Sahara Rose · 346: 2021 Forecast in Vedic Astrology with Laura Plumb

TRANSCRIPTION

Episode 346: 2021 Forecast in Vedic Astrology with
By Sahara Rose

[00:12]
Namaste. It’s Sahara Rose and welcome back to The Highest Self Podcast, a place where we discuss what makes you, Your Soul’s Highest Evolvement.

[00:19]
I am so excited today because I have one of my favorite Vedic Astrologers on the Podcast today and her name is Laura Plumb. She’s been on the Podcast before, I will link that Episode in the show notes so you can listen to that Episode too where we go deep into just what Vedic Astrology really is etc., but in this Episode she shares about her 2021 forecast, according to what is going on in the stars.

[00:46]
So, for me, I love to look at Vedic Astrology. It has been so helpful in my life to better understand the truth of who I am. I am someone that does follow Vedic Astrology, so we describe the difference. Vedic Astrology is essentially one of the most ancient forms of astrology that is based off of the sidereal systems that she shares more about. And it’s the sister science of Ayurveda, which I am an Ayurvedic author and practitioner; it’s the sister science of yoga as well, and all forms of Vedic sciences – Jyotish, which is called science of the stars, which is really meant to be practiced hand in hand with these different systems. So, if you resonate with my work, with Dharma, with the Goddesses, with Ayurveda, with yoga, with Vedic or Transcendental meditation, all of these different ancient scientific modalities, they are all interconnected and Vedic Astrology is a part of it.

[01:41]
So, in this Episode we talk more about what it is, dive deeply more into, just the actual science of what Vedic Astrology is about, how it is different than Western Astrology, how it is based off of where the planets actually are in the sky right now and why in Western Astrology there is a discrepancy. We also speak about how we can look at the stars to support us; she speaks about how 2021, what the theme of the years is and what we can focus on. We also just speak about, at the beginning of the Episode, a deeper understanding of why bad things can happen to good people and I think it’s that universal question of why the suffering exists and how we can move through that and see from the greater picture. Again, none of us know the answer to why, I wish I knew why but all we can do is take the obstacles that we’ve overcome and see them as our soul’s unique preparation for us to embody our Dharmas in a fuller way.

[02:45]
So, we share more about this at the beginning of the Episode, then we get into what Vedic Astrology is, then we get into her 2021 predictions and at the end of the Episode we talk about her recommended stones that you should wear, the recommended mantras according to the planets that we will be working with this year, and so much more to support you. There is such great wisdom that Laura shares, her language is just so poetic and so beautiful, and teachers like her who have such immense ancient knowledge are so rare. She actually is Dr. Suhas’s former student, so she is really learning from the most incredible lineage. Dr. Suhas has also been on the Podcast a couple times now, sharing about Vedic Astrology as well, and is just one of the most incredible and respected Ayurvedic doctors as well, so I feel so blessed to have these teachers here, sharing with us on the Podcast, giving us their insight, their wisdom, their time and helping us see the world in a brighter way and making these sciences more accessible for all of us.

[03:52]
So, without further ado, let’s welcome Laura Plumb to The Highest Self Podcast.
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[03:57] Advertisement:
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[06:42] End of Advertisement
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[06:44] Interview

[06:44] Sahara:
Welcome Laura to The Highest Self Podcast, it’s so great to have you back.

[06:48] Laura:
Thank you. It’s wonderful to be with you.

[06:50] Sahara:
And the first question I’d love to ask you, again, is what makes you your highest self?

[06:56] Laura:
Lately it’s been chanting. The Full Moon has been keeping me up at night, so I just put on some chants and sing away. What makes me my highest self is to see the sun, to see the flowers, to see light, to go out ride my bike, to meditate, to dance, but mostly, I’ve been very inspired by others and by how much more we are together. This idea that dancing, ritual, singing together, these are the most powerful ways for us to heal. And we have some healing to do, as we move into this new year. So, there’s lots of ways to reach for our higher self, but right now, it’s been chanting a lot.

[07:39] Sahara:
I love that so much! So, for people who haven’t heard your previous episodes here, on Vedic Astrology, can you share with us briefly what is Vedic Astrology and how is it, maybe, different than Western Astrology?

[07:52] Laura:
Vedic Astrology is called ‘Jyotish’. Jyot means light, ish is the Lord, the governing principle, the governing intelligence. So, it’s the science of understanding the light of our cosmos, how it forms patterns (a matrix you might say) of energy and intelligence, and then each one of us born in a specific time is, you could say, the coming alive of that matrix of light, energy and intelligence. It’s an understanding, it’s an actual application, you might say, of the Vedic term “Yatha pinde, tatha Brahmande” which is often translated to be ‘as above, so below’,yatha pinde in the smallest thing, as in the smallest, so is prahma, the greatest, the Creator is everything in creation. The patterns of the cosmos are alive in each one of us. In the individual is the universal; in the atom is the all.
So, jyotish is an understanding that we are atmas, we are eternal, we are unbreakable; we are something undiminishable; that we have an intelligence, that intelligence chose to have this life in order to evolve. Jyotish helps us understand what those choices are and how we are here to evolve. Often people refer to that term as Karma.
The term Karma is so laden with so much meaning, so much overlay, so I like to think of it as evolution; how are we going to refine our minds, how are we going to grow and expand our hearts. And what jyotish can help us with is, it can help us to really see why are you having this experience; why are you challenged; why are you suffering; but also what are your unique talents; what is your Dharma; what are you here really to experience; to know; to feel and how can you really grow.
So, it’s a very, very powerful, definitely, spiritual science based on consciousness. Jyotish is called ‘The Eye of the Vedas’, so it helps us to really see, with a larger perspective, to see, not just our own life but life itself. It’s very powerful.

[10:02] Sahara:
So beautiful, I love that! It reminds me of the Sanskrit word purusha – how we are all part of the same city; we are all homes in the same city and all connected to that. And can you share with us what is the sidereal system? Because the Vedic Astrology, jyotish is based on that, and also I found out that different forms of Kemetic Astrology, African Astrology, are also based off of the sidereal system.

[10:27] Laura:
And the Zoroastrians, the Three Wise Men who went to…

[10:31] Sahara:
That’s my background.

[10:34] Laura:
Yeah, so, it’s really fascinating. I once actually saw at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, I once saw – you’d lie down and you’d look at the roof basically, they created kind of a sky, supposedly at the moment of the birth of Jesus Christ, and they show what the Zoroastrians were seeing when they were looking at basically they didn’t call it jyotish, but what word about the jyotish chart, but why they – it said they followed the star to Bethlehem – what they were doing was, they were looking at the stars in the sky, and of course, we know now that it was probably the greatest conjunction where Saturn and Jupiter had again united back at that point; and at that point when it united the Sun was in opposition, so the Sun was really lighting that up.
So, yeah, Persian Astrology, this is an astrology that is very, very ancient way at looking at the sky and seeing what we refer to as ‘The Fixed Stars System’, that’s what that stands for, that word, it means that the stars are fixed. When we look at the sky, the stars, they don’t move. Obviously, they seem to be moving as they cross the sky but that’s us that’s moving. So you look up at night, you see the Big Dipper directly above, an hour later it’s off to the side, two hours later it’s starting to set. But they’re fixed; they are not moving (the stars), what’s moving is Earth and the Planets and the Moon. So this system versus the Tropical System – the Tropical System is based on this idea that on March 22nd which is the Vernal Equinox in the northern hemisphere (21st or 22nd) the Sun moves into Aries, and that was true 2000 years ago (3000 years ago), that the Sun did go in there. And that’s what, for instance, Persian New Year, the Vedic New Year, always started with, the moment that the Sun went into Aries. Aries is considered to be the first sign because that’s when the year begins. And why did the year begin then? Because that was Spring and that’s when nature came back to life. So of course we would consider that as a new year; new birth. The thing is, what people were able to recognize, this is why we really do thank our teachers because we could not have cognized this in one lifetime. It’s over many, many lifetimes that they were able to see that, of something called the Procession of the Equinox. And just very briefly – the pressure of the electromagnetic energy in the cosmos makes our axis expand and wobble, because we wobble – the sky seems to have moved but it’s us that’s moved. What that means is the Vernal Equinox now, we’re only at the beginning of Pisces. Sun is in Pisces, at about 10° now. Every 2150 years we go through a new sign. So, the Sun would go into Aries, now the Sun is in Pisces and it’s going to be traveling through Pisces until in about 500 years, on the Vernal Equinox, the Sun will enter Aquarius. So, when we had the age of Aries in 2000BC (up to about BC), then we have the age of Pisces, for about 2150 years and then we’re going to have the age of Aquarius. And when you go through all 12 signs, multiply that by 2150, it’s not exact because the Earth’s wobble doesn’t follow a calculance. They don’t follow calendars, they’re not subject to that, the go by their own accord, they go by the electromagnetic energy. So, we aren’t absolutely clear whether it’ll be 500 years exactly when the age of Aquarius begins, or not, but we can project that it’s somewhere around 400-600 years from now. When you multiply 2150 by 12, you get 25.000 (26.000), you get a yuga. And this what these ancient people understood.
So, Tropical Astrology is fixed to that Vernal Equinox, Sun goes into Aries.

