By Tarot.com Staff

Astrology, Capricorn, Full Moon, Moon, New Moon

Before we talk about the Moon in Capricorn, let’s first learn a little bit about the Moon itself. The Moon is considered a planet in astrology, and it moves so quickly that it passes through each of the zodiac signs every month. While your Sun sign represents your basic nature, your Moon sign represents your inner emotions and moods. It’s important to know this piece of your astrological puzzle because it determines elements of your personality such as your fears, instincts, and romantic compatibility.

When the Moon is in Capricorn

When the Moon moves into the conservative sign of Capricorn, we tend to be a little bit more cautious, a little more serious, and a little more grounded than we normally are. Capricorn is a sign that means business! Instead of being concerned with short-term satisfaction, you’ll be more inclined to dig in and focus on your long-term goals.

During the Capricorn Moon you might find that you have an increased desire for professional success. The good news is that this industrious Earth sign also gives you a shot of determination to achieve whatever it is you’ve set your sights on. Capricorn is a natural born leader so you may end up volunteering to head up a big project at work. You might also feel the urge to start looking at the next stage of your career and map out how you’ll get there.

New Moon in Capricorn

New Moons are always a time of new beginnings. Our calendar New Year begins with the Sun in Capricorn so the Capricorn New Moon is like the beginning of a brand new personal year. We think of it this way because it’s a time when we set our intentions for what we want in the year ahead. These goals become like a mountain, and that mountain becomes the object we set out to climb. Luckily, Capricorn has a determination that equips us with the patience, discipline, and persistence to reach the top.

Full Moon in Capricorn

Every Full Moon has us working to finish what we started around the time of the New Moon, but when the Full Moon is in Capricorn it works even harder to finish what was started at the beginning of the lunar cycle. You’ll ask yourself what you obtained, what you have yet to achieve, and what you need to adjust to make things happen. A Capricorn Full Moon is all about success and never taking “no” for an answer. So, this is the time when you’ll get to the finish line because this Moon will help you tackle any obstacles you face along the way.

During this time the Moon in Capricorn faces the Sun in Cancer. Both signs are associated with security, yet they seek it in different ways. Capricorn is concerned with accomplishments and external status while Cancer wants us to tune into our feelings in search of comfort and safety. It’s not a matter of choosing to be hard or soft, sensitive or insensitive; this Full Moon is about learning how to be tough or tender depending on the circumstances. When the lesson is learned, we feel at home within ourselves and within the world around us.

If you were born with the Moon in Capricorn

Capricorn is ruled by taskmaster Saturn so it’s no surprise that those with a Capricorn Moon like to set the bar high. It’s isn’t just their patience and ambition that gets them far in life, it’s also that they also have a sense of responsibility to do well. They take pride in how reliable they are in their personal and professional lives.

Someone with their Moon in Capricorn can appear rather detached, but there is a very loyal and loving layer beneath the serious image they project to the world. They may not always use their words to express how they feel about another person, but their actions speak volumes about how much they care. While it does take Lunar Capricorns awhile to open up, it’s worth the wait as they’re one of the most stable and committed signs in the zodiac.

Capricorn has a reputation for being cool, calm, and collected. This is because those with this natal Moon sign don’t allow their emotions to rule them. They view tough situations through a pragmatic lens, and find a way to rationally approach each problem they face. This ability gives those with a Capricorn Moon the strength to push through any of life’s adversities.

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The Wisdom of Buddha

When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings; when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear.

Your Karmic Number for Today

The number 4 appears right now to tell you not to be discouraged by the lack of evidence that your ideas or goals are going to pan out. The determination that you have is helping put everything in order. Things will start looking much more promising very soon. Keep working toward what you want. Doing a little bit every day helps move things forward quicker. But don’t drop everything else to focus only on your particular wish or wishes. If you do, you could lose sight of everything else and have to start over.

