Chandra - Soma
Chandra
http://www.metmuseum.org/TOAH/hd/nepp/ho_1981.465.htm#
Abja - Abdhinavaneetaka - Amati - Amritadeedhiti - Amritadyuti - Amritakirana - Amritaamzu - Anushnagu - Budhataata - Grahaagresara - Himarazmi - Mrigaagka - Sin - Selena - Somaraaja - Zazaagka - Ziitarazmi - Zuci
Dawa (Tib.)
Earth's Moon
candra =
glittering , shining (as gold) , having the brilliancy or hue of light (said of gods , of water, and of Soma)
the moon (also personified as a deity)
the most excellent among
a lovely or agreeable phenomenon of any kind
the eye in a peacock's tail L. ;
the mark of the Vishargha (tantra)
a kind of reddish pearl
camphor
water
Kampilla plant
a kind of sour rice-gruel
a hall covered only at the top , awning , canopy
cardamoms
Cocculus cordifolius [BPL: Hindi = 'Gulancha']
Serratula anthelminthica
the light half of a month
the moon-stone
Monday
soma =
juice , extract , (esp.) the juice of the Soma plant; the Soma plant itself
the climbing plant Sarcostema Viminalis or Asclepias Acida ,
its stalks were pressed between stones by the priests, then sprinkled with water, and purified in a strainer; whence the acid juice trinkled into jars or larger vessels; after which it was mixed with clarified butter , flour &c. , made to ferment, and then offered in libations to the gods [in this respect corresponding with the ritual of the Iranian Avesta] or was drunk by the Brahmans, by both of whom its exhilarating effect was supposed to be prized
it was collected by moonlight on certain mountains; it is sometimes described as having been brought from the sky by a falcon
it is personified as one of the most important of Vedic gods , to whose praise all the 114 hymns of the 9th book of the RV. besides 6 in other books and the whole SV. are dedicated ;
in post-Vedic mythology and even in a few of the latest hymns of the RV. [although not in the whole of the 9th book] as well as sometimes in the AV. and in the Br. , Soma is identified with the moon [as the receptacle of the other beverage of the gods called Amrita , or as the lord of plants and with the god of the moon
a drug of supposed magical properties
abja =
born in water
the conch ; the moon ; the tree Barringtonia Acutangula
name of Dhanvantari (physician of the gods , produced at the churning of the ocean)
a lotus ; a milliard
amati =
"unconsciousness"
form , shape ,
splendor , luster
time
moon
Feminine, intuition, cool, passive, Yin
Home, mother, emotional security, happiness
Water, cool fluids, cycles, circles, moistness, fertility, eggs
Memories, Mamaries, The Past
Psychic Grounding [Emotional Security]
Roundness, softness, wetness
Nourishment, healing, acceptance
Psychic sensitivity, connection to spirits, dreams
Home & Shelter
Basic Socialization / Pre-university Education
Shani yuti Chandra [Saturn conjunct Moon]
navamsha of Chandra, evaluating
Rahu gochara Soma [Rahu transit to natal Moon]
Sade Saati [Saturn transit to natal Moon]
"The emotions behind your thoughts determine the speed at which you manifest."
The Moon is very windy& phlegmatic. She is learned& has a round body. She has auspicious looks& sweet speech, is fickle-minded& very lustful.
~~ BPHS Ch. 3 [Planetary Characters& Description], Shloka 24
The Moon indicates poets, flowers, eatables, beads, silver, conch, salt, water, arrow, robes, ornaments, females, ghee, sesamum, oil & sleep.
~~ Saravali, Ch. 7-13
Moon: "O.E. mona, from P.Gmc. *mænon- ... from PIE *me(n)ses- "moon, month" (cf. Skt. masah "moon, month;" Avestan ma, Pers. mah, Arm. mis "month;" Gk. mene "moon," men "month;" L. mensis "month;" ... probably from base *me- "to measure," ..."