[14:54] Sahara:
Which was happening when they were recording it in the sky about 2000 years ago?

[14:58] Laura:
Right. And the Greeks recorded that. And it’s said that the people of India and the people of Greece did share a lot of information they learned from each other. So, kudos and praise to the Greek system, but it’s not accurate to what’s actually happening now in the sky.
So, again, many people get a lot out of it and that’s great, but what’s great about jyotish or Vedic Astrology is that it can be very predictive, we can really suggest a great time to get married or a great time to launch your business.

[15:34] Sahara:
Yeah! Every single person that I have shared it with, for myself, of really diving deeper into jyotish (about 2-3 years ago) and now, because of our social media world, everyone is like “It’s Capricorn season right now and you’re going to feel like going back to work”, I would always not feel it but now that I know that where the signs actually are, is that sign before (right now we’re in Sagittarius season) and that we are both Sagittarius in our Sun sign, it makes so much more sense to me. And everyone that I’ve shared it with, when they look up their signs in Vedic Astrology, they’re like “Oh, this feels like so much home” whereas I have some friends that really resonate with their Western Sun signs, and that’s amazing too, and sometimes they happen to be the same, based off of the – I think, is it about 24° behind that they’re at right now?

[16:24] Laura:
It is.

[16:25] Sahara:
So, for people who are wondering, you could look it up online, but typically it’s 24° before where you would think it’s at now and the different steps, but it feels so much more accurate for me and every single time I learn about Vedic Astrology, which is why I wanted to have you share a little bit more about this year from that perspective. It has been so accurate, so spot on and it’s something that I think a lot of people, first of all don’t know about, and then second of all, feel intimidated about. It’s different words, they’re in Sanskrit, or so used to the Western understanding of things, we have our t-shirts or maybe even tattoos of our Sun sign, we don’t want to let go of that. And it doesn’t mean drop it, at all, I still do love some Western astrologers and feel like they’re super-accurate channels in their own way, but, if you’re listening to this Podcast, you’re probably interested in Ayurveda, you’re probably interested in yoga, in the Goddesses, and this is just the sister science of all of that. So it’s just a natural progression of if you’re connecting to these different forms of ancient wisdom, this is a part of that pie.

[17:30] Laura:
I love what you’re saying and it reminds me of the French word for a ‘well’. So, once upon a time people had a farm, they’d dig a well and they’d get their water. They call that word ‘source’ and this source provides the water that nourishes, fertilizes, lubricates etc. – water is life. And I feel like when you access your source self (your swardharma) you get watered, you get nourished, and there’s a lot of freedom. You’ve got a book coming out soon, you know that once you access your true nature, you access your true purpose, your swadharma, your purpose for being. There’s a freedom that comes from that and I think that’s what jyotish allows us. It gives freedom. And I’ve even had experiences where a teacher in front of a whole room showed something about my chart that’s not gorgeous, it’s not what we would all be clambering for, and he said “Laura’s got this and it means that” and I said to myself, I’d been saying that for the past year; I’d been saying that there’s this one thing that I feel, my husband’s like “No, stop, no” and it just felt so good to be recognized; it just felt so good that I could see that that is something that I have and then once it was acknowledged – now what are we going to do about it?
So, I feel like, whether it’s you’re square or you’re circular, whether you’re purple or you’re orange, to know who you are in your essence. The matrix of you is to know your freedom, to know your light, it’s so, so beautiful.

[19:16] Sahara:
I love that! And before we dive into it, one question that I think a lot of people have is – why did we choose our birthdays? Did our souls choose our birthdays or is our personality shifted based on when we happened to be born?

[19:31] Laura:
Yeah, it’s a great question. So, a couple things when we look at Scripture. A lot of people say to me “When is the actual birth? So what are we putting the birth time to? Is it just after everything got taken care of and then the nurse looks at the clock? Oh by the way, it’s 4:30, write that down. Is it when the head comes out? Is it when the umbilical cord is cut? When is it? And it turns out the Scripture says it when the body of the baby touches the Earth; it’s when you’re earthed. And people used to give birth squatting, so that made sense, but now, we give birth, mostly, in a different way. So, the baby is not put on the Earth necessarily, how beautiful would that actually be, to be touching the Earth when you first arrive.
Now, that’s a great question because the reason I’m saying that is your birth time determines your rising sign, we call that lagna. Our rising sign, our lagna gives procrity, it also determines where the planets fall in your chart, what house are those planets in. Planets are energy, house is action, so where will the energy of you be active in the world? So, what time you were born is really essential and it will determine so much.

[20:48] Sahara:
So, would you say it’s when now, because we don’t touch the Earth, it’s when the full body has exited?

[20:55] Laura:
Yes, when the full body has exited and you could say maybe it’s been swaddled, it’s been received, you’d say, maybe mother or father, placed on the momma’s belly or maybe the father’s able to hold the baby. But there’s some sense of earthing, I think that’s the main thing to think about; that you’re fully arrived in this plain. But your question I think is a great question – why did we make those choices and does it change? Does it change if the doctor plays golf on Tuesdays who’s going to schedule the caesarian for Wednesday? How does that doctor determine the soul’s choices? I just believe that in some larger way there’s a bigger picture than all of us can even understand. The soul sees the portal; this fixing; this turning of the sky suddenly becomes “That’s the portal to which I’m entering. Here I go. I’m going in now”. Does that make sense? It’s almost like I see this matrix of light, planets, in relationship to one another, in relationship to the stars and the time. All of a sudden it’s this turning, the piece of the puzzle falls into place and in that soul comes; in that moment.
And so, don’t think it’s this long planned thing, I think it’s “In I come!” And maybe it’s even the soul who’s helping determine “No, that doctor’s playing golf on Tuesday, so mom, I’ve got to born on Wednesday” There’s just something else that’s going on. All I would say is, that soul chose that time and place, wherever that time and place is and how it was determined. And you’ll see that because when you talk to people about their chart, so often they’re in a kind of full body ‘A-ha!’ The whole body is just sort of ‘A-ha!’ Like there’s something that they’re hearing that is real deep truth for them. Other times I’ve, especially recently, I’ve been on with people and I’m looking at the chart and all of a sudden I look up, they’ve been silent for a long time, I’m looking up too see how it’s going and if this is making sense to them, and they are just streaming with tears, because it’s so real, it’s so true.

[22:57] Sahara:
I love that. Yeah, totally, to me it makes sense that we choose our ideal birth times, places, everything, mothers even, to help us live our Dharmas, to help us have those archetypes and energies and patterns that we need to really radiate our soul’s expression.

[23:17] Laura:
Yeah. I was up with the full moon at night and the first night of the full moon was just lots of memories of traumatic experiences, and just one after the other. And so, in the morning, when I woke up, I was feeling teary and vulnerable, when I finally got to sleep and finally woke up. Next night I thought I’d go to sleep early, it was the same thing but this time it was much more gentle. So, when I woke up the second time after that, I was meditating and asking why; why was I born as a woman; why was I born to be raped, abused, treated as women so often can be; why to experience all that? And it was so interesting because it engalloped my atma. Hochus said that none of that defines you; that none of that is who you are; that you are greater and bigger and nothing can take you down. That is a really powerful message that I feel comes to me because I’m constantly looking at charts and I’m constantly able to see that behind all of your experiences is power, is radiance, is the truth that you are consciousness come alive to have these experiences, not just to heal and to become whole; not just to learn to be compassionate but to know that you’re a juna, to rise above it all and to be that radiant being. Very powerful.