If You Were Born Today, August 22

One of your most distinguishable traits is your common sense – you are grounded and logical, and although you are a dreamer, you prefer to imagine realizable goals. You have a straightforward manner, and you are magnetic and intuitive. You can be quite determined, independent, and some might call you stubborn. You value some level of routine and structure. You are practical, yet also enthusiastic when you see something you like. Your people skills are strong, but you are also able to be direct when necessary. Open to new ideas and visions, you also have your feet firmly planted on the ground, always considering the viability of any endeavor carefully. You are filled with quality advice for others, and others turn to you for your opinion often. You are attracted to youthful, confident, and dynamic lovers. However, you might often find yourself attracted to people who resort to trickery or other dubious activity. Famous people born today: Ray Bradbury, John Lee Hooker, Tori Amos, Cindy Williams, Ty Burrell, Kristen Wiig, Richard Armitage, Rodrigo Santoro, Rick Yune, Dakota Goyo.

Your Birthday Year Forecast

Transiting Uranus harmonizes with your Sun again this year until February 2019. Your personality is sparkling during this period, which is sure to attract new circumstances and people into your life. Exciting (not jarring) changes and new interests characterize the period ahead. It’s easier than ever to express your unique individuality, and if this involves changing careers or jobs, a new love affair, or an entirely new hobby, it’s something that takes you forward into unexplored territory. You are more willing to adapt to new circumstances, ideas, and unfamiliar situations. It’s a good time to join organizations and groups and to attend meetings or social events. You can find creative solutions to problems now. Flexibility is the key to success under this influence.

There is increased charm in the way you present your ideas this year, certainly helping to smooth over differences in your personal relationships.

There’s much potential of achieving a good balance between work and play this year. You have a stronger focus on, and dedication to, work in the period ahead. You can make significant headway in specific areas this year, and you are likely to feel a strong sense of direction and purpose. Your timing is good, and you’re likely to make strong decisions related to work or long-term projects.

Energy fluctuates this year, however. If you aren’t too rash or impulsive, you might be able to free yourself from restrictive circumstances. You could also have more courage than usual to do things that break the routine, and confrontations engaged in this year could clear the air and help you to move forward.

You might also watch for a tendency to overstate and to neglect important details when making plans. You may have so very many ideas that you end up implementing none if you’re not careful! You are likely to have increased opportunities for travel and/or new learning experiences.

Idealistic and humanitarian goals or impulses surface this year. Making connections with others from different backgrounds may figure strongly. Widening your mind through unusual or different experiences can be part of the picture. You more easily make personal sacrifices for what you believe to be the greater good this year.

Cooperation brings wonderful rewards this year, but you’re also very often going your own way, and this suits you quite well. Your creativity is stimulated in addition to your excitability and your need for freedom in the period ahead. It is easier than ever to express your individuality in a manner that is true to you. In certain areas of your life, you’re inclined to rock the boat this year so that you can break free from a limiting situation. Be mindful when/if making sweeping changes. Your charm is tremendous and you often connect with the right projects and people.

2018 is a Number Five year for you. Ruled by Mercury. This is a year of discovery and freedom. It’s a time when exploration and reaching out to others brings opportunities. It’s a good time to advertise, promote, and sell. Surprises are in store, and the routine is broken for the better. This is a year when exciting relationships can be formed; or, if you are already in a partnership, new life is breathed into the relationship. Advice – explore, look for adventure, keep your eyes open for opportunities, diversify, mingle.

2019 will be a Number Six year for you. Ruled by Venus. This is a year of relative contentment. It’s a time when love is the easiest to attract, and partnerships formed under this vibration have a better chance for longevity. You are especially able to attract others–and material things as well–this year. This is a good year for establishing harmony in the family and in the home. Advice – develop existing relationships, be positive and receptive because these kinds of energies help you to attract what you desire.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EKADASI

