Guru Purnima, Asalha Puja (07/15/11)

For 2012 information on Guru Purnima, see:

Guru Purnima (07/03/12), Asalha Puja (07/03/12 or 08/02/12)

FULL MOON OF THE TEACHER

“My Lord is the Lord of the universe, my Guru is the teacher of the universe, and my Self is the Self of everything.”

~Guru Stotram~

July 15^th is the Hindu holiday Guru Purnima. It takes place on the full moon in Asadha, the Indian month equivalent to July/August. The date is different each year since it is a lunar holiday. Guru of course means “teacher” in Sanskrit, purnima means “full moon”. On Guru Purnima people pay their respects to teachers, not only spiritual gurus but other sources of lineage based knowledge like instructors in music, dance, and the visual arts.

The Sun enters Cancer in the sidereal zodiac during Asadha, a month later than the Western tropical zodiac. While we associate Cancer with heat, it signifies rain for many parts of the world. After a hot dry early summer, the monsoon season begins in India in July. Like the annual flooding of the Nile, which happens around the same time, the cool renewing rains bring fertility to the land.

Travel can be difficult, especially historically. Ascetics who spend the rest of the year wandering temporarily go on rainy season retreats. This period is called Chaturmas in Sanskrit, meaning “four months” (July-October). Being in one place allows students to visit their teachers while they can, to receive teachings and blessings. In return people often give gifts, traditionally to support them materially during the retreats. (Not all gurus wander but the holiday originates from this practice.) The four month retreats are also observed in Jainism, a faith rooted in non-violence. By not traveling monks avoid accidently killing the increased number of insects, animals, and crops.

Some Hindus choose to observe Guru Purnima, others the entire Chaturmas. It technically begins on the 11^th day of the waxing cycle, right before the full moon. Chaturmas is sometimes described as “Hindu Lent”, since many lay people fast, give up a favorite food, or take religious vows. It is a period for inner purification, meditation, and reflection since the outer world is a mixture of wet chaos and growth.

TURNING OF THE WHEEL

“Arranging his upper robe over one shoulder, he [Brahma, the Hindu creator god] knelt down with his right knee on the ground, saluted the Blessed One [Buddha] with his hands before his heart, and said to him: "Lord, let the Blessed One teach the Dhamma [the teachings of Buddhism]! Let the One-Well-Gone teach the Dhamma! There are beings but with a little dust in their eyes who are falling away because they do not hear the Dhamma. There will be those who will understand the Dhamma."

~Ayacana Sutta~

July 15th is also the Theravada Buddhist holiday Asalha Puja. Asalha is the Pali name for this lunar month, puja means “to honor, worship”. Before he became enlightened Siddhartha Gautama was an extreme ascetic, using methods like starvation to develop spiritually. He had five yogi companions, who abandoned him as a failure when he chose more moderate practices. After he reached enlightenment the Buddha struggled to put his insights into words, fearing they would only confuse others.

He left Bodhgaya to find his former companions, believing they might understand him. He found them meditating in a deer park near Varanasi. They rejected him at first but after listening to his teachings, their leader Kondanna also reached enlightenment. He became the first member of the Sangha, the monastic order of Buddhism. When Siddhartha Gautama was born, his father assembled eight Brahmin astrologers to examine his natal chart. Kondanna was one of them. He predicted the Buddha would become enlightened and became an ascetic himself based on that hope. This first sermon is called the Turning of the Wheel and represents the birth of both Buddhism and the Sangha. The Asalha Puja holiday commemorates it.

The day after Asalha Puja begins the Theravada Buddhist observation of the rainy retreats. They are known as Vassa, from the Pali word vasso, meaning “rain”. They last for three months. The first was observed in the deer park in Varanasi, where Buddha gave his first teachings. Later kings and wealthy merchants offered the Sangha places like groves and royal parks, some of which would later develop into monasteries. Today monks observe Vassa by not leaving the grounds of their home temples unless necessary. It is a time to deepen spiritual practice through meditation, study, and the support of community. Like Hindu Chaturmas they are sometimes call “Buddhist Lent”, since lay people can observe them by fasting, give up a favorite food, or taking religious vows.

