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In my preview of this year, I already pointed out that the election in Germany did not take place at an astrologically favourable time. And I don’t just mean the fact that it took place in the middle of the carnival season. That almost worked out in a way, but to be honest, I personally had a hard time taking the candidates very seriously. No, it was and is simply a very intense time astrologically, which unfortunately does not indicate that something constructive and perhaps something positive for a change can be expected from people again, on whose shoulders much more weighs than ‘just’ governing our country.

Let’s look at the constellations I mean:

On election day, Rahu, the North Node, came very close to Neptune, forming a conjunction at 4 degrees of Pisces. Rahu represents turmoil, rebellion, insatiable material greed, while Neptune stands for transcendence in a positive sense, but also for ambiguity, deception and obfuscation in a negative sense. In my opinion, this is consistent with the fact that the BSW has announced that it will have the election result legally examined. Because at first glance, you could almost say that there is a good aspect to this election, namely the fact that a coalition of two is possible as a government, but that could easily change again.

2. Today, 24 February 2025, Mars will become stationary and thus end its retrograde phase. And since it will remain more or less stationary at this point for about two weeks, we astrologers estimate that its effect during this time will be particularly intense and penetrating, with the irritable and aggressive energies associated with it.

3. Right on time for the start of the coalition negotiations, Mercury will conjoin with Saturn in Aquarius on 25 February, which could bring some structure and clarity to the negotiations, but at the same time indicates a rather lengthy process. The fact that this conjunction takes place in the innovative sign of Aquarius would easily make a few new ideas possible, but this will probably be thwarted by the ideological limitations of the negotiators.

4. Unfortunately, Mercury, the planet of communication, enters Pisces on 27 February and will remain there until 7 May. For a very long time, since it will be retrograde during this period. This is certainly not a sign that rapid progress or sustainable and reliable agreements are likely.

5. And as if that weren’t enough: Venus will also be retrograde between 2 March and 12 April, thus showing its more unforgiving, aggressive face.

If we now detach these constellations from the election and the subsequent negotiations in Germany, then unfortunately we can be little optimistic at the other levels of negotiation, on which our world order in particular will crucially depend. All that remains for us to do is to take care, for ourselves, in our personal and professional lives, not to give in to our own impatient and perhaps aggressive impulses. If we really want peace, then it’s best to start right here and use these challenging energies as a training ground.

When we examined the constellations for 2025 at the beginning of January, there was a lot to discuss and explore, as some striking planetary constellations will occur in the sky, especially in the first few months of the new year. I would like to briefly mention some of the points in time mentioned in the lecture and compare them with events that have occurred since then. And there have been quite a few of those.

The beginning of the year is under the sign of a retrograde Mars, which was in the sign of its fall, Cancer, until 21 January and will not turn direct again until 24 February. It already formed an opposition (the second) with Pluto opposite in Capricorn on 3 January, and this opposition will be repeated again at the end of April. Since Pluto stands for power issues as well as for change and mass events, major upheavals were and are to be expected here worldwide, which, with the involvement of Mars, may and will be rather rough and brutal. Trump’s new reign and the upheavals that go with it on many levels are under this signature. It fits very well into the picture that Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook and owner of Meta, a man whose social media has an enormous influence on the formation of opinion worldwide, literally submits to him.

When the 16th of January the Sun-Mars opposition was due, Mars was in its closest position to Earth during the entire retrograde cycle, the ceasefire between Israel and the Hamaz was negotiated. To be honest, I didn’t expect much from this agreement and I am quite surprised that it has lasted so long and has made possible some humanitarian aid in Gaza and the release of some hostages and prisoners. However, I still have my reservations and am sceptical about further developments. It is possible that activities are taking place behind the scenes (on both sides) for which the short-term ceasefire is helpful. I would very much like to see a lasting peace for all concerned, but it would not fit with the current quality of time.

