Rahu and Mars in Bharani Naksatra (15th July -- 5th August 2022): Time for Feminism?!

The relevant period of my analysis (15th July - 5th August) may be a time of feminist reckoning! We have already begun to see the build-up of the Mars-Rahu conjunction in Bharani Nakshatra, as Rahu awaits Mars over there since the middle of June. We saw how women's abortion rights were overturned in the US -- a ruling that witnessed feminist outrage and protest. We saw how Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted for crimes of sexual violence against young girls. And on the war front, we will soon see the true nature of Nato, as Mars-Rahu converge in Bharani in August first week.  

I have been thinking a lot about Bharani these last days. With Rahu transiting into Bharani from Krittika Nakshatra on 14th June, our world of social relationships and commitments has suddenly grown intense. Just when we thought (the introvert's delight) that we had grown invisible, we realized how untrue this was, especially around the new moon on 28th June in Gemini's Ardra Nakshatra. Concealing, revealing, and mysterious secrecy lies at the very heart of Bharani that in turn, constitutes the core of Aries, spanning 13 degrees to 27 degrees, and ruled by Mars. Preceded by Ashwini Nakshtra, ruled by the celestial healers, the two Ashwin Kumar lorded by Ketu; Bharani is followed by Krittika Nakshatra lorded by the Sun that straddles Aries and Taurus. Bharani, the central strength of Aries is strongly laced by the Scorpio, Leo, Virgo and Venus energy, and is ruled by Venus. Bharani is a feminine Nakshatra, and is often imagined as the female sexual-reproductive organ, the bull elephant, or the crow -- that demonstrates the relationship between Bharani's tutelary deity Yama (the deity of death in Hindu astrology) and brother Saturn. Bharani indicates impregnation/ pregnancy. Presiding over the inherent paradoxes of birth and death, Bharani presides over qualities of regeneration and transformation that are cyclical. 

Bharani is a place of physical secrets -- the consequence of unknown actions that have physical, material repercussions, strong enough to transform social relationships and emotions into physical phenomena on a material plane. For instance, love in Bharani is transformed into a baby that has its own independent, and separate physical existence. A much-loved associate is transformed overnight in Bharani, from an emotional relationship into corporeal physical entity. It is this transformation that brings us to hospitals, where we look uncomprehendingly at babies on the screen of ultrasound tests, or see the inner shapes of the human body -- bones and organs on computer screens. It is the same transformation that also brings us to cremation grounds, characterized strongly with physicality. The reality of Bharani is omnipresent, and centrally associated with decay, death, rebirth and transformation. Hence, Bharani also shocks us by showing us the true material, non-dual nature of life, something we usually avoid, for it frightens and overwhelms us. Bharani makes us feel helpless and vulnerable -- physically insignificant at the mercy of a juggernaut inertia that pulls us all inside, reformulates us in secret darkness, and then throws us out again in unrecognizable shapes and unexpected forms, separated from loved ones. Though Bharani is 'ugra' or ferocious, her nature is not Tamasik (debased) but Rajasik, and defined by insatiable hunger for material growth. She causes Pitta, burning pain, burning desire, blood-loss/ wounds, or blood-related disorders. Though presided over by Yama, the fierceness of Bharani is likened to the goddess Durga's ugra form -- Kali, who controls all battlefield and cremation-ground action. Colored blood red, Bharani, especially when perceived in the Tantric form, serves to separate sexuality-reproduction from emotional relationships. 

Yama, the lord of Bharani, is a complex deity, especially due to his incestuous relationship with his sister Yami. This energy becomes prominent in Bharani, the relationship between Yama and Yami representing the true nature of a non-dualistic, frightening world, sought to be ameliorated through duality. This duality stresses on relationship between deity and bhakta, spouses, and between the day and night. But at the same time this duality is also deliberate, laced through with an awareness of its own illusion, and construction. This constructed life that is simultaneously "aware" is part of what makes Bharani  a master of secrets and concealment: the reality of non-duality. We know, for instance that relationships or devotion is dual, and hence constitutes "maya". Yet, we yearn for, run after, engage with, and invest in maya as an important comfort zone that can conceal and shelter us from the truth of non-duality. The union of Yama and Yami indicates the carnal facet of birth, death, and regeneration. And it is the goddess Kali who gives us knowledge and awareness of non-duality, while allowing us to simultaneously live with the attachments of a dual world in our daily lives. We know our attachments are transient, and in the Tantric world, this suggests that all women -- whether wife, mother, sister, or daughter are equal and simultaneous feminine, sexual/ reproductive principles. Non-duality in fact, reminds us of the horrors of the animal world that lives beyond any attachment with siblings/ parents/ children, after becoming sexually mature. And yet, this is the truth, for we know that society is fabricated as a control mechanism that produces relationships and emotions as its very instruments. Bharani hence, is a space exactly for that feminism, where women express their non-duality, their non-/ different attachments with their own sexual and reproductive bodies, and with motherhood. It is a matter of supreme anxiety for men, who force women then, to undertake this relationship with motherhood in linear forms, enveloped in pink and naturalized. This is the fear of Bharani.   

