WINNERS: Grand Prize: sundara2021 TIE First Place: 8838610591 & MAZ2020 [both receive full amount] TIE Second Place: 369369369369 & 713B428490 [both receive full amount] Thank you everyone for submitting your writing! I enjoyed so much reading each and every one of the offerings! They are exquisite. Winners, please contact me by 10 am Mountain on Dec 28, 2020 with your name, a good mailing address, and the first line of your essay. The winners' words will be shared here across the next few weeks. I have learned so much from all of you, and for this holiday season, I want to learn even more.
Please consider writing an essay that describes how the practice of Jyotisha has impacted your 2020 year. If you win, others will see your anonymous work, and you will receive a cash prize. Who is eligible: students and clients of Renay who are 18 years of age or older as of December 5, 2020 who have had a class or appointment with Renay between January 1, 2017 and December 5, 2020. Prizes: One grand prize: $500. One first prize: $200 One second prize: $50. All winning entries will be posted anonymously on this website: AyurAstro.com. By entering, you agree to this posting of your work. (Of course, you may publish the essay yourself also!) How to enter: Write an essay of between 500 and 2500 words on the topic of how the practice of Jyotisha has impacted your 2020 year. The essay can be submitted in .docx, .rtf, .odt, or .pdf format. Choose a ten digit or longer self-defined alphanumeric code and put it at the top of your essay. Do not put your name or email or other identifying information in the file. The submission should contain just your code, the text of your essay, and the following line at the bottom: I hereby permit the use of my essay for anonymous, non-exclusive publication on AyurAstro.com. (All copyrights shall remain with the entrant/author.) Submit it using this link here before the deadline of 12 am Mountain (USA) time on December 21, 2020. No submissions will be accepted at or after that time. Enter your code in the name slot and use a nonsense or otherwise non-identifying email address on the submission page. By entering this contest, you agree to the following: Neither AyurAstro.com nor Renay Oshop are responsible or liable for any computer or internet malfunctions leading to a late entry. No compensation will be awarded to anyone for disqualification, late entry for any reason, or failure to win a prize. Essays will be judged by a team consisting of Renay Oshop and two advisers. Final decisions will be made by the team, and no objections or negotiations will be considered. Anyone who fails to comply with all contest rules will be disqualified. Relatives and non-client or non-student friends of Renay Oshop are not eligible to enter or win. Winning criteria: the winner will be chosen using subjective criteria of readability, aesthetics, and evocation of the grace of Jyotisha. How a winner will be announced: Renay will announce the winners by publishing at the top of this page as well as in social media on December 25, 2020 just the winning codes. You can then claim a winning entry by contacting Renay with your code, your mailing address, and the first paragraph of your essay. Renay will then verify that you have had an appointment or class with her between January 1, 2017 and December 5, 2020, and that your age is over 18. Money orders to the winners in the appropriate amount will then be mailed on December 28, 2020. Happy holidays!
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Here is just a quick series of thoughts but on something that I have not seen before. Let's look at the houses of the zodiac, that fundamental distillation of space in which roam the ambassadors of time, namely the grahas (Sun, Moon, planets, and lunar nodes) What I have not seen before is the acknowledgement of the built-in increased possibility of personal yogas in the left-half of the zodiac.
