It is extraordinary just how accurate astrology is in describing life events. 

Self-study on the moon’s influence – every 28 days, day-by-day, will lead to tremendous understanding of how one is moving through life and why circumstances happen the way they do.

Usually, when I am having a strange, uncomfortable exchange with someone, I look to see what is happening with the moon – their moon and my moon. If I am reacting from the influence of my moon, then I must cool down and settle into a peaceful space and be patient. If I see that they are reacting from the influence of their moon, then I lean towards a more compassionate, understanding space and let the transit pass. Either way, I must be patient and allow time to pass as different influences wave into reality. I know things will change and improve over time. Life is very much like the weather – sunny, rainy, cloudy and windy or just a light breeze. If it’s too windy, it can cause some serious damage or too much rain can cause flooding and ruin everything. Truly, we are puppets in the atmosphere of the sun, moon and planets. 

Equally telling are the major life cycles such as Saturn Return and Uranus Opposition. When a person experiences the shifts from one cycle to another, wow – life changes dramatically!  One cannot control or stop the changes that these major life cycles bring; they are so subtle yet profound in how they influence and shape life experiences for the next ten to twelve years of the cycle.  

During my first major life cycle, Saturn Return, I had spent significant time enjoying daily yoga disciplines and an austere lifestyle applying serious kriya yoga purification rituals. I was so highly disciplined, enjoying powerful kundalini energy in my body. It became slightly difficult for me to interact with most humans. I was in such an extreme space, living outside most of the time alone and often, in deep meditation or mantra chanting, brewing herbal tea over a fire or creating something artistic and beautiful. Truly, I was a freak.

Then, when Uranus Opposition popped up into my trajectory, my identity became “overwhelmed by external conditioning”, and veered into another direction. It was awful really. Yet, it was so subtle and it was so powerful, it changed my life dramatically from what I had experienced throughout my Saturn Return. Suddenly, I was a completely different person – diving right into debauchery – in the middle of San Francisco; a chilling, radical change in lifestyle. 

Why? Because the theme for that cycle indicated that there was a strong chance that I would lose my identity and become heavily influenced by dark forces. And so it happened. I could have held the powerful space that I was resting in yet, I was so heavily conditioned by my upbringing, I made stupid choices and projected hopeful delusions causing me to fall right into a total eclipse of my true identity. 

No matter what, the moon and the major life cycle is going to dictate our reality – in some fashion. 

Now, in the last major cycle, Kiron Return, life has come full circle into the final, significant life expression that was intended for this incarnation: from the depths of my being comes the nourishment to share with all who cross my path.  In this case, the nourishment and wellspring are the words that I share conveying the wisdom that have gained from my life experience. Perhaps that is why friends have given me the goddess name: ‘Annapurna’.  Annapurna is the goddess of Kashi in Uttar of Pradesh. Not only does Annapurna provide nourishment to the body through sattwic, vegetarian food, she also provides nourishment to the soul for enlightenment. Through Her nourishment, others gain the energy to attain higher knowledge and be vitalized. 

Perhaps it is no accident that I am in the process of opening a restaurant called, ‘Shiva Diva’ a vegan and sattwic food environment.

So many times, I have gone into ecstasy as I have shared my vision of the vegan cafe. This is how I know that it is the appropriate project for me to focus my energy towards. Ecstasy is the natural, inherent inner compass for guiding our life trajectory – indicating the correct people, the correct activity and the correct vision for fulfilling our life purpose. 

Equally significant in directing our life experiences is our environment.

Having a bed and breakfast inn on the Big Island of Hawaii has been an interesting experiment. The more I adhere to the principles that are correct for me, the better business gets, the more money flows and the better the social experiences; including the more ecstasy I experience to guide me. The moment that I compromise on these principles, the more I lose, the less money flows and life is fraught with one problem after another as a ‘wet blanket’ dampens my kundalini and turns off the ecstasy. It’s a real drag. 

For instance, if alcohol is in the environment, I get a raging migraine and continue to throw up over a 24 hour period. I can’t think straight and I can’t function – I can hardly move. If someone is smoking in the environment, the gums of my mouth start rotting and small sores break out each time that person lights a cigarette or tokes on a pen. If there is meat-eating in the environment, my mouth rots, I become constipated, my body feels like it is on fire and I have no energy. It slows me way down and completely wipes out my blessed kundalini energy.

No matter what, I can live as an example of higher principles for navigating life – through (vegan lifestyle) food and ancient scriptures or I can watch it crumble into ashes because there is no depth in the message I am sharing because I am not living the example that I am teaching. And that can happen easily when we are in an environment that is not resonant with our inner core.

Ultimately, we are products of our environment colored by whoever is near while being dictated by planetary orchestration and manipulation of the senses; one becomes the combination of these forces and energies. So, we cannot rely completely on the astrology to paint the picture of our reality – we must look and see who is surrounding us and nearby most of the time – they are a reflection of our inner space because the energies blend into one pot of soup.

Over time, whoever is in the environment becomes one living organism. Some people have two environments that they blend into, such as work or school, which can be extremely confusing for navigating one’s life. This is why I enjoy the bed and breakfast inn, people come and people go, the energy field remains the same here, as my own as people come and go. However, if my aura becomes heavily imprinted over a period of time, Im carrying a wet blanket of dullness and I have no kundalini ecstasy to guide me.

This explains why the sadhus disappear into the Himalayan mountains – it can be glorious alone in one’s own aura if the purification has been done and the meditation is deep and there are no other influences or thought currents making an impression. Truly, if one must be influenced, may it be a conscious, sovereign being imprinting the aura!

Because of the powerful blending that happens in each environment, aligning with like-minded people is essential. However, it is never going to be easy. Everyone has some kind of issue related to their root pattern. The root pattern sets the tone for all social and relationship interaction dictating the way a person thinks and relates and makes decisions. It is the most complicated of all the influences, in my opinion.

If you understand the main activations of your astrological birth story, realize your root pattern and the major life cycle that you are in, then you have great tools for navigating your life. However, it is never going to be easy or simple as we live in a very, very complex world – operating through many dimensions – not just the physical plane. And each new person who settles into the environment brings a completely new set of conditions to experience and process.

Yes, aloneness is very sweet. True sovereignty.