Since other parts of Asia do not experience the monsoons, not all branches of Buddhism observe the rainy retreats. However most do have a summer retreat, believing Buddha gave his first discourse mid-summer. For example, Chokor Duchen, the Tibetan holiday that commemorates the First Turning of the Wheel of Dharma, is in August this year.

New Moon Cancer, Partial Solar Eclipse (07/01/11)

[Moon trump from the 16^th century Cary Sheet Tarot, with a crayfish in the water.]

NEW MOON CANCER, PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE (07/01/11)

“How inappropriate to call this planet Earth, when it is quite clearly Ocean.”

~Arthur C. Clarke~

KEYWORDS:

PURIFICATION: Traditionally eclipses are seen as disruptive, revealing and amplifying heavy energy. This also makes them opportunities for purification.

CHANGE: Contemporary astrology interprets eclipses more neutrally as agents of change, triggering breakthroughs or break downs.

WEAK AND STRONG: The strength of an eclipse depends on the degree of darkness. As only a partial eclipse, this one is interpreted as weaker. However it also makes a grand cross, an alignment of four or more planets in signs 90 degrees from each other. The Sun/Moon combo makes a very tight square to Saturn, a square to Uranus, and an opposition to Pluto. This makes it more challenging.

INNER AND OUTER: Solar eclipses are experienced more in the outer world but Cancer rules everything inner: our emotional and domestic lives, early childhood, and mothers. Those directly influenced may have things outside themselves trigger inner changes.

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT

“Three things cannot be long hidden: the Sun, the Moon, and the truth.”

~Shakyamuni Buddha~

July 1^st, 2011 at 4:54 a.m. Eastern Time is New Moon Cancer and a partial solar eclipse, the third and finally one this eclipse season. During a solar eclipse the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun. This can only happen during a new moon. Although vastly different, the Sun and Moon appear the same size in the sky. The Moon appears to cover the Sun during a solar eclipse. During a partial solar eclipse, the Moon is off center and only covers a part of it. While lunar eclipses are visible to all on the night side of the planet, the visibility of solar eclipses is limited. This one can only be seen in the ocean by Antarctica.

SEEING IN THE DARK

“In a clear and serene sky, the Moon was suddenly eclipsed… To assist the Moon in her labors, the air resounded with the clamor of brazen instruments, with the sound of trumpets, and other warlike music.”

~Tacitus, 1^st century Roman historian~

Many traditional cultures see eclipses as disruptive. Like the dark of the new moon, they are associated with black magic, death, and disharmony. For example, visible eclipses are seen as sources of impurity in Hinduism, tainting exposed food and spreading disease. Since this spiritual pollution can be spread by touch, all activity stops, tools are set down, and most temples are closed. People fast, chant mantras, or perform charity to counter balance it. In other traditions people make loud noises, shoot off guns, or light fires to scare away the darkness, often imagined as a predator.

Dismissed as superstition, folklore can preserve spiritual technologies. Eclipses tend to reveal and amplify heavy energy. Noise, light, and water are universal cleansing agents. As polluting as Hinduism interprets them, they are also opportunities for purification. Hindus ritually bathe during an eclipse, believing all water is temporarily as pure as the holy river Ganges. While others are closed, some Shiva temples actually stay open. The dark night before every new moon is also sacred to him. People honor the Hindu god of transformation during moments of celestial darkness to overcome negativity, illness, and their own ego. Whatever your spiritual path, eclipses are opportunities to address inner and outer heavy energy. They can be used to amplify clearing and release work, from smudging to healing trauma.

AGENTS OF CHANGE

“If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they’d immediately go out.”

~William Blake, 18^th century English poet and artist ~

Contemporary astrology interprets eclipses more neutrally as agents of change, accelerating events to the point of a conclusion, triggering breakthroughs or break downs, significant endings and beginnings, and unexpected revelations. During a solar eclipse we expect to see these themes more in the outer world but Cancer represents everything inner: our domestic and emotional life, early childhood, and mothers. Those directly influenced may have things outside themselves trigger inner changes.