On 21 January, the Sun came into conjunction with Pluto, which is actually a meeting that recurs every year. I would not attach too much importance to it if the atmosphere were not already enormously charged by these difficult-to-understand, combative and truly brutal energies. The knife attack on 22 January has led to a new escalation of hostility towards foreigners in Germany, which Friedrich Merz wanted to use for himself. It is incredibly sad to imagine that a two-year-old child lost his life in this act and, together with the Christmas market attack, has once again stirred up hostility towards foreigners. On January 23, Mercury was exactly opposite Mars, Ketu activated the September 21 eclipse point 24, and on the 24th Mercury entered Capricorn, where it met Pluto on January 29, right on time. I find this synchronisation between the incredible upheavals in the German Bundestag and the power-laden constellations in the sky truly awe-inspiring. The fact that the new moon also fell on this day makes everything even more relevant. As I was preparing the lecture at the beginning of January, I noticed that this new moon of 29 January opened the lunar month of the election in Germany and pointed out that this new moon would have great significance for the election on 23 February.

On 30 January, Uranus went retrograde and thus gained greater influence. Uranus is the planet of freedom, fraternity and equality, exactly the energy we needed most at that time.

When I look at the constellations in February and see that Mars will be stationary at the time of the election and Rahu will be almost conjunct Neptune, it becomes clear to me that this election is not only incredibly difficult to predict and will certainly hold an enormous surprise, but that it will also be a kind of signpost for the direction in which our country will develop. I hope in the free-thinking and humanitarian and I know that every path taken will be an indication of the degree of maturity of our collective consciousness. That is why it makes more sense to start right here than to fall into a state of fear or even to wish for a return to ‘safe’ conditions.

The fact that an exciting election is coming up in the USA this year cannot escape us here in Europe either, whether we are interested in it or not. I myself would only look at the horoscopes of the two opponents for astrological purposes and recently did so together with a single student. Let’s leave the result we came to aside for a moment, especially as it was still about Trump versus Biden at the time.

But when the Arsha Yidya Gurukulam invited me to an election prediction discussion a few weeks ago, my curiosity was too great to let the opportunity pass. So on August 25th, 8 well-known astrologers met in a very special format: each had 8 minutes to present their own forecast and method and at the end there was some time for questions. I was initially surprised by this tight time allocation and had my doubts as to whether it would work. But apart from one speaker, everyone stuck to the guidelines and it was “speed reading”, sometimes too short. It all started with Simon Choikoisky, who likes to make a kind of “bet” out of his predictions and who presented these “bets”, which he had already published on the internet a year ago.

At that time, he decided that Trump could not win and that Biden and Trump might not even run against each other. As he considered Biden’s re-election possible, but also questionable whether he would last a whole term, he examined Kamal Harris’s horoscope and came to the conclusion that she would have a good chance. His forecast was based on 3 pillars:

1. Birth chart
2. Prasna
3. Ekadasamsa

The Ekadasamsa is the D11, which Hart DeFouw and his teacher Iyer prefer to the D10 for public success. Unfortunately, by the time he wanted to go into this in more detail, the time was already up and as he had to catch a flight, there was no opportunity to ask again at the end.

Ekadamsama Trump (from the Kala software, identical to Shri Jyoti Star)

Ekadamsa Harris

Apparently Simon is working with a Scorpio Ascendant in Ekadamsa and judged that the Bhukti ruler’s position in house 3 (a secondary dusthana according to DeFouw) is as unlikely to succeed as Saturn in the 2020 election. In 2016, which was a successful election year, Jupiter’s effect exalted in 9 can already be taken as a basis, even though the Mahadasa only began a few days after the election.

There was no time to comment on Harris’ horoscope but we can now transfer that the bhukti of Yogakaraka’s Venus in Kendra should indicate good chances of success.

This was followed by V P Goel from Delhi, who compared the chara dasas of the two candidates and came to the clear conclusion that Trump will win. What kind of calculation of the Chara Dasas, including the Rasi aspects and including the Charakarakas. What calculation of the Chara Dasa he based it on was not clear to me, so I can only reproduce that he stated that Trump won the 2016 election under Gemini/Leo and that the current Capricorn/Virgo Dasa is just as positive for him as it was then. However, Harris currently has a Libra/Leo trigger that is much weaker than her Libra/Aquarius activation in 2020. This data was also transferred to the Dasamsa and a Mr. Goel predicted very clearly and unambiguously the re-election of Donald Trump.

The next speaker, P V R Narashima Rao, again came to the conclusion that Kamala Harris will win, based on the Astottari Dasa system and including the Vargas. Again, the activations of 2016, 2020 and 2024 were compared with each other and the result was presented with great certainty.

