Do Planets Discriminate In Their Blessings?

 I received an interesting and intelligent question regarding my article “The planets(Stars) And You”. It read:

“This was an excellent read, ma'am. Very well written, as usual and was very informative as well.

I understand about Karma and its effect and also understand that the future is written in pencil and can be changed.

What I don't understand is about the influence of planets. This is where my ignorance takes over and I am in total darkness about the influence of planets and their effects on us.

Ma’am are the planets really influencing us in real time or they are just used as archetypes or representations of certain influences to make us understand. Are the planets and their influences used only for the purpose of illustration or they have a real impact?

Planets are heavenly bodies and should their presence not have an equal influence on all humans irrespective if their date of birth? For example the gravitational pull of the moon is on all water bodies equally why would it be different of different people based on their date or time and place of birth. Yes, the planets are in a different and unique position at the birth but as the person grows and others grow around him or her won't the influence of the planets start getting more and more equal for all people. After all the position of the planets is similar in relation to the earth at a given time hence for everyone on earth for that matter.

What about animals. Do they have a horoscope too and are influenced by planets at the time of their birth.

Can you please shed some light to dispel my ignorance, please.”

Gravitational pull of Moon on water

Gravitational pull of Moon on water happens everywhere. But are the effect same on the water inside a well, a river, a lake and an ocean? Similarly, the effect varies on different individuals based on their birth chart.

Yes, the planets influence us in real time

The planets have real time influence on all the beings on the earth. On full moons, the nectar of moon resides in the head region, which is why it is a great time for meditation for one on spiritual path.

Ancient authorities like Aristotle, Paracelsus, and Pliny the Elder thought some humans were driven crazy by the full Moon. The Latin name for the Moon—Luna—is the root of modern words like “lunacy,” “lunatic,” and even “loon,” as in “crazy as a loon.” Even today, many doctors, nurses, EMTs, police officers, and elementary school teachers agree that full Moons will bring out bizarre behavior—43 percent of healthcare professionals believe in what some call “the lunar influence,” as do 81 percent of mental healthcare specialists.

In 2017, a renowned psychiatrist called Thomas Wehr published a paper describing 17 patients with rapid-cycling bipolar disorder – a form of the illness where people switch between depression and mania more quickly than usual, showed an uncanny regularity in their episodes of illness.  These rhythms appeared to correlate with certain gravitational cycles of the Moon.

When Mercury goes retrograde, we experience an increase in delays, frustrations, miscommunications and even technological mishaps.

Planetary influence

The nature, for that matter, the whole Universe is always with us, showering blessings on us every second. For example, for every person in India (it is not same for all the countries, as the angle of the Sun’s rays has the effect) who exposes himself/herself to the early morning Sunlight, the eyesight will improve or be maintained. Also, the body will get enough Vitamin D, keeping the bones healthy.

Now imagine, a person is sleeping in a dark air conditioned room at the time of Sunrise. Will he benefit? Another lady is standing with Sunscreen lavishly applied on the body. The Sunlight will hasten the absorption of all the chemicals into the body, leading to deleterious effects. Because our body doesn’t recognize human manufactured chemicals, whether taken orally or applied on the body.

Influence of Planets on all humans equal?

Depending on the birth time and place, the planets are positioned in different areas of our birth chart. For example, Sun in a particular area of the chart can make one very egoistic; Jupiter in another position can make a person interested in occult sciences.

It is easy to understand with the example given above, like the person sleeping at the Sunrise. The position of a planet in one’s birth chart may act like the closed room, not giving benefits. In another person’s chart, the planet is positioned in such a favourable position that he/she benefits tremendously.

Animals and planetary influence

If the planetary influence is same for all animals, either all dogs should be getting killed in accidents on the road, or all dogs should be travelling on chartered planes with their owners. What do you think? 

And yes, there’s pet astrology which tells that pets born under Cancer (a water sign ruled by the moon) tend to be very sensitive and moody.

References:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5524624/ 

https://www.almanac.com/can-full-moon-affect-your-mood

https://www.everydayhealth.com/pet-health/pet-astrology-are-you-your-pet-compatible/

The Planets (Stars) And Us

I was fascinated by astrology since childhood. Some people think it is just superstition and others think it is pure mathematics. My father and an uncle (his brother) had a reasonable knowledge of Vedic astrology and three decades back I took some lessons from them. During college days, I read from cover to cover Linda Goodman’s “Sun sign” and “Star signs”.

Then twenty years back my Rakhee brother gave me “How to judge a nativity” by Alan Leo, a book on western astrology of 353 pages, to read and return. I took down notes from the whole book.  Even with all this background knowledge, it was still very confusing to me and I never practiced reading charts in a big way.

Two years back I came to know of “Falit Jyotish” Vedicastrology lessons in Hindi by Sri. Shrawan Jha “Ashutosh”  from my daughter. From then on I am listening to his online lessons and making notes. He is too good, very thorough in his knowledge, makes complicated concepts simple and easy to remember.  

Reading charts- is it all predetermined?

Last year I started reading charts and was astonished at the effect of planets on our lives. It is amazing how it can help us to make decisions and find peace in any prevailing situation. A common belief in those who believe in astrology is that we are helpless victims of the planets and the only way out is to chant mantras and do remedies to pacify the planets having malefic influence on us.