[24:42] Sahara:
I love that, thank you so much for sharing. I was thinking the exact same thing last night. I watched this documentary by the Heart Math Institute. Do you know Heart Math? They do a lot of research on how the heart is just intuitive. The documentary was quite sad, it was a number of different tragedies that have happened, from the Rwandan Genocide to this young girl with these hopes and dreams who was killed by a drunk driver and how forgiveness was found after those experiences. Forgiveness from the woman, who she literally had to be standing in this shower for six months or something to hide from school mates that she had and that were now going after her and then the parents of this girl who died in a drunk driving accident – her heart being donated because she was an organ donor. They later on found her bucket list and a couple years after that the organ donor reached out to them and was like “Hey, I think I have your daughter’s heart” and they ended up speaking with her every single thing on this bucket list this organ donor had done. And the girl was training to become a nurse and she was the nurse, and it was just incredible because it was just hardship and I was trying to wrap my head around like “Why did these bad things needed to happen? Why did they have to get there to get to this beautiful moment and the conscious mind will never be able to understand, it’s the eternal question. But even with that happening there was so much greater synchronicities and it inspired, in that story, the parents to also create their own bucket list and live their own fullest potential. So, it just shows that even from the darkest dark comes the lightest of light.

[26:20] Laura:
Isn’t that so true but is that always true?

[26:22] Sahara:
Well, I think that’s the other thing of the free will. It’s what creates some people to – for example, this woman who was in the Rwandan Genocide has every reason to be angry, every reason to want revenge and is choosing forgiveness, is praising forgiveness – and it’s, what makes someone choose that? Is it their soul, is it their astrology? I don’t know, it’s all, but it’s incredible because – and then also, what is free will? How do we even know if it’s free will? Because sometimes you may think it’s free will but it’s something deeper in you that is making you more likely to behave in a more altruistic way vs. perhaps a non.

[27:06] Laura:
Yeah. You know what I see is (talking about the Rwanda’s), that life really wants to live. And for this woman, the way that she is going to live fully is, she has to forgive, otherwise she’s just a flower dying. But she wants to be a flower radiantly growing in the sun and her path to that is forgiveness. So, it’s her choice for her life.
And then I love this idea of this girl who dies and in a way she goes to life inside, her heart goes to live inside someone who then can carry forward her life, maybe even more fully. And maybe that girl who died sort of sacrificed so that the world could come to know that we don’t really die. So many people, I think of them as bodhisattvas, so many people are really here, helping us advance and they’re willing to do what it’ll take because they knew the outward doesn’t die.

[28:02] Sahara:
Absolutely! I think the question that comes up for me is “How do I know if we’re one of those people?” Anyways, it’s all divinely planned. So, with that, we’re getting in a very deep conversation which we’ll do another one but with that, there are so many things, energetic things that can be in our destiny that we are not aware of, and we have so much free will. I would love to get into your astrological forecast for 2021 because I think if 2020 taught us one thing is okay, I know in astrology, they could definitely see things were happening, we didn’t know exactly what but we could see things happening but also each person’s experience of that was so unique. Some people are still waiting for things to go back to normal and some people are thriving more than ever before and it’s really how we are responding to the situation. So, I’m sure we have another big year planned ahead and I’d love for you to share a little bit about what you’re seeing in the stars for us.

[29:07] Laura:
Yeah, I’m excited to share with you because there’s a lot going on. I want to go back to something you said earlier about being at about 24°. So, the Vedic system is about 24° off from the Tropical System. There are 30° to every sign, we call the signs ‘the rashies’. So, if you were, to give you an equivalent of that, if your Sun sign is let’s say Gemini, 3, 24 out of 30 people will be not a Gemini anymore, but 6 out of 30 still will. So, that’s that idea of the shift, it’s 1° every 72 years and therefore it takes 2150 years for it to move 30°. Now, also a lot of people will also look at their Jyotish chart or they don’t want to look at their Jyotish chart because they don’t want to be different; but a lot of times if one does identify with the Sun sign, in the Jyotish chart we’ll see that now their Moon is that sign, or their Rising is that sign. So, let’s go ahead and dive in and explore because they may find they are still a relationship to the sign they might love.

[30:15] Sahara:
And when you say explore, should we be looking at our Rising sign or our Sun sign?

[30:21] Laura
That’s where I was going next. We should be looking at the Rising sign and the Moon sign. What I wanted to talk about next is that the Moon – Jyotish is much more interested in planets over signs; signs are stars, I’m not saying that they don’t matter but we are looking at planets. Planets are deivas, planets are considered deivic beings, divine beings. They have energy, they have a perspective from the sky and their energy comes down into this world through us. So, in a way we’re sort of serving those deivic or divine beings.
So, when we talk about somebody we might say “Oh that person’s got Jupiter, so much Mercury, so much Moon to their chart”, we’re going to identify more with the planet than with the stars. The stars are behind the planets, the planets are moving basically in front of the star constellations and the planets are bouncing the light of the stars as well as bounding the light of the Sun into this world – so that’s the light that kind of configures to make the matrix of you. But more than anything, Jyotish is a Moon-based system, and so when we look at your chart, look at where your Moon is, that’s very essential because the Moon is Manas. Manas is mind; Manas is the word human or the word man. Man doesn’t mean a person with that gender or that sex, man means a person who has a mind, a human mind, a perception. So, we talk about a person, a man, a woman – it’s one who’s got the capacity to perceive the world; who has five senses and is able to interpret their experience of life through these five senses plus our intuition. That’s what the Moon relates to, people say “The Moon is your emotional body”. Emotions are one of the ways in which we respond to sensory input, but it’s also general day-to-day thoughts; general day-to-day interpretation of life. Where your Moon is, is going to basically determine how you think about life, how you feel about the world, how you feel about yourself. It’s everything about how you are mediating this world and this life, it’s very fundamental because Jyotish is a Vedic science. The Vedas very much focus on the mind; how we grow the mind to be open to, expanded into the cosmic mind; how do we see the world in our life from an expanded perspective; a higher perspective.
So, when we look at the mind, I’m focusing on the Moon because in a way the theme for 2021 is going to be ‘Moon’; it’s the year of the Moon, if there’s a theme for this year. And I really want to thank my teachers but I also want to thank Komilla Sutton and James Kelleher for their insight. Those two practice Mundane Astrology which is forecasting, which is what’s going to happen in world events. I focus more on individual, working one-on-one with people, Jyoitish consulting, helping people understand and interpret their charts.
So, when we look at the forecast for the year, there’s a couple things that we can look at. Overall, what are the major planets, the planets that are slowest movement around the Sun. Because they’re the slowest, they stay the longest in the sign and because they stay the longest in the sign, they have the most impact. What are those planets? We always look at the beginning of the year at the planet Saturn and the planet Jupiter. And we like to look at them, if I’m doing a one-on-one with somebody, where are they (generally speaking) and where are they in relationship to your own chart because that will have a lot to do with what this year is going to be like for you. So, Saturn, Jupiter and then Rahu and Ketu, which are the lunar nodes. Lunar nodes take 18 months to get through a sign; Saturn takes 2.5 years to move through the sign.

[34:05] Sahara
And can you just share what does Lunar Nodes mean?

[34:08] Laura
So, they’re called the Lunar Nodes because it’s when the Moon lines up so perfectly in the same plain as the Sun and the Earth as either a Solar or a Lunar Eclipse – it’s the Moon that causes those eclipses, either when it’s New or Full. The North Node, we call in Jyotish Rahu, the North Node means that eclipse is happening in the north orbit, the Moon is in the north orbit according to or view.

[34:37] Sahara
And is Rahu, North Node, the same interpretation of Western, your North Node being your highest self, your dharma, the direction you’re going to?

[34:46] Laura
No.

[34:48] Sahara
No, ok, because that’s what it’s like in Western Astrology.

