Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish Newsletter December, 2004

[Guest guest]

Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish Newsletter December, 2004

http://www.jyotish.ws

Michael Laughrin, Michael, business phone: (440) 582-

9848; cell phone: (440) 263-2159

To , send an email to: jyotish_ws-

Contents of this newsletter © copyright 2004, Michael Laughrin

unless otherwise noted.

 

Contents:

1. Introduction to Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish

Newsletter

2. A Humorous Look at the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac Part II

3. Practical Sanskrit Part IV

4. The Influence of the Earth's Moon

 

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1. Introduction to Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish

Newsletter

 

HAPPY (BELATED) WINTER SOLSTICE - YULETIDE GREETINGS!!! MERRY

CHRISTMAS!!! JOYOUS NEW YEAR!!! HAPPY CHANUKAH!!! HAPPY KWANZAA!!! I

wish you all the best in 2005.

 

I offer you this newsletter to enhance and deepen your experience of

Vedic Astrology. In these newsletters, expect to find a combination

of helpful articles, book reviews, Jyotish links and more. The

purpose of this newsletter is to educate and titillate the Jyotish-

loving public. The opinions given within are solely those of Michael

Laughrin.

 

In this issue, more humor on the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac: "The

Twelve Signs Play Santa,What Each Sign Wants for

Christmas,What Males of the Twelve Signs Think Appeals to Women,"

and "The Twelve Signs on Childrearing." Last month, my childrearing

list was in this newsletter; this month, it's Allison Nielson's

turn. Also, enjoy more Sanskrit words. And Allison Nielson offers an

article on the influence of the Moon -- interesting reading.

 

Please visit my website at http://www.jyotish.ws at your

convenience. I offer Traditional/Classical Vedic Astrology,

Intuitional Jyotish (Vedic Astrology based on deep intuition),

Chakra Readings, and Advanced Structured Psychic Work (for deeper

interpretation of your karmic pattern).

 

"Another great newsletter...like the humor...especially liked

Alison…" - a reader

 

- Michael Laughrin (Michael)

 

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2. A Humorous Look at the Twelve Signs of the Zodiac Part II

 

 

The Twelve Signs Play Santa by Alison Nielson

(premavratini)

 

Aries - Toy guns, gold coins, adventure maps

Taurus - Chocolate, video games, a comforter

Gemini - Dungeons and Dragons, Let's Go! Italy, jigsaw puzzles

Cancer - aquarium, toy train, baby doll

Leo - miniature Porsche, Rolex, Oakley shades

Virgo - embroidery kit, latex gloves, antibiotic soap

Libra - How to Win Friends and Influence People, gift certificate to

Barnes and Noble, violin

Scorpio - Picture book of medieval torture devices, "The Count of

Monte Cristo", ant farm

Sagittarius - Jumbo crayons, hula hoops, Swiss Army knives

Capricorn - Joke book, "Think Rich", coal

Aquarius - Third world dolls, organic oranges, Dr. Seuss on recycled

paper

Pisces - kaleidoscope, biography of Jesus, goldfish

 

 

What Each Sign Wants for Christmas by Michael Laughrin

(Michael)

 

Aries - To conquer the world; will settle for a big leather belt

Taurus - A ten-year gift subscription to gourmet magazine; also

learning to "channel" the spirit of Julia Childs

Gemini - More technology. More, more!

Cancer - Three days a month of "rent-a-mother" services

Leo - A diamond-studded, leather bound copy of "Lifestyles of the

Rich and Famous"

Virgo - Everything green - clothes, food, thumb, jewelry and house

Libra - Private lessons with the most famous interior decorator in

town

Scorpio - His or her own private copy of "Poisons Prepared From

Household Plants"

Sagittarius - Two weeks at a dude ranch

Capricorn - The book "101 Cheap Ways to Fix Up Your House"

Aquarius - Channeling UFOs and hosting the "first international

extraterrestrial conference"

Pisces - The world's biggest fish tank

 

 

The Twelve Signs on Childrearing by Alison Nielson

(premavratini)

 

Aries - Kids need to be active. Take 'em outdoors and to martial

arts class.

Taurus - Feed them and help them learn to watch TV.

Gemini - Learning to socialize is good and I'm busy. Take 'em to

daycare.

Cancer - Raising a child is so important. They must be properly

nurtured and treated sensitively.

Leo - Do you think she looks better in Gucci or Prada?

Virgo - Children get dirty so easily. Keep them indoors and wash

them a lot.

Libra - A balanced life is everything. Make sure they get to ballet

lessons and music lessons and learn to speak a foreign language.

Scorpio - Remember "Lord of the Flies." There is no telling what the

little beasts get up to.

Sagittarius - Children are such a precious gift. They are the future

of humanity. Play with them and give them lots of freedom.

Capricorn - Children should be seen but not heard…AND they are

expensive.

