc.  Yes, you could ski your fastest, and you could make a quick killing in stocks. But you could also hit a tree or make a too aggressive investment move that backfires.  (Note:  Haiti is already bubbling.  I have finally a good chart for Haiti and plan an update on the January 24, 2010, Haiti -- A Metaphor And More.)

     The Sun will continue to approach Mars until February 4.  Then they conjoin exactly and begin to slowly separate.  The karma builds until the exact conjunction. It won't be until February 14, however, that the Sun will escape into the next sign -- Aquarius -- away from Mars. So we have 3 1/2 weeks ahead of this stress with which to deal.

     This discussion is a good example of how The Celestial Wheel address planetary karmas that impact us personally, as well as world events.

Astrology's Zodiac Is Debunked

     The above January 16 entry explained this issue, which went viral after the Fox News January 11 article, Age of Aquarius Actually Age of Capricorn, Thanks to Rotation of the Earth, which was wildly inaccurate and inflammatory.

     I distributed my explanation as fully as possible and also complained to media reporting on it.  Melissa Bell, who wrote the Washington Post article actually responded -- three times!

     While incorrect media reports harm truth, the saying, All press is good press, is also valid.  I complained to several media.  The exchange with the Washington Post writer Melissa Bell helped correct misconceptions, advanced Vedic Astrology and can lead to more opportunities to educate people about this uniquely predictive craft.

Coming Up

     There are only so many hours in the day, and I've gotten a little behind on finishing composing pertinent forecasts.  Too, Mars/Rahu both kept me hopping and snowed me in.  Here's a list,

A Practical Use For The Vedic Sun -- seasonal influences upon people

Planetary DNA -- how Vedic planetary karmas reflect DNA, free will and personal developement.

Saturn Retrograde Coming January 25  -- another earth crust event is likely

Inflation -- food, gas

Mars/Rahu Conjunction Predictions Check

Update Haiti Analysis

2011 Annual Forecast

Why Sarah Palin Memorabilia Is Not Investment Grade

January 24, 2011

Heads-up for Tomorrow -- Mars Tuesday

     Today is the Moon's day of the week, and tomorrow belongs to Mars.  Invasions, explosions and other destructions often occur on a Mars Tuesday -- if Mars signifies those in its celestial position and associations with other planets.  Or, as my first Vedic teacher would say, if other significations agree.  That is, another destructive karma occurs when Mars is dangerous, then a calamitous event is likely.

     With Mars afflicting the Sun as described in the the above January 21 entry, Mars' day of the week would naturally be more sensitive due to Mars' attenuated influence.

     I also mentioned in the last section, Coming Up, Saturn Retrograde Coming January 25 -- another earth crust event is likely.  Saturn grinds to a halt tonight, just after midnight.  Saturn stays powerfully motionless until it turns retrograde at midnight tomorrow.

     The combination of the Sun/Mars conjunction and Saturn turning retrograde can signify another earth crust event.

     This Saturn turning retrograde signifying earth crust events was clearly shown last January, as per the next section.

     However, as Sun/Mars can stimulate Saturn-indicated earth crust events, then Saturn turning retrograde can stimulate Sun/Mars violences.  Saturn is already moving very slowly as it approaches retrograde, and today's Moscow airport blast: Suicide bomb kills 29 appears to fit that combination of planetary karmas.

Last Year's Haiti Earthquake & Two Volcanoes

     The Tuesday January 12, 2010 Haiti earthquake occurred when Saturn last turned retrograde. This results from Saturn being form and structure and things under the earth -- tectonic plates -- and Saturn transiting Virgo, an earth sign.  Changeable Mercury rules Virgo, making this planet that sign's foundation and Saturn its current resident.  Thus, we would expect Saturn's transit through Virgo to indicate heightened earth crust events.  There was been an uptick in earthquakes and volcanoes in 2010, proving the point.

     When the Haiti earthquake struck, at 4:53 PM EST, Saturn was slowing down to stop in preparation for its retrograde beginning January 13 at 9:00 AM.  The astrology term is station.  When a planet slows down to stop, it becomes temporarily very powerful.  Saturn's station indicated a tectonics plates pressaure increase.  Virgo's Mercury foundation was weakly retrograde then -- one tectonic plate thereby pushed over another at a fault line, stimulating the earthquake.

