“Day and Night the Heavenly Bodies Pour Forth their Speech.”

I am back after a hiatus on planetary transits. October is a season of retrograde planets that will turn direct.

For a recap, please go back to previous article, the link of whuch is given here. The rest of the article will make sense. The previous article talks about the planetary positions of Jupiter and Pluto.

Important Transit Dates for October 2021

• Mercury retrograde in Virgo: We start the month of October 2021 with a Mercury retrograde on September 27^th. Mercury went back from Libra (Tula Rashi) to Virgo (Kanya rashi) on October 2^nd.   This is the third and final Mercury retrograde period for the year. Mercury retrograde always brings some disruptions in communications and compromises. In addition, on 8^th/9th October there was a Sun, Mars, Mercury tight conjunction. Mercury and Mars were affected by that.

(News Flash : It was not quite coincidental that Mercury, the planet of communication in its retrograde motion caused an outage of several social media platforms!)

• Mercury direct in Virgo – October 18 – October 31

Mercury turns direct on October 18, with Jupiter also turning direct on the same day. Mercury is at 15 degrees Virgo (in its exact degree of exaltation), and Jupiter is at 28 degrees Capricorn. This means it is a turning point, as both planets change direction to move forward. Saturn also turns direct the same week as Mercury and Jupiter on October 11th.

• New Moon: On October 6^th, the New Moon occurs in the nakshatra called Hasta (in Kanya Rashi). This nakshatra is represented by “hands” and it deals with health and healing. During this time, there will be attempts to discover alternatives to health and healing of the coronavirus. Since the delta variant has been in full force, there will be a greater need to come up with ways to defeat this virus. But an unusual aspect is that Sun and Moon conjoin at 19 degrees in Virgo exactly with Mars! Whenever Sun and Mars are together there is violence. And October 6th- 9th they was exactly conjunct. Also these 3 planets are quincunx (8/6) with Uranus (shadashtak) at 19 degrees Aries.

(News Flash: A violent-clash on October 4^th between farmers and BJP workers in Lakhimpur Kheri of Uttar Pradesh claimed eight lives of which four were claimed to be farmers and the rest, BJP workers)

• Rahu / Ketu in Taurus / Scorpio – 9 to 8 degrees- This position, as we have talked about in the past has indeed given rise to the discovery of vaccines and we have also witnessed the largest vaccination drive against the Corona virus. These will remain like this for the next 6 months.

Because Rahu is now (from 5^th October 2021) in the nakshatra Krittika, it expected that there will be scandals and many will be falsely accused. It will be there till 14^th June 2022. The star cluster Kṛittikā corresponds to the open cluster of stars called Pleiades in western astronomy. In Hindu astrology, Kṛittikā is the 3rd of the 27 nakshatras. It begins at 26.4 degrees of Aries and ends at 10 degrees Taurus.

Mythology: According to mythology, the Devas were at war with the Asuras and were losing the battle. They asked Lord Shiva to help them out. However, due to a boon, Shiva could not help the devas. He promised them that his to be born son would instead be able to conquer the asuras. Hence, Kartikeya was born just for the purpose of controlling the demons. It is believed that Lord Murugan was born out from the six sparks that emanated from the third eye of Lord Shiva. It is said that Agni (Fire God) carried these sparks and placed them in a pond called Saravana, where six babies were born on a lotus each.

When the demons got to know about his birth, they hunted high and low for him. These infants were given to the seven Krittika sisters, who were married to seven Sages (the saptarishis) and hence he is known as Kartikeya (one who was raised by the Krittika sisiters).  When Parvathi and Shiva came to see the babies, Parvati took all six babies and hugged them into one being who had six heads. The Sapta Rishis constellation is called the Big Dipper constellation in western astronomy. In mythology, six of the Krittika sisters were falsely accused of infidelity and hence astrologically Rahu in Krittika has high chances of scandals and accusations.

These six were asked to ‘move out’ and they formed the Pleiades or the Krithika constellation. Only the ‘Arundathi’ star, who was not suspect remained with the Big Dipper constellation. Since we are in the Navaratri period, it is pertinent to mention that the Krithikas are also identified with the Saptamatrikas or 7 mothers mentioned in the Puranas, namely Indrani, Kaumari, Varahi, Vaishnavi, Brahmani, Maheshwari, and Chamunda.

Krittika Nakshatra is ruled by the Sun and Agni or the fire God is the Deity. However, Krittika is Rakshasic or demonic in nature. The nakshatra signifies motivation for desire fulfilment. In addition, the symbol of Krittika is a sharp blade or flame. The word Krittika means the one that cuts. This nakshtara hence has an aggressive and combative energy at the worldly level. This nakshatra also tries to dig out the truth from the world of untruths. On the spiritual level, the nakshatra helps in cutting from negativity and helps the soul to progress.