[34:52] Laura
Where you’re going, yes, Rahu does have some idea of where the soul wants to go in this lifetime – so what you’re here to learn. It’s pointing, the soul wants to go in this direction. I always feel like, somewhere in ones 40s we make peace with Rahu and then we start to become more like – my Rahu for instance is in Cancer, my Rahu is in pushya nakshatra I love that nakshatra. So, people nowadays will say “Oh, you must be Cancer”, I’m nothing Cancer in my chart. Once I say Rahu, it’s because at a certain point in your life you start to seem more like what Rahu is pointing towards. As an example, Ketu us the indicator, Ketu is the South Node, Ketu in Jyotish is the indicator of Moksha. And I know you’re doing some deep courses here that’s going to be transitional, transformational. A lot of people, I‘m hearing, are taking courses; I know somebody who’s going to become a soil advocate, she’s doing a training around soil advocacy. A lot of people are more interested in Jyotish, a lot of people are more interested in Ayurveda because of where Ketu is right now, in Scorpio, the sign of transformation, we’re seeing a lot of people really getting more focused on transformational arts, whether it’s yoga or whether it’s shamanic dance, some sort of transformational, transitional rituals. We’re seeing more and more of that ever since Ketu moved into Scorpio in September 2020. So, where those Lunar Nodes are placed, also is going to say a lot about what this is going to be like, make sense?

[36:23] Sahara
Yes. So, we’re all moving closely to our Rahu, which is individual and a collective one. For example, South Node is Western Astrology is – you may really be used to that thing but it’s not really what’s best for you. It’s just kind of what you came in with, it’s maybe your Karma. Would it be the same expression of that?

[36:45] Laura
It’s Karma, it does represent Karma and Moksha, which I love.

[36:51] Sahara
And Moksha means liberation, for people who don’t know.

[36:54] Laura
Right, thank you. When we accept out Karma; why is it there? It’s not there to punish you, it’s there to break you open. And what’s left when everything physical is broken? Nothing but your Atma. So now you’ve got Moksha, on the other side of you Karma is your Moksha. I always say, on the other side of your Karma is Dharma and through your Dharma is your Moksha.
So, Ketu represents both, so let me give you, I think the best way, and I love Jyotish because it’s an ancient science, it gives a lot of visuals, a lot of narratives, a lot of stories that I think helps us understand. Rahu is said to be the head of a dragon; Ketu is the body. So, we’ve got a be-headed dragon in the sky – the head living on one side of the sky and the body and tail living on the other side. Because Rahu is the head of the dragon, it does represent what’s ahead; he’s also always so hungry because whatever he eats, there’s no body to hold it. So, Rahu represents our hungers, our desires, it represents our desire for material accomplishment or attainment; Rahu represents chaos; Rahu represents the secretive, the material, the uncertain, the doubts, but he’s all head.
Ketu is the body and the tail. So, he’s what’s behind, so he does represent what’s familiar, what’s comfortable, old patterns, conditioning, DNA, the genetic expression, we suddenly act like our parents; act like a grandparent we’ve never even met; all the things we’ve inherited, and yet, Ketu, without a head, he’s running around the world like a chicken with his head cut off, he can’t see until, as Antoine Saint Exupery said, the most important things in life can only be seen with the eyes of the heart. Once Ketu finally goes inward, Ketu does then do that, he points us inward, he internalizes the mind and he helps us find the internal light that can never be extinguished. So, Ketu’s symbol is the Yogi who goes to the mountain top and spends his days doing Pranayama to keep him warm, to build inner strength and to ultimately build light and to awaken to Moksha, to our highest self.

[39:14] Laura
But it’s overcoming, facing our past; it’s overcoming the Karmas that we’ve come in with; it’s not leaving them behind, it’s living with them, going inward. Just as Shiva does; Shiva, the purple-throated one, the neelkanth – he swallows the poison, it turns his throat blue, he goes to the mountain top and he meditates it away. He doesn’t run from it, he takes the poisons, that once we start on our spiritual path, we do the churning, the churning of the oceans (so to speak), the churning brings all the stuff up. The first thing that happens when we start a spiritual path is we have to face ourselves and we have to face all the poisons of our life, all the illusions of our life; all the mistakes and the failures; the hurts; the injuries. And Shiva says hold it in the throat, don’t swallow it, don’t eat it, don’t become it, don’t make it a part of you, hold it, meditate on it and it will dissolve away. And Ketu very much represents that.

[40:10] Sahara
I love that. So, Ketu, this year, is in Scorpio, correct?

[40:17] Laura
And Rahu is in Taurus. Now what is Taurus? Taurus is creation itself; Taurus is the natural world. It’s beautiful because Rahu was in Gemini, prior, for 18 months, and then this September, depending on whether you look at the true node or the mean node, but let’s just say around September 20th, give or take a few days, depending on how you calculate, Rahu moved from Gemini to Taurus, Ketu moved from Sagittarius to Scorpio. Now, when Rahu and Ketu were in Gemini and Sagittarius, respectively, they were fierce; they were accompanied by Saturn and then Jupiter on came in, and in lots of points Mars was ferociously there as well. So, there was this sort of planetary battle in the sky – Ketu in Sagittarius relates to infections and disease at the core because Sagittarius is right across the Galactic Sun or the Milky Way. Gemini, for a lot of time – Rahu is a very air planet or Node; Gemini is Air, Rahu spent a lot of time in one of Gemini’s nakshatras. So within Gemini there is this star called Ardra which is the Tear (Tear Drop) or the Water Drop. This infectious disease that then Jupiter came in and Jupiter is a great globalist and spread it wide. You know, we could see by looking at the nodes that there was going to be something. You’re right, that we somewhat look back, it was known that something worldwide would happen that would be appending, uprooting. And not just the pandemic but Black Lives Matter – it was uprooting the status quo and saying we need to go to the roots of how we are living and really examine it at the very least, maybe even throw it up in the air and see what remains.
So, once those nodes moved after 18 months into Taurus and into Scorpio, they then moved from a very fierce place into the place where they are said to be exulted. Exultation for shadows doesn’t suddenly mean it’s a party because there’s still shadows, there’s still that which causes the eclipses, do you see what I’m saying? They still cause eclipses, they still cause shadow and darkness but what Rahu and Ketu come to do is they come to say we live in a dualistic world, where shadows will always present themselves. No matter how enlightened you become, we still live in a world subject to time, space continuum. And the time-space continuum, its powers are so great it can even bend light, so we have to firmly hue to the light, recognizing that even with all the light that we cultivate within, we’re still subject to the human experience.
So, Rahu and Ketu caused great uncertainty, caused lots of doubt, people couldn’t figure out what was going on – that’s Rahu and Ketu. And the sages say whenever there’s an eclipse, don’t go out to look at it, don’t go out to try to say “Why is this light just gone away? Why is the Sun just gotten darken?” Don’t celebrate endarkening forces, celebrate enlightening forces. Go to the place where the light can never be eclipsed, extinguished or diminished and that’s within, that’s in your own heart. So, we’re advised to meditate, to fast and to chant and to pray through the eclipse periods. When Rahu and Ketu were in a different place for 18 months, in Gemini and Sagittarius (until September 2020), the advice was not to look outward for explanations but to look inward for the one true thing which is your light and to really root into who you are and what your values are.
Now that Rahu and Ketu have gone to their places, their signs of exultation, Rahu is delighted to be in Taurus because Rahu is always hungry, Rahu desires material things, and Taurus is nature itself. So, Rahu gets somewhat to be able to fulfill his desires. I think what we’re going to be seeing these 18 months, that started September 20th. When I say September 20th 2020, it goes all the way into April 4th 2022. So, 2021 is right in the middle of this 18-month period while Rahu is in Taurus. Rahu will get to materialize; will give us tools, desires (of course), but the desires and the tools to recreate, to rebuild our economies, to rebuild our work or our life.
Ketu is pulling in the opposite direction saying – Scorpio is fire, Scorpio is transformation, Scorpio is the phoenix rising from the ashes. So, Ketu is saying “What do I really want?” Let’s burn off; let’s look at 2020 and say “What remains from that period?” To me, 2020 was all about what is essential. We always, we kept going back to honoring the frontline workers, honoring the essential workers, honoring the essential work, honoring the essential. We come out of 2020 really having paired down and paired back to our essence. And I think now Ketu is saying “What remains from that? What is your essence? And what do you want to take forward?” So, Ketu is saying to Rahu “Hang on, let’s not start building anew until we really know that we’re rooted into what my essence is. What is essential for me and how do I want to build that going forward?” So, it’s a time where the sea-saw is “I’ve got this capacity to build something new and it’s going to be a lot of energy for that” but there’s also that other side saying “What’s the transformation?” A lot of people drawn to a more spiritual work, deeper spiritual work, the work that is not just meditating and finding peace through meditation, but really the deep spiritual work that transforms you from your animal self to your divine self; it finds the seeds of divinity within and grows a garden out of that. So that’s one exciting piece, is that the nodes are really pointing us in a very positive direction.
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[47:45] Sahara
Yes, I think that we’re definitely seeing more people moving out to nature as well; more people moving out of the cities into nature. So many people I know are desiring to buy land and grow their own food and really live this way. So, I think that that definitely (the grid) is spreading around globally and I think we’re going to continue to see that, of more and more people realizing they can live anywhere.