At this point, we had an intermediate score of 2:1 in favor of Kamala Harris.

Komilla Sutton, who was up next, also came to the conclusion that Donald Trump’s horoscope would not give him an election victory this year. She based her statement very comprehensibly on the current Dasa/Bhukti triggers in combination with the current transits. The nakshatra positions of the planets were also included. As a special aspect Komilla brought this point into the discussion: she examined the past US elections in 2008 and found that the American population obviously elected their presidents in synchronization with the current Dasa of the country’s horoscope. She used the horoscope from July 4, 1776 at 6:30 p.m. in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Based on this, she has observed that Trump himself was elected to office at the end of his own Rahu Dasa, when the US was just entering the Rahu Dasa. When the US was going through the Ra-Ju Dasa, Biden was elected, who himself had just run the Ju/Ra Dasa. Now the US is in Ra/Me Dasa and Harris is in the Ra/Ve phase. Rahu himself is in Mercury’s sign Gemini in Lagna. Trump on the other hand is going through Ju/Ve, his Rahu is no longer in play. Thus Komilla, flanked by further arguments, came to the clear conclusion that Kamala Harris has more chances of winning the presidency than Donald Trump.

So much for the first 4 speakers. The next two speakers, Brendan Feeley and Dr. Andrew Foss, came up with modified horoscopes. Feeley worked with a Cancer ascendant for Donald Trump and raised some doubts in the audience. His reasoning was not of an astrological nature, but he referred to a statement that Trump’s mother is said to have made public many years ago. He briefly mentioned a few points as to why he found the Cancer Lagna more suitable and then explained Trump’s superiority.

Andrew Foss stuck with Trump’s horoscope, but moved Harris’ lagna into Taurus and stated that Harris was unbeatable with this lagna in her current phase. So he again came to the conclusion that Harris had a better chance, but did not commit himself to a clear forecast. According to the motto: If she wins, the bull lagna is confirmed, if not, she is a twin.

To be honest, I prefer to stick with Leo Lagna for Donald Trump and Gemini for Kamala Harris. But that would go beyond the scope of this article. In our horoscope archive (under Practice Horoscopes 2020) you can find the review of Kamala Harris’ horoscope. If you don’t have access yet, please contact me.

In the end, I found this event very interesting and the election results will show us in November which calculation methods are worth familiarizing ourselves with. The horoscopes of all participants can be found at www.astro.com/astro-databank.