Since Sun, Mercury, and Venus all travel together or nearby, within 2 signs (and the Moon is so quick moving that half the time it is with these personal planets too), they are in their own signs only in that half of the year. Thus, there is an increased propensity for parivartana and dharmakarmaadipati and other yogas, those signatures that portend great strength of indication. Conversely there is an increase but a slight one of possiblility of yoga for the more public planets of Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and the nodes when the Sun is traveling in the right side of the zodiac. Some implications are:
Something to think about as we enter Scorpio season and a particularly amplified increase in indication for some very public developments in the next handful of weeks. [First published on my Patreon page on September 18, 2020.] In my sadness at Ruth Bader Ginsberg's passing, I am processing my grief, in part, by rectifying her astrological chart. That is, I will attempt to find her birth time. The "Notorious RBG" had a birth date (3/15/1933) and birth place (Brooklyn) that are known, but her time of birth is not known. Here is her chart with an assumed noon birth time, just so that you can see her general placements in signs. The birth time will show the rotation of these places, i.e. their proper houses. STEP ONE: Look for a picture of her hand
This tells us what dominant element she was out of air, fire, water, and earth. Here is a photo from the U.S. National Archives that is in the public domain. From Wikipedia: " In Hindu theology, Arishadvarga or Shadripu/Shada Ripu (Sanskrit: षड्रिपु meaning the six enemies) are the six enemies of the mind, which are: kama (lust/desire), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), Mada (pride/arrogance), moha (attachment), and matsarya (jealousy); the negative characteristics of which prevent man from attaining moksha or salvation. "
The order here is important and is typically conserved. These failures of the mind in fact can be said to define our experience in the Kali Yuga. Ayurveda teaches that the experience of digestion of all things, including food, thoughts, and experiences, relies on the transformative power (the Agni) of our own digestive system. Understanding and stoking our digestive capacity thus leads to nothing less than true freedom, i.e. emotional freedom, from the bindings inherent in what we take in. I propose here that the shad ripus are themselves related to each of the six Ayurvedic tastes and to each of the six digestive organs. Sub-components of this idea were presented to me in Ayurvedic school but not the whole system. Moreover, the conserved order of the shad ripus match the order at which the digestive organs assimilate food. 1. lust :: stomach :: sweet taste = earth + water 2. anger, to be bilious :: liver :: sour taste = earth + fire 3. greed :: pancreas :: salty = water and fire 4. pride/arrogance, to have gall :: gallbladder :: pungent = fire and air 5. attachment, the feeling of loss of which is fear :: kidneys :: bitter = air and space 6. jealousy :: spleen :: astringent = air and earth Again from Wikipedia: " According to Hindu belief, without experiencing these Shadripu at the fullest a person cannot understand the meaning of the Love which is the soul.... A human who controls all these Shadripus even at some of the extent later enjoys the power of peace. " You are truly what you can digest. Take care of your digestive system. It takes care not only of your physical body which comes from your food but also your mental body which is built on digesting all that you take in and which consequently creates your reality. Here is an easy way to make a wonderful, nutritious, and delicious Ayurvedic meal in under 10 minutes start to finish at about 50 cents per serving. It can serve as a breakfast, snack, or light lunch or dinner.
Ingredients list:
Step 1 Soak poha in a pot or bowl of hot water for five or so minutes. Transfer to colander to drain. Step 2 Start tarka. (Tarka is a term for spices in hot ghee. It is believed that the hot ghee emancipates the higher properties of the spices.) Put ghee in skillet. Put on medium heat until melted. Add mustard seeds. Reduce heat to medium-low. Listen for popping sounds of the seeds. A delightful flowery fragrance should be released. Reduce heat to low. Only now, add curry leaves and stir. Add chili powder, turmeric, and salt. Stir. Step 3 Add peanuts and stir. Let sit for 2 minutes. Stir again. Step 4 Add drained poha and stir, evenly distributing the color. Optionally, pomegranate seeds can be added. Serve. Step 5 Add squeezed lime to plated poha. That's it! Ayurvedic Six Tastes:
When I first read the Bhagavad Gita, I was charmed and intrigued by the nicknames of Arjuna, the great everyday hero of the tale who represents nothing less than what it is to be human and reckon with one's true dharma. Wikipedia summarizes the etymology and epithets of Arjuna. A Quora post on it is here. I was delighted to see these names, my friends, all in one place. This list also got me thinking. It reminded me of Katapayadi, Ka·ṭa·pa·yā·di is an ancient cryptographic method used to embed extra layers of meaning in texts. Here is my calculator that uses this method to decrypt Sanskrit text into Jyotishical meaning. Upon applying the calculator to the twelve names of Arjuna, I was amazed but not surprised to see that they map on to the twelve signs of the zodiac. (You can use this dictionary to obtain the proper protocol for inputting the names into the calculator. ) The following is the name, the meaning, and the sign for each of the appellations as re-ordered to the proper sequence in the sky. What I do not know off the top of my head is whether the order of appearance of the names in the Gita is in this sequence. I will look this up and comment below if I find this to be true. Parantapa – one who concentrates the most, destroyer of enemies. ARIES Shvethavāhana – one with milky white horses mounted to his pure white chariot. TAURUS Shyamal - one who brings greenary, prosperous, beautiful environment and good nature to the region where ever he goes. GEMINI Vijaya – always victorious, invincible and undefeatable. CANCER Gāndīvadhanvan – one who possessed the mighty bow named Gandiva which was created by Lord Brahma. LEO Phalguna – born under the star Uttara Phalguni This star is in VIRGO. Savyasāchi – ambidextrous, only Arjuna was expert in using both hands equally in archery. LIBRA The word Arjuna itself means "white", "clear", "shining" and "silver". SCORPIO [The connection between meaning and sign here may refer to alchemy as a Scorpionic 8th house expression as connected to the physical qualities of alchemy's metallic rasayanas. I also think that the name of Arjuna as Scorpio is reminiscent of the first verse of the Tao Te Ching that is variously translated with my favorite one saying "darkness within darkness, the gateway to all mystery". In a sense, Arjuna's plight is a darkness and his humanity in that plight may be the darkness within darkness. His journey, if we ourselves can follow it, may be the gateway that opens the door to all mystery. Also, mystery is an eighth house indication in Jyotish.] Mahabahu - the one with extraordinary biceps, a perfect nickname for the archer. SAGITTARIUS Jishnu – triumphant. CAPRICORN Bībhatsu – one who always fights wars in a fair, stylish and terrific manner. AQUARIUS Anagha - the one with pure soul. PISCES As you can see the meaning of the name goes well with the tantric meaning of the Katapayadi-given sign for each of the twelve of them. So amazing! Below is the classical ancient empty chart of Jyotisha. Its diamonds and squares rightly can be said to describe all of space-time. Here it is with the houses labeled in order according to the schema of kaala purusha, the grand personage of time. The sectors are numbered one through twelve and can represent anything including the daily travel of the Sun (which is also the soul, Atman). The four notable sandhis of that solar soular travel can be depicted in the following way according to the Sun's placement at those times. The unlabeled sectors here can just be considered the in-between times between those sandhis. Since there are 24 hours in the day and 12 sectors, in this schema each sector can be said to represent 2 hours. In Ayurveda, the doshas occur in the following daily time frames:
More specifically, the organs of the body follow a daily rhythm of activation as well (image below is from svasthaayurveda.com).
Visual examples of the special aspects as end points to triangles pictorially show the language that describes the planets Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. My derivation of the angle values: A very brief analysis on the theory of fire from an Ayurvedic and Jyotish perspective: Fire element has lately been on my mind. Mars has been strong in Scorpio, its own sign, the last couple of months, and even now, in Sagittarius, it continues to be strong. My own inward pitta has been quite high, befitting the transits, a surge in thinking about fire has flowed forth, and my appreciation of the special place of fire has increased. I hope to show you why. The five elements in the theory of yoga, Ayurveda, and Jyotish are
I have written before of how the knowing of them is at least equal in beauty, power, and insight as knowing the periodic table. There are three pitta planets in Jyotish:
The chemistry of combustion is relevant here. According to the linked material, combustion can happen in only two ways: 1. the relatively unusual method without carbon, used with rocket fuel, e.g. Here, vata is completely transformed to pitta (the combination of water and fire). Since space element is on both sides of the equation, in effect, air is transformed to pitta. and 2. the more common method with carbon, used with charcoal, e.g. where z = x + y/4. Here earth and air are completely transformed to air and pitta. Since air is on both sides of the equation, in effect, earth is transmuted to pitta. Thus, only pitta represents transformation itself. Kapha can not be transformed into Vata, nor vice versa. Earth and air can become pitta through methods 1 and 2 above, but again, not vice versa. Pitta truly is at the apex of the equilateral triangle representing the three doshas of vata, pitta, and kapha. It is appropriate then that the tantric symbol for fire is the triangle. which even looks like a flame. We see this everywhere. To be sure, fire is needed for any transformation, and transformation is
