Month: November 2020

DWTV Podcast Episode #3: “The Mysteries of Jyotish: The Rashis” with Iron Age Jyotish

“The Zodiac is more than a cyclical progression of symbols that analogue the stars which distantly circumference the planetary ellipses of our solar system – the Zodiac is a complex cipher that describes Time and the Semantic Essence of a given span of Time on every possible scale. The Zodiac can encompass a moment, a season, an age, or even the life-span of the Universe.” – Mysteries of Jyotish: The Rashis Part One : The Primordial Age

Stay tuned to DWTV via the Dharma Warrior Youtube Channel for more on the “Mysteries of Jyotish Series with Iron Age Jyotish!

Read the first installment of Iron Age Jyotish’s series on the Mysteries of the Rashis on the DharmaWarrior.net blog!! “Mysteries of Jyotish: The Rashis Part One: The Primal Age” by Harry Neal John MacRae of Iron Age Jyotish is the first installment of a three part series exploring the nature of the Zodiacal system of the Rashis in Vedic Astrology.

Watch DWTV Podcast Episode #3: “Mysteries of Jyotish: The Rashis” with Neal John MacRae of Iron Age Jyotish on the Dharma Warrior YouTube Channel!

The Rashis: The First Cycle: The Primordial Age

The Zodiac is more than a cyclical progression of symbols that analogue the stars which distantly circumference the planetary ellipses of our solar system – the Zodiac is a complex cipher that describes Time and the Semantic Essence of a given span of Time on every possible scale. The Zodiac can encompass a moment, a season, an age, or even the life-span of the Universe.

The most immediately instructive Description that the Zodiac can provide is that of the Human Life. From Birth to Death, from Incarnation to the Projection of the next Incarnation, from Creation to Creator.

When we begin to understand our lives as a series of Preparations and Transformations, demarcated and indicated by the Zodiac’s Duodeciform Progression, we become knowing participants in the process of our own physical, mental and spiritual development. This is the true purpose of Astrology, to enlighten us to the possibility that we might have a hand in our Fate, rather than merely being victims of circumstance. At each stage of our lives we should take the time to review our course through the Lens of the Zodiac – our lives are an alchemical process which will take its own course in our ignorance if we fail to Understand and Perform the Work.

As the Soul matures through the Houses of the Zodiac we will see that the basic image of transformation is that of a movement from Fire (Aries, Leo, Sagittarius), to Earth (Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn), to Air (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) and finally, to Water (Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces). In each phase, the conditions for the next transition are prepared and the soul approaches greater and greater plateaus of autonomy, agency and thus greater consequences (both good and bad) for all actions taken are accrued as the process continues.

— Aries (Mesha) —

Ruler: Mars

Element: Fire

Exalting for: Sun

Debilitating for: Saturn


This is where every Incarnation begins. Aries is the Rashi of Cosmogenesis, the Creative Dynamo which propagates All Things. Aries represents the explosive expression of potential, the unleashing of all that has been pent up, stored and prepared. The Watery Abyss of the Womb yields to the Fierce Daylight of Emergence.

The significance of Mars’ rulership over Aries is perhaps best understood through the relationship that Aries has with the Labour of Birth. Mars deals with violence, erruption, emotional intensity, blood, wounds and the overcoming of obstacles via War. Aries thus expresses a pure and uncontemptuous facet of Mars, the glyph of the Arrow Emerging from the Circle is here the glorious emergence of Life itself from its Generative Matrix – through struggle, strife and pain, the Will brings Potential into Actuality. One may even notice that the Glyph for Aries bears a striking resemblance to both the Male Genitalia (unerect and in a passive, post-coital state) and the Female reproductive system (Vaginal Canal, Fallopian Tubees and Ovaries), this resemblance is no coincidence and refers to the very Genesis which Aries encompasses. When we examine the Nakshatras contained in Aries in the next essay, the rather counterintuive designation of the Martian Aries (Mars typically only being associated with the Masculine Essence) as the Advent of Sexual Dimorphism in the Zodiac will be fully elucidated.

In Aries, the Individual is almost entirely the culmination of a prior process, they are wholly contingent in this phase and Karma is reaped rather than sown. This state of contingency will persist to varying degress until the Soul develops into the Leo phase of life.

In the manner that Aries is the First Sign, it also represents the essential character of the First House in every natal chart. From this we can discern that the First House rules over the Body as it is inherited from the parents, the ease or difficulty of the individual’s birth, the Self, the general constitution of the individual and the overarching trajectory of the individual’s life. The notion of Trajectory is salient here, again the Glyph of Mars is evoked – as the Emergent Spear, Mars represents Aim, Ambition, Direction – Aries and therefore the First House are the Aim of the Incarnation, this is the stuff of Destiny with which the now incarnate soul may Work.