     I predicted an earth crust event during this interval in the January, 2010 Celestial Wheel.  The January 9 stated, underground fire blasting through the earth into the air and predicted an earth crust event in one of four regions, including South America and the Caribbean.

   The January 14 entry stated, there was a delayed report in the Chinese press of a volcanic eruption in Ecuador January 12 -- the Tungurahua volcano.   ...Just now found on the web, another South American volcano erupted yesterday, the Planchon-Peteroa Volcano.  It is located on the border between Chili and Argentina. Again, there's little media coverage -- only a small blurb in Volcano Live.

     The Ecuadorian volcano didn't kill anyone due to its isolated location.  But if the Haiti earthquake hadn't occured, it would have grabbed headlines.

January 27, 2011

International News: Day of Protests

     The above January 21 entry described the current Mars/Sun conjunction, Sensitive areas include: fighting for government power, leaders attacked, fires/explosions, arguments, temper tantrums, fires, head, eye and hand injuries, cardiac stress, back pain, infections, muscle contractions, dog injuries, and emergency room visits. Gold prices may spike up. The conjunction continues to be intense until February 4 and then gradually eases off.

     The following entry, January 24, cautioned, This Saturn turning retrograde signifying earth crust events was clearly shown last January... However, as Sun/Mars can stimulate Saturn-indicated earth crust events, then Saturn turning retrograde can stimulate Sun/Mars violences.   Saturn is already moving very slowly as it approaches retrograde, and today's Moscow airport blast: Suicide bomb kills 29 appears to fit that combination of planetary karmas. 

    There were major violent protests on Mars' Tuesday, which continued into Mercury Wednesday,

     Egyptians denounce Mubarak, clash with riot police

     Violence engulfs Lebanon as new prime minister named

     Palestinians react angrily to al-Jazeera's 'Palestine Papers'

     Melissa Bell's Washington Post BLOGPOST picked up on this in this morning's post International news: Day of Protests.  Yes, this is the same media writer with whom I corresponded in the January 21 entry's section, Astrology's Zodiac Is Debunked.  If Melissa was a Celestial Wheel paid Participant, she would have anticipated this.

     As regards, leaders attacked, see Egypt president's son, family flee to Britain.

And Two Volcanoes 

     There have been volcanic eruptions during the sensitive interval, Saturn grinds to a halt tonight, just after midnight (Tuesday).  Saturn stays powerfully motionless until it turns retrograde at midnight tomorrow (Wednesday).  See,  Volcano Erupts in Southern Japan, Smoke Seen 5,000 Feet Above the Crater, International flights cancelled after volcano erupts in central Indonesia and, Volcano ash stops Bali flights.  This is a good example of the practical value to people in their daily lives.

Lightning and fire: Japan on alert after volcano's biggest eruption in 50 years

Tweaking The Celestial Wheel

     As economic tightening continues, yesterday I tweaked the mix of  forecasting.  Now Short-subject Commentaries are Exclusive to paid Participants, and all In-depth Forecasts are Free to the public.

I was mixing these previously, which didn't serve either group effectively and created confusion.  Your Participation doesn't change.  Hopefully, increased readership will build the paid Participation base to better enable my composing both types of forecasting.  Naturally too, if more folks who read Celestial Wheel information, then the goal of bringing forward The News Before It Happens will advance.

Tweaking Vedic Predictive Astrology

   I also refined the fee structure for New Client yesterday on my companion web site, Vedic Predictive Astrology.com.  Increasingly, folks of moderate means are finding their budgets stretched.  I preserved the inexpensive base Life consultation at $150 ad shifted the positioning to make it more visible.  Most new clients are professionals with their more complex and higher value career issues.  I thereby moved up the Life/Astrocartography fee to $280 and enhanced that service by including a three month Subscription Participation to The Celestial Wheel.

January 31, 2011

Heads-Up

     The following was emailed directly to Subscriber Participants today,