[48:08] Laura
Yeah, and that’s Rahu. Rahu is going to desire more and more people go and live in nature, to live close to nature. So, the ideal is we live closer to nature, we live in harmony with nature and we do our inner work to continue to transform ourselves. This is the idea that Rahu and Ketu would be messaging to us and representing for us in this time.
And I think 2020 was saying over and over, and we’ll talk a bit more about this. Because the other thing that happened in late 2020 is Saturn and Jupiter conjoined. So, they went onto the same plain, they met at 6°20’ in Capricorn and that moving together – if Jupiter represents Dharma, while Jupiter’s in Capricorn, he’s at his weakest point and he sort of gets subsumed by Saturn. You could almost say that we are moving to our lowest point of Dharma; all of 2020 was sort of a low dharmic point; we were almost living undharmically (adharma), ‘a’ being the opposite of. And that was a prediction, that sort of Mayan calendar, related to the Vedic calendar of saying that this is a time of – it doesn’t mean on December 20th (the Great Conjunction). It doesn’t mean that is the beginning of Adharma or that that was the day od Adharma, but almost like it was all culminating to that point – and now, phew, we’re breaking free, we’re moving away, those planets are moving away from each other. So now is our time to grow Dharma again. And really, so many of the Ayurvedic community, we were saying last spring, what if Covid represented the Ayurvedic community, it’s the culmination, also, of living out of harmony with nature.
So, we have these planets that are now helping us move back into alignment with nature, which we know we have to do. We hope that we don’t come out of the Covid experience racing back to what was; we hope that we’ve been changed. I hope we’ve been changed, I hope that this experience has helped us really know what matters most, what is our essential self, what is our essential way of living and how can we all contribute to collectively living more according to Dharma, individually and all together. And thank God your book is coming out just in the right time for that.

[50:34] Sahara
Well, I could feel this year, my own self be so swept away with trying to figure out what was going on, the news, the theories, the this, the that, that it was so taking me out of my Dharma. And I think everyone really had that experience of our attention was so outwards-focused and focused on survival which were things that, for many of us, we weren’t thinking of on a daily basis that now, suddenly, were at the forefront of our mind. And for me, around October, is when I moved to Miami, but starting September I guess, astrologically, this shift began and now finally around December, but I started to realize that I’m not going to be able to change the world by only focusing only on the world. I can only change the world by focusing on my Dharma and let that express out into the world. So, I think a lot of us are realizing this, we’re realizing that our true power to create change comes from aligning with who we are and what we can sustainably change. Not doing it for a month and screaming and then going back to our normal lives but what can we be so in alignment with, so in joy with, that we want to continue sharing it.

[51:39] Laura
Absolutely! And that’s exactly the message of the nodes. In addition to June, July, August, we had what – for most of that we had four planets retrograde. So, September is when everything did start to shift – the planets went direct, the nodes shifted to a new sign and I think everybody started to just breathe a little bit more easily, right? And then the Great Conjunction, I think that was the culmination of what we’d lived through these 18 months. And so, while it was challenging, there was a lot of loss, people lost jobs, they lost money, they lost loved ones, there was so much loss. Again, what does loss do? Loss, though out grief we realize what do we love most, who do we want to become, how do I want to live if at the end of the day I’m going to lose the people I love? I want to make sure I spend as much time with them. I want to make sure that I’ve lived my values because I too, will one day drop this mortal coil.
And so, like you say, to live in your joy, to live in your freedom, to live your purpose. We may not have all the answers quickly but we know who we are and we know how we want to live. And that becomes a beacon of light for others.

[52:57] Sahara
Absolutely. Yes! So, what else can we expect this year? Do you have any specific dates we should look out for or themes of the month?

[53:08] Laura
So, speaking of the Lunar Nodes, they call them the Lunar Nodes, they work with the Moon, they’re the place in the sky where the Sun and the Earth line up. I think what’s so interesting, if you think about, once upon a time people might be out farming and suddenly then Sun disappears and it all goes black in the middle of the da. Two weeks later they’re out looking at the Moon and it goes dark. That would’ve been scary and freaky and they might’ve been trying to figure it all out but in time they just decided “Well, I’m going to go in, maybe sit by the fire and chant songs or tell the story of our ancestry to our children” – this too shall pass and then we can go out again and the Sun is back and the Moon is back. We root into the essence of being and then it comes back. So, this is where we are now; we’re now – the light is coming back.
The Nodes relate to the Moon and what’s interesting is that Rahu spends most of this year, not just in Taurus, but in Rohini Nakshatra. Rohini Nakshatra is ruled by the Moon. So, Nakshatra is a star within a constellation of stars and Rahu is going to spend most of this year in Rohini. Rohini is a beautiful Nakshatra, it’s said that Krishna was born under the Rohini Moon. So Rohini is all about creativity; Rohini is all about the birth cycle, so this is about birth and rebirth. We’re going to be reborn; Rahu’s got this desire to rebirth through Mother Earth, through Mata Bohme. So, hold that thought; Rahu is going to be in Rohini most of this year; Rohini is ruled by the Moon.
Saturn and Jupiter are in Capricorn but they too are in Shravana Nakshatra, again this star inside of Capricorn called Shravana. Again, these are the three (Grahas they’re called), Saturn and Jupiter who move slowly through the signs (2.5 years for Saturn, 13 months for Jupiter). Saturn represents our work, Saturn represents the tools, Saturn represents growth, the digging deep in order to grow. Jupiter represents expansion, our higher self, higher wisdom. So, we always look at them whenever we’re doing an update to the chart or the new year and we look at where Rahu is. These all three, of these major players, are in a Moon-governed Nakshatra. Saturn for the whole of the year, Rahu for most of the year and Jupiter until spring when he moves on into Aquarius.
So, these are the really significant things, this is why the Moon is so much the theme. The major players are in the Nakshatra ruled by the Moon and the Moon is mind.
I talked about Rohini and what Rohini means, he’s creativity, deep, deep, deep creativity; birth, birth, rebirth. Shravana, I love Shravana, Shravana, at its root has this word ‘hai’ – infinite one, infinitive creative one. One of the herbs in Ayurveda that we love is Hari Taki, it’s one of the herbs that’s in Truffula (Truffula means three fruits), Hari Taki is one of those fruits. Hari Taki is said to be the herb that takes away disease; Hari Taki has been shown, through research, to help to heal and restore hearing, our sense of hearing. Hari – Taki, two words ‘Hari’ and ‘Taki’ takes away disease and restores us to our ‘Hari’, our infinite internal self. Shravana has this word ‘Hari’ in it. Shravana means ‘to hear’, to hear the divine voice, to hear the whisper of the atma, to heat the song of the heart. So, shravana nakshatra means to listen, to listen to the chants, to listen to the Vedic scripture, to listen through deep inner meditation.
So, the theme of this year is to listen and to create. And Hari is a creative in one; it’s so beautiful that the theme keeps kind of playing and replaying. The theme of this year is to use the mind to go into the infinite, to double down on your meditation, to go deeper into the core of who you are, to listen, to take the ear and to listen to the inner self. But also, this is a year, after everybody’s shouting, this is the year for listening. Listen to your friends, listen to the family members, let this be a year where you practice deeper listening.
We talk about non-violent communication but how about non-violent listening; how about compassion and listening? Listening to yourself, really listening to what’s being asked, what does your heart want from you now. Really learning how do you manage your mind, how do you come home to yourself? It’s really going to be a year of that for all of us. That’s one thing I really wanted to share with you because it’s a theme that you see playing out in many, many, many ways. So that’s one thought. So, I love that one.
The other one that we see is, we can run a chart for the new year. And we run the chart for the time that this year was born, on January 1st, this Western New Year of course, born at sunrise, so we say that the New Year starts at sunrise.

[58:52] Sahara
Would it be sunrise for what time zone?