Once again, world events seem to show us that we humans are not yet ready for peace. Carolin Myss, one of the mystics and spiritual teachers of our time, once put it like this: “We don’t deserve peace. We are not even in a position to live in peace with those closest to us.” The fact that these statements are very true is something we experience on a daily basis, both on a small and large scale, and in recent years more drastically than ever before. While many people in the spiritual scene talk about the upcoming energetic increase in frequencies, the visible world shows us a different reality. The gap between hope on the one hand and human suffering on the other could hardly be greater.
I have not written the following article to dampen emerging hopes, although I must admit that the silver lining on the horizon is not yet visible in my perception. However, I found the astrological signatures too tempting and in the spirit of broadening understanding I would like to publish my observations after all. And I don’t want to neglect to include a personal conviction: I don’t think it’s a good idea to be overwhelmed and discouraged by current political or worldly events. Nor do I think it’s a good idea to throw yourself into the pleasures of the material world to compensate. Rather, these definitely challenging times offer a lot of potential to take a closer look at our own fears and attitudes. Taking an honest look at your own aggressive expressions and questioning what triggered them can be an important first step, especially if it can be done with self-love and without judgement of your own weaknesses. Recognising the fears behind our own defensive, irritable or attacking behaviour can take us a long way forward. If we then remember what we all know deeply but lose sight of again and again in everyday life, we can relax and find peace within ourselves even in times of conflict. What I mean by this is the knowledge that this earthly existence is only a kind of practice situation and that what we really are is not jeopardised by these worldly conflicts. On the contrary: every crisis can help us to recognise and feel our true self, to identify with it instead of the perishable body. I recently read a novel that I found in my husband’s estate: The Hill by K. Venkataraman – a novel about Ramana Maharshi. Here his simple yet profound teachings came through beautifully: Whenever spiritual seekers came and asked about the path to enlightenment, he simply replied, “Find out who you are.”
After this somewhat lengthy introduction, let’s now analyse the astrology:
The theory always says that when other significant constellations among the planets occur in temporal proximity to the eclipses, a special, usually mundanely difficult energy arises from this, especially when natural malefics are involved. This clearly seems to be the case for the solar eclipse on 8 April and the Saturn-Mars conjunction on 11 April. On 2 April, shortly before the eclipse, Israel had two Iranian generals killed, which then led to an Iranian counterattack on 13 April, two days after the Mars-Saturn conjunction. Mars will then cross the eclipse point of 8 April at the end of May, which will probably be the next marker of further developments.
The fact that Israel’s war against the Hamaz also began very close in time to the solar eclipse on 14 October 2023 confirms the above theory, as does the fact that a Ketu-Mars conjunction also took place in the sky on 5 October, two days before the start of this war. This conjunction, like the eclipse, took place in close proximity to the Ascendant of Israel.
Gayatri Devi Vasudev, who has shed astrological light on this conflict in the current issue of “Modern Astrologer”, considers the Rahu opposition with the Ascendant of Israel (which creates a Ketu-Mars conjunction with the Ascendant) to be the most important trigger and unfortunately comes to the conclusion that this war will not end quickly, which is clearly evident. She uses as the horoscope for the “birth” of Israel the horoscope of the founding conference of 14 May 1948 at 4 pm in Tel Aviv. As Nicholas Campion explains in his indispensable book “The Book of World Horoscopes”, some astrologers use a slightly later time, which would bring Israel’s Ascendant from 29 degrees Virgo to up to 6 degrees Libra. Allegedly, however, the 4 pm horoscope has already stood up to some scrutiny. I myself have started to work with this horoscope and find it more coherent than the Libra horoscope and I also consider the Lagna at the very end of the sign of Virgo to be a suitable signature for a country whose existence and expansion is unclear. In addition, Israel will is in Rahu Dasa since February 2023 and Rahu is in the 8th house and activates Mars in 12, which would fit very well with a sneak attack.
What remains for us to observe is how Mars’ transit over the eclipse point will manifest at the end of May. Unfortunately, we must expect a renewed flare-up of martial energies and also that the level of aggression will not diminish significantly by then. Only after this trigger is over and the next eclipse phase comes in September/October will the currently agitated energies have a chance to calm down. The human suffering that will be caused until then, especially in the Gaza Strip, will certainly continue to weigh on our collective consciousness, as will the situation in Ukraine.

If you registered for the lecture on this year’s constellations at the beginning of the year, you may remember that I emphasised the month of April back then. I’ll explain why in a moment. But first I’d like to look back a little, to February 2024:

01/02/2024 Me Ingress Capricorn
05/02/2024 Me conjunction Pl 6 Capricorn
05/02/2024 Ma Ingress Capricorn
12/02/2024 Ve Ingress Capricorn
14/02/2024 Ma conjunction Pl 6 Capricorn
17/02/2024 Ve conjunction Pl 6 Capricorn

These are some of the dates I have mentioned. Here “Ingress” always means “ingress”. We had a big cluster of planets in the sidereal sign of Capricorn in February. And since Pluto, the significator for power themes, for transformation, but also for cruelty and disintegration is in 6 degrees there, first Mercury, then Mars and then Venus came into contact with Pluto one after the other. The period from 14 to 17 February is particularly significant, as not only was combative Mars conjunct Pluto, but peacemaking Venus also came under the influence of these two malefics, so that their actually balancing energies were, so to speak, submerged.

During this period, the terrible news of death, war and human suffering became more frequent. The death of the Russian dissident Navalny, who died on 16 February, also occurred during this phase. Astrologically, I would interpret this as an indication of outside influence, of a death brought about by a conspirator.

March didn’t come off quite so badly in the preliminary discussion, but since in astrology – as in real life – everything is cumulative, the negative energies built up in February didn’t simply disappear. On 15 March, i.e. tomorrow, Mars will change signs and move into Aquarius. There it will then meet Saturn on 10 April, which is not a good situation from an astrological point of view. But before that, there will be a lunar eclipse on 25 March and a solar eclipse on 8 April. Whenever difficult conjunctions occur in close temporal proximity to the eclipses, the challenging energy is multiplied or even potentiated.

