Friday, June 5, 2020

The Lunar eclipse, Taoism and the Divine Feminine

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Penumbral Lunar Eclipse June 5-6 2020

In some of the oldest Taoist lineages, there is said to be universal Yin, galactic Yin, solar system Yin and Earth Yin. Solar system Yin and Earth Yin work together to make all life on Earth and by extension harness galactic and universal Yin to create and sustain life. These forms of Yin energy can be interpreted as representative of a divine feminine complex in Taoism.

In the Taoist paradigm, the divine feminine is first and foremost the Earth, followed by Water and then Wood or plant life. These three energies create, nurture and support all life on Earth and are represented by the three planets Earth, Mercury and Jupiter respectively.


Earth ~ The Golden Mother
The great Mother Earth is the creator of countless creatures and the mother of all energies. She is the ultimate sustainer and preserver tirelessly transforming Yang(masculine) into Yin(feminine). Her miracles are unfathomable. Soil is not an aggregate of random compounds. Soil is alive. More sublime than oil or uranium, Earth is one of the rarest forms of energy in the universe.

The Divine Feminine of the Moon

 In the Taoist paradigm, the full moon in Scorpio is said to be almost completely devoid of Yin, or feminine energy. Add in a lunar eclipse and the divine feminine represented by the Moon is compromised.  Lunacy in the Taoist mindset is caused by an absence of feminine energy in the mind and heart of individuals  . Lunar eclipses tend to affect the public adversely as the Moon is the kāraka of the public.


Mercury ~ The Divine Feminine of Water
In the Taoist view, Mercury represents the divine feminine energy which makes up Water. She has the power to catalyze life with the Earth by acting as an elemental bridge to connect with and co-harmonize with Yang and the other elements. 

Jupiter ~ The Divine Feminine of Wood
Jupiter is not assigned the qualities of ether like they are in the Vedic paradigm, instead it is assigned to represent the plants and trees, which in turn have the ability to absorb, channel and relate ether to the earth. Unlike water, wood and Earth have the ability to awaken man's senses to a subtler more profound order of reality. The goddess energy in plants is mankind's greatest asset to physical and spiritual evolution. The concept & culture of Soma has as much relation to Jupiter than it does to the Moon in the Taoist mindset.



Venus, kāraka of the feminine
According to the Taoist, Venus has many connotations that link it squarely as a male planet. Perhaps the uncanny Earth/Venus resonance may imbue Venus with some degree of Yin.

 For every 8 orbits the earth makes around the Sun, Venus will orbit almost exactly 13 times. The difference in orbital resonance between the Earth and Venus from the Fibonacci Golden Ratio is only approximately 0.46%. 
         
                                            The Venus Harmonic cycle

Every 8 years, Venus will retrograde near the very place of its Venus transit that occurs once in every 105.5 to 121.5 years. This makes a Venus transit rarer than a solar eclipse. The current retrograde cycle of Venus is a Venus harmonic cycle – the 8 year period the Earth and Venus align along the same stars of the zodiac as it does every century during the Venus transit. 

The current Venus Harmonic is in Rohiṇī occurring at approximately 19° 27' of Taurus. Every 8 years it will gradually drift into Kṛttikā over the next 100 years and then the Venus Harmonic cycle will begin in Jyeṣṭha for more than a century after that. 

After the last Venus harmonic year in 2012, the plight of women in India and Africa became transparent to the world.  The children rose up under the leadership of young girls against the world-wide complicity of allowing corporations and governments to turn a blind eye while being at the helm and controlling the swift rate of the destruction of our ecosystems.

The sky during this Venus harmonic year reflects an even worse hostile environment for women than the last one in 2012. It is a loud siren reminding us that we must do all we can to not only protect Women's Rights, but the rights of all aspects of the divine feminine complex, the water, earth, plants and the public at large.

Lunar eclipse June 5-6 2020

As one can see, Venus the kāraka of the feminine is combust, thus not visible at all. The Moon is devoid of Yin. Mercury(water) is with Rāhu entering its retrograde pre-shadow and will be in the proximity of 3 eclipses this month. Jupiter(wood) is debilitated and uninvited while his host Saturn is svakśetra, retrograde and finally home after 30 years.

Mercury
The divine feminine energies of water(Mercury) are under constant assault by industries wishing to conceal their chemical waste by dumping daily into our oceans. A mass extinction event is currently occurring in our oceans and fresh water is becoming more and more a rare and expensive commodity.
 Worldwide, 780 million people do not have access to an improved water source. An estimated 2.5 billion people lack access to improved sanitation (more than 35% of the world's population)

Jupiter
The divine feminine energy of the plants and trees(Jupiter) has been in steady decline with manifold plant and tree species going extinct far beyond the background extinction rate.

More than one football field of forests are cut down every single second. There has been a global pandemic since the beginning of 2020, yet June just started and already 12 million hectares of forest have been destroyed with countless animal and bird habitats and species of rare plants gone extinct. Billions of years to create ... destroyed in a few centuries.
Astrology Symbols: planets and zodiac signs
The Earth is being polluted, contaminated and pumped with so many chemicals from unethical farming methods and unsustainable industries that the soil in many locations is dying and having difficulties growing anything at all. The soil is a living entity. In The Taoist perspective the soil sustains all life on Earth more than any god.
Pin by Teresa Volta on Yin yang | Yin yang, Yang, Yin

Yin and Yang are not templates to designate good and evil. On the contrary, Yin toxins can cause just as many problems as Yang toxins, but there is a long standing reverence for the superiority of the feminine over the masculine in the roots of Taoist ideology. This can be seen by the glorification of Yin in classics like the Huángdì Yǐnfújīng · 黃帝陰符經.