[58:55] Laura
Yeah, so I did sunrise for my time zone, I’m in San Diego, so California. But if you did it, 06:30 in Miami you would get more or less the same thing, think about it, the Sun is coming across.
So, it’s interesting because when we look at this chart, the New Year’s chart – and I just want to back up and say this about that. In ancient times, December 25th was when the solstice happened (the northern hemisphere, winter solstice happened December 25th) and thanks to the calendar called Reform, the solstice got moved to the 22nd, the calendar got moved so now the solstice fell on the 21st or 22nd of December. But it used to be December 25th, so the return of light, December 25th and about 14 days later, the Sun is in the sky closest to the Earth, that’s called the Hellion. Hellion is Sun, and this date at which the Earth and the Sun comes closest to each other, by miles, by measurable distance. Generally, it’s always about 14 days. It can be 11, it can be 12 but it’s about 14, not 15 or 16, it’s about 14 days later. It’s interesting that in traditions that honor Christmas, it’s the birth of the light, return of the light is December 25th when this solstice used to happen and 2 weeks later, on January 6th is what’s called The Epiphany. The Wise Men arrived; the Zoroastrian priests arrived. What does that mean? The birth of light is now received, recognized, the Earth has come closer to the Sun, so we’re now accepting the light, it’s so amazing. And what happens right in the middle – January 1st, this idea of a New Year. It’s almost as now we have the intention to embody the light and to take it forward.
So, there is some sign, people say it doesn’t mean anything, it’s just a calendar date, but it does mean we’re in between the solstice and this perihelion time when the Earth is literally coming close to the Sun, very, very close there.
Now, we are turned away from the Sun on our axis, so we’re still in winter. Of course, in the South, southern hemisphere, where they’re turned towards the Sun, they’re going to feel how close we are to the Sun now. So, what’s interesting is that on this date, when it’s all about return to the light, we have a chart, which is so beautiful, where the Sun is in the Rising Sign. The Sun is in Sagittarius with Mercury, rising. So, you have Sun rising, of course it was sunrise, but you have this beautiful time of – what is Sagittarius? Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, Sagittarius is the philosopher; Mercury is the communicator. So, communicates a more philosophical, more symbolic, more globalistic – Sagittarius is always looking for the pattern, the big picture, how does it all fit together. So, this is an overriding theme for 2020. What’s the archetype’ What’s the Dharma? What’s the purpose? Why am I alive? How does it all fit together?
Saturn and Jupiter as we know are all in Capricorn but they’re starting to move apart; they’re in Capricorn in the second house. So, Capricorn is all about building; second house is all about income.

[1:02:18] Sahara
So, would this be the age of Capricorn that we are in?

[1:02:21] Laura
We are in the age of Pisces because the ages are determined by the procession of the equinox. And the spring equinox begins when the Sun is in Pisces.

[1:02:33] Sahara
Okay, what was the thing in Capricorn that we are moving into because of the conjunction; the 80-year period?

[1:02:41] Laura
So, the Western Astrologers were saying that we’re moving into the age of Aquarius because Saturn and Jupiter, that Great Conjunction, according to them, was happening in Aquarius. But actually in the sky it happened in the sign of Capricorn and you can look at the maps in the sky – even Western Astrologers will put in up maps of the sky and where it was happening and you could see Capricorn was right there. So, it happened in the sign of Capricorn. The age of something; the age of Aquarius doesn’t have anything to do with where Saturn and Jupiter are, it has to do with where the Sun is on the first day of the vernal equinox. And right now, the Sun is still in Pisces and it stays in Pisces from the beginning to the end, for 2150 years, and in a few hundred years we will then see the Sun go into Aquarius. But I don’t think most of us will be alive in a few hundred years. So, the age of Aquarius is not necessarily going to happen in this lifetime. What we do have is a very strong Saturn and Capricorn. Saturn is all about structure; Saturn represents your spine. Somebody with a strong Saturn has a spine; somebody with a weak Saturn is a spineless person. Saturn really represents that inner spine, that inner core strength. And so, Saturn wants us to rebuild our income and our economy and will help us with that, will give us the tools. But Saturn is a fair player, he’s a farmer. He gets up at the crack of dawn, he gets out to do his work and he wants everyone else to do it too. He wants discipline, he wants consistency, he wants honesty, he wants integrity, and with that we will really be able to rebuild. I really feel so optimistic about what 2021 is going to look like. This New Year’s chart is absolutely beautiful. We had Moon in Cancer when we all woke up, on New Year’s Day, the Moon was in Cancer, a beautiful loving Moon. Moon in Cancer is Mother Moon, wants to nourish, wants to feed, wants to cuddle, wants to check in how you’re really feeling, wants to stroke your head and give you a massage or give you something delicious, some comfort food, wants to take care of you emotionally and physically, wants to mother us. So, this could be a time when we also see that we come back together, let’s stop fighting, let’s just start loving, let’s start nurturing one another, let’s really feed and let’s feed what really inspires us most deeply.
We have Venus in Scorpio, but I think in the twelfth house, but what I think that means (is what I meant to say) is that we’re going to be looking towards more spiritualized relationships, bring in more compassion to our relationships.
Mars is in Aries, still in Aries now, Mars is just coming up on the 3rd January; Mars will be ending its retrograde arch that started the end of July. And the first thing that happened at the beginning of Mars, retrograde arch, they root and that big blowing up of the wharf. So, Mars in his retrograde arch has been quite fiery. We had fires in California we had fires go up the coast and once Mars actually began his retrograde on September 9th. So, finally Mars is ending this vast, it’s called a Retrograde Arch (that’s January 3rd), that’ll be very positive. Mars is now in Aries, his own sign; so, Mars, the planet of energy, action, the warrior, the fire of transformation, he’s in a really strong sign to go out and get things done. Aries is strategic and Aries is all about action; Aries is the General. Aries also has a star within it called Ashwini. And one of the symbols of Ashwini is the Physician. Ashwini means heal or cure. So, we are going to see – Mars has to do with infection and infectious diseases, inflammation and inflammatory conditions. Mars is going to be bringing us right now, while Mars is in Ashwini, answers and solutions to infections. And you can relate to that or expand that to what that might mean. But what I also love is that Ashwini can often be symbolized by the running of horses, so I feel like it’s this rapid motion, rapidly we’re going to start to get into motions, get into solutions, get into problem-solving. I just feel so excited about this year, I just feel like human beings are so inventive, so resilient – yes, we’ve suffered; yes, we’ve been through hard times but I feel like we’re going to really see so much rise up that’s going to both astonish and delight us. It’s an extraordinary time.
Saturn and Jupiter together, as I said, Jupiter is moving away from Saturn now, but still, he’s debilitating Capricorn. Because he’s there with Saturn, that debilitation is canceled but it doesn’t mean that he’s suddenly strong. Jupiter is weak in Capricorn and while Jupiter is in Capricorn with Saturn, it’s really about the hard work now; it’s really about the elite, Jupiter represents the elite. It’s kind of “Take a back seat, you guys sit down, let everybody else now do the work. You guys had your chance, it didn’t work, now let the people do the work, let the people lead”. This is going to be the time of, I call it the ‘il poppolo’ the Italians that have that great term. But the people, the everyday people, the people from every walk of life, let them step forward and lead and let’s see if they can lead us to a better place.
Once Jupiter actually moves out of Capricorn, he goes into Aquarius and in Aquarius he goes into a place – Aquarius is all about the people, the world, the communities, the neighborhoods, everybody. He is going to Aquarius so we’re going to get a flavor of the Aquarian, even if it’s not the age of Aquarius, we’re going to get that flavor, Jupiter in Aquarius is coming into Shaktabisha which is also a healer. Lots of healing for this year, healing not just from disease but healing our communities and healing from the rift in our societies. But also, really bringing people together.
To me, the theme of Aquarius is abe verimus unon, or the French motto of ‘Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite’ – the brotherhood of humankind, fraternity, which means brothers and sisters, all of us from different walks of life learning how to respect each other, to restore dignity, the dignity of man (so to speak). I think we’re just going to be seeing so much creativity, so many movements of young people, we’re going to be seeing so much more democracy and access to what that stands for and really means; liberty and justice, not for the few and not even for the many, but for all, to really come together to see and to create a more perfect union. I do feel that that is what our mission and our theme is for this year. But, think about mind, I started there on purpose, mind and how you manage your mind. What spiritual practices you do? What exercise you do? For some of us, we can sleep better at night because we get out and we really do some hard exercise. Some of us can calm the mind because we did some wild dancing. So, physical exercise can also help the mind; foods that you eat can help the mind. Brahmin, for instance, is a great Ayurvedic herb for the mind but not if you’re Kapha, it’s too cooling, then it might be Ashwaganda. But just thinking about how do you take care of your mind through this year. Last year it was how you take care of your physical body, now it’s how you take care of your mind.