If we turn to the news now, in mid-March, we hear of devastating conditions in Haiti after several thousand prisoners were freed in February as part of a major uprising and criminal groups seize everything they want. In Gaza, the suffering and hardship of the people is likely to be far greater simply because of the unimaginable numbers involved. If there were a measuring device that could measure collective pain and hardship, the scale would probably be blown up right now, of course also by the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Unfortunately, the planetary constellations do not indicate an imminent end to these conflict situations. However, Saturn-Mars conjunctions have great potential – especially for the situation to come to a head, whatever it is. If we assume that such an escalation or confrontation is to be expected in April, then we can only hope that this situation will become a “game changer”, that it will mark a turning point. Some clever minds in the astrological world are assuming this and I very much hope that there is something to this idea.

Of course, we could also look at the political situation in our own country against the backdrop of these constellations. Here too, constructive and meaningful cooperation seems to have taken a hit, not only in politics but also among the trade unions and large employers. No matter how much good energy we invest in all these issues, we will probably have to realise that the end of these conflicts is not in sight before mid-April, because in addition to the tests of power that are currently taking place, communication is not currently effective either. Mercury, the planet of communication, is weak (in retrograde) for most of March, under Rahu’s overpowering influence and will go retrograde on 2 April. After that it goes back into the sign of its fall so that almost the whole month of April will be characterised by very unclear or even deadlocked communication. Even mediation committees will probably reach their limits.

For all of us, these constellations should trigger mindfulness in our everyday communication with our fellow human beings. We too can be swept away by these energies, perhaps overreacting in conflict situations or simply expressing ourselves very unhappily. Being mindful and in good contact with ourselves can significantly help to minimise any negative effects.

Everybody knows that every form of astrology provides information about the quality of time we were born into. However, not everyone knows that astrology also has methods that help us to determine why we feel good in certain places and are successful there, and why we don’t really want to succeed in other places. In fact, the relationship between the birth chart and the coordinates of our earth has been known for decades and is now well researched. Numerous books have been published on the subject and one of the authors of such a book, Martin Davis, told me many years ago that he even uses this technique for birth time correction. Because, he explained, ever since he knew the place in the world where he could finally become a father, he was quite sure of his birth time. I myself have never dealt with this subject intensively, but in my brief encounters with it I have always found confirmation.

The “father” of this work may well be considered the already deceased Jim Lewis, whom Ronnie Gale Dreyer knew well and who later started a collaboration with Ronnie’s husband Kenneth. For them, Astro*Carto*Graphy has long been part of their own work. On 14 October 2023, Ronnie will now offer the long-awaited workshop on the subject. As always, I will translate her explanations.

And by the way: You don’t need any special software for this, as there are some free online calculation options. I will draw your attention to these during the seminar.

When we began to take a serious interest in Vedic astrology, my husband Nicholas got in touch with Bhava in England and sooner than you could imagine, a friendship developed between Komilla Sutton and him. At one of the first conferences we attended in London, we already met Prof. Sekhar. At that time he gave a lecture on the karmic factors of the Vedic horoscope and I will never forget his opening words. “You are all honest and serious persons,” he said, “to you I can give this divine knowledge without accumulating bad karma for myself.” And he looked for a few moments into the faces of those present with the loving and at the same time penetrating gaze that many of you have experienced yourself over the years. That was the beginning of a long and deep friendship between a man from another culture who could have been my father. By the way, he was actually born in the same year as my long deceased father.

Back in the fall of 2001, we met him in Bangalore at a hotel where I was getting my first Vedic astrological reading. This was, I felt deeply, not just a consultation or a conversation, this was a ritual. It was in that hotel that we laid the foundation for a collaboration that would last more than 2 decades. And again, my husband was the link.

Now, more than 20 years later, I can look back on countless hours together in Germany, India and England. We have worked together. Prof. Sekhar’s responsibility was teaching, he appointed me “his voice” and Nick observed everything very closely, caught translation insecurities and, above all, in his polite English way, always made sure that Prof. Sekhar received an English-language newspaper every day and lacked nothing.

Beside the many common impressive instructive hours in the respective seminar room, in which Prof. Sekhar taught not only astrology, but also palmistry and Vastu, we all enjoyed also the many long evenings, in which we sat together in small round and stuck to Prof. Sekhar’s lips. On these occasions he sometimes told the most beautiful stories, which conjured a breath of India into our European summer evenings. He once told us that there is a saying in India that a person with Kala Sarpa Yoga in his horoscope took away the freedom of a bird in his last life and locked it in a cage. An allegory that says more to me than many clever explanations.

