All the ancient civilizations of the world measured sacred time through tracking the Moon, planets, and stars. The cycles of nature were the basis of their calendars and lives. We, on the other hand, are uneasy with the ancients’ astrological knowledge. Being bound to the cycles of nature runs counter to our independence and self image. It is important to be “self-made,” particularly here in the West. So, as the aspirations of men built amazing modern cities and a host of different technologies to keep us separate from cyclical time, we became increasingly cut off from the light of the universe.
Take away electric lights, and women’s menstrual cycles move precisely with the 28 day cycle of the Moon. This rhythm of nature can give us a clue about what is really going on at the deeper levels of our existence. We are swimming in the cyclical, vibrational energy of the universe. Everything in nature buzzes and hums to its cycles.
Rarely do we take a deeper look and form a genuine opinion about what the study of planetary cycles is about. We have not taken time to study their meanings, because they run counter to our egos. We may connect astrology with Nancy Reagan, finding it “unsophisticated” and passe. We may think the daily horoscope actually sums up hundreds of years of astrological investigation and knowledge.
Thus, today, if we take a step further into cycles of the night sky, we quickly lose touch. We understand the cycle of the Earth around the Sun. We all celebrate the passing of another year on New Year’s Eve. We are familiar with the waxing and waning of the Moon. Yet there our understanding ends. Few have an awareness that there is a yearly cycle of Venus and that it has a relation to relationship and love, a 2 1/2 year cycle of Mars and it’s relation with self-asserting, ego driven activity, a cycle of Jupiter and it’s relation to growth and expansion, and a cycle of Saturn as it relates to the boundaries and pain of the physical world.
Although I take much from the astrological tradition of the West, it is the extensive knowledge coming down from ancient India that most has my interest. In India it is called “jyotish”, which means “science of light.” In this instance, “light” refers to a torch that lights your way in the dark. It is my conclusion, over years of observation and study, that this knowledge is too important to ignore.
A critical matter in Vedic astrology is the planetary periods we go through individually. I for example, was born in my Mars period. I went into the period of Rahu (north lunar eciipse point) when I was 8. Around 21 I went into my Jupiter period. In 1996 I went into my Saturn period. In 2015 I will go into my Mercury period.
Nothing more accurately describes how my life has played out. You have to look closely at the state of the planet at birth to say what the planetary period will bring. Do this objectively and much is revealed about what a person is going through. In certain lives you may get dramatic changes. For example, a person may have gone from a very powerful period to a very weak, dangerous period. When you see this you know there is a strong probability things fell apart, and you know exactly when it started to fall apart.
Imagine this scenario: a patient comes to your office. Beginning 12 years ago of fatigue and depression. No doctor has succeeded in helping this patient. This is a situation that begs for a deeper look. Set up an accurate Vedic astrological chart of the birth, and this deeper look invariably emerges. You can see the energetic shift that happened 12 years ago. You can see which energies are blocked and causing the problem. You can look ahead and see when some relief might be coming. In certain cases, if the patient is open-minded, you can talk about the ancient remedies to give relief from specific afflictions.
The truth is, most of us–uneasy as we may be with it–crave this sort of deeper knowledge. Technology and its promise of liberation from cyclical time has not made us wiser or happier. Spiritually it has done nothing for us. We are out of touch and our health is awful. We have only been successful in giving ourselves more chronic disease. Wrapped up in the bargain came more numbing pharmaceuticals to try to escape the pain. In observing planetary cycles in relationship to our life, we cast light on our experience and our place in the cosmos. Such information is inextricably tied to our health.