The raw material of Becoming is cooked out and produced here, thus it is incredibly sensitive to influence, it is volatile and extremely pliable, like an ingot drawn from the fire that can be pounded into shape and molded as one sees fit. We see this in the incredible plasticity of infant brains, which dramatically respond and adapt to stimuli in ways that more mature brains cannot. This plasticity recedes as the Prime Materia cools and the transition into the later phases of Zodiacal Alchemy begin.

— Taurus (Vrishabha) —

Ruler: Venus

Element: Earth

Exalting for: Moon

Debilitating for: Ketu

Taurus is the First Solidification, the very Clay from which mankind is made in myths the world over. It is here that the first inklings of agency coalesce from the fiery aftermath of the Ram’s Forge. Here, the Spirit and Design inherent in the projecti(le) on which shone out from Aries takes the first steps towards self-direction and therefore the construction of a Body. Taurus is strongly associated with the Mouth. Whereas the Ram of Aries charges forth, the Bull of Taurus grazes, fattens and proliferates. The Mouth as an alternate symbol of Taurus suggests two important facets of this sign’s functioning: Metabolization and Vocalization.

Metabolization: The construction of the Body requires the metabolizing of the environment. The Fire of Aries is the initial consumer of this exotic material, but the majority of what it consumes is repurposed for constructions of a far subtler nature than the Body of which we now speak. The explorative and appetite-driven Taurus congeals various elements into a steadily and rapidly expanding Form, the Body – the very Vehicle which will serve the Incarnate Soul throughout the rest of its life. Selfhood is largely determined by lower, more instinctual tuggings on the Soul, the Ego is still subordinate to the Mother (for much of the material from which the Body is constructed is the Mother’s Milk) and the environment which she has created for the Incarnate Individual. This process is manifest in the mastication children engage in as they teethe and the fact that much of the world is processed/ experienced by infants via Taste and Chewing. At this stage, a person has little use of their limbs and the hands and arms serve only as attending mandibles for the Mouth. The Bull symbolism of this sign yields to the Sow, the giver of Milk, the more we examine Taurus’ nature.

Vocalization: Taurus represents the first mode of expression and articulation: the voice. Here, vocalization has no precise or rational semantic content and is effectively a sort of glossolalia. The voice is a primal expression of proto-semantic emotion, an uttering wholly bound up in the Now-ness of Becoming, of Instinct, and the delirium of dreams absent lucidity. In this way, Taurus could be seen as representative of the Animal Innocence of Eden prior to the advent of Knowledge, the total absence of Guilt in lower forms of manifest consciousness. A failure to reconcile with later phases of development often leads to the consumption of various substances which recreate the hazy immediacy of (lower functioning, regressive) Taurus consciousness, such as alcohol, opiates and morphine. Through the exercising of the Voice, the newly formed Body is able to permit rudimentary exertion and assertion upon the environment, compelling through pure emotion and desire, the attendance of more developed Incarnations.

It is instructive (in relation to Taurus) to consider the Sanskrit term for Venus, Shukra. Shukra means “Bright” or “Clear” and is often used to refer to Semen or other Sexual fluids. Shukra can also be translated as “White” and may be considered to be expressed through other creamy or *milky* substances. The Milk of the Sow is one of these expressions and Venus’ rulership over Taurus deals explicitly with the vitalizing, producing and nourishing aspects of Venus. Unlike the Bodies constructed in the later Earth signs, much of the material in use here is provided quite directly and tangibly by the Mother. Although there are also Subtle Substances transmitted by the Maternal Power during this phase of development, the focus is primarily that of the physical Body that operates in the world of Matter. It is this softer, cooler aspect of Venus which permits the Fiery preparation of Aries to congeal and toughen, producing the Clay/Flesh. Venus’ Taurus Aspect represents the transmission and reception of Nourishment.

This entire phase of Life is encapsulated in the Second House of the nativity and it is here that we look to understand those years which span infancy to pre-pubescence. The capacity that Female Individuals have to Nourish and corporeally Sustain children is indicated by this House.

As the Soul (by way of the Flesh) explores its surroundings, matures and begins to foster independence from the Mother, the next phase begins.