Chandra rules the astral body which contains all memories that are typically labeled "the past". It is not normally realized that the past is a mirror of the future - but it is - so indeed Chandra also controls the future. The astral body precedes entry into the physical body and the astral body survives physical death, time and again. So, the astral body which is composed of psycho-emotional memories, is very long-lasting! Not eternal, but robustly long-lasting.
A child's earliest memories are of their mother and indeed, Chandra rules the native's mother, relationship to the mother, and overall emotional constitution. All action-reaction emotional patterns, from obsessive-compulsive to avoidance to projection, are grounded through the Moon. Moon with Rahu hypercharges the emotional memories, and indicates a vivacious mother. Moon with Ketu causes emotional withdrawal, typically due to a mother who "needs her space".
To understand a person's past, examine their Soma position in detail. "The past" is not a material reality, but it is a potent and often crippling psycho-emotional reality. Remember the past is composed of memories, and the core memory from our current lifetime is of life in utero. Memories from past lives create the current life. So - por supuesto - the Moon is our Mother and the Moon creates Life.
The Moon's portfolio includes the full range of our psycho-emotional attachments. Chandra's characteristics define our mother (or whomever served as our childhood emotional sustainer). Chandra also indicates the nurturing container of the childhood family as a whole,& the unconditional acceptance (or not) we received from them. Ultimately Chandra signifies our emotional capacity to form relationships with others - partners especially, but also our parents& our own children.
Chandra does not represent the true Self (which is beyond the planets) but rather the social-psycho-sexual-emotional core of the ego.
Some reincarnations are blessed with awareness of two non-ego realms. They draw true peace from living either outside the ego - in the world of compassionate altruistic action -- or deep within the core of intimate divine communion -- which is buried in pre-ego childhood memory underneath the adult ego. These being are sheltered from much of the emotional suffering to which the normal ego-bound human is enslaved.
However, the more one is attached to that frail prison of ego attachments -- which is to say, the more one has been traumatized in childhood -- the more essential it is to understand the birth condition of the Vedic Moon.
Most of us reading this page will be treading somewhere along that path from total enslavement to ego- validation, to total freedom from all compulsions. We fondly hope that some person, relationship, or experience will come along& heal our deepest inner trauma. Understanding the complex implications of Chandra's role in rashi& (especially) navamsha varga will help one to understand that deepest hope, so as to light the way toward our goal of perfect wholeness.
It is a common truth in Jyotisha that if a person is true to their Moon, they will be happy.
They might not achieve wealth, fame, beauty, or worldly power - but they will be happy.
The psycho-emotional core of the ego is a fairly happy place within most incarnations. It is the place of joyful childhood, of unconditional acceptance by the family,& of nurturing maternal love. If the Moon's needs are met& sustained in adulthood, a person will feel emotionally sheltered& fairly whole.
Some folks' spiritual ambitions will stop when they achieve basic emotional grounding through human relationship. Some folks will want to use the stability of adequate emotional grounding as a platform for further spiritual adventures in knowing God& serving humanity. Whichever your choice, understanding& catering to the complex condition of your Vedic Moon is very important.
Chandra is the karaka for Mother. First and foremost Soma indicates the birth mother, because Soma's influence begins in the uterine fluids of conception. A child who is adopted at birth or even much later will identify consciously with the emotions of their adoptive mother, but the birth mother has the primary subconscious emotional influence.
Other Mothers signified by Chandra include spiritual mothers such as Tara the Mother of Buddha, Mother Mary, spiritual preceptors such as Mother Superior in a nunnery, the Muse, and all goddesses of the Great Traditions.
Profile the Mother(s) from rashi, bhava, drishti, & other characteristics of Chandra in radix, navamsha, & dwadashamsha.
Although the 4th rashi from radix lagna, 4th navamsha, & 4th Dwadashamsha also yield important components of the mother profile, the key information about a person's mother, one's emotional needs& the behaviors one will exhibit when trying to get these needs met - is contained in Soma.