There is something  positive about Rahu's transit into Bharani. While other planets transit into Bharani in a clockwise direction going through Ashwini Nakshatra first, Rahu's transit into Bharani is in an anti-clockwise direction from Krittika. While the clockwise direction demonstrates actions and efforts made in the "right" direction, Rahu's anti-clockwise motion serves to undo this natural progression. Krittika from where Rahu enters Bharani, is lorded by the Sun and represents aggressive, strict, angry, but deeply noble actions, associated with tough mothering,  teaching, education, and the disciplining of young children -- sometimes deviant children. We can imagine the typical Krittika woman as a teacher in such a home or school/ acting as a hostel warden for children's homes/ or specialist instructor in the schools for handicapped/ blind children. Krittika made out of a conglomerate of six stars -- often called Pleiades, is none other than the Matrikas/ Saptamatrikas themselves, who are mothers to Lord Murgun/ Skanda Kartikeya -- the tutelary deity of Mars. Often considered akin to sharp pointed objects/ or spears (like that held by Valli, Skanda-Kartikeya's second wife), Krittika is a group of bala-grahas -- deities that preside over the health (and ill-health) of babies -- very much the feminist icons of motherhood-resisting women. That part of Krittika that falls inside Aries represents the dangers of a new, perhaps ambivalent birth that is yet incomplete -- new ideas that are yet to germinate. Rahu arriving into Bharani brings with it kernels of these new but incomplete ideas that also indicate to new challenges. It is in Bharani that these ideas take fuller shape. It is also here in Bharani that we see hope, in the form of Ashwini that lies ahead of us after Bharani pada-1 is passed, like the light at the other end of the tunnel. As Rahu hurtles towards Ashwini, we still hope that our ideas, even if they go a bit wrong, may receive healing. 

But healing in Ashwini can only take place after a conflagration, and this conflagration is represented by the exact conjunction between Mars and Rahu in Bharani. Rahu pours petrol over the energies of Mars after the latter enters Bharani on 15th July and this provocation reaches its peak when Mars enters pada-4 of Bharani in conjunction with Rahu, between 1st and 5th August. These five or six days are crucial, as we could witness a world we have known till now, to abruptly change, especially as Saturn will no longer control this conflagration with his 3rd gaze from Aquarius. With SaturnRx in Capricorn after 13th July, we are pretty much on our own in this conflagration between Mars and Rahu in Bharani. What will take place will very much depend on Mars's actions in Ashwini and the preceding 3 padas of Bharani, and Rahu's actions in Krittika from where he has already transited in anti-clockwise direction into Bharani in mid-June. This time may bring an upsurge of anger and intense emotions in our personal lives -- an anger that may have many of us feeling triggered and provoked. Some of these triggering issues may be really old, systemic, or pertain to old relationships, but the anger and pain of these old events would really feel  fresh and new now as our emotions practically thrum. 

Like every Nakshatra, Bharani too has 4 padas. Though Bharani is overall ruled by Venus, her different padas have different Navamnsa and Navamsa lords. Bharani pada-1 belongs to the Leo Navamsa (Sun) and a person with Moon placement here is artistic and self-centered. Moon in Bharani pada-2 belongs to the Virgo Navamsa (Mercury) and makes the native an incisive communicator, and a clever technician, good with precision instruments. Pada-3 of Bharani belongs to the Libra Navamsa (Venus). This is an auspicious Vargottama location for the Moon, for it confers maximum material gain. Venus is both Pada and Navamsa lord, and Moon is exalted in Venus's Taurus. Finally, pada-4 of Bharani belongs to the Scorpio Navamsa (Mars), and this also a Vargottama location since Mars is both Aries lord, and lord of Bharani pada-4 belonging to the Scorpio Navamsa. This gives rise to an unyielding but complicated emotional battle of manipulation, where the Moon is debilitated. Important planets in such placements make a person very status conscious and anxious about maintaining their public image -- people who are constantly asking others to use their titles rather than their first names. 

