Looking to the trio of eclipses during August-September of 2016, we note several important issues having some impact during this period. Saturn will station and turn direct on the day of the August eclipse. The Sun will also change signs and move into Leo on the day before the August eclipse and will be at strength. Jupiter has moved into Virgo and Mercury gets ready to change signs. The stage is set for the “non-visible” eclipse of August 18.
Full Moon and non-visible eclipse
Eclipses herald change, and the house the eclipse takes place – in your birth chart – is where you can expect to experience a change in your life. As this eclipse is somewhat hidden, the effects are going to occur in a hidden part of your life. If you have buried something in the basement of the unconscious, then Ketu, conjunct this eclipse moon, is going to do this task of tipping this karma out into a very uncomfortable place which will have you feeling stuck. The shadow of the earth will just miss the Moon. So it may “feel” to us like a lunar eclipse day because of the conjunctions, it will not be visible because of the degrees involved. To see an animation visual of this, visit this link: http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/lunar/2016-august-18
Eclipses are full of energy. We may look to the time of the eclipse (see the link above) and take the time to do Earth Honouring. It is taught in Vedic Astrology that the time of the eclipse energy is magnified to the power of 100,000: prayer, meditation, good thoughts and well wishing for the Earth will take all this multiplied energy and use it for benefit – in areas where desertification is being reduced, denudation of forests is being reversed (REDD), acidification of waters is being managed, and what is truly needed is energy to go industries where holes are being dug in the ground. Every time a hole is dug in the ground for mining of fossil fuels, there is a counter-effect elsewhere in the universe. Every time fossil fuels are exhausted and spent, there is a counter effect in this universe. Keep in mind that universe in Sanskrit is jagat, which means coming-going; and all this coming-going is brought about by action, karma. We may take the energy that is given in a time of eclipse – even an “almost eclipse” – (because the planets are at the eclipse points) and use it for the benefit of the Earth our Mother. A question is put: Where would we be without the Earth our Mother.
We were speaking of a hidden eclipse. We were speaking about matters hidden that are brought into the light of day. Regard this photograph above: it is a hidden space vessel presented as a cloud-ship over Columbia (in the Caribbean) early July of 2016. It may well be with so many planets sandi and so many things stuck that other matters hidden may come to light as the fruition of this eclipse. Although Jupiter is largely sandhi and deprived of power, it is far away from Rahu – out of the orb of influence – and extended spiritual effort by way of action, selfless service, is possible.
Hayagreeva and the Return of the Light
The day of the almost-eclipse is also Hayagreeva Jayanti, the birthday of the incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the one with the horse head. This is one of the lesser known incarnations of Lord Vishnu, and it ought be kept in mind that Hayagreeva is the avatar for Krittika Yuga, what is otherwise known as the Golden Age.
There are several legends associated with how Lord Vishnu got the horse-head in Hayagreeva incarnation. In some legends, it is said that a jealous Indra, the king of demi-gods, purposefully snapped the string of a bow on which Lord Vishnu was resting his head. When the string snapped the head of Lord Vishnu got cut. It was replaced with the head of a horse.
It should be kept in mind that there is light in the world because the Vedas are here. This legend of theft of the Vedas tells that all the worlds were plunged into darkness. Lord Brahma, the creator, could not create self-effulgent light because the basis, the order of the Universe, was not present. One cannot have light without the basis for the self-effulgent light to exist. This basis are the Vedas. At the time of this incident there were many other vedas as well, which have been lost over the aeons.
Hayagreeva and Knowledge
In Hayagreeva Upanishad, Sage Narada approaches Lord Brahma and asks for knowledge of Brahmam, that knowledge which destroys sins (inner failings, transgressions, etc) quickly. Brahma replies, “The one who masters the mantras for which Lord Hayagreeva is the master would know Sruthi (heard knowledge), Smrithi (memorised knowledge), Ithihasas (history) and Puranas (epics) and would be blessed with all types of wealth. The wealth with Sri Hayagreeva may give us is a wealth of knowledge, which when known, all else is known: that knowledge is that of very Brahmam, itself.
