Mars enters the transition area called gandanta on Saturday, August 8th and stays there until August 16th with the August 15-17 time window being the most difficult. People ruled by Mars like Aries or Scorpio rising will feel the impact most. There are several different perspectives considered.
Understanding Gandanta:
Vedic astrology has signs following certain order; the four great goals of life (dharma, wealth, NEEDFUL desires and freedom from the cycle of rebirth) are repeated around the birth chart commencing from Aries with dharma leading. Signs are of a movable, fixed and mutable nature, also starting from Aries. The signs also signify the elements – Fire, Earth, Air and Water – commencing from Aries. The transition from a water to fire sign for Sun and Moon is called gandanta, and those souls born with one or another planet in such a position (from 27° Pisces to 3° Aries or from 27° Cancer to 3° – or from 27° Scorpio to 3° Sagittarius) are said to have this gandanta state, a life path confronted with a fundamental challenge which remains with that soul for the life of the body. It is a complicated and intricate knot, not unlike a Gordian knot.
We know this gandanta state occurs in the transition points between the water and the fire signs between 27-3 degrees Pisces, Cancer and Scorpio. Transits through these degrees are difficult matters for any planet, as these points in the zodiac either present unsolvable problems, or bring back matters we had overlooked or failed to resolve last time around. Now, Mars enters the transition area on Saturday, August 8th and stays there until August 16th with the August 15-17 time window being the most difficult. People ruled by Mars like Aries or Scorpio rising will feel the impact most.
We also note that the Sun will be moving from Cancer to Leo (that is, from water to fire sign and hence, through Gandanta) from 14 August through 19 August.
World of Transformation
We note that Covid 19 is a kapha disease, of the lungs, the bronchia, the respiratory system. According to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, COVID-19 makes people feel sick in different ways, but it usually affects the lungs. People usually cough and have difficulty breathing. They often also have a fever, chills, headache, pain in their muscles, or trouble tasting or smelling things.
Mars in Pisces can exacerbate this situation as Mars frequently represents illness and operations, and Pisces is the natural 12th house, the sign of long-term hospitalisation. Mars is aspected by Saturn at this time, and while the aspect is weak, it is nonetheless a call to take matters slowly and take personal medical matters slowly. There is no quick fix for the ills of humanity, the matters need to be thought out and rendered out of the psyche or consciousness by a soul resolution – a letting go of the causes of illness on a deep inner level.
When we speak of a world of transformation, we address the matters brought up in the commons – they are, black lives matter (all lives matter, really), climate change and Covid-19. Due the presence of pitta element in the ruler of Aries (Mars), and that Aries is a fire sign – that this world of transformation is connected to global warming, glacier ice melt, subsequent loss of species, greenhouse gases locked in the atmosphere, hole in ozone layer causing melanomas and skin cancers, and climate change generally. No matter what we wish to call this, there is a problem with our planet and we are all faced with a challenge. There is a need for world transformation.
Jupiter, the guru of the zodiac, resides in his own sign of Sagittarius, albeit retrograde. Sagittarius is the natural ninth house, and home of the Hierophant – Jupiter, who multiplies philosophical knowledge, religious truths, higher learning. We note that Jupiter is conjunct Ketu, in the nakshatra of Mula, the place of destruction. This is an affliction to Jupiter and so represents something negative. Jupiter conjunct Ketu is propagating protests at inequality, racism, and disregard of people of colour. As Ketu is perpetually retrograde, this affliction will leave Jupiter when Ketu retrogrades to Scorpio on September 23rd. We can expect that protests will continue upto this time that Ketu leaves Sagittarius.
Change in the Rahu-Ketu axis is also a sign that we may be moving away from fake news to more of the truth in the media, as Rahu moves out of the natural house of communication and the media, Gemini.
We return to our topic, the Gandanta state and the gordian knot – the insoluble problems this presents.
At this time, we suggest taking a leaf out of the book of Saturn, and taking matters slowly and carefully, and taking our time with matters we would rather not be looking into. We may ask for help from the higher regions, from our spirit guides, our angels, our Ascended Masters, our ishta devata, our personal god with whom we have a relationship with. We may take time with insoluble problems and matters we passed over that have come back to haunt us, and allow our higher consciousness, our inner guidance, to assist us. We are fond of saying that the planets may raise us up, they may tear us down; it is up to us to make use of the planets. Taking time also allows to connect to the higher intellect, the higher consciousness via Ketu, who is currently in the place where this deeper connection is possible, in Mula nakshatra.