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Using the lens of Taoism to view the concept of Yin in nature and through the planets allows us to see the basic matrix of the divine feminine directly affecting every moment of our lives – the Earth, water(Mercury) and plant life(Jupiter). The current string of 3 eclipses against the backdrop of the current transits is a clear mirror showing humanity how men have not only let down its mothers, sisters, and daughters but all aspects of the divine feminine complex.


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Thursday, June 4, 2020

Shadow Zen 10 Tips for the debilitated lunar eclipse in Scorpio - June 5-6



1. Elder Moon


It is an enduring truth that the words of our elders cuts through the incessant advertisements for hate. It is times like these that we must keep the words, the culture and the advice of our elders close to our hearts. The debilitated moon in the nakṣatra of Jyeṣṭha "the elder" is imbued with Ãrohaṇa śakti indicating something rising up. Ketu is in the nakṣatra Mūla creating great friction with the culture of materialism in the shadow of corporatocracy. Ketu in the nakṣatra of Mūla is imbued with Barhaṇa śakti, a strong energy which can tear things apart or pull things out. These two nakṣatras, share four qualities. They are both tīkṣṇa(sharp, severe, harsh); rākṣasa(evil, malignant, demoniacal); vāṭa(a wind energy), and vāyu(gaseous quality.) Thus, being that the two eclipsing factors have these natures agitated Indra pūjā and staying indoors and working on personal transformation by tearing apart ones negative habits, is recommended. It is an opportune time to reconnect with the culture and words of our elders.

Indra Sukta


2. Holy Water

Though one should not drink water exposed to the light or shadow of the eclipse, water is made holy for ritualistic and bathing purposes during an eclipse, thus finding a natural water source to bathe at auspicious times during an eclipse is one of the sanctioned rites to engage in.

3. Rudrākṣa to the Rescue


It is said and written that Rudrākṣa beads work as a talisman and are beneficial to wear during eclipses.

4. Pregnancy


Women that are pregnant should do everything they can to avoid the light of the fractured moon as well as its shadow. This principle is not only followed in India and China, but in Central America amongst the Mayans and Aztecs as well.


5. SEX


Full Moons tend to rally the libido into party mode. It is beneficial to not engage in any form of copulation 48-96 hours before to 48-96 hours after an eclipse. It is absolutely forbidden to impregnate a woman during this time, for all types of issues may affect the child. In India, farmers will go as far as to separate livestock to insure no mating occurs during the period of an eclipse.
6. Food


All food and water should be kept away from the shadow and splintered light of an eclipse. Food and water exposed to the light or shadow of an eclipse becomes a magnet for contaminated energy gross and subtle. This food will decompose quicker, lose its ability to nourish the body and be more prone to end up as ama(undigested) in the body.

One must not consume food during the eclipse of the Sun or the Moon —  Viṣṇusūtram
7.Donations
Good karma is said to multiply during eclipses when donations are given. The Skānda purāṇa and many other texts specifically mention grahaṇa dāna (giving alms during an eclipse) as an important opportunity to express charity.

The 4 forms of dāna according to the Jains is incredibly helpful  and salient to the world given the tumultuous current events
Ahara-dāna (donation of food), 
*Ausadha-dāna  (donation of medicine), 
*Jnana-dāna (donation of knowledge) 
*Abhaya-dana (giving of protection or freedom from fear, asylum to someone under threat)

a virtuous life requires: tapas (asceticism), dāna (charity), arjava (straightforwardness), ahimsa (non-injury to all sentinent beings) and satyavacana (truthfulness) – Chāndogyopaniṣad

तदेतत्त्रयँ शिक्षेद् दमं दानं दयामिति[21]
Learn three cardinal virtues - self restraint, charity and compassion for all life.
— Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 

 Living creatures get influenced through dānam,

Enemies lose hostility through dānam,

A stranger may become a loved one through dānam,

Vices are killed by dānam.

~ The fruits secured by giving away dāna during solar eclipse at Kurukṣetra would indeed exceed the recitation of the Sahasranāma ~ Lalita Sahasranāma

8. Spiritual Practice

Though one can find ślokas that say that spiritual practices performed during an eclipse are magnified a thousand-fold, we can also find passages that say otherwise. Obviously it seems to be a specialized practice in which you should get guidance from your guru before you proceed. In India one can observe that many temples are closed and deities are covered from the light and shadow during an eclipse

The reasons to discontinue recitation of the Vedas till the next day are earthquake, lightning, fall of meteors or an eclipse ~ Gautama

~ The worship of Śiva during saṅkrānti, or during solar/lunar eclipses is very auspicious ~
He who recites the Gaṇapatyarthavaśīrṣa during solar eclipse, on the shores of great rivers or in front of Gaṇeśa every month, would obtain siddhi and all he tells would become true ~ Gaṇapatyarthavaśīrṣa




9.Commencement ceremonies, Marriage


 Aside from very few highly esoteric practices, new works generally are not commenced during an eclipse. Marriage on this day is strictly forbidden.


  10.  Tulasī (Tulsi), Dūrvā,  Kuśa


Though they should not be harvested during an eclipse, Tulasī (Tulsi), Dūrvā,  and Kuśa grass are considered sacred during the time of an eclipse. There is a particular practice that lays pregnant women on a bed of Dūrvā grass, and it is also placed on their sides while they rest during the periods of an eclipse. Food and even idols are covered in the sacred grasses during times of an eclipse.

One should wear a new Tulsi mala, after taking a bath, or after the impure period following a solar or lunar eclipse. The old mala should be dropped under a tree or in a natural body of water; ocean, river, lake ~ Śrī Vallabhacharya


Indra Sukta



                   Lokāḥ Samastāḥ Sukhino Bhavantu