Eclipses happen because of an alignment of the Sun, Moon, and the lunar nodes about every six months. Each eclipse season there can be up to three eclipses, alternating between solar and lunar. They often come in pairs. This is the third and final one this eclipse season. Events triggered by them tend to be experienced until the next season, six months away.

The strength of an eclipse depends on the degree of darkness. As only a partial eclipse, this one is interpreted as weaker. However it also makes a grand square, an alignment of four or more planets in signs 90 degrees from each other. The Sun/Moon combo makes a very tight square to Saturn (limitation, structure), a square to Uranus (radical change, inspiration) and an opposition to Pluto (breakdown, transformation). Since they weave together squares and oppositions, grand squares are challenging. Frustratingly experienced as obstacles, tension, and a need for action, they can richly reward those who face them.

Not everyone experiences astrological events equally. They may just see the themes around them. This partial solar eclipse takes place at 9 degrees 12 minutes Cancer. Those with planets or points in their charts in the cardinal signs are the most likely influenced (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn). For example:

Sun Sign Aries born around March 31^st.

Sun Sign Cancer born around July 2^nd.

Sun Sign Libra born around October 3^rd.

Sun Sign Capricorn born around December 31^st.

For those with a little more astrological knowledge, you should check out a transit chart to see which house the eclipse takes place in and what aspects it is making. This will let you know how you will experience it personally, if at all.

C L Matthews, 2011

Walk the Labyrinth this Summer Solstice (06/21/11)

[Pigment offerings last Summer Solstice.]

WALKING WHEN THE SUN STANDS STILL

You are invited to walk the labyrinth at Whatever Works Wellness Center on June 21^st, the Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. Just like the major lunar phases each month, sacred places have amplified energy on important yearly solar dates like the solstices.

The four directions come from the daily path of the Sun. It rises in the East at dawn, reaches its zenith in the South around noon, sets in the West at dusk, and is hidden below the North. In most spiritual traditions, light is associated with the South and darkness the North. Interestingly the solstices reverse this pattern. Summer Solstice is the longest day of the year, the Sun rises and sets at its maximum northern distance from the equator.

Traditional cultures associate Summer Solstice with the North. Chinese emperors offered at the square Altar of the Earth then, in the northern part of the Forbidden City. Although summer is seen as yang (the masculine, light, day, fire), the site itself is associated with yin (the feminine, darkness, night, water). In Chinese yin-yang theory every extreme contains the seed of its opposite. Summer Solstice is the peak of light, every day after it increases in darkness until the Winter Solstice.

The corners of the labyrinth are roughly aligned to the cardinal directions, as are the stones in the center. During your Summer Solstice visit, you can pause at the areas that honor the North to connect with the day’s energy:

• Northern Corner: When you are at the entrance, the back right corner is the North. When you are walking the labyrinth, it is the last corner before you reach the center.
• Northern Stone: Standing stones link heaven and earth. They were used historically to mark seasonal celestial events on the local horizon. Unfortunately our urban location prevents us from truly doing this. When you enter the center, the standing stone immediately to your right is the North.

You can pray, meditate, set intentions, or offer at these northern stations. The Summer Solstice is the yearly solar equivalent to the monthly Full Moon. People across religious traditions harness this day of most light to:

• Align with the cycles of nature.
• Call on Divine light for energy work, healing, or to banish inner darkness.
• Call on the fruitfulness of summer, pray for abundance, fertility, or success.
• Bless and charge spiritual tools like crystals, flower essences, gem elixirs, etc.
• Personal and spiritual development, reach deeper meditative states.

I hope you can visit this Summer Solstice! This is not a scheduled group event, just an invitation to visit sometime today. Specific times are stronger energetically, the daily turning points of the Sun (dawn, noon, dusk) and the actual solstice time (1:16 p.m. Eastern Time). If you can’t visit on the 21st, the day before and after are also strong. The Sun appears to rise and set in the same location for three days during a solstice.

