Maha Shivaratri & the New Moon in Purvabhadrapada: Awareness in Action!

Wednesday morning, March 6th at 8:04 am (PST) we begin our new cycle of the Moon at 21 degrees Aquarius. Aquarius is the sign of new horizons, changing the paradigm and social equality. An air sign, the intellect is the power used to devise these new social structures and ruled by Saturn, humility, fear and an awareness of time are the key factors propelling forward movement. The meditative quality of the New Moon comes from the fact that it is dark, unseen by the bright light of the Sun joining it instead of reflecting upon it. Our minds are at their darkest, and therefore least active. Our energy might be low and our collective need is to retreat to quiet and sit in pure consciousness. Saturn itself is gazing at the Moon and Sun here, within 3 degrees, bringing more severity and fear, but also a naturally meditative and detached state.

This New Moon also marks the end of Maha Shivaratri, the great night of Lord Shiva, celebrated in India as the 13th night and 14th day of the lunar month of Phalguna. Since Shiva is pure consciousness itself, it is technically a shivaratri every cycle as the Moon fades to black, but this month it is the great celebration because we are also fading out of winter and beckoning in Spring. In India and around the world, people will be meditating, chanting the names of Shiva and coming together in peaceful congregations to honor the destroyer of our attachments. Shiva is celebrated best with austerity, discipline and spiritual practice. It is the easiest to detach from our emotions and ego when the Moon is dark, because we are the least “full” of all the feelings and thoughts that keep us in and enjoying the world. It can be depressing for those who are still in great attachments. These things will be accentuated more by the Saturn dristhi.

As women, we often have our moon cycles synced to the Moon and as such, naturally go inside and release and let go as our bodies do the same. Nowadays, with so many ways our environments interrupt our natural rhythms, we may have to honor it for ourselves without the prompting from our bodies. One way to work towards syncing your cycle with the Moons, is to use heavy curtains or blinds to keep your room dark around the New Moon and let in a bit of light during the Full Moon. You can also use Moonstone or pearl to help regulate your cycle. Bleeding with the New Moon is considered a more fertile cycle, and also a healthier cycle in ancient feminine wisdom.

The star of this particular New Moon is called Purva Bhadrapada, the early blessed result (or foot), which is half in Aquarius and half in Pisces. It is ruled by Aja Ekapada, the one-footed goat and is associated with the spark of lightening that awakens one to Truth. It is that first awakening we experience on the path, but not the treading of the path itself. We often get caught up in that early glimpse and forget that there is much ahead, and at times the path might be treacherous. The goat must make his way up a scraggly mountain surface with only one foot. This requires some knowledge, as well as a lot of faith, which comes in the second part of this star.

Mercury has made its way into the watery and mystical realm of Pisces this last week and is beginning its retrograde cycle on the 5th. The planet of our buddhi; intellect, discrimination and communication, is considered debilitated in the all-merging sign of the fish. Here, thoughts swim in different directions and delineation is almost not possible. Our emotions and psychic experiences flow when Mercury is in Pisces and therefore hinder our capacity to think rationally, clearly and categorically. When Mercury is Retrograde, our capacity to think and communicate is slowed, delayed and sometimes even seems “reversed”. This combination of debility and retrograde motion can actually be a blessing, as we slow down and think before we speak, we might actually catch that spiritually-sound gem floating by! To boot, Jupiter, the ruler of Pisces is giving his energetic gaze from another water sign, Scorpio, offering his wisdom and generosity to our buddhi. Rather than a time to do taxes or organize your thoughts, this is a good time for free-form journaling, creative pursuits and connecting to your spiritual practices.

Jupiter, is himself, being given an energetic gaze, or drishti from the ruler of the sign he is in, as Mars in Aries offers strength, courage and discipline to do the inner work and reach great depths in our personal spiritual practices. Venus is in Capricorn, giving us a more grounded approach to our happiness-seeking. Here we want happiness that is material, actual and for us. It is a good time to set boundaries, and to map out what happiness for you really looks like and start doing the actual steps to get there. Since the South node of the Moon is still lingering in Capricorn, and within 10 degrees of Venus, we might feel a bit withdrawn from our need to be happy and even from relationships in general. This adds to the capacity for us to seek true spiritual happiness as we will realize the shortcomings of the happiness that is based on mutual pleasure in the material world.

We are just weeks away from the nodal shift to Gemini/Sagittarius from Cancer/Capricorn and finishing the karma that met us from whatever house Capricorn resides in might be the pesky last work we need to do. Sweep the corners, dust the corners, clear out the last cobwebs you’ve been holding onto in that area of your life, so you can move on. From the Cancer end, hold onto whatever truth you have distilled from the cycle of the Mother and bring it forward with you as we move into a period of higher focus on discrimination and facts over faith and feelings.
Blessed New Moon and Maha Shivaratri, may we all find our greatness in our peace. Om Namah Shivaya.
Hari Ohm

Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra
Om Tryambakam Yajamahe Sugandhim Pushti-Vardhanam
Urvarukamiva Bandhanan Mrityormukshiya Mamritat
We worship the Three-eyed Lord who is fragrant and who nourishes and nurtures all beings. As is the ripened cucumber (with the intervention of the gardener) is freed from its bondage (to the creeper), may he liberate us from death for the sake of immortality.

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