Conscious individuals will notice that the ten-year Vimshottari mahadasha of Chandra is a period of reconnection with the psychic, rational, and social aspects of the Mother.
This awakening may be pleasant or painful or both (depending on the Jyotisha characteristics of natal Soma).
It is wise to take full advantage of this period of emotional and spiritual revelation about one's deepest psychic needs. Use this essential self-knowledge to fullest capacity during the ten-year mahadasha.
General patterns of Chandra period include:
if the Mother is still living, an intense period of interaction with her
whether the Mother is living or not, mahadasha of Chandra attracts into one's environment numerous persons who resemble the Mother on many levels
emphasis on 'reactive' rather than 'proactive' responses (infancy)
if the native is an adult during the mahadasha, one may form an adult understanding the role that the Mother played in one's early personality and relationship development
depending on Chandra's character, assignment to major or minor caretaking roles, and need to interact emotionally with those who are deeply dependent, cannot defend themselves, or cannot make their own decisions
if Chandra mahadasha occurs in middle age, one may acquire dependent parents and need to 'parent the parent'
strong emotionalization of the personality: powerful intuitions, needs, feelings, and emotional bonding
In the nativity, look to Surya as the primary indicator of Father; and Chandra as primary indicator of Mother.
Soma is the strongest karaka for Mother, but domain-4 is complementary and secondary. (Similarly, domain-9 also indicates Father, but domain-9 should be used as a complementary and secondary indicator.) Use both to build the parental profile.
Consider Chandra - in Radix, Navamsha, and Dwadashamsha - to show the core characteristics of the Mother.
Catastrophic events which leave lifelong imprints of emotional trauma, will involve drishti of a malefic graha onto Chandra. For example,
This boy's mother died when he was seven, during powerful gochara Shani effects to his Moon.
This girl's parents both died when she was eleven during powerful gochara Rahu/Shani effects to her Moon.
Moon is the natural lord of the 4th Domain. Read about bandhu bhava to gain a broader perspective on the Moon's portfolio.
In classical Jyotisha the Moon has equal or greater power to the lagna (ascendant). Accurate readings cannot occur from the rashi-lagna only. Accurate readings require at least two preliminary scans: first from the rashi-lagna, second from Chandra-lagna. (Then more detailed scans such as from the mahadasha-pati, from the karaka, etc. are also required.) In traditional India, where rural birth-times are unavailable or conflicting, accurate readings are often given from Chandra lagna alone.
Whatever results are to be known from Bandhu, Tanu, Dhana, Labha,& Dharma should also be known from the 4th of Chandra, from Karka rashi itself, & from the 2nd, 11th, & 9th from Chandra respectively. --
BPHS Ch. 7, Shloka 39-43
Although traditional texts indicate that Ravi & dharma bhava provide key information regarding one's father, I have found in practice that 9th-from-Chandra reveals more about the father's true character & position.
If 9th-from-Chandra is well-disposed, one will generally enjoy a good relationship with the father despite other tensions which may arise from less favorable disposition of Ravi or dharma bhava within the charts.
Should 9th-from-Chandra be troubled by difficult occupants or aspects, there will be emotional strain in the relationship with the father which can severely reduce any benefits which might accrue from favorable situations in Ravi's character or in an auspicious 9th rashi.
I suspect that the traditional texts which emphasize 9th-rashi& Surya as primary indicators of the father did so because fathers do not play an emotionally critical role in many historical cultures, including Vedic culture. Rather, the father's central task is to prepare the child for honorable& productive adult life within their community;& this task does not really begin in the child's life until age seven.
In modern western, culture the father's critical importance in the child's early emotional development is increasingly recognized. Whether the father's culture tells him to relate emotionally to the child or not, children have a natural expectation that the father will be present, supportive,& available. So the child is watching the father whether or not the father is watching the child! For this reason I think we will get better information about the emotional connection between child& father by examining 9th-from-Chandra.