C. L. Matthews, 2011

For more information about Whatever Works, please find the fan page on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Whatever-Works-Wellness-Center-White-Willow-School-of-Tai-Chi/162305195481

Summer Solstice (06/21/11)

[Stained glass Cancer the Crab, from Chartres Cathedral, France. This window depicts the months of the year as zodiac signs and the labors associated with them. June is cutting grass. Some things don’t change.]

WHEN THE SUN STANDS STILL

“Now she is like the white tree rose that takes a blessing from the Sun: Summer has filled her veins with light and her heart is washed with noon.”

~C. Day Lewis~

The Sun enters the zodiac sign Cancer June 21^st, 2011 at 1:16 p.m. Eastern Time, during the Summer Solstice. It is more neutrally called the June Solstice, since it is Winter Solstice in the Southern Hemisphere. The exact date varies each year, sometime during June 20^th to June 22^nd. It is the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, the first day of summer.

It is also known as the Northern Solstice. Every day the Sun rises and sets at different points on the horizon. The only time it stops wandering is on a solstice, when it appears to stay at the same place for three days. The word solstice comes from the Latin solstitium meaning “Sun standing, Sun standing still”. As the alternative name implies, it is the northernmost position of the Sun, at the Tropic of Cancer.

POINTING THE HEART TOWARDS DAWN

Many places of worship face the East, to symbolize the renewed presence of the Divine at dawn. In Vastu Vidya, the Indian art of arrangement somewhat similar to Feng Shui, temples are aligned along a Northeast to Southwest axis. This represents the polarity of sunrise on the longest day of the year and sunset on the shortest. Each of the ten directions has a ruling deity and equivalent time of day. The Northeast is sacred to Shiva and represents amrit vela (“the nectar time”) or Brahma muhurta (“God’s hour”), the period just before dawn when spiritual work is the deepest. Likewise some Peruvian shamanic traditions recognize a Southeast to Northwest axis, the equivalent in the Southern Hemisphere.

The yearly cycle of the Sun is similar to the monthly cycle of the Moon. Summer Solstice is like a Full Moon. The next three days can be harnessed spiritually to bring things to fruition and call on divine light for blessing, healing, or facing inner darkness. Like summer itself, it is associated with abundance, fertility, and the sweetness of life. Traditionally the Sun has three periods of increased spiritual power each day, marked by changes in its physical appearance: sunrise, around noon when the Sun reaches its zenith, and sunset. Most importantly on a solstice day, the time of the event itself: 1:16 p.m. Eastern Time. Any of these times can be worked with through intention, meditation, or ceremony to honor the day of most light.

C. L. Matthews, 2011

Saga Dawa

While other Buddhist traditions celebrated it last month, today's full moon/lunar eclipse is also Saga Dawa, the Tibetan holiday that honors the birth, enlightenment, and death of Shakyamuni Buddha. "The affairs of the world will go on forever. Do not delay the practice of meditation." ~Milarepa~

C. L. Matthews, 2011

Rare Central Lunar Eclipse June 15th, 2011

[Vishnu as the celestial nymph Mohini, beheading the demon Rahu, source of the lunar nodes in Hindu mythology. Eclipses occur because of a regular alignment of the Sun, Moon, and nodes.]

FULL LUNAR ECLIPSE (6/15/11)

KEYWORDS:

PURIFICATION: Traditionally eclipses are seen as disruptive, revealing and amplifying heavy energy. This also makes them opportunities for purification.

CHANGE: Contemporary astrology interprets eclipses more neutrally as agents of change, triggering breakthroughs or break downs.

RARE CENTRAL ECLIPSE: The intensity of an eclipse energetically depends on the degree and length of its obscuration. This eclipse is not only a total eclipse but a rare central eclipse, the darkest kind. The Moon will pass through the center of Earth’s shadow.

WHEN THE LIGHTS GO OUT

“Three things cannot be long hidden: the Sun, the Moon, and the truth.”