The heat is tamas, Mars. That is why Mars is a tamasic graha. The light is Sun. Sattva. That is why the Sun is a sattvic graha. The flame itself is highly movement-oriented, and rajasic, movement for movement's sake, and may be represented by Ketu. Thus, pitta represent all three of the mahagunas of sattva, rajas, and tamas. Finally, to increase your own pitta, including sadhaka pitta of brilliance of the brain, know that fire requires the twin fuels of carbon and oxygen, of earth and air. (Space as well, but that is assumed and everywhere in the equations, unchanging, unmoving, perfect, and everywhere.) Increase your pitta by eating well (the fuel of carbon) and breathing well (the fuel of oxygen). Everything else will surely take care of itself, the flames moving to a dance of their own accord, transforming you in a way you can trust, in a way that is uniquely complete. Thus, only pitta involves the totality of life, the totality of the material universe, of all five of the five elements, as well as all three of the mahagunas. Fire is life. Perhaps this is why the all-important first word of the Rig Veda is agni, flame, and perhaps this is why Dr. Lad says that agni, our own inner flame, is our life, its measure, its potential, and its meaning. This is why one must attend to one's own inner pilot light, one's cellular agni, so that the flames of perception, transformation, and power are lit appropriately. Do you feel your agni may be low? No need for worry. There are herbs for that. And the spread! Note that the technique described below was also used in this study of mine of a wider spectrum of Super Bowls (actually all of them until the date of that study). At 1:26 pm today, 3 hours before kickoff, I posted a simple tweet: "The red and white team by ten." I could not remember the name of the red and white team as being the Kansas City Chiefs but figured that any reader would know who I am talking about. (I did not yet know that the SFO team would come out in red and white jerseys and gold pants. For the purposes of this analysis, it is important to know that their standard colors are red and gold with a bit of white, while the KC team's colors are considered here to be red and white with a bit of yellow. The importance of this all will become clearer below.) I did not change the tweet after seeing the uniforms of the players on the field mostly because I wanted to preserve the timing and intention of the original thought. I also did not hashtag the tweet because I did not want to draw those who would probably be more interested in the football than the astrology. And I did not bet on this game because a. it is illegal and b.the karma of profiting off of men hurting each other does not sound appealing at all! So, my sole gambling based on this analysis was with my reputation. Of course, I am pleased that I was right and more pleased to see once again that Vedic astrology can carry us through in any situation. Perhaps even just reaping the reward of an ego and/or reputation boost is itself too much. I feel conflicted. Thus, I want to hurry and let you know how I did it, so that I don't feel guilty, and I don't feel any false ownership of this technique. It is a pretty simple one, and again, it has held fast across all Super Bowls. Ok, so, what you do is of course pull up the chart of the start of the game. Next, you look for the grahas (planets) that represent the team colors.
In order of importance: KC 1) red == Mars 2) white == Venus 3) hint of yellow == Jupiter SF 1) red == Mars 2) gold == Sun 3) hint of white == Venus Mars and Venus are both incredibly strong in the above chart. So, really the deciding discriminator is Jupiter for KC compared to Sun for SF. Normally, the color difference between the two teams is more drastic, but this is what we have to go on for this game. Another way to find the two teams in a chart is by home team (fourth house) and away team (tenth house), but that was not available 3 hours before the Super Bowl. Of these two grahas, Jupiter is much better positioned than Sun. Jupiter is in its own sign, whereas Sun is conjoined an archenemy, Saturn, and that Saturn is very strong in its own sign. I did not catch what time the half time was (actually I did not watch much because again, karma, but I liked the commercials I did see), but at about half way through the time span of the game, Leo was rising, and so, Sun and hence SF seemed to have the upper hand. But at about 9:04 pm Miami time, that Leo ascendant was over with, and Jupiter by house position gained the upper hand, aspecting the tenth house of fame and glory. Moreover, the prize of the win (an eleventh house indication) started to be theirs as the D-11 started to show enough of a separation between Moon (light blue or silver) and Jupiter (yellow) to enact a hamsa yoga there trining in from the fifth house, thus aspecting the first and eleventh houses of the D-11, themselves each being 11th house indications of the prize. So, there you have it. There is not much to it, but I hope you are now realizing that not only the winner can be discerned, but the dynamics of play within the game. As to how I got the 10 point spread (actually, KC won by 11), I do not have an exciting answer except that I used intuition and "kinesiology" to test the intuition. In times past, I have helped friends win gambling spreads by walking through the dynamics of play and surmising the spread accordingly. I hope this was of interest, and as always, please comment below with any ideas or questions. |
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