“Ādiśeṣa [the divine serpent] is the support of the whole world” – Sundaryalahirī
My birthday was recently… I spent the night before praying to my ancestors and the day of my birthday at Mama ocean. There I was with my family and a book of vedic traditional stories that I “randomly” sellected from my husband’s collection. Looking through the chapters titles I read…… “The King and the Snake”, “The Queen and the Snake”, “The Frog and the Snake”, “The Rishi and the Snake”, “The Pandava Princes and the Snake”…. this was both a reminder of the emphasis of the serpent in the vedic tradition as well as an omen to remind me of the new moon that was impending.
I am witnessing in my life, people around me, my students and in the sky the power of the serpent to invoke [or provoke] themes of karma, intensity, death, rebirth, transformation and awakening [like it or not].
This is certainly an intense but potentially cathartic time if you participate with love. Learn more below about the serpent, the influence of this new moon & some suggestions for this phase.
*Clipped from a one hour teaching inside the Nectar of Time. More shared about the deeper meanings of the Serpent inside the Nectar of Patanjali, including the story of Patanjali as a 1,00 headed serpent. .
Tea & Jyotish Insights
August 15, 2023 delivers us 3 “planets” in the constellation of the serpent, Āśleṣa – Venus, Sun and the New Moon.
Expect themes of feeling intense karma, feelings of being “poisoned”, intensity in general, challenge, volatility, feelings that you are being squeezed or coiled [on the inside or outside] but also transformation, death, rebirth, awakening, transcendance. Here’s where to spot the serpent theme and pay attention, not with fear, but with R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
New Moon in Āśleṣa:
The serpent meanings are influencing and provoking themes of women and the divine feminine, mothers, the mother-relationship or mother-wound, nourishment [food and how we eat], home, domestic life, people in the public eye, the heart [the emotions and the physical heart], and the manas [the part of your mind that navigates the world according to likes & dislikes]. The moon rules private domestic life as well as the public life and how one is viewed by others as though on a stage. The moon also rules the blood. One may find the blood has toxins, or poisons, or is in need of support. We may also see sudden heart issues or diagnoses. Is the serpent showing up in these areas for you?
Sun in Āśleṣa:
The serpent meanings are influencing and provoking themes of power, leadership, politics, fathers [and the fatherly relationships], men and the divine masculine. The sun rules money and generosity, as well as our daily actions and habits. The sun rules individual dharma and the actions that make up outerlife. Is the serpent showing up in these areas?
Venus in Āśleṣa:
The serpent meanings are influencing and provoking themes of intimate relationships, sexuality, friendships, the arts. Venus rules all forms of pleasure, including the highest expression of supreme pleasure – the bliss of inner freedom. In other words, the highest expression of venus is our endeavor – be it artistic, relational or individual – to awaken. How is the serpent showing up in these areas?
More about the Serpent
The Serpent often connotes connected to fear, poison and danger. But in the yogic view, the serpent is about śakti and support. She is a call to the sacred things that have the “danger” of removing your “old way” of being, and bring you home to yourself: śakti [power], sādhana [spiritual practice] and śāstra [scriptural study].
Notice all the “s” words? ssssssss and ssshhhhhh are serpentine sounds, and they are sounds of the sacral cakra – the sweet abode.
A few examples of the Serpent in this tradition…
- Lord Śiva adorend with serpents
- Sage Patañjali of the Yoga Sūtras appearing as a 1,000 headed serpent
- Adi Śeṣa, the celestial serpent eternally supporting the universe
- Working with the Spine as the Serpent within your body as we do in Supreme Release Yoga
- The Kuṇḍalinī Śakti as the feminine divine serpent coiled at the tailbone
- Vasuki, King of the Serpents participating in the Churning of the Ocean of milk
- The Nāgas appearing in multiple stories of the Mahābharata both as antagonists and as saviors
How to harness the serpent for Good
Increase
- Sattvic attitude of harmony
- Balanced eating, sleeping, rest and work
- Dharmic relationships [rooted in deeper ethics]
- Allowance & forgiveness
- Keep moving forward, but pace yourself
- Devotional practices
- Mantra to Durgā, or all forms of Feminine Divine
- Yoga for your spine
- Scriptural study – especially Yoga Sūtras, Esoteric study, Shaktism
- Oiling the body & hydrating with pure water
- Reflection, Inquiry, spiritual growth in general
- Be yourself, cultivate your yogic samskāras
Avoid
- Revenge, Anger, Rage, Retaliation
- Addiction – to work, substances, people
- Adharmic relationships, adharmic sex
- Staying stuck in the past or present
- Moving too quickly with too much ambition and not enough thought toward the future
- Superficial relationships and short term quick fixes
- Too much extremes, particularly related to getting to cold or too dry
- Trying too hard to “fit in” perfectly with normal society, schedules, values which are not attuned to who you really are.
Recomendation: Sādhana & Sattva Guṇa
The Serpent calls us to transform consciously or be dragged through it kicking and screaming. The upāya [remedy] is spiritual practice [sādhana] to make yourself capable of the spiritual journey of life and cultivating a harmonious condition of mind [sattva guṇa] that allows you capacity to be gentle with yourself and others along the way.
Sādhana gives grace, and Sattva gives calm. I don’t know of any better remedies!
Sādhana you can do with your āsana practice, your mantra practice, your meditative practice, yoga nidrā, and yogic scriptural study under the guidance of a teacher. All of these are spiritual practices.
Sattva Guṇa is cultivated through a balanced lifestyle, foods appropriate for you, pure water [for drinking and swimming!], connection to nature and loving attitudes, interactions and relationships with others.
More Suggestions for this New Moon phase
- Cultivate a Sattvic lifestyle & attitude
- Commit to regularity & simplicity of spiritual practice
- Dharmic and loving relationships [rooted in deeper ethics]
- Allowance & forgiveness of yourself and others
- Plan for letting go of the hurts of the past
- Allow for REBIRTH which will pave the way for awakening
- Remember that what you really want is PEACE and prioritize that above all else.
- Move forward in your purpose but pace yourself
- Do Devotional practices
- Oiling the body & hydrating with pure water
- Being around pure bodies of water [mama ocean, rivers, waterfalls]
- Reflection, Inquiry, spiritual growth in general
Love,
Kaya
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Nectar of Time
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