By

Sri Swami Krishnananda

Ekadasi is a Sanskrit word, which means ‘the eleventh’. It refers to the eleventh day of a fortnight belonging to a lunar month. There are two fortnights in a lunar month—the bright and the dark. So, Ekadasi occurs twice in a month, in the bright fortnight and the dark fortnight. The special feature of Ekadasi, as most people know it, is a fast, abstinence from diet. This is how it is usually understood. ‘We do not eat on Ekadasi’, is what people understand. In this country (India) it has become a routine to be abstemious, if not observe a complete fast on this day. The significance of this particular observance is not merely constituted of a fast, physically, though it is also an essential element; it has other deeper aspects. In fact, the fast is only a practical expression and a symbol of something else that we are expected to do, which is of special significance to our personality. Those who know astronomy as something which tells about the inter-relation of the planetary system, the stellar world, would be aware that we form a part of this planetary or solar system. By a system we mean an organism or organisation which is methodically arranged. When we know that we belong to the system of planetary motions, we understand thereby that we are an inseparable part of the system. We are not unrelated bodies on the surface of the earth, like a cart on the road which has no organic link. We belong to the solar system—a huge family of which the sun is the head and the planets are the members. The sun guides the activities of this family and we, being contents of this system, cannot be out of the influence of the sun. We are involved in the laws operating in this system. This has led to the discovery of astrology. Astronomy studies the movements of planets and stars, and astrology the effects they produce on the contents of the system. The Ekadasi observance is an astrological phenomenon and it is observed due to this relation we have with some of the planets in the system. The entire personality of ours is tremendously influenced by the movement of planets. There is no use imagining that the planets are above our heads. They are everywhere. There is a relative movement of planets among which the earth is one. The movement of one thing in relation to another is a relative movement. There is no planet which is static. Even the sun is not ultimately static. The whole solar system is moving and rushing towards some huge star, which is eighty million times larger and brighter than the sun, whose light has not yet reached us, as astronomers tell us. We have to understand that there is relative motion amongst planets and we are relatively influenced by the planets., Each planet tells upon our system and we cannot get rid of the influence of theirs as long as we are in this planet, of which we are a part. The gravitational pull of planets has an influence on us.

The sun is said to influence the centre of our personality; hence the sun is called Atmakaraka. He is the soul-influencer of the human body. In the Rig-veda, the sun is identified with the soul of the universe as well as the soul of the individual. The different limbs of our body and different parts of our system are supposed to be influenced by different planets. The sun is capable of influencing the entire being. He is, thus, the Atmakaraka. Karaka is doer, manipulator, director. If there is no sun, we know what difference it makes for us; our digestion becomes sluggish on days when there is no sun. So important is the sun.

The moon is supposed to influence the mind. The mind is also made up of material substance. The mind is not spiritual but material. How is mind matter? This can be known if we know how, in Homeopathy, the medicine is manufactured. In Allopathy, they give the crude base of a medicine, which Homeopathy calls mother tincture. In Homeopathy, one drop of mother tincture is mixed with hundred drops of rectified spirit and shaken with a tremendous force. That mixture is one potency of medicine. One drop of that is mixed in hundred drops of spirit again. It becomes 2 potency medicine. Likewise, they have larger potencies. So, you can imagine what happens to the medicine when it reaches the higher potency. There is no medicine at all. So, Homeopathy says, they give no medicine, but a vibration,—vibration of the original base-material. It is a subtle aromatic vibration, aromatic in the sense of the subtle residium of the original medicine; and what will create a circumstance in Allopathy will remove that very circumstance in Homeopathy. Nevertheless this potency is material in the sense that it is formed of matter. So is the mind. It is the subtle portion of the material substance of our food. The subtle essence of the food, not only directly taken through the mouth but through all senses, contribute to the make up of the mind or the mind-stuff. Mind is material in a subtle sense, like a mirror which is made of earth-material only, though it shines. Only the mirror is able to reflect light, and not the brick, though it is also made of the earth material. Mind is material in this sense. It is very, very subtle and is made up of everything that we take. So, matter influences matter. Planets are not spiritual bodies, and yet they influence the mind. The mind’s presiding deity is moon. Ekadasi is particularly relevant to this relation of moon and mind. You will find that, when you go deep into the study of astronomy, you have nothing in your body except some planetary influences! We are made up of planetary forces and there is nothing independent to call our own. One part belongs to one planet and another part to another planet. If each planet claims its part, you will disintegrate. The moon influences the mind in its orbital relative movement with reference to other planets and us.