The Lord of Vaikuntha (Vishnu, the Supreme Divinity) has immeasurable attributes; in fact, all attributes of Srishti (creation) are attributes of divinity. These attributes are called Kalyana Gunas. So you will understand that the number of auspicious Kalyana Gunas of Sri Vishnu as the supreme God is countless, but these six are the most important:
- Jnana (Omniscience), defined as the power to know about all beings simultaneously
- Aishvarya (Sovereignty), derived from the word Ishvara, which consists in unchallenged rule over all
- Shakti (Power or Energy), which is the capacity to make the impossible possible
- Bala (Strength), which is the capacity to support everything by will and without any fatigue
- Virya (Vigour), which indicates the power to retain immateriality as the supreme being in spite of being the material cause of mutable creations
- Tejas (Splendour), which expresses His self-sufficiency and the capacity to overpower everything by His spiritual effulgence.
The soulabhyam (ease of access) of Vishnu in all his incarnations is defined by two more Gunas: souseelyam and vatsalyam. Souseelya guna permits Him to mingle even with lowly ones readily in spite of His supremacy. Vaathsalya is the guna of great affection for those that seek refuge in Him by overlooking the dosams (deficiencies) that they have. This means Sri Hayagreeva is readily accessible to all who seek refuge in Him, and bestows very pure – supreme – knowledge on those who are devoted to Him.
Hayagreeva Gayatri Mantra
Armour of Hayagreeva
Link to Hayagreeva Kavacham: Armour of Hayagreeva: Web Archive
Saturn and Mars
Saturn has ceased retrograde motion, is stationary for a time, and then goes direct the day of this “almost-eclipse”. Saturn is transiting Scorpio at this time, and traditionally, it is expected that Saturn determines with lesser effort and energy in Scorpio. To strengthen Saturn, there is an exchange of Lordship with Ketu, who is co-lord with Mars in Scorpio. Meanwhile, Mars is transiting Scorpio, and approaches conjunction with Saturn. The co-efficient of friction is when things overheat and nothing can be done. There is so much heat. Think of a firefighter with hose and branch before of a wall of fire. There is little to do except to find safety and wait for the fire to pass. This is happening in a fixed sign, a water sign, a moksha sign (the end of things, the end of birth-death-rebirth), we may disaster involving water, we may see disaster involving fire. Keep in mind with the elements in Vedanta, that the fire element (agni) exists in water (jala). Keep in mind that in these times of global warming, heat is being captured and stored in the oceans.
On the day of the Mars-Saturn conjunction – August 24th – Venus will be moving towards its debilitation. What little energy Venus has left to offer in Leo before entering debilitation will be to reach out and offer the energy of self-composure, self-knowledge and self-respect in this time of extreme challenge and powerlessness. The more we adorn our lives with the gifts of Venus, the more strength and character we have to weather the storms of life. Honour Venus by doing something honourable in your personal environment, something graceful, something serene, and Venus will respond.
There is another way to honour Earth during the Mars-Saturn conjunction. And that is to keep control of our minds. Many think they have no control over their minds, this is not so. The mind is simply a bundle of thoughts. It is the servant, and will follow the master, the Intellect. First and foremost, control your thoughts. The clouds of these thoughts are moving about in the sky of your heart. The clouds, as they move, will cover the sun called the intellect and the moon called the mind. It is said, Chandrama manaso jataha (the moon was born out of the mind). The moon reflects the mind’s nature. The intellect is the reflection of the sun. Both of them move about in the sky of the heart.
Perhaps Rudyard Kipling’s Poem “If” gives example of what we might do internally within the self, as a form of earth honouring during this challenging time of Mars-Saturn conjunction. When we pass – for most of us – there will be the memory of the life we have lived. Kipling illustrates the farther reaches of inner challenges and good character:
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:.
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build’em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
this material recently appeared on narayanaoracle.com and is © Chris Parnell
