Nine Nights of the Goddess Durga & New Moon in Hasta: Awaken to the Light

The Moon and Sun come together at 1:05 am HT (GMT-10) October 6th in sidereal Virgo in the nakshatra Hasta. This New Moon marks the culmination of Pitru Paksha, the 16 days of shraddha to assist our ancestors in achieving liberation in Mahalaya Amavasya. This special day is honoring the calling of the Goddess Durga into form by Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva and leads into the festival of the Goddess Mother, Durga Navaratri, which begins on shukla pratipad, the first lunar phase of the waxing moon. Durga is the Warrior Goddess who uses all her many forms of Shakti to battle the shape-shifting buffalo-headed demon Mahishasura.  “Nava” is nine and “ratri” is night and as such the celebration takes place over 9 nights, with the 10th day being Vijaya Dasami, Victory Day. This festival comes in the fall, in the Shukla Paksha (Waxing phase of the Moon) in the Hindu month of Ashvin. There are many levels on which we can experience Navaratri; spiritually/personally, as we fast, practice sadhana, and battle our own inner demons,  seeking to integrate our shadows as Durga re-integrates the demon after she has slain him. Environmentally, this is coming after the fall equinox when in the Northern Hemisphere there is the harvest before the cold, darker days of winter arrive. Socially, as the celebrations and festivals are a time when the whole community will come together to act out the epic tale of Durga, pray and dance. Each night we worship a different form of Durga (the Navadurgas) and within the nine nights there are three segments where we also pass through three forms of the goddess: Kali, the dark one who helps us release the dead versions of our own ego to make way for our true self to emerge, Lakshmi, who nourishes us, and Saraswati, establishing us in purity of thoughts and words. Young girls will be offered gifts of food in the 8-10th tithi, or lunar phase, of Navaratri. In some lineages and regions of India, Saraswati is worshipped first and Kali last.

The nakshatra Hasta is entirely in Virgo and is represented by a hand open to release, so as to be open to receive. If we are holding tight to things that are not guiding us towards our light, then now is a time to let them go, so there can be room for what you do want to invite in. Ruled by Savitri, the Sun who awakens us on the horizon, it is an excellent star for setting our intentions and making manifest. The powerful Gayatri Mantra can be recited at sunrise.

This Moon joins the Sun, a combust Mars, and a Retrograde Mercury in Virgo, the sign of purity and health. We can expect some fiery upsets to our health, communication, and attempts at cleaning and organizing our environment. Virgo is ruled by Mercury and since Mercury is in exaltation in his own sign, we can see that there is quite a bit of intelligence running, but the apparent retrograde motion can slow down the positive flow of communication and categorization. The Sun and Mars (especially in such close degrees) bring a bit too much heat for the sensitive disposition of Virgo and can cause fevers and viruses, physical burn out, and angry tempers to flare. Long deep breaths, sitali breathing (a cooling technique where we breathe in through our rolled tongue and exhale through the nose), time in water and green environments can help to alleviate some issues. Fasts or cleanses can be powerful right now as the Agni and discipline to purify is high and the primarily cooling and raw foods can help dissipate extra fire.

Venus has just joined Ketu in Scorpio, bringing our planet of love and happiness into the tumultuous sea of Scorpion fear and passion. We can get scared others will hurt us here, and in turn, lash out or become controlling. We can expect our relationships to ride the waves as emotions run high and deep and also feel the harsh cutting energy of Ketu’s void distancing us from the very thing we feel so intensely about! This will build up in the next few days until they are exact on October 9th, and the Moon also joins them. Scorpio is her sign of debilitation, precisely because of those emotional ups and downs and the lack of peace it can bring. Relationships can definitely get triggered here (or whatever part of life/house lord Venus is for you) so beware!

Saturn is going to be direct on the 10th of October, bringing his 5 month retrograde cycle to a close. Expect to grow in clarity as to what you want to commit to, work hard in service to and hopefully grow in your meditation practice too as you honor your solitude again. Saturn in his own sign of Capricorn is getting us comfortable with the uncomfortable; aloneness, aging, and death. While retrograde we could feel our internalized experience of these things but as he moves forward expect to see more output from this nihilistic graha. Jupiter will also station direct on the 17th, a week later, so we can expect our fear based principles and ideals to begin manifesting in the world a bit stronger. We may feel as though things have hit a pitch, but remember while retrograde, the energies of these planets can’t get out as easily. It backs up and while we are hyper aware of it within ourselves, we are not actually seeing the results in the world as much. Similar to a year ago when these two outer planets joined in this same place, we will see how we sit with our fear and what we believe should be done about it.

These are not easy times, and the tale of Goddess Durga is a wonderful way to channel your fear, hope, pain and promise and allow it too to be re-imagined with the support, grace and abundance of the Goddess. After she slays the demon, the crowd circles around Durga, astride her massive tiger and watches as she takes a beautiful breath and sucks the body of Mahishasura back into her being, to become part of the whole again. She then turns to her children and reminds them that she is always here and will always help us. We need only call her name to bring her into being. Blessed Navaratri. Jai Maa!

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