At this time of Full Moon in March 2020, the great ‘fear mongering show’ abound the Earth as some claim pandemic, others engage in panic buying of canned good and toilet paper, and so many expose the state of their minds. Whom will the coronavirus strike next? Here, the planets offer some relief, especially for those who seek peace within.
Coronavirus:
At the time of writing, globally, more than 95,000 people have been diagnosed with the Coronavirus disease, the vast majority in China, with 3,015 deaths in China and 267 deaths across the globe, many in Italy and Iran. Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn may be said to be ramping up the fear and mass hysteria with Coronavirus. Pluto is the active agent for catharsis and release; there is transformation and healing. Pluto can empower, intensify, regenerate and renew our purpose in life. On the other hand, Pluto can probe, pierce, purge and cleanse, expel and exterminate where Saturn is slow, careful, dirty, dusty, limping along at an excruciating pace, ever so slowly, forcing the public health networks to take up their responsibilities.
The March Full Moon is in the 8th House. This rules mental pain, impurities, deaths, endless calamities, secrecy, hidden agendas, mystery diseases, and in this case, where the 8th House is Leo, fire sign, the fire is on to contain the virus and to protect the community. The full moon is aspected by Sun and Mercury; strong personalities prevail uttering “pandemic” whereas no solutions nor antidotes are found. Mercury is retrograde at this time so the message of dealing properly with the infections and preventing further infection is not being heeded. Mercury retrograde means the message is not reaching its target, the wider population, who are panic buying in supermarkets instead of taking sensible protections.
At the time of March Full Moon, Jupiter has the highest degree of any planet, and is atmakaraka, the soul principle, the King of the Full Moon Chart. Here, we find Jupiter aspecting the full moon in Leo, 9th drishti or aspect from Sagittarius. What does Jupiter offer us at this time, as atmakaraka? Jupiter is very strong, vargottama, in the same sign in both the natal chart and the navamsha charts. Strong Jupiter, what does this strong Atmakaraka planet offer us?
Jupiter calls us to return to the Soul, to listen to the small voice of inner resident of the soul, the purushartha, our true inner wealth and guidance: the voice of the Divine. Jupiter signifies the incoming of divine grace in this time of hysteria and panic. Divine grace is anugraha, the smallest of the small, but it is a seizer, it may seize us and take us up out of this world of maya, out of this world of the senses, the mind, the body, the touch, taste, smell, fear and trembling up to the divine heights of being-awareness-and-bliss where we find energy – frequency – vibration of Divine Love who has loved us forever.
Forever.
So how do we get there? How do we avoid the mass hysteria and panic of the nightly news, the radio bulletins, the sirens blaring, the blue plastic covered bodies with masks? How do we hold on to our true humanness in the time of this ‘fear mongering show’ ?
The Bank of Spirituality
There are several elements of spirituality – such as mystical experiences, transcendence, sanctification, spirituality as problem solving skill and spirituality as ethical and virtuous behaviour. These are the components of spiritual intelligence.
I’d like to take a moment to raise a distinction between religion and spirituality. Religion is an institution with organised beliefs. Spirituality, on other hand, is an experience.
Spirituality doesn’t require you to believe anything. Rather, spirituality constantly invites you to notice your experience. Your personal experience becomes your authority rather than something someone else has told you.
Spiritual practice imparts an awareness within you to what will bring you peace, and what will not bring peace. Every time we practice our spiritual principles, our values, we make a deposit in our character bank, our spiritual bank, as it were. The more we practice such values, the more we place these guides to action in place, we can come to rely on them in times of inner challenge, outer contests that strike to the foundation of who we are. We may rely on our character bank, our spiritual bank, to make withdrawals in times of intense confrontation with our inner sense of what is right, what is wrong. When we are challenged and may be tempted to turn to fear.
Fear is F E A R = False Expectations Appearing Real. Fear has no foundation in fact.
Through our character bank, our spiritual bank, our Bank of Spirituality, we come to know what is right for us, what brings love, what confers peace on all, what is right conduct which will lead to progressively good outcomes – and more – to what does not hurt other people (what we call non-violence) and what is truth for us, for one and all. None of these guides to action promote fear. They promote Peace, Love, Right Conduct, Truth and Non-Violence.
When the ‘fear mongering show’ raises its head in the media, we can, with the help of planet Jupiter, take a leaf out of our Bank of Spirituality and keep our inner peace. Our practice, our spiritual common sense is there to guide us with serenity and comfort when all appears to be falling apart around us. The glance, the dristhi of Jupiter to this Full Moon makes this offer to us in these troubled times. Take up the generosity of Jupiter and touch your inner peace at that deep, deep level where nothing in the world can come between us and what is inside us. Peace.
