MARCIA SACKS

The New Moon is on February 4, 2019 at 3:03 pm CST in 15° Aquarius. This is the New Moon that signifies the Lunar New Year in many Asian cultures. Because the Solar and Lunar Eclipses in January were so intense, I'm feeling like this Monday will be my fresh start to a new year. The energy in general will be positive for friends, friendships and doing fun activities with a group several days on either side of the new moon.

​Mercury is conjunct the Aquarian New Moon bringing new ideas and quick, to-the-point communications. With Jupiter in a trine (harmonious) aspect to the New Moon, it's excellent for learning new things especially related to science, space travel, computer technology, and astrology which have a symbolic correspondence to Aquarius. Also good for learning things like foreign languages and religious or spiritual philosophy (which relate to Jupiter). 

Jupiter is also the planet of abundance. We are blessed with an abundance of free learning opportunities whether through the library system (books!) or online. I was watching Marie Kondo (author of "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up") on Netflix and became entranced as she spoke in Japanese. I wondered if I could learn Japanese and went online to Duolingo.com . 
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I was delighted to find that they now have Japanese and I started their lessons. Wow! So much harder than any language I've ever tried. But my brain felt happy that I was learning something new. Don't know how far I'll go, but so fun to explore it. Jupiter is in Sagittarius for only one year out of every twelve. What would you have fun learning this year?

Mars is approaching a conjunction with Uranus at 29° Aries: accident proneness, especially cars, electricity and sharp objects. This aspect could fire early at the New Moon or closer to the exact conjunction on February 13th. It may feel so right to take that risk but that feeling could get you into trouble.

I have to tell you that shortly after writing this about Mars and Uranus, I was getting a few things out of my kitchen cupboard (most likely in an unwise way) and a glass measuring cup fell onto the edge of the kitchen sink and smashed into pieces. It was one of those things that happens in the blink of an eye (Uranus) and left hundreds of sharp shards of glass (Mars) on my counter, floor, and sink, not to mention the pieces that fell into the garbage disposer.  My first thought was "Mars/Uranus fired really early!"


I'd recently heard Goswami Kriyananda say (on an audio recording) that lunations (new moons, full moons and eclipses) often trigger an approaching aspect, even a few days before the lunation itself. Anyway, safely clearing up the pieces was a long chore. To me, though, it was an important message that there was some karma going on and a warning not to trigger that Mars/Uranus aspect in other ways. I'll do my best to focus on "shanti, shanti, shanti" (peace, peace, peace). 

In the future:

Sunday, February 10, 2019, I am giving the noon meditation at the Temple of Kriya Yoga:

"Creating Your Cosmic Connection"
Attunement to the Divine or Ishvar-Pranidhana is a key observance in the yoga tradition, and component of spiritual maturity. This noon meditation with focus on the actions we can do mentally and in our everyday life to come nearer to an awareness of our "cosmic connection."

The Professional Astrology Course: How to Be a Practicing Astrologer

Temple of Kriya Yoga is re-launching The Professional Astrology Course: How to Be a Practicing Astrologer. This is a distance learning course where you can go at your own pace. Along with the recorded lectures and written material by Goswami Kriyananda, there will be monthly conference calls or webinars with Temple instructors. It starts with the basics of astrology, planets, signs, houses and aspects, goes through natal chart interpretation, adds in progressions and transits, karmic astrology and advanced topics. So even though it's called a professional course, it's really a good program for anyone who wants to learn astrology in depth. Of course, there is also information on how to consult with clients and other aspects of being a professional astrologer.

I'm one of the program leaders and an instructor for The Professional Astrology Course and would be happy to talk to you about the course and its content (you can message me on the contact page. If you have questions about registration, please contact the Temple of Kriya Yoga.   

The Full Moon is Sunday, August 26, 2018 at 6:56 a.m. in 3° Pisces. Not an eclipse, but every Full Moon has plenty of energy. In Pisces the Full Moon energy is intuitive and creative. Music and art can feed your soul at this time. If you have an unusual dream be sure to journal it. Wait three days and look at it again. Did that dream have a message for you? 

Mars has been retrograde since the end of June. Have you felt like you've been running in place? Working hard but with few results? Mars goes direct on August 27th at 28° Capricorn.  Give Mars a few days to get moving away from the station point and you may find that everything starts to speed up back to normal.

Side Note on Retrogrades:
Hope you don't think that planets actually stop in their orbits and reverse direction. Retrograde planets are an optical illusion based on the location of the planets and its speed in relation to earth and the earth's position relative to the sun. You know how we humans are … it's all about our life on earth. If we viewed the planets heliocentrically - from the Sun's perspective - you would never see a planet moving retrograde. In most Western astrology, we take the Earth's perspective, or the human perspective, and make a symbolic correlation between the apparent motion of the planets and our life on Earth.