[1:10:26] Sahara
I love that so much. So, is there a time of the year that you think will be, maybe, the most smooth for us, the most prosperous for us, most easily able to manifest, and it there a time that’s more hunkering down inwards? Are you seeing those periods for the collective?

[1:10:48] Laura
Well, I think we still have work to do. So, winter time we’re hunkering down, getting on with the work – what is my mission? I think we’re still internalized but I think we’re going to start to see things rapidly start to pick up in February and just start to move and move and move. It’s almost like we’re going to start galloping. I really think of that word ‘galloping’. Ashwini, what does that mean? What does Ashwaganda mean? They say Ashwaganda is an herb that was named for the virility of a horse. Ashwini is the virility of a horse, a galloping of horses. And that’s where Mars is right now, Mars is kicking us off into a New Year.
I know that your audience is everywhere in the world but the US President will be inaugurated on January 20th with Mars rising in Ashwini. So, we’re really going to see this new Administration just take off, just hit the road running. And I think all of us will start to feel that in February. And then I think especially once Jupiter gets into Aquarius then we start to really see the rise of Dharma, the rise of unified movements for change, for progress, for evolution. And then I think, April, May, June, we’re going to have a beautiful summer. Those of your listeners who are in the southern hemisphere, they can look forward to that late on, early winter.

[1:12:00] Sahara
What do you see on travel? When does that seen to be picking up again?

[1:12:04] Laura
You know, Jyotish is the art of interpretation, so I’m just going to say that, I first don’t know. What I’m interpreting is, I felt, until about 3 days ago – I have a trip planned, to go to India in October 2021 and really until about 3 days ago I thought “I think I’m canceling that trip”, now I think I’m going. So, I do think, by the mid-point of this year, we’re going to 9start to see the world opening up. Don’t hold me to it but I think – I don’t mean that we can’t go anywhere until 6 months from now, but I mean in a unified way, in a global way, we start to really see it making a difference. We’re going to see such a difference in this world, 2021 is going to be a completely different world than 2020 was. We have such positive stars, such positive planets. Rohini Nakshatra, Rahu is in this place where Krishna was born; the archetype, the symbol, the avatar of love and delight. And then Saturn and Jupiter are in Shravana which is all about listening to the spiritual voice, listening to the sacred texts, which is about listening to one another; Rohini isn’t really David, but it is – David Nakshatra – we feel like we have these divine energies that are coming in now to guide us forward. And I would only say to people don’t give up on yourself and don’t give up on your practices. It’s because of your good work and good heart; it’s because of your spiritual practices that that has joined with the energies of others to hit critical mass. Let’s keep doing the inner work but let’s keep doing that also together.
Ancient people, shamanic people saw that we heal in community. Healing means we return to the whole. And the whole doesn’t just mean you as an individual, “No man is an island” said John Donne, but we are one and if are one, we heal together. So, we have to keep doing that work, but I do think it’s going to have big, big rewards.

[1:14:13] Sahara
I love that and I love how positive your perspective and outlook is. It feels so great to hear because I know a lot of people are saying that it’s going to keep getting worse and we haven’t seen the worst of it yet. And some people are talking about the 7-year cycle, which we are in a 7-year cycle, but I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Gene keys, if you’ve ever read that, but they said that we’re in this cycle from 2020 – 2027 of rapid transformation. And some people’s interpretation of it is that it’s going to get worse until 2024 and then that’s when we’re going to shift. What’s your take on that?

[1:14:52] Laura
I think we’ve been getting worse. I think that again, the idea of Adharma, the opposite of Dharma, and what is Dharma in this sense, is living in harmony with nature, with the cosmos, with one another. Yeah, it got bad.

[1:15:05] Sahara
And also, I think it’s also the collective; where the collective is going doesn’t necessarily mean it’s where you’re going, right? So, collectively, things may continue to unfold or even feel chaotic, but that does not mean your personal life has to feel like that. I think we’re learning how to find stability in the chaos.

[1:15:25] Laura
Well, I think that’s why, and again, I mean this, it’s an important time for your book to be coming out. It’s important because we need to unhook from that world that is living adharmically. And we need to re-hook or hook, to turn off to turn in; we need to hook into what is our Dharma, what is your Swadharma, what is your essential self and your purpose in this life. Because once your aligned with that, not only is it liberating and joyful, that’s where your abundance is too. And in that space, we’re not trying to figure out what’s going on, we’re not trying to figure out who’s in charge – you’re in charge, your soul is in charge, your spirit is in charge. I live in a place that just crumbled; this world that I live in, the neighbors were all at each other’s throats, it was very painful to see what happened last June and July here, but in my life, in my world, I was working with others sharing Jyotish and Ayurveda. I don’t look at 20202 personally and say it was a very terrible life, I don’t mean to be insensitive, I feel for people who had difficult times, but I’m living my Dharma and I lived a joyful year. And more and more people need the emotional, financial, spiritual freedom that Dharma gives. Because you’re absolutely right, as the world crumbles around you, you don’t have to crumble with it. As the world may move into more Adharmic times, you don’t have to go there and you don’t have to even figure out. Why even hook into it? Stay in your pure, pristine state of your heart but keep giving because the world needs that light, they need your strength, they need your spirit. The world needs everyone to wake up to their true nature, to their true self. Everyone needs to do it because that’s how we’re going to go forward. And that, I just see you as such a powerful force of that.

[1:17:20] Sahara
Thank you so much! Because I know what it’s like to not live in my Dharma and I could only imagine where 2020 would have taken me if it happened, for me, 7 years ago when I was really in this place of confusion and not knowing what’s for me and not knowing who I am and then on top of that this collective thing, I could have really lost myself. And it was still a difficult year with me knowing my Dharma, but that was this constant anchor I could go back to of “Oh, okay, I don’t know what’s happening in the world around me but here’s what I can focus on” and that would fill me up with joy and every single day give me a small win, even if around me felt like a loss. And I think when we continue to just be guided that, the little hits of Dharma, the little feelings of flow, we find ourselves moving through a year like 2020 in a way that actually was more rapidly towards our growth and our truth than any other year could’ve been. And I feel like for a lot of people this year, decisions that could’ve taken then 10 years to make, it only took them this year to make because it was just the process was so much faster. And I think anyone listening to this Podcast is on that path too, of listening to their truth, listening to their intuition and moving forward, and I think that if we were able to get through 2020, of this being a totally new experience for us and we’re on a surfboard for the first time, okay, now we’ve found our balance, now we know how to surf and riding the waves is just going to become more and more intuitive for us.

[1:18:54] Laura
Absolutely! That’s what I was talking about earlier. Rahu and Ketu come around to remind us that the external world is not going to be fulfilling. Find the fulfillment within; find the light and truth within; and then hue to that, stay at the place on your surfboard where you have balance – and that’s the center line. And in that balanced state, you can ride those waves. I mean, surfers seem to be having a great time riding those waves, so it’s not just you can ride the waves but that you can have a great time, you can really feel free and you can really feel that you’re soaring.
I think, what you said about the people listening to this, are probably already doing that, but what I have found this year is that they also need affirmation in that because, and that’s again what I think is so helpful about having a community, or Kula, Dharma, tribes, is that we can affirm one another. You’re doing the right thing by meditating. You’re doing the right thing by focusing on your Dharma. You’re not doing something selfish, you’re doing what the world needs. This is a generous act because self-care is world-care. Dr. Vana Nashiva said it to me once, after she was talking about all the things that are going wrong with the world, I said “Well what can each of us do?” and she said “You can choose food that was grown by a local organic farmer. You can do simple acts that help strengthen the organic and the conscious web of your world. And those things that you do to feed yourself, good healthy food, helps the world around you, it echoes out”. And I think that we need to be like that for each other, we need to reflect to each other. That’s again what the Moon does, it reflects back (the Moon is reflective). So, to reflect to each other, your light, your truth – yes you’re doing this work and yes it makes a difference – stay with it because we need you, we need you on our team.

[1:20:48] Sahara
I love that! And do you have any specific mantras you recommend for us this year?