And just recently, at one of our last meetings, Prof. Sekhar told me that his father was a direct astrologer of the then Raja in this South Indian royalty. He said that the father wore jewelry worthy of a raja and that in the summer the whole family, with subordinates and the entire household, moved to the mountains to enjoy the cooler climate. That already his own son, Jaya, whom he was the only one to introduce to astrology, would live in a completely different social context, this gentleman certainly could not imagine at that time. With the end of the English occupation, the venerable astrologer, so highly esteemed by the Raja, was to lose much property and prestige. Nevertheless, his son Jaya, despite his academic education, managed to feed all his offspring with the income from astrological work.

This story sounds a bit like something out of the Arabian Nights. And surely the South Indian father could not have imagined that his son would one day spend his summers in Europe for many years and become an internationally recognized author of numerous books. We have been fortunate to know this son Jaya personally and to be able to learn from him, and I cannot really estimate how many of our students he has helped over the years to better understand the cosmic laws and to clear up a few misunderstandings.

I, for one, am very grateful for the contact with this special person who will visit us once again in Germany and who is willing to generously share his knowledge and wisdom with us. And that he meets with our students people who sincerely and seriously seek the truth and do not bring him bad karma, he no longer doubts.

The month of October is very interesting from an astrological point of view, which mostly means in plain language: challenging. In relative temporal proximity to the expected eclipses, several other astrological phenomena known to be noticeable and effective take place:

• Saturn becomes direct again on October 23. While this is often an overall loosening of entrenched processes and issues, those with planets in 23 – 24 degrees Capricorn or Cancer will be able to clearly perceive Saturn’s inhibiting and oppressive qualities
• on 25 October there is a solar eclipse involving Venus, which classically tends to weaken politics and diplomacy.
• Venus is very close to the Sun during this phase, combusting and not visible for about 2 months in total. It becomes the evening star again from now on.
• on 30 October Mars becomes retrograde, which is the case every 2 years and is usually noticeable because it has then reached the point of greatest proximity to the Earth. If this happens in close temporal connection with Erclipses, the energies add up, so to speak, and the turbulence becomes more noticeable.
• Then, on 8 November, a lunar eclipse takes place. In both eclipses, the conjunction between rebellious Rahu and reform-seeking Uranus is still in effect. They also add up to

So much for the most concise astrological factors for this autumn. On 1 November, I would like to offer a lecture on these constellations, but it will focus mainly on the Mars cycle. Every 2 years Mars stays in a sign for about 6 months. This autumn/winter he will be mainly in Taurus. How exactly such a Mars cycle takes place, what is activated and when, is what I would like to shed light on this evening. In doing so, I will take less account of world events than of the activations to be expected in the personal horoscope. I will briefly discuss the localisations of the eclipses and their general effects, but the focus of our interest will be the personal charts with general explanations of how Mars makes itself felt in transit for 6 months in which house and what it means when it touches personal planets in the process (directly or in aspect).

This lecture is suitable for all interested people with some previous knowledge. It is in German, but if there are enough people who want me to offer an English version. please get in touch.

The cost is 10 Euros for our active students and 18 Euros for all others. I ask, if possible, for payment via PayPal to glewis@astrovedic.de or for bank transfer to the known account. After receipt of payment, the download link will be sent automatically.

The fees for this lecture will go to the association “Tröstende Pfoten e.V.”, which provides love and comfort to dying children and adults in hospice work.

In my last post I talked about the conjunction of Uranus/Mars/Rahu on the mundane level: I described it as explosive and explosive and related this statement to world events. Then I received an email from a long-standing client asking what was going on in 18 degrees Taurus or where it was located in her horoscope. This email made me realise that despite my advice at the beginning of the initial consultation, clients are obviously not necessarily aware that the sidereal zodiac, on the basis of which the Vedic horoscope is calculated, is about 24 degrees behind the tropical planetary positions. Clients are generally interested in the statements and not in how they come about. Even though we astrologers often mention “your Sun in Leo”, clients sometimes refer to themselves as “a Virgo”.