In the future:
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September 6 - Retrograde Saturn goes direct at 3° Capricorn. Keep things simple. Take things slow. Actually things will go slowly a week on either side of a Saturn direction anyway.  Plan to leave early if you want to get somewhere on time.

September 16 - Noon meditation and 1 p.m. lecture at the Temple of Kriya Yoga with Marcia Sacks, Swami K. Adinadananda
Noon Meditation: Creating Your Spiritual Reality
1 p.m. Lecture: The Autumnal Equinox: Time, Karma and Astrology 

Yoga Chicago Magazine
Watch for my article in the September/October issue of Yoga Chicago which will be found in your local yoga and fitness centers around September 1.

The Full Moon takes place on March 31, 2018 at 7:36 a.m. CDT in 10°Libra. 

This Full Moon forms a T-square with the Moon in Libra, the Sun and Mercury opposing in Aries and Mars and Saturn conjunct in Capricorn.  This is a difficult but temporary aspect lasting several days before and after the full moon.

The Sun amplifies things external to you and the Moon amplifies things internal to you, so the Full Moon always has some conflict between what you're experiencing internally compared to externally.  Mars and Saturn conjunct symbolizes anger and frustration.  Linked to the lunation, you may find you are experiencing this anger and frustration internally and may also see it acted out by other people and situations.

What to do? Keep steady toward your goals and dreams, don't quit. 
“If you get tired learn to rest, not to quit.”  ~~~ Banksy

Some more advice about the Mars/Saturn conjunction (which is exact on April 2):​

Don't put a bowling ball on the top shelf of the closet!  This is a symbol of many other types of situations. Saturn represents things that are heavy. Mars rules the head. Be really careful.

If you do hatha yoga (or really any type of exercise) don't push to pain or past your limits at this time.  Don't try new postures or movements.  Move slowly, with proper placement and conscious awareness.  Saturn rules the knees.  Mars the muscles. Not a great time for weight-lifting in general, whether exercise or chores.

Difficult Mars/Saturn aspects often leave scars.  Physical scars are a possibility so be careful with sharp objects (Mars).  But remember that sharp, angry words are also Mars and scars from words said in anger can be even longer lasting than physical scars.

Positive keywords: Self-discipline; focus; steadiness of purpose.

Mantra:  Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

Om is the sound of the oneness of the universe.  Shanti is the Sanskrit word for peace.
Let there be peace on every level of our being: body, mind and spirit.
You can listen to this mantra here.

In the future: 

Looking forward to attending this conference! It's a wonderful opportunity to learn from some of the world's best astrology teachers, researchers and authors.

The new moon takes place on Saturday, March 17, 2018 at 8:11 a.m. CDT in 26° Pisces.
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Pisces is a sign of intuition, empathy and compassion.  Your dreams at night and the sparks of insight in your daydreams become more vivid and meaningful during this new moon time (including three days before and after).  Hopefully, you are already journaling these types of things.  Dreams and inspiration are fleeting and easily forgotten later if not written down.

Two aspects of note at this time:

The new moon is squared to Mars.  This aspect symbolizes a sensitivity to criticism.  You may find that your emotional buttons are easily pushed.  In advance of this, rehearse in your mind how you choose to respond, for example with detachment or with kindness or with firmly but diplomatically setting boundaries.  And vice versa, if you have a "helpful" critique for another, give consideration to the other person's feelings.  Remember that lunations have effect for two weeks.  If you start an argument now, it will take some time to resolve.

The new moon is conjunct to the asteroid Chiron.  As an astrologer, I use Chiron, when it's in a strong position like this one.  Mythology and Jungian psychology talk about Chiron as "the wounded healer."  This means that at this time you can be helpful to people with the wisdom gained from having worked with your own deeply difficult experiences.  You may not have perfect resolution of your own personal issues, but your journey toward wellness may shine a light on the path for others.  Don't give advice, just share your story when the time is right.

For creatives, artists, and art enjoyers:
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The new moon in Pisces is a wonderful time to write, paint, draw, craft, make music, listen to music or play in whatever medium makes your heart sing.  If you need a bit of motivation to get you going, visit a museum, go to a concert or simply sit out in nature with a sketchbook or notebook.  Julia Cameron, who wrote the wonderful book The Artist's Way, suggests having a weekly "artist's date" when you take time to do something that feeds your soul.  Here are her 101 Artist's Date Ideas.

I am giving two talks at the Temple of Kriya Yoga this weekend, Sunday, March 18 :

Noon Meditation:  The Spiritual Essence of New Beginnings
A special meditation for the Vernal Equinox

1 p.m. Lecture:  Astrology and the Practice of Tarka
Tarka is the spiritual practice of inner reflection in order to better know yourself and understand your world.

The Temple of Kriya Yoga
2414 N. Kedzie Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60647
773-342-4600
​[email protected]