Aquarius - My baby is an Indigo Child. He is very special. That is

why I am home schooling.

Pisces - Rain, Sun and Moon taught me so much about myself.

 

 

What Males of the Twelve Signs Think Appeals to Women by Alison

Nielson (premavratini)

 

NOTE: This article is a follow-up to last month's "Women of Each

Sign Discuss How to Be Sexy and Catch a Lover." It is meant to be

light-hearted and silly; please take it in the spirit in which it

was intended. If you missed that article, see

http://www.jyotish.ws/wisdom/humour_12_signs.html#women

 

Aries - Big muscles, red sports cars, money, power, prestige…and

being able to beat up the other guy!

Taurus - Lavish surroundings, great food, wine, song and dance. And

money.

Gemini - Great conversation. Lots of change. Entertainment.

Cancer - My life story in detail. My needs and pains. My mother's

recipes.

Leo - Money, power, prestige, a great wardrobe.

Virgo - Cleanliness is next to godliness. Order.

Libra - Great accounting. Going Dutch.

Scorpio - Great sex. Murder mysteries.

Sagittarius - A positive attitude. Lots of adventures. Unchecked

optimism.

Capricorn - Take her to the Presbyterian Church FREE Potluck Dinner

in his black suit and white shirt.

Aquarius - Medieval science instruments. Spacecraft and the beings

that pilot them.

Pisces - Your life story in detail. Your needs and pains. Your

mother's recipes.

 

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3. Practical Sanskrit Part IV

By Alison Nielsen (premavratini)

 

As part of our ongoing Sanskrit vocabulary building, here are still

more Sanskrit words. You may find them useful when dealing with

Jyotishis or studying Jyotish.

 

This is a simple pronunciation key for your convenience. Sanskrit is

actually more complicated and there are many subtleties to

pronunciation that are not covered here.

 

Of course, if you are interested in Sanskrit, please take a course

on the subject. Learning the language of nature will give you a

deeper understanding of Jyotish and the entire world.

 

Basic Pronunciation Key:

A sounds like "ahhhh" as in "father"

E sounds like "ay" as in "hay"

I sounds like "eee" as in "leaf"

O sounds like "oh" as in "soap"

U sounds like "oo" as in "food"

 

1. Abhinivesha - fear of death

2. Abhitah - near

3. Adhuna - now

4. Adya - first

5. Adya - today

6. Antara - between

7. Antarena - without

8. Anuraga - love

9. Asha - hope

10. Asima - limitless

11. Ati - now

12. Ayushmat - long lived

13. Chanmaya - spiritual

14. Chintamani - mind jewel

15. Daya - compassion

16. Devam - fate

17. Durjana - bad man

18. Dvesha - aversion

19. Griha- house

20. Indriya - sense organ

21. Ishva - wish

22. Jagat - world

23. Jana - man

24. Janaka - father

25. Janani - mother

26. Jara - old age

27. Jati - caste

28. Jivanam - life

29. Kalih - quarrel

30. Kama - desire

31. Kanakam - gold

32. Kantih - beauty

33. Karana - cause, vehicle

34. Krodha - anger

35. Kshaya - destruction

36. Kukkura - dog

37. Nagara - city

38. Nama - honor, salutation

39. Nara - man

40. Nari - woman

41. Nava - new

42. Rnanubandhana - bondage of debt

43. Shatru - enemies

44. Ubhaya - both sides

45. Udara - generous, noble

46. Udhyama - effort

47. Utram - highest, best

48. Vyaya - loss

 

 

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4. The Influence of the Earth's Moon

By Alison Nielsen (premavratini)

 

The Sun and the Moon are the two brightest objects in our sky and

appear, uncannily, to be the same size when viewed from Earth. They

are a manifestation of the primordial Shiva and Shakti, Yang and

Yin, masculine and feminine forces that underlie our Universe.

 

The Sun has a tremendous constancy and predictability. He is self-

luminous, shines continually and moves through the sky on a

predictable path at a constant rate of speed. He is regarded as a

symbol of our Essence because of these qualities of consistent

presence and radiance.

 

By comparison, the Moon is a very inconstant being. She moves

through the sky at a variable rate of motion, changes shape and size

swiftly and continuously, and moves quickly against the background

of stars. She does not generate her own light but reflects that of

the Sun. She represents the Divine Feminine, the chaos that

underlies seeming order, the randomness that gives rise to the

beautiful, yet not quite predictable patterns in Nature. She is a

curvy fickle body.

 

The Moon also represents the manas or habit body of the individual,

the inner contents of our minds, conscious, subconscious and

unconscious. A Vedic astrologer will draw conclusions about a

person's predominating vasanas based in part on the condition of the

Moon at the time of a person's birth. Like the Moon, the minds of

human beings are very inconstant, rotating through psycho-emotional

states, attentions and desires with great rapidity within the

framework of a certain fixity. The person who is prone to optimism

generally resorts to happy thoughts or to thoughts of happy outcomes

while the person who is prone to glumness does the reverse. Although

both will experience the opposite, they will return again and again

to the same state.