The vortex that is made around 18 degrees Taurus in western astrological portals, therefore, refers to the Uranus/Mars/Moon Node (Rahu) conjunction at the end of July/beginning of August 2022, which takes place in 18 Taurus in the tropical zodiac and in 24 Aries in the sidereal zodiac, i.e. 24 degrees apart. This corresponds quite exactly to the current difference between the two zodiacs. And the Western collegues then went on to emphasise that Uranus is retrograde and will then have its effect between 14 and 18 Taurus. Translated to our sidereal zodiac, this means that all people with planets or the Ascendant between 20 and 24 Aries or Libra (secondarily also after 2o to 24 Cancer and Capricorn) will especially feel these stirring energies of Uranus in the next months. These people, I would also interpret this, will experience instability and upheavals. Sudden events can either open up interesting new perspectives for them or catapult them out of their comfort zone. This can happen in different areas of life, depending on which house Aries is in. In the 7th house it can concern the partnership, in the 5th the children and in the 10th house the profession or the public position.

So far, so good. If I were to relate the trans-saturnians such as Uranus, Pluto and Neptune to personal horoscopes, then that would be my interpretation. But I always stay on the mundane or collective level with these trans-saturnians, because I am convinced that the 7 grahas (planets) and 2 chayagrahas (the two lunar nodes) wonderfully depict the personal challenges and growth tasks of an individual and, what’s more, the karmic dimension is always involved. And all people who have the Moon, Lagna or other planets in Aries are experiencing the Rahu transition via these planets or the Lagna from this spring until the end of 2023. This is always a turbulent phase, as Rahu’s energy is also very sudden, and unpredictable and aims to send people into new experiences. So that growth can take place. So that our own karmic issues can come into play and we can prove ourselves accordingly. So that we can show how much we have grown in the last 18.5 years.

In addition, as I explained to my client, for western colleagues the so-called transits, i.e. the current transitions of the planets over their own planets in the birth chart, are the most important or sometimes even the only forecasting instrument. They are therefore naturally given a great deal of weight and importance.

In Indian astrology, on the other hand, we have a prognostic instrument that dominates the transits, which can be classified as about twice as important. These are the so-called Dashas, the planetary cycles, which are our most important indicators of the quality of the respective period of life. They prepare the ground on which the transits can then act as triggers.

These dasha cycles were the main reason for me to turn to Vedic astrology more than 20 years ago. For it was only through this forecasting tool that I saw myself in a position to formulate reliable predictions. On the basis of the transits alone, many things were too vague for me.

No wonder, then, that sometimes the topics currently under discussion are of a different nature.

 

For the end of July/beginning of August many astrologers have pointed with excitement to the Mars-Rahu-Uranus conjunction in Aries. In order to clarify the significance of this constellation, I would first like to briefly describe the individual factors:

Mars is the heated planet, representing energy, courage and purposefulness, but also frustration, anger and aggression. Mars moves once through the entire zodiac, from Aries to Pisces, within two years. Therefore, he will spend a few weeks in Aries every two years. We then speak of him being in his own sign and being particularly strong. For all strenuous activities that require a lot of courage, strength and fighting spirit, this is a good energy. For all peaceful issues and especially for interpersonal interaction it is a great challenge. Often enough the “fuse is short” and arguments, verbal or otherwise, quickly ensue. Mars, by the way, will leave the sidereal sign of Aries on August 11 and then stay in the sign of Taurus until mid-March. In between there will be a short interruption of about 4 weeks when he will stay in the sign of Gemini. This is due to the fact that he will go retrograde in the next few months, more precisely on October 31 in 1 degree Gemini. The result then is that all people will have Mars as a guest in the house of their chart where the sign of Taurus is located. And guests, we have probably all learned, should be welcomed and treated and entertained well. What this can mean in detail and how to make friends with Mars will then be the subject of another article.