It is also, exactly this pada-4 of Bharani, where the conflagration between Rahu and Mars will take place in the first week of August. This week is a precarious time for many of us. Communication might feel angry and provocative, especially in relation to events that took place in the past, about which you discover you still feel vulnerable (surprise! surprise!). Mars is very powerful in pada-4 of Bharani as he lords Scorpio. But Scorpio is also a place of buried things from the past that lie undisturbed (or so we think) at the bottom of a deep icy lake. Scorpio is our unconscious, and water from that icy lake holds fiery, burning poison, especially in the tail region (the Gandanta between Scorpio and Sagittarius, between Jyeshtha and Moola Nakshatras). Scorpio is our hidden vulnerability and hurt -- a place where Moon is debilitated, and where Ketu achieves exaltation as a force that divides us and breaks us away from toxic pasts (small mercies!), and past lives. Ketu in Scorpio provides healing, whereas Rahu in Scorpio does the exact opposite -- taking great pleasure in digging up our secrets (foolish and risky things that we did for a lark at 15) and throwing them back into our faces -- if accompanied by Mercury -- over social media as well. Situations where secrets are, or may be revealed, often result in intense fear, anger, dread, antagonisms, provocation, and helplessness, especially if women are involved. Don't respond to this provocation by lashing back in the Mars way -- this is what Rahu wants. This response will only demonstrate that you are still vulnerable, and add an additional layer of memory to past events you want to forget that will moreover, come unraveled at some later date. Its truly not worth it.

 

One thing you can do in the absence of SaturnRx's 3rd gaze, is to instead draw emotional succor from Ketu's influence, sitting 7 houses away in Libra. What does Ketu show us, or help us with? Ketu is our past even as Rahu is our desire for the future. Ketu's influence asks us to break away from all past suffering, and detractors whom Rahu would love to resurrect. Ketu (by cutting off the past) helps us live in the present, while Rahu with his fear-inducing activities creates anxiety about the future, and robs us of the present. But the present is a sobering reality, and we must hold on to it, even as Rahu resuscitates old enemies. Look to Ketu for succor and support, and make a break with the past. Let that past go, the very instance it raises its head like a phoenix from the ashes. At that very moment of provocation that encourages an unfortunate Martian response; excise that "hot" emotion that feels like burning coals, and deposit it at the feet of goddess Kali. Once this deposit is done, you can stop feeling it yourself. Rahu is a force of illusion, and he will make the past seem more important and more "real" than it really is. You cannot help the past any more and no one (except for Rahu) thinks of your past as "real" either. The Mars response is supremely unhelpful to resolve the irritations of memory. Remember, that the past has control over you, only until you allow it to remain alive inside you and control you. Go to a Ganesh temple if you can, want to, or feel like it, or believe in it at all, to lay this tormented past at Sri Lambodar Vinayaka's feet. Now, he will take it over from you, and it will thereafter never touch you again. You will be released from the rebirth of that old torment. Similarly leave the Mars response as a deposit at goddess Kali's feet. Don't "feel" it anymore thereafter. Refuse to "feel" it -- you have a choice here. The past truly belongs to the past. Give it to God, as you wait patiently for Mars to pass into Krittika lorded by Sun and Mars's friend, and forget it.

So what are the effects of this transit, and what is its remedy? In Aries, 1st house, don't resort to secret-digging and blackmailing in order to defeat an enemy. Its a dirty trick -- leave it alone! You cannot win everything. If in Taurus, 2nd house, careful of manipulative speech; don't tell lies, and no abusive language please or hate-speech (remember Venus is your Markesh, and the 2nd house is a Marak-sthan). In Gemini in 3rd house, careful of running so hard after your desires, that it makes you go to any extent to discover new information. Let it be -- your health and peace of mind is more important. In Cancer, 4th house, beware of ego battles with old colleagues and detractors (also family) -- these are about your old struggles and baggage with them -- nothing new. Allow them to get away with it -- conserve yourself. Be wise, rather than combative, and at no cost, rise to Rahu's bait! In Leo, 5th house, beware of holding your kids/ romantic partners to ransom for fulfilling your own demands. If your daughter or sister wants to marry someone you dislike, let them do it. If your girlfriend wants to marry someone else, let her go too. Really! Its about finding happiness in life, and not about fanning your ego. What's the point of forcing women into an unhappy life? Everyone has their own lives -- and you must let them live it without insisting that they live it on your terms. In the 6th house in Virgo, this is not too bad, especially if you are in a soup. You will discover some additional information here that will help you find a solution. But don't go overboard! Tread cautiously, especially since the person/ situation you are defeating over here, is an adversary, and not an enemy. Don't make new enemies if you can help it. If the conjunction is taking place in Libra, your 7th house, need I say more? Don't manipulate, or get manipulated by your spouse or business partner. This could be a time when an old mistake or secret may be revealed. Don't press-in your prerogative, and bargain. Remember, this is a Marak-sthan, and Venus is a powerful Markesh for Aries. Forgive your partner, just as you would have liked yourself to be forgiven. Everyone does stuff. Don't take it personally, and overlook it. If you handle this badly, you may win the battle but lose the war. In Scorpio, in the 8th, please turn away from contentious family property, and relationship disputes. What is yours will come to you in the end in any case. If you feel excluded and lonely in relationships, remember that this is baggage from the past that Rahu just throws at you for fun -- its nothing new, and the past does not repeat itself, especially if you have genuinely tried to change yourself. Remain calm and DON'T RESPOND. In Sagittarius, in 9th, please abstain from fights over religion, especially quotes that are taken out of context (ahem, Nupur Sharma -- your comments have indirectly served to hold the entire city of Udaipur at ransom). In Capricorn, in the 10th, please abstain from back-biting against a colleague you find irritating. Believe it, s/he has her/ his own story about you, which you wouldn't like to hear -- its even less flattering than your story about them. Worse still, there will be a time when they will take revenge for your deeds now. So pipe down, keep silent, and focus on the tasks at hand. In Aquarius, in the 11th, it is not so bad. Go ahead with the good work -- your research. unearthing discoveries and inventions, and putting it to good use for social causes. In Pisces, in the 12th, do you feel someone has stolen a march over you? If you were putting stuff together for a creative project, has someone else just taken credit for it? Have your results been leaked out beforehand? Do you feel sabotaged? Let me console you: its not as bad as it looks. Rahu is scaring you. Once your emotions calm down, take a closer look at what has been revealed. You will discover the paradox. Whatever has been revealed will only help you in the long run. Someone has inadvertently helped you. Hold on! You still have space. Don't feel oversensitive about it. Just move on with the original plan.  