 

Manas is also memory, because memory is a collection of habits. What

a person remembers as being significant will largely be composed of

things that confirm the predominating habits of the personality.

Attention is selective and can find evidence for its point of view

in anything. The mind is habitual, looking repeatedly for the same

evidence. Take a dog outside anywhere and it will find a pile of

poop, no matter how well hidden.

 

Additionally, the Moon represents Rasa, or the juice of life, what

Chinese systems refer to as Jing. The Moon produces deep cool sweet

nectar that nourishes life on all levels. The Moon is tender and can

never burn up life as the Sun does. The Sun has a relentless quality

to him but the Moon is ever embracing, like a loving mother whom

never tires of her baby.

 

People born under a strong Moon generally have a good capacity to

recognize and digest the nutrition that life offers to them. They

are healthy eaters not only physically but also psychically. Those

with a strong moon tend to naturally see good in things and have

good things come their way.

 

People born with a weak or afflicted Moon often have a darker turn

of mind and are inclined toward depression. They are disinclined to

partake of life. This is often fueled by negative experiences that

set up their habituated patterns of perception and interaction. A

weak or afflicted Moon also gives rise to asceticism as well,

because it disinclines a person to tasting life all the time.

 

The Moon's orbit varies in speed because the Moon is subject to two

gravitational forces, the Earth and the Sun. Depending on the

relationship of these three objects in space, the Moon speeds up or

slows down, just as our minds are often pulled in two directions.

The Moon takes approximately 27.3 days to complete an orbit around

the earth, but because the earth is also moving in space, it appears

from here that it takes approximately 29.5 days for the Moon to

orbit. These orbital rates can vary by as much as 12 and 7 hours

respectively. This is why the two halves of the lunar month do not

always have the same number of days.

 

A lunar year is eleven days shorter than a solar year. It takes

nineteen years for the two cycles to meet; thus, every nineteen

years, the Moon will be at the same phase and position on the same

day to within two hours. Ancient cultures knew this and kept track

of this nineteen-year lunar cycle, the Moon slowly dancing up and

down in the sky.

 

The Moon's gravitational pull on the Earth causes the Earth to bulge

toward the Moon. Because water is more flexible than land, the

oceans bulge more noticeably than the land, giving rise to higher

tides and more unpredictable waters when the Moon is closer to us in

her orbit. Human beings are two-thirds water and our brains are

mostly water, which means that Moon's gravitational pull also

affects us strongly. Water as an element corresponds to all desires,

tastes, and emotions. With each month, as the Moon draws nearer to

us and becomes full and bright, we experience her effects upon our

minds and bodies and can see our condition more fully expressed. If

we pay attention to this cycle, we can work with the Moon and learn

to accumulate Rasa or Jing, in order to become more youthful and

more content. Just as the Moon pulls on the Earth, people born with

an influential Moon will often have a type of charisma that pulls

our attention to them. Like the Moon, this charisma may wax and wane

so that you find yourself never quite knowing who the person is on

any given day.

 

If you practice yoga, you may have learned the Chandra Namaskara

asana, the Salutation to the Moon. As you practice Chandra

Namaskara, with its fourteen postures representing the fourteen

tithis (phases) of the Moon, remember the Moon in your own way.

Notice that the bending forward and folding back mimics the orbit of

the Moon. Curving snakelike back and forth over the earth's equator

is much like the Yin and Yang symbol.

 

The Moon loves adornment and beauty. It is always best to look nice

when worshipping the Moon. She is more likely to take notice of you.

The Moon loves sweet flowers, seashells and perfumes, white rice,

milk, coconut juice and other sweet cooling things. In astrology she

rules the mind, emotions, the mother, food, nutrition, the night,

women, fashion, water, memory, imagination, habits, receptivity,

sensitivity, and changeability.

 

The Moon corresponds to Ida Nadi, the left and more internal Nadi

("Ida Nadi" is the sympathetic nervous system for the left side of

the body - ed.). In a healthy state, this Nadi gives a state of

balanced equilibrium and a soft receptivity towards others and

ourselves. A soft inviting gaze and a great gentleness come with a

functional Ida Nadi. When this channel is clogged, depression and

inertia develop along with a chaotic and weird internal dialogue.

 

The Moon influences us in so many ways. Whenever you walk outside on

a clear night, look at our sweet Moon, and give thanks.

 

 

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Michael Laughrin's North American Jyotish Newsletter

http://www.jyotish.ws

Michael Laughrin, Michael, business phone: (440) 582-

9848; cell phone: (440) 263-2159

To , send an email to: jyotish_ws-

 

Articles from past issues of this newsletter are archived at:

http://www.jyotish.ws/wisdom

 

Please feel free to share the newsletter with anyone for whom you

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