How, is Ekadasi related to the movement of moon and mind? We have certain centres called Chakras in the body. The Chakras are nothing but energy-centres which whirl in some direction as water whirls in a river. Chakra is a wheel or circular motion. They move in a spiral shape. They are not physical; but psycho-physical and psychological. These Chakras are neither in the mind nor in the body; they are in the astral body. The moon’s influence physically on the body has an influence on the Chakras, which tells upon the mind ultimately. The mind moves through these Chakras. The passage of the mind is through these Chakras, up and down. When this operation takes place consciously, it is called Yoga; When done unconsciously by the mind, it is just influence. When the moon waxes or wanes, the mind is vehemently influenced. So people who are not normal in their minds become very bad on the full-moon and new-moon days. You cannot see the moon’s influence on the earth because it is solid, but it can be seen on the ocean which is liquid. The moon influences the whole earth, but its influence is visible on the large body of waters in the sea. This happens due to the twofold pressure of the relation of the earth and moon. The sun influences the moon and the moon influences the earth. When the influence occurs automatically, we are instruments in the hands of Nature. When it is done consciously, we are said to practise Yoga. We can be involuntarily dragged from place to place, or we can walk voluntarily. The difference is obvious. The moon’s movement tells upon the movement of the mind through the Chakras.

Another important aspect is the seat of the mind which is also twofold. You may be living in many houses, of which one or two are your own. Svasthana means ‘One’s own place.’ The mind has several abodes or centres of energy called Chakras, of which two are its own. The seats of the mind in this personality of ours are: 1. the subtle spot in the astral body corresponding to the centre of the two eye-brows, in waking, and 2. the heart, in the state of deep sleep. If it is in the brain, it is active and you, then, do not get sleep, because it refuses to go down. If the mind is midway between the centre of the eye-brows and the heart, it is dream state. So, there is a twofold centre of the mind,—the Ajna-Chakra, or the centre between the eye-brows, and the Anahata Chakra, or the heart. In both these centres, the mind feels at home and is at ease, because it is nearer to itself. In other centres it is extrovert. In the Ajna and the Anahata Chakras it finds itself at home. In the two fortnights, in its movement, it finds itself at the Ajna Chakra and the Anahata Chakra on the eleventh day. Since these two Chakras are its own abode, the mind is at home here, i.e., it gets concentrated and collected easily. This has been the experience given out by our ancients, and this has to be taken advantage of by Sadhakas. You are capable of concentration when the mind is naturally in its home. The mind cannot be concentrated when it is out of tune, but when it is in its location it is easy of contemplation. So, the Ekadasi day in both fortnights is the occasion when the mind finds itself in its place—in the bright fortnight in the Ajna Chakra, and in dark fortnight in the Anahata Chakra. Seekers and Yogis take advantage of these two days and try to practise deep meditation. Vaishnavas treat Ekadasi as a very holy day and also observe a fast on that day.

Fast and meditation! What connection have they? There is really no intrinsic connection between fast and meditation, but there is some advantage in keeping the body light and the stomach free from excessive metabolic function. When the stomach is given the duty of digestion, doctors will tell you, the blood circulation is accelerated towards the digestive organs, on account of which blood circulation to the head gets decreased after food is taken and so you feel sleepy and the thinking faculty practically ceases to function.  Hence, there is no advantage in giving the physical system work on days you want to do Yogic practice.  Thus, Ekadasi has also a spiritual significance.

The energy of the whole system gets distributed equally if a particular limb is not given any inordinate work.  If any part is given heavy work, there is a dislocation of the working of the body. So, in fasting the energy is equally distributed as the digestive function is not there.  But, there should be no overdoing in fast.  Fast is supposed to cause buoyancy of feeling and not fatigue.   So people who are sick and cannot observe a total fast take milk and fruits, etc. People who are perfectly healthy and are confident, observe a complete fast. This helps in control of mind and will.

Apart from all these, there is a necessity to give the physiological system some rest once a while. It may be over-worked due to a little over-eating or indiscrimination in diet. These irregularities unconsciously done during the fourteen days get rectified in one day.  Thus the observance of Ekadasi has many advantages—physical, astral, spiritual—and because this day has connection with the relation of the mind with its abode together with the moon, you feel mysteriously helped in your meditation and contemplation,—mysteriously because you cannot know this consciously.  But you can feel this for yourself by observing it. In India everything is interpreted spiritually.  Every river is a deity.  Every mountain is a god.   Everything is holy, dedicated to the Divine. Everything is presided over by a particular god, Gramadevata, Grihadevata; etc.  Everywhere is God.   The idea behind all this is that we have to feel the presence of God in everything and everywhere.  In space and in time, in everything, there is God. Time is God. Directions are God. Thus the very objects become embodiments of God. This is India’s religious sidelight, which is profoundly meaningful in life.

2018 Spiritual Calendar