There can be some confusion in counting houses this way because we would also expect 9th-from-Chandra to tell us about the mother's father, who would be the maternal grandfather of the native. However this is a legitimate overlap. 9th-from-Chandra shows BOTH the native's mother's emotional relationship to her own father,& the native's emotional relationship to his own father.
If 9th-from-Chandra is strongly positive, the native's mother will have enjoyed a healthy emotional relationship with her own father,& would have entered her own parenting years with good expectations for her male co-parent, based on the good experience she had growing up with a fortunate father.
Similarly a damaged 9th-from-Chandra shows a history of troubled fathers: both the mother's own father, who is the native's own maternal grandfather,& the native's father, will share this troubled profile.
Relationship between Surya& Chandra in the rashi chart will reveal much regarding the emotional reality of the native's parents' relationship. If Surya& Chandra occupy a 1/7, 3/11, 4/10 or 5/9 angle to each other, the parents' relationship was likely affectionate& respectful. However if Surya& Chandra occupy the less fortunate 2/12 or 6/8 angles, the parents' emotional relationship contained significant tension - which the native chose to be born into, of course, because the native is working through that particular karma.
Both Surya& dharma bhava will provide some valuable information about the father's social position, his career,& family lineage. If the Sun is well disposed the father may have been born into a distinguished family or have developed a strong career. However if the Soma/Surya relationship is 2/12 or 6/8, the father's energy would have been consumed significantly by his own underlying emotional struggles (against his wife& mother)& thus he may have had limited emotional resources available to really focus on advancing his career.
In reading the Jyotisha charts it is critically important to recognize the qualities of the navamsha Moon. If the sign& house of D-9 Chandra are ignored, only half the emotional core will be known& events will not be correctly predicted.
Also, the navamsha Moon is mission-critical in evaluating what type of nurturing support the native requires in their intimate relationships such as marriage. The spouse's chart should afford some link to the native's navamsha Moon, if deep emotional harmony is to develop within the marriage. Also the choice of close friends is much dependent on the navamsha Moon.
However outside the social realm of relationships, one must appreciate one's own navamsha Moon qualities if one is to make emotionally positive choices all along the life path. Navamsha Moon will show a level of deep need for validation, which can be consciously provided by choosing a profession, studies,& avocations which put the person in contact with psychically nourishing information.
Letter to a client who feared the evil consequences of fallen Moon in sahaja bhava.
Q: Fallen Moon in the 3rd house should be a serious problem. Why?
A: Moon is the seat of emotion (in the grand sense of emotion that includes all feelings, reactions, hopes, dreams, expectations, aspirations, etc.)& thus Moon hugely influences our perceptions. Our reality is created by our perceptions. So, when this HUGE astrological influence, the Moon, occupies Scorpio, Moon is dominated& controlled by the lord of Scorpio, who is Mars. Mars regulates the reptile brain - our fight or flight response. They say the reptile brain doesn't solve problems, it attacks them. :)
Imagine the constraint our poor perceptive Moon is under when Mars dominates. The person has limited permission to just "be"& has to "do" almost constantly. Of course Moon in Scorpio helps a productive, materially-oriented career tremendously.& it can be useful for a surgeon, investigative journalist, or anyone who professionally digs into hidden causes, into motives& secret roots of things... but these folks, while often serving society usefully in distinguished careers, may not have much inner peace at all.
That's why, from an astrological-philosophical value system that puts peace, balance, meditative awareness, consciousness, relaxed enjoyment etc. at the top of the scale, Moon in Scorpio is somewhat problematic - basically, it predisposes the person to a reactive style, tends toward unconscious selfishness/ego attachment, making others conform to one's expectations, etc. Of course these are very broad generalizations but it's possible to see why the Jyotisha value system would evaluate a very creative, productive, competitive, reactive, alpha type of emotional disposition as being counterproductive to the meditative quest for peace& satisfaction that the opposite "exalted" Moon in Taurus is likely to provide.