At this time we keep in mind that Kaal Sarp Yoga is in place – all planets except the Moon are between the lunar modes. The Moon is kemadruma – hemmed and troubled by the lunar nodes, and as the Moon is the presiding deity of the mind, uncertainty may abound. We may feel fearful, we may feel ungrounded, we may feel compressed by troublesome thoughts and energies on all sides. Once again, take up the generosity of Jupiter and touch your inner peace at that deep, deep level where nothing in the world can come between us and what is inside us.
The Full Moon Navamsha:
At this time of Full Moon, the moon is in the 4th house, Scorpio, once again, hinting at secrecy, mystery, mysterious illnesses, pandemics, like this. The Moon is strong in this sign, conjunct Mercury retrograde, again reinforcing the point that the message of dealing properly with the infections and preventing further infection is not being heeded. Moon is conjunct Mercury retrograde, the mind is taken over by the mass hysteria. For older people, the challenge is harder as older people are being confronted with the reality of illness and death.
The full Moon is conjunct Mercury, in the nakshatra of Mercury, aspected by Saturn. The aspect of Saturn suggests responsibility to the community at large and taking up sensible precautions, not precautions based on panic. We may wash our hands frequently, we may sneeze or cough into the tissue or kerchief, or our elbows. If needful, we may practice self-isolation, which Jyeshtha offers as seclusion.
There is much about this Coronavirus at this time of full Moon. Divine grace is present, there are the opportunities to take up resilience and determination from our bank of spirituality, and we may rely on both Jupiter and Saturn to raise us up to a much higher, more peaceful state of mind at this time.
Full Moon Meditation: Meditation on Light
View the full screen version of this meditation here
The most effective method of meditation
Set aside a few minutes, every day, in the beginning for this; later, you are sure to extend the period, when you experience the thrill of peace. Let it be the hours before dawn. This is preferable because the body is refreshed by sleep and the peregrinations of day-time have yet to impinge on the senses and distract physical and mental energy. Have a lamp, with a bright little flame, steady and straight, or a candle, before you. The flame does not diminish in lustre, however many lamps may be lit therefrom. So, the flame is the most appropriate symbol of the eternal Absolute.
If you can, sit cross-legged; if your are not able to sit thus, then sit in any comfortable position, in front of the flame. Look on the flame steadily and closing your eyes, try to feel it inside you, between your eyebrows. From there, let it descend down into the lotus of your heart, illumining the path. When it enters the heart, in the centre of the chest, imagine that the petals of the lotus bud open out, one by one, bathing every thought, feeling, emotion and impulse in the Light and removing darkness. There is no space now for darkness to take refuge; it has to flee before the flame. Imagine that the Light becomes wider, bigger, brighter. It pervades the limbs; they can no more busy themselves in dark, wicked, suspicious activities. They have become, you are conscious of it, instruments of Light, that is to say, of Love.
The Light reaches the tongue. Falsehood, slander, bragging and spite vanish from it. It reaches the eyes and the ears. All dark desires that infest and infect them are destroyed by the brilliant Light of Wisdom and Virtue. No more puerility, no more poisoning of the ear. Let your head be charged with Light; all wicked, vicious thoughts disappear, for, these are denizens of darkness. Imagine that Light in you more and more intensely — and it will be so. Let it shine all around you, enveloping you in the brilliance of Love; let it spread from you, in ever widening circles, taking into its fold your kith and kin, the loved ones, friends, companions — nay, strangers, foes, rivals, enemies — all men all over the world, all living beings — all Creation.
Do this every day, without break; for as long as you enjoy it; do this deeply and systematically; a time will certainly come when you can no more relish dark and evil thoughts, no more yearn for dark and sinister books, no more crave for toxic food and drinks, no more handle ugly demeaning things, no more suffer infliction of infamy or injury, no more formulate evil designs. You are then in the realm of the Divine, of Peace beyond words.
Stay on in that thrill, witnessing Light, being Light, everywhere, for all. If you are used to adoring God in any form, visualise that Form in that Light. For, Light is God; God is light. When light meets light, it is all Light. There is no boundary between your light and His Light. They merge, they fulfil.
In this peacelessness that is confounding the world, you must seek the higher spiritual peace; in that higher spiritual peace you can visualise Supreme Splendour and in that Supreme Splendour, the all-embracing Light (immanent and transcendent splendour, boundless, benign) is experienced; in that all-embracing Light, the Universal Eternal Absolute is experienced. When the individual meets the Universal it becomes Universal. I and I become we; we and he become only we. Practise this meditation, regularly everyday. At other times, repeat the Name of God (any name that arouses in you the spirit of adoration and devotion), always taking care to be intensely conscious of His Might, Mercy and Munificence.
You may download an MP3 file with the (jyothi) Light Meditation (given above) here.