The unpredictable Rahu, whose task it is to initiate the necessary development processes through turmoil, is considered the co-ruler of Aquarius in Vedic astrology and thus symbolizes the departure into the new, the cutting off of the old braids, but also restlessness, volatility and provocation. Even though for many a departure into something new is tempting, it inevitably goes hand in hand with giving up old security, which many of us first experience as unsettling or even threatening. Rahu has been in the sign of Aries since mid-March 2022 and will remain there until the fall of 2023. He needs about 18.5 years for a tour through the zodiac and meets Mars about every 16 to 18 months. Since he is currently in Mars-ruled Aries, his energy is also considered to be particularly hot and fiery. If Mars and Rahu meet now, we can expect a high degree of unpredictable, fiery energy. This can show itself, for example, in riots, strikes or blockades, as long as we place it on the political level. Acts of war can also be fueled. But fires, earthquakes and even volcanic eruptions also have a greater destructive effect than at other times.

Uranus, one of the Transsaturnian planets, add a whole lot of fuel to that. Although in vedic Astroloy the three transsaturnian planets Uranus, Neptun and Pluto are traditionally not included, it makes a lot sense to do so on the mundane level. Whenever we look at the bigger picture, the collective level or global issues. Through their slow journey through the zodiac (Uranus needs 84 years) they indicate the issues of whole generations rather than of individuals. And my comparative observations over the past nearly 30 years have shown that the “major” world events are much clearer through the inclusion of the outer planets, as they are also fondly called. The mere conjunction of Mars and Rahu would have less long-term significance without the involvement of Uranus. By the way, its astrological symbolism is very similar to that of Rahu, so that one can also speak of a double rebellion against the existing when Rahu and Uranus meet. Considering that Rahu and Uranus are already in the fiery, impulse-giving sign of Aries since the middle of March, it should hardly be surprising that just worldwide many leading personalities are deposed or give up themselves. In Italy and Great Britain changes of power are in the offing, the French president is sitting on a rather shaky chair and so on. The British royal family, probably the most important monarchy in Europe, has also been weakened by recent scandals. This is certainly one level of how the confluence of the two astrological factors seeking change and development shows up. By the way, I don’t like to speak of Rahu as a planet because it is, after all, an astronomically determined intersection, which in Western astrology is called the North Node of the Moon. It has no mass and is invisible and in India it is gladly called “Chayagraha”, i.e. shadow planet.

We astrologers know that all astronomical phenomena, which we interpret astrologically, want to be understood against the respective background of the current events. So here we are in the summer of 2022, a summer that we had hoped would take us back to pre-Covid reality. Instead, we are confronted with warlike actions that are more widespread and closer than we have experienced before. Europe is beset by heat (Aries, Fire) and drought on an unprecedented scale. A volcano has erupted again in Iceland and there have been more than 1000 earth tremors in a week (according to radio news). Price increases that none of us would have thought possible are forcing us to rethink, catapulting us out of our comfort zone. After all, many of us have already left the “comfort zone” in 2020. The dwindling trust in governments and the increasing division of societies have already had an impact since then.

Against this background it becomes clear that the Mars-Rahu-Uranus conjunction will be a kind of catalyst for further upheavals. Even if major dramatic individual events have so far failed to materialize, this conjunction will have sown its seeds and we should be more concerned with the positive nurturing of the new seed rather than withdrawing into ourselves or becoming defensive. And we should pay special attention to events that happen in synchronicity with the particular quality of time: the fact that Nancy Pelosi, an important American politician, is traveling to Taiwan at this time of all times is very exciting. Here the effects of the two rebellious Grahas Rahu and Uranus are clearly noticeable and will accordingly occupy us for a long time.

With so many signs pointing to renewal, we should ask ourselves what needs change and renewal in our personal lives. Where have we settled too comfortably in structures, of which we know basically that they do not correspond to our today’s values any more and in which we nevertheless persist for reasons of the habit and comfort? What does our personal departure look like? And what can and may we (finally) free ourselves from in the course of this, become freer?

If we keep in mind that Uranus will turn retrograde at the end of August and the distance between Rahu and Uranus will only slowly increase, we can assume that this energy will remain effective until autumn. This gives us plenty of opportunity to face the fears, some of which are emerging, that will come to light with these many changes. The only thing that helps is to stay in the here-and-now, that is, in this moment. For those who are in the past will suffer illusions or pain, and those who go into the future will probably be haunted by even more fears. Being fully here and reminding ourselves that crises can help us become more aware of the meaning of our earthly existence would be a very positive use of these challenging energies. Thus, the revolutionary energies can serve as true catalysts in those who are ready to evolve out of the dark structures of Kali Yuga. True freedom no one has to give us and no one can take away from us.