The recent station of Chiron affected me deeply. It stationed (and is still present at) 27°09’ of Aries, which is almost exactly sextile my native Sun. It is one minute away from an exact sextile. From an astrological learning perspective, this is a reminder of the importance of stations. If you are one to watch transits closely, then it is worth checking the stations of each planet—see how close these are to exact aspects. The closer, the more profound the internal experience.

Stations are symbolic of turning points. The planets turn directions. Our lives can turn directions too.

For me, this activated a lot of inner child healing and discovery. It is funny as someone who frequents healing spaces, healing communities, and books that talk about healing so much, that I hadn’t really confronted it face-to-face in myself yet. But there is a time for everything. It could be imagination, but I do feel that the sequence of transits has been perfect…

Not all of them feel perfect, but some do.

Additionally this inner child work brings me deeper into spirituality and meditation. And it’s really some realizations—preliminary realizations—that I would like to talk about here.

Endless Ups and Downs?

I have often thought of astrology of cycles, and hence of the ups and downs of life. Also, as the study of good and bad, or easy and difficult aspects of life and our personality that are not tied to cycle. Western astrology has dualities in terms of good and bad aspects (trines and sextiles vs squares and oppositions for example). Vedic astrology has dualities in terms of good and bad placements (dignity, shadbala, yogas, etc.). Both have dualities in terms of benefic and malefic planets (or soft and cruel planets as they can also be called).

These dualities are real, at least in the sense that there are inherently pleasant and far-from-pleasant experiences, as well as aspects of our personality that tend to help our peace and happiness and aspects of our personality that tend to get in the way of our peace and happiness (as well, most likely, as causing us to get in other people’s way).

Everyone experiences these dualities. They never really end. And yet, there is more to the story.

The Five Koshas and Astrological Effects

It is important, or at least has been important for me, to really accept the duality that I just discussed, especially the negativity. Learning to find the light in the shadow or to accept my weaknesses, not only as something to be removed or hidden, but as okay or just as-is, has been important. I spent a great deal of my life (i.e. all of it) hiding all my weaknesses. I hid my core self for fear of retribution. Now, luckily, I am learning to be more expressive, to go with the flow however my flow might disrupt or cause others to react with defensiveness or skepticism. I am learning to not be so identified with these momentary movements but to see how the waves naturally lead to stillness if we’re anchored in ourselves. (If we are not anchored in ourselves, then there will be endless waves and chaos.)

According to ancient wisdom, which is open to personal investigation, the “body” of a person is made up of five layers.

There is the outermost layer, the annamaya kosha (layer of food), that we know as our body. There are three inner layers which comprise the subtle or astral body—these are the pranayama kosha (layer of breath or life), the manomaya kosha (layer of mind), and the vijnanamaya kosha (layer of discernment). And finally there is the innermost layer, the anandamaya kosha (layer of bliss).

What is important to realize about astrology is that its forces, the forces of the planets, signs, stars, and all other relationships, act on the subtle layer. Because of this they have great power to affect our emotions, energy, moods, as well as our physical body (since the subtle layer is within the physical body or has the power to move the physical body).

Astrology is largely a mental science, but it directs our attention to all layers of experience. It directs our attention, even, to the anandamaya. But importantly, astrological forces do not change us at the innermost bliss level, which is the level of our true, unchanging self.

Weathering the Storms

This is mostly a note to self (as most of my writing is). Realistically I know that life will sweep me off course. Realistically I know that I am not entirely on course now. I know that I have not discovered my depths yet. But I also want to remind myself that however life progresses, there is always an inner anchor, an inner peace within. There is a way to separate from what is going on with my body and my relationships and to see everything from an expansive, blissful perspective.

No matter the transit or the experience, this is always accessible within, through meditation or stillness.

Why Yogis Often Dismiss the Senses

I have only recently begun to learn about the avasthas, the conditions of planets based on their relationships with other planets. But I learned something already by learning how Venus starves Jupiter.

The reason Venus starves Jupiter is because Venus is all about sensory enjoyment, whereas Jupiter is all about inner contentment. I wouldn’t say that either is necessarily more important than one another. It is possible that one can become connected to the Divine through the senses. After all, the Divine is everywhere in everything.

What is more divine than a stroll through a beautiful forest or beach? What is more divine than a delicious meal?

There is nothing wrong with Venus. However when Venus is with Jupiter, there is a tendency for a person to be too externally focused. We may think that joy can only be found from without. We might not be so excited to meditate as we are to go out to dinner. We might depend on our partners, friends or parents for validation since we are separated from inner truth.

Even if Venus is not starving Jupiter in the chart, it’s possible we might have this experience since we live in a society that emphasizes the external. The problem is not Venus or Jupiter. It’s just their level of free expression and their balance with each other.

The reason yogis often dismiss the senses is not because they don’t value the senses. From reading Autobiography of a Yogi, it’s clear that Yogananda loved a good meal. But in the same way I write this as a note to self, we need to speak that which we easily forget. The world is full of temptation. Our instincts are valuable but there are many forces trying to take advantage of our instincts. It takes training and effort to tame them, especially if we begin later in life.

Closing Thoughts

There is more I could say, but I mainly want to just point out this realization about the five koshas and where astrology operates. We operate in the material world, as well as the world of emotions and energy. Astrology has immense practical value. It also points us to experience at all five layers. But if we are talking about the ups and downs of life, be they transits or aspects of personality which could be called either “dignified” or “undignified”, those all exist above the anandamaya layer. 

None affect our innermost self, the divine spark, the light of consciousness, the flow of eternity through us. Everything happening at the higher layers can separate us from the innermost self. But we should remember and remind ourselves that it is always there.

It may take work and discipline to return there. It’s no wonder that the Kriya in Kriya Yoga means effort or work. But it’s always there for us to choose.