When Rahu moves to Krittika there can be some radical transformations in our lives and it could come suddenly without much warning. Rahu in the Taurus side of Krittika can be very creative. Whether in the performing arts or any other forms of creativity and people will crave for the beautiful things in life. But when Rahu crosses to the Aries side of Krittika, it will be a time for aggressive changes and the big transformation. For the people of India, Rahu in Taurus will be important, as India has a Taurus ascendant.

In Greek mythology this cluster is known as the Pleiades and were the daughters of the mighty Atlas and a sea nymph Pleione.

(Since Rahu moves in backward motion, Rahu will enter Krittika through the 4th Pada and then move up to the 2nd Pada in Taurus and then will enter the first Pada of Krittika in Aries. Rahu is going to be in the Taurus side of Krittika from 5th October 2021 to 12 April 2022. Then from 12 April 2022 to 14 June 2022 Rahu will be in the Aries side of Krittika)

• Saturn in Capricorn – 12 – 13 degrees. Turns direct on October 10th. 

& Jupiter in Capricorn – 28 – 29 degrees. Turns direct on October 18th. 

Both the heavy weight planets turn direct in the Earth sign of Capricorn. The position of these planets in the same sign is usually a challenge and causes long-term changes and is not without pain. They both have been in retrograde for months. The world should be now ready to move ahead and be action oriented.

• Mars in Virgo (Combust) – October 1 – October 20 This position has always been challenging especially as far as health and viral infections are concerned. Mars also forms a trine with Saturn (in Capricorn) and Rahu (in Taurus). A trine or a triangle always has strong energies. In this case Saturn and Rahu are malefic with respect to Mars and hence this combination indicates instability, scandals, challenges, violence etc. This trine happened as recently as February 25^th – 15^th April. This was indeed the time when India was experienced the 2^nd wave. As soon as this formation occurred currently, the news of the collapse of the Evergrande real estate company and the implications for the world has come through.

This trine will also create challenges at work place, increase in violence in public life, problems with addiction, issues with ego, stress and irritation. Already the US and many other countries are seeing a rise in Covid cases. Check around your neighborhood, you may learn of new cases after a long gap.

In addition, Mars is conjunct with Sun on 8^th October in Virgo at 21 degrees. So Mars is pretty much combust most of the month and this is a warning to watch our frustrations and anger and be in control, especially with Mercury in retrograde.

 This is a formation that activates events around what is happening around the world. Could there be another spike? To go back in time, Mars was in Virgo in September 2019 and it was when Corona virus had the beginnings. In personal lives, a moon sign of Taurus or Capricorn will have some challenges.

However, the good news is that this trine lasts only till October 23^rd, when Mars moves out of this triangle.

However, next year around February 26^th, 2022, the conjunction of Mars and Saturn in Capricorn will be yet another challenge and we need to be extremely careful as far as the virus is concerned.

The other transits this month are as follows

Mars in Libra – October 21 – December 4

Venus in Scorpio – October 2 – October 29 is in conjunction with Ketu which is again an important transit. Not the easiest transit for Venus. Venus also goes through Gandanta.

Venus in Sagittarius – October 30 – December 8

Sun in Virgo – October 1 – October 16

Sun in Libra – October 17 – November 15 this month it is in the sign of debilitation. Sun is basically Ego & Authority and Libra is a sign of relationships. That’s why it is weakest, because ego and relationships don’t go hand in hand.  As mentioned earlier, Sun and Mars are also in conjunction. The clash between authorities and the common man is bound to escalate.

Full Moon in Aries- October 20th

In totality, the astrological transits in October is expected to accelerate a major purge with the intensity increasing the next three months. The aspects are very unusual this month. We can expect lockdowns in many countries, but which countries is difficult to tell. What we can do is to continue being cautious, but living without fear.

So, in a nutshell keep life simple. A circadian rhythm, eating nutritious food, exercise and prayer should become part of your daily life. Compassion to the underprivileged, being civil with subordinates will go a long way in keeping the world in balance. Governments and media have to be honest with the larger public or else the consequences will be heavy.

On that note Happy Vijayadashami and let good prevail over evil.

(My obeisance to Sage Parasara who gave us the treatise Brihat Parasara Hora Shastra; Sage VarahaMihira who wrote the Brihat Samhita Hora, and the current astrologers Joni Patry, Komilla Sutton, Satish Menon and a host of other experts who have made astrology comprehensible to the layman. I am attempting this essay only because of them. Any errors are only mine)