But here in the west where career is very important& we are not generally raised to consider a balanced peace to be very important, Moon in Scorpio contributes to some remarkable public success!
Moon being in the 3rd house heightens the emotional power of your mental processes. It gives excellent business intuition, great sensitivity to the thoughts & needs of others in small group undertakings. Basically all of modern business is conducted in meetings,& you are very "on" in most meetings/conferences/seminars/phone calls/video conferences etc. because your psycho-emotional perception machine turns on "high" in the region of third-house matters. Third Domain rules younger siblings and/or the sibling group as a whole. In your case it is the sibling group as a whole because your Moon happens to be the 11th lord that rules older siblings too.
From early sibling communication/ego-definition patterns we learn to define ourselves in a group. As adults we use those sibling-group strategies over& over again. You'll find that in work teams of 3-7 people, the team members you work with most closely will always assume a role formerly held by your siblings. We just recreate those sibling patterns over& over indefinitely!
Having been born with a Moon in Scorpio you have the advantage of a powerful early, deep, intense psycho-emotional relationship with a sibling that allowed you to hone your perceptual skills very finely. This is later a huge advantage in business team-work, any form of communication intuitive especially but also all the external forms like corporate communications, conducting meetings, organizing people into productive teams etc. You quickly get a strong "hit" on what the individual members really want& can always turn a profit (11th house power) from your group communications.
Now, that all sounds good & it *is*! The traditional Scorpio-Moon-3rd-house problems emerge ONLY with the lower consciousness type of person (who are unfortunately form the majority).
Problems can arise for Scorpio Moon in third house when, lacking awareness of the effect of their actions on others, the person inadvertently understands that their natural gift for profiting from their shrewd, sensitive judgment of others' true motives = a mandate to exploit others.
There is a default tendency to prefer materially gainful relationships to spiritually nourishing relationships; all of which works great for career development but tends to make the person sad& regretful after retirement. It is particularly a poor prognosis for deathbed regret.
The reason I so casually mentioned on your tape "oh,& usually that's a problem" without developing my description of the dire problems of a Scorpio Moon is that your rashi chart has a very effective correction of the default condition.
This correction is your very auspicious Jupiter in Cancer in the 11th Domain - a magnificent planet that brings wealth, wisdom, grace, good public relations, generosity, humor,& beautiful children.
Jupiter in Cancer in the 11th house has an excellent, improving effect on the otherwise tending-toward-exploitive/manipulative/greedy Moon.
This marvelous Jupiter indicates you have been active in charitable giving for many lifetimes, motivated by generosity& compassion not just "do-gooding".
Also in the current life, the more involvement you are able to have with the worldwide undertaking of feeding the poor, the more benefits, spiritual& material, will continue to come your way.
Rather a long answer ... but one you have been patiently waiting for. Moon in Scorpio is normally a bad thing emotionally because it disturbs inner peace. In the third house it pollutes communications when natural instinct to plumb human motivation can be misused to generate personal profit. But in your case, these errors are largely eliminated by a warm& generous Jupiter. Overall you are left with the sensitivity, profitability,& group communications skill that the third house connotes,& due to your authentic concern for the welfare of others you leave the traditional troubles behind.
"When practitioners cultivate the recognition that the emotional & mental afflictions are the true enemy & that underlying them is fundamental ignorance, they then engage in the methods for eliminating this ignorance.
Practitioners recognize that as long as they remain under the control of the afflictions, they will never be free of dissatisfaction & suffering.
If, based on its recognition, practitioners then generate a genuine & deeply felt aspiration to seek liberation from this bondage, that is true renunciation."
~~ H. H. Dalai Lama. (2002). Illuminating the Path to Enlightenment. (Lama Yeshe Wisdom Archive). TDL Publications.
updated: 14 September 2008
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