The Stars are Alive

If astrology seems ‘abstract’ and unrelated to our lives it is because we are abstracted from the night sky and have no relationship to its stories.

The zodiac is a real-live belt of burning stars that encircles the earth, and through which (from our perspective here on earth) the other planets move. Each constellation is made of a specific collection of these stars, with astronomical names and histories. And these groupings of stars are further divided into the lunar zodiac of 27 nakshatras. It can be said that these nakshatras hold an even deeper influence than the signs themselves, which are characterized partly by the qualities of the lunar mansions they contain (each solar sign will hold about 2.5 lunar mansions).

All of the planets will be in one of these lunar mansions in a horoscope, which will distinctly flavor our experience of that planet and what it brings into our life. But by far the most significant placement to analyze in regard to the nakshatras is the placement of the individual’s moon. The moon has a special affinity for the nakshatras both mythologically and astronomically. Astronomically, the movement of the moon defines the different stars associated with the lunar mansions (I’m using the word ‘nakshatra’ interchangeably with ‘lunar mansion’ here, as they are the same thing), and mythologically the lunar mansions were the wives of the moon, which he would visit each one for one day on his rotation through the sky.

I’ve said before that the placement of an individual’s moon in a nakshatra will determine the particular bent of the mind. It is the lens through which we see the world which will determine our course through life, our priorities, how we relate to other people, where we put our attention and where our blind spots are (among many other things). Essentially, the configurations of the chart have to be filtered through this moon’s placement, as the mind is, for a human being, pretty much the leader of the show and will determine how these placements are being utilized.

So at the moment you were born your moon was located somewhere in the sky, whether above or below the earth. It will be placed in or near a particular star or group of stars which will decide your nakshatra. If you were born with Krittika moon, for example, your moon was near the Pleiades—or seven sisters—when you were born. This is a mythologically-rich set of stars, considered to be the wives of the Vedic Rishis and very significant for the unfoldment of the divine plan on our planet. They were intrugal in caring for one of the heroes who overtook a ‘demon’ that was attempting to destroy the world. The many stories associated with these seven stars will play themselves out through the life of the native. These people will likely wrestle throughout their lives with the forces which attempt to carry them against the current of the divine plan, and will need to create within themselves the strength to overtake the internal demons which might destroy their personal evolution.

Each of us is born with an intimate relationship with a star in this way. Those born in Jyestha nakshatra are born in the heart of the Scorpion under the star Antares, while those born under Chitra are governed by the star Spica. Developing a connection with these stars in the sky can be like discovering a lost twin. Gazing up into its face at night can begin to unlock an awe which lubricates a lot of the inner ‘stuck-ness’ we can experience when abstracted from the divinity continually attempting to get our attention.

If you do not know what’s called your Janma nakshatra or birth star then you can develop a relationship with the constellations themselves, observing them in the night sky and noticing the planet’s procession through their bodies, remembering that the zodiac in Vedic Astrology is called the Kalapurusha or ‘Body of God’.

There is a whole lot going on up there below our awareness, as the night sky has become like another unconscious for us. It continues rolling on beneath our awareness, being that most of us cannot even see it due to pervasive light pollution. Finding ways to reach across that thickening divide is one way to make contact with the parts of yourself you might be estranged from. You can even make a prayer to the stars, asking for insight or blessing their brave endurance. If that world does not seem ‘real’ it is only because you have not attempted to touch it.