[1:20:53] Laura
Good question! A great mantra for the Moon which is very, very simple is – I like to just do “Om, Somaya, Namaha”, let’s make it even simpler – just inhale ‘So’, exhale ‘Ma’. Just inhale silently the ‘So’ just imagine a big ‘O’ in your breath, filling your belly and ‘Ma’ is your exhale, so it’s very soothing on the exhale. ‘So’ is Shakti, so you’re inhaling the power of life, ‘Ma’ is of course the soothing sound of the divine mother; so you’re letting go and releasing. ‘So-Ma’, you can do it walking, cooking, anytime, you can do that on your breath.

[1:21:39] Sahara
And the longer was ‘Om Somaya Namaha’.

[1:21:42] Laura
S-O-M-A-Y-A Namaha

[1:21:46] Sahara
I love that name, Somaya, it’s a good baby name.

[1:21:52] Laura
‘Soma’ is just one of the words for the Moon, and it’s that juicy, waxy sort of ojas, luminescence of the Moon.
The other one is because Jupiter is a little weak; it would be really helpful to strengthen Jupiter with ‘Om Gurave Namaha’. Jupiter was called ‘the guru’, he was the guru of the planets. So, ‘Om Gurave Namaha’

[1:22:20] Sahara
Om Gurave Namaha – beautiful.

[1:22:23] Laura
Om Somaya Namaha – Om Gurave Namaha

[1:22:26] Sahara
And any stones that you recommend for us for this year?

[1:22:30] Laura
Well, stone for the Moon is – I’m wearing my little pearls right now because that’s the stone for the Moon, and really pearl is the best. And hopefully you can find some creative and funky ways of wearing pearls (if pearl reminds you too much of your grandmother). But pearls are really helpful, they’re very grounding, pacifying, really stabilizing the mind.
Monday is the Moon’s day, so Monday is a good day for gentle fasting, deeper meditation. I don’t so much anymore, but I used to take Monday as my day of silence. I don’t work on Mondays, I don’t have clients on Mondays, so Monday is more of an internalizing day. If you can, schedule your life that way, it’s good to do. On Mondays you might honor the Moon also by wearing the colors of the Moon, so, white, creams or soft blues. Maybe Monday is a good day too to reach out to a friend and not say “How are you doing” but “How are you feeling”, so you act like the Moon, you act a little bit of a mother; or maybe it’s a day for feeding children or families or mothers who need that help. So, that’s one.
For Jupiter it’s yellow, the color yellow. The best stone for Jupiter is yellow sapphire (it’s pretty expensive) but yellow citrine is okay. And we tend to wear – Jupiter goes on the index finger; Moon could be work on the ring finger or pinky finger. And I say the Moon can be worn there but I mean the stones for the Moon.

[1:24:00] Sahara
I love that! Amazing! So, anything else that we should be looking out for or focusing our intentions on for 2021?

[1:24:09] Laura
The stars don’t make your life, you make your life. The stars just reflect to us our life. I loved to live by the stars. The other night when I couldn’t sleep, I woke up “Why can’t I sleep? Oh, it’s a Full Moon” and it’s in argenashatra. It’s in the nakshatra of something fierce, making me feel some of that, but also it was very much of a completion cycle. The nodes were in, Rahu is in Ardra for most of 2020, so I just felt like at the end of 2020 the Moon came back and said “Let’s just be sure that we’ve cleaned it all up. Let’s be sure we finished our work”. So, it’s beautiful to live by the stars, it’s beautiful to live by the planets, to see what’s going on, to have a better understanding of what you’re feeling yourself or how you can use these energies and these powers. But at the end of the day, everyone is in Atma, within you, you have an indistinguishable, inextinguishable, uneclipsable, undiminishable eternal light, and to know that is to know that you were born on purpose, that you matter, that within you are the seeds of divinity and you are alive to cultivate that and turn it into a garden to bring more beauty to the world. Get Sahara’s book, learn what your Dharma is because that’s what the world most needs, the world needs everyone to wake up to their higher self and their purpose for being alive because then we all will live in joy and create a world of Dharma where we can be regenerative and sustainable for our children and their children.

[1:25:40] Sahara
Well thank you so much for that and for sharing today, you have such a poetic way of speaking and it’s so beautiful and rich, and feminine and fluid, and I love the stories that you tell related to the different planets. And it’s rare to see teachers like you this day, with such immense, deep, ancient wisdom who really hold it so true to what it is and make it understandable for us. So, I really want to acknowledge you for living your Dharma and for expressing it so beautifully to all of us.

[1:26:16] Laura
By the grace of amazing, extraordinary teachers and to them Om Shriguru Namaha. Thank you so much Sahara, it’s wonderful to see you out there just lighting it up, you are making a big impact on the world and I appreciate that.

[1:26:29] Sahara
Thank you. And where can listeners book a session with you?

[1:26:33] Laura
lauraplumb.com

[1:26:38] Sahara
Amazing! You guys definitively have to do it, it’s going to be a game-changer, you’re going to keep coming back to that recording like “What?!” And it’s just such a wonderful way also to learn. I think we’re all so interested in learning about ourselves, so it’s such a great way to learn about Jyotish, to have a chart reading and then that makes you see “Oh, okay, here is how these things are now further affecting me individually”.

[1:27:00] Laura
And if it’s electromagnetic energy that is creating these impacts, just think what it would do if you knew the truth of who you are. Think about the electromagnetic energy that would come out of you to help with this shift in the world. So, we should never underestimate the power of our practice and the power of our awakening.

[1:27:20 Sahara]
Absolutely! Well thank you again!

[1:27:23] Laura
Thank you, beautiful to be with you!

[1:27:26] End of Interview
______________________________________________

[1:27:26] Sahara
How beautiful was that conversation! I love learning more about Vedic Astrology! It is like Ayurveda that there is so much and definitely, at first, it can feel intimidating with all those worlds, but take it slow, be gentle, take it easy, let your curiosity guide you. And sometimes it takes really listening to an Episode to get it all because it is so potent and it is so rich and every single little aspect of it can really lead you down a path of understanding so much more. And that’s how beautiful it is, that it’s so interconnected, going back to what we shared at the beginning of the Episode, it’s purusha which is the city and each of us are homes and each of us are connected in this greater cosmic web. So, understanding that our birth time and date is related to our Dharma, is related to our yoga practice, is related to our Doshas, is related to the Goddesses that we work with. All of these things are interconnected, nothing is in a vacuum and the more we can unpeel these layers of ourselves, the more we can see the truth of who we are and can make decisions that support us. So, take what serves you! If you listen to this at the end, I’m sure Vedic Astrology is something you’re more curious about. I highly suggest getting a session with Laura or Dr. Suhas as well, they are both incredible and you can learn so much from them. And check out the other Podcasts I’ve done on Vedic Astrology with them both. I will link it in the show notes so you can dive further into that.

[1:28:54] Sahara
And if you are wanting more support in finding and embodying your soul’s purpose, then check out my new book “Discover Your Dharma”, I have epic bonuses waiting for you when you submit your receipt over on iamsahararose.com/dharma – that link is in the show notes. I’ve got my Dharma Tapping Practice, my Dharma Meditation, my Dharma Embodiment Practice, tickets to my Virtual Book Launch where I’ll be answering your questions on February 4th. Order your replay if you’re listening to this after and all of that is available for you when you submit your receipt over on my website.

Thank you so much for being here, for listening, for diving deep, for looking deeper into the truth of who you are. The world is a better place because of you and I am soul grateful.

[1:29:42]
If you loved this Episode, I would love to send you a free gift which is the first half of my unreleased book “Eat Right for Your Mind-Body Type“. This is a different book than “Eat Feel Fresh“. My first book ever which is not released anywhere, and I am gifting it exclusively to those who leave a review of my Podcast in the iTunes store. So all you’ve got to do is head over to iTunes where you’re maybe listening to this podcast and leave a review, take a screenshot that you’ve left it and email it over to me at [email protected] and I will send you back the first half of my unreleased book “Eat Right for Your Mind-Body Type“, which goes all into Ayurveda, Doshas, Plant-Based Nutrition, Body Types – all of the things in a really fun and engaging way. So this is my gift to you for free for supporting the Podcast. Every single review I personally read. It really helps the Podcast be listened to by more people so we can raise the vibration of the planet together, and I am soul grateful to have you on this journey.

Thank you so much for listening and I’ll see you on the next Episode. Namaste.

Episode 346: 2021 Forecast in Vedic Astrology with
By Sahara Rose