So, what is the "remedy"? I am often asked about remedies. And in my humble opinion, remedies are often money-making gimmicks that don't exist. Also, astrology is a religious technology and not a science. Its results cannot be replicated in terms of a laboratory system (what science actually means). Astrology as a religious system/ technology has a fascinating history in Indian and South Asian culture, but it does not control your life. It may be entertaining as a curious hobby, and have a lot of perceptive associations and realizations about human behavior connected to it, but it is definitely harmful as an obsession. There is no need to regularly pray to planetary lords, unless specifically recommended to you by a teacher. Just doing astrological religious 'practices' can in fact, be harmful to one's normal everyday life, bringing additional tensions and ruminations that invite impoverishment (daridra-yoga). Not all predictions are true. Only God, your deeds, and your good intentions matter. An atheist is as blessed as a religious person, and people of all religions are blessed equally. Everyone is equal in God's eyes. This is true. 

I share a small criticism about Hindu astrological practices and practitioners here. Most practitioners feel that it is enough to pray when a difficult astrological conjunction besieges them. And I critique this passive prayer, even though I have recommended it in part, in the paragraphs above. What I have recommended is prayer for inner peace and freedom from pain and anger that seeps into us like a toxic back-flow from the past, due to Rahu's anti-clockwise movement. Prayer is meant to release you from emotions, and definitely not the way of influencing new external change, ordered as if in a restaurant without efforts. Passively praying may even constitute a form of escapism that fools oneself or others; but cannot fool God and definitely not planetary rulers. I am hence critical of 'practice' that is used as a subterfuge for action. 

Malefics and ugra planets like Saturn, Rahu, Ketu, and Mars have strong, action-oriented functions in Kaliyuga. They demand action from us to counterbalance a destabilized world. That is why Rahu is not completely bad in Kaliyuga. We also need out-of-the-box thinkers and revolutionaries like him. One powerful remedy for the Mars-Rahu conjunction in Bharani is, for example, to help women reach their feminist goals. Women, especially those who are poor, from backward contexts, or who are trafficked, and who work as public women for survival, suffer from all the Bharani related crisis that I have enumerated above for different houses and zodiacs. Many women who work publicly are blackmailed, harassed, exploited, bad-mouthed, manipulated, disrespected, and abused, even as they deal with competition, and struggle enormously to survive. The period of Mars-Rahu in Bharani, is an opportunity to understand the plight of downtrodden women, as the angry regenerative power of ALL WOMEN, who are the same as ALL mothers, sisters, wives, and daughters -- the same non-duality of Yama-Yami. It may help more in terms of a remedy then, to rise from your praying asana and help a woman struggling to survive. Instead of a Gauri Puja, help her to pay the school fees of her girl children. Don't only put money into the daan-peti of a temple, but also head to an NGO for women and girls, and find out how you can contribute to better the lives of women. 

If you are in Kaliyuga, both suffering and enjoying its fruits (bhoga), your remedies lie in action, and not just in passively praying for personal betterment.