Opening of the inner eye

As per Jha sir’s recommendation, I was reading “Phaldeepika Bhavartha Bodhini “, a translation by Jha & Jha yesterday. The first few pages and a lightning struck my inner eye. It is written, “Astrologers know that the karma of a person in the past lives has resulted in the present birth. We are here to bear the brunt or to enjoy the effects of stars. Still the God Almighty has given us a Will to improve or tarnish our destiny.” WHAT! We can improve or tarnish our destiny? How?

Example of Ravana and Rama

He takes up the example of Ravana and Rama to illustrate this. The difference between their horoscopes is that the Rising Sign of Ravana was Aries and that of Rama was Cancer.

Ravana was a person who could never be defeated, surrounded by good counsellors and was a Brahmin of the highest class. Exalted Saturn in 7^th house gave Ravana a faithful, good looking wife. Exalted Mars in the 10^th house made him conquer the world, the Moon and Jupiter in the 4^th house in Cancer gave him the throne of Shri Lanka, the city of gold.

But he strayed from the path of religion and wanted Sita for himself. No sooner he left the path of morality, religion and ethics, than he became arrogant and his stars lost the lustre and power. They became incapable to help him. He kicked his brother Vibhishan out, reducing the effects of Mars, bringing about his fall and death. He would not listen to his wife and older people of his court and his exalted Saturn lost the power to protect him.

Rama was the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, but Ravana had the blessing of lord Shiva. Just because his father desired him to leave- Rama did and so he improved his Sun. Love and support of his brother Lakshman strengthened his Mars. Respect for spiritual and religious people improved his Jupiter and Saturn. Therefore with almost parallel horoscopes Rama triumphed and Ravana did not.

One who does not want others to be killed, has control on his/her senses (behaviour and mind) and earns his living in a  righteous manner, always follows the rules and principles laid down in the scriptures, the planets remain pleased and are always favourable.

Hold onto moral principles

Many people with economic securities forget the line of demarcation, forget the moral principles of life, they earn their wealth without any adherence to how they do it, cast their lustful looks left and right, then other evil creep in.

When Ravana could not accomplish his desires because it was against the structure of the society of that time then how can a frail person of modern times attain it? Even if for a moment it is gained, against all odds, it is a temporary gain and ends in mental anguish. Then they go to astrologers and ask for remedies, without realising that because of their karmas their stars have already lost their hue, lustre, and power.

By one bad action, all good effects of planets are washed out and by one good deed even debilitated planets show effects like exalted planets. So, Astrology is great, mathematical interpretations are fine, but unless we follow a moral path and keep the planets happy, good results will not come from a horoscope.  Such is the deep impact of your Karma!

Getting Charged Up In The Forest

Deep into the forest

After attending the Hornbill Festival in Dandeli on 11^th and 12^th of February 2023, we decided to stay inside the forest for a day. After lunch at the festival venue, we drove down to the place of stay. The room had many netted windows overlooking the forest. The cool wind was blowing in and after the heavy lunch, the body was induced into a deep afternoon nap.  Such a rejuvenating nap!

Dusk and night in the lap of Nature

We went out and had some snack and tea, came back to the room and was ready to spend the time till our sleep watching the surrounding and   blending with Nature. The silence around was so therapeutic. I could hear the sound of falling dried leaves on the ground! Can you imagine how soothing it was to the inner space?

The lizard’s message

We decided to do meditation inside the room before going out to sit in the verandah late into the night. As I sat, I had a question in my mind and looked around for the answer (I am so used to this). And I spotted a huge lizard on the roof, and I got my answer. It was not the usual lizard we see in our houses. It was darker in color, the body was broader and the tail was a short one. Excitedly I showed it to my husband who noticed that it was not moving at all. He told it was dead, we watched it continuously for a good amount of time and saw absolutely no movement at all. I wanted to take its photograph, but he told since it is dead, we will do that in the morning (which I regretted badly later). We finished our meditation and then I looked up to find that the lizard had disappeared.

                                         This closely resembles the lizard we saw in the room

The Night out

We went into the verandah, pulled two chairs and watched the sky and surrounding. As I kept looking at the sky, in a clearance between the canopy of tree leaves, suddenly the aura of all those leaves appeared, moving from the outline of the leaves towards the central clearance. It was such a divine, elevating experience; I wish I could transfer that feeling to those who read this!

As it started becoming darker, stars began to appear in the sky. In a short time, the sky was totally star studded, hardly any clear space between the stars was seen. Then the moon came out. It was a half size moon, but it shone so bright. The moon light flooding the verandah resembled that of a full moon.

To supplement the experience, there was a cool breeze caressing our body and face, soaking us with pure, heavenly energy. We sat there to our heart’s content and then went inside to have a deep, peaceful sleep.

We were blessed with the view of a beautiful Sun rise in the morning.

Energies from the sea vs forest

It is our habit to go and spent time near the sea quite often. I felt that the way the body was energised and rejuvenated in the forest was different from the sea. The intellectual mind started analysing. When I sit and watch the sea for hours, it begins to energise my body from outer to inner layers. But in the forest, in one sweep, the body and mind are lifted to another dimension.

I have to mention another aspect too. When we are near the sea, we have access to the internet, but here, we were totally cut off from those external vibrations.  This is one thing I would like everyone to experience once in a while, to keep the divinity within you active!