~Shakyamuni Buddha~

The next full moon is June 15^th, 2011 at 4:14 p.m. Eastern Time in Sagittarius. It is also a total lunar eclipse. During a lunar eclipse, the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. Since the Moon’s light is reflected sunlight, it appears to darken. This can only happen during a full moon. While solar eclipses are visible only in particular parts of the world, lunar eclipses are visible to everyone on the night side of the planet. Unfortunately we will not be able to see this one here in the US.

The degree of darkness depends on the Moon’s path through the shadow. During a total eclipse the entire face of the Moon darkens, turning brown, gray, or reddish orange. The exact color varies each time like a sunset, depending on dust in the Earth’s atmosphere. The intensity of an eclipse energetically depends on the degree and length of obscuration. The upcoming total eclipse is a rare central eclipse, meaning the Moon passes near the center of the Earth’s shadow. They are the darkest eclipses. While the next total eclipse is in 2012, the next central eclipse is not until 2018. An eclipse can last up to 107 minutes, this one will be 100. Only three other eclipses have lasted longer during the last century.

SEEING IN THE DARK

“In a clear and serene sky, the Moon was suddenly eclipsed… To assist the Moon in her labors, the air resounded with the clamor of brazen instruments, with the sound of trumpets, and other warlike music.”

~Tacitus, 1^st century Roman historian~

Many traditional cultures see eclipses as disruptive. Like the dark of the new moon, they are associated with black magic, death, and disharmony. For example, visible eclipses are seen as sources of impurity in Hinduism, tainting exposed food and spreading disease. Since this spiritual pollution can be spread by touch, all activity stops, tools are set down, and most temples are closed. People fast, chant mantras, or perform charity to counter balance it. In other traditions people make loud noises, shoot off guns, or light fires to scare away the darkness, often imagined as a predator.

Dismissed as superstition, folklore can preserve spiritual technologies. Eclipses tend to reveal and amplify heavy energy. Noise, light, and water are universal cleansing agents. As polluting as Hinduism interprets them, they are also opportunities for purification. Hindus ritually bathe during an eclipse, believing all water is temporarily as pure as the holy river Ganges. While others are closed, some Shiva temples actually stay open. The dark night before every new moon is also sacred to him. People honor the Hindu god of transformation during moments of celestial darkness to overcome negativity, illness, and their own ego. Whatever your spiritual path, eclipses are opportunities to address inner and outer heavy energy. They can be used to amplify clearing and release work, from smudging to healing trauma.

AGENTS OF CHANGE

“If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they’d immediately go out.”

~William Blake, 18^th century English poet and artist ~

Contemporary astrology interprets eclipses more neutrally as agents of change, triggering breakthroughs or break downs, significant endings and beginnings, and unexpected revelations. While a solar eclipse is experienced more externally, a lunar eclipse is felt more internally- interpersonally, domestically, and in our inner life. Since the Moon rules emotional expression, moods can darken, feelings can become more irrational, and denied emotions can rise to the surface to be addressed. Eclipses are due to an alignment of the Sun, Moon, and lunar nodes that occurs about every six months. Each eclipse season there can be up to three eclipses, alternating between solar and lunar. They often come in pairs. Events triggered by an eclipse tend to be experienced at least until the next season, six months away.

Not everyone experiences astrological events personally, they may just see the themes around them. The lunar eclipse takes place at 24°23' Sagittarius, the Sun is in Gemini. Those with planets and points in their charts in the mutable signs are the most likely influenced (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces). For example:

Sun Sign Gemini born around June 16^th.

Sun Sign Virgo born around September 18^th.

Sun Sign Sagittarius born around December 17^th.

Sun Sign Pisces born around March 15^th.

We should look for the eclipse’s energy in the Sagittarius associated parts of life: our philosophy and outlook on life, especially how we try to expand that understanding through higher education, long distance travel, and contact with foreign cultures.

For those with a little more astrological skill, you should check your natal chart to see what house the eclipse takes place in and look at a transit chart to see what aspects it is making. This will let you know how you will experience it personally, if at all.

C L Matthews, 2011

The Sounds Of Saturn