— Gemini (Mithuna) —

Ruler: Mercury

Element: Air

Gemini represents the Advent of Genuine Self-Knowledge, which is facsillitated through the Dimorph – One-on-One communication with an Other. This is the significance of Gemini’s Twin Symbolism, the most fundamental form of communication and social interaction: the meeting of strange minds. Unlike the relationship with the Mother which dominates in Taurus, wherein there are no boundries, no privacy, no hard lines or demarcations between subjects and objects, in Gemini there is a distinct notion of Otherness, of Someone Else. This deals with at once the interactions which occur between siblings (absent parental observation or proximity) and the awakening of the latent Sexual Dimorphism which came about in Aries (and its Watery Antecedent in Pisces, more on this later) and thus the first interactions between Individuals of the Opposite Sex outside the Family. This is why Gemini has been both been associated with Twins and Lovers. It is also in Gemini that the ability to consider oneself from the Third Person begins to mature – the Ego divides into Two and Judges its Reflection.

Mercury as the Ruler of Gemini, thus represents the Advent Knowledge and Intellect as distinct and determinant factors in the Individual’s life. Now that the Body forged in Aries, nourished in Taurus has matured, it is now ready to permit its inhabiting Soul the power to explore the World, albeit in a limited fashion. If Gemini could be summed up in one word, “Curiousity” would best suit the role. Temptations, fancies, delights, fears and imaginations tug and pull upon the Soul, and the Intellect develops as cascades of internal dualisms are mediated by Mercurial consideration. This is the Essential Nature of Mercury: Mediator between Poles, Opposites – Mercury is the Interference Pattern, the Spectrum that blurs the lines between Distinctions, that Hidden Gas which permits transmission between Elements, Objects, Subjects, Ideas and Individuals. This Airy-ness, this confrontation with subjectivity makes Gemini at once a source of great joy and wonderment, as well as fear and confusion, it is the first yet uncertain step towards self-determination typified by actual self-awareness.

Mercury is also the Lord of Speech and the Word and thus it is here that the largely meaningless blabber of Taurus is finally imbued with Meaning. Language at once clarifies, distinguishes and classifies the environment, and muddles it with debate, argument, naked subjectivity and opinion. Mercury takes the maturing Soul both High and Low, as both the Intellectual and Sexual faculties come into bloom.

As the Social Consciousness fostered here expands and the Mind is exposed to Minds, a deeper stratum of dependence is discovered, a sort of membraneous collectivity that blurs egos, acting as a persistent solvent for identity, the individual is still highly impressionable and mutable, having thrown open the gates of the Mind the World now floods in. It is not so much that this aqueous barrier to self-determination has only just been formed, but that via the explorative process of Gemini, the limits that this Watery realm impose have finally impeded and constrained the individual whereas before they were untested and unaccosted. This brings us to Cancer.

— Cancer (Karka) —

Ruler: Moon

Element: Water

Exalting for: Jupiter

Debilitating for: Mars

Cancer represents the Individuals true first encounter with Darkness since the Womb. Here the grip of the Mother and the Family becomes smothering, claustrophobic and disciplinary. Cancer is associated with the Home and the House and thus it is both a shelter from the outside World and an insulator for dysfunction, childishness, sexual repression, failed individuation and over-dependence on others. It is here where things begin to fester in private, where unsightly things found in Gemini are sequestered away, this is a place of Secrets.

Here in Cancer, Moon is representative of Tribal and Collective Consciousness, the Receptivity and Submission to External Light and conversely, the rejection of that Light and the wallowing in ignorance and darkness, the unsightly combination of childish impulses with more developed sexual and intellectual faculties, thus begetting perversions and a burgeoning sense of shame.

All is not doom and gloom, however, for the Moon is also the ideal Student, the Devotee, who here learns the traditions of the family, takes on the responsibilities that come with maturity within the family unit and this is where traditionally the Individual would be prepared for Initiation. This Lunar phase of development is the Key to transcending Infantilism and the grip of the over-protective Mother. It is at once the defensive reflex of the Maternal Matrix at the moment when the child truly begins to test maternal authority, the last and most desperate effort to retard the progress of the maturing Individual, and the Test without which true individuation and maturity cannot occur. This gripping, restricting and limiting aspect of Cancer is represented in its symbol, the Crab. The Crab is limited in its ability to leave the ocean, being able to only survive on the shore for limited amounts of time, often dwelling in the shallows where its claws drag its prey into a watery grave, like the Child, the Crab is dependent on what the Watery Realm of the Mother deigns to provide and is ill-equipped to escape its bounds.

The Crab also feeds on detritus and sea-carrion, representing Cancer’s role as a repository for that which we relegate to subconsciousness, and the liminal consciousness of shame, guilt, and fetishization. All that we wish to keep hidden from outsiders is “Kept Within The Crab”. We often naively believe that those things which we hide here will remain hidden or simply be left behind, but as we shall see, the Watery Fourth Phase of each Rashi Cycle, will bring us back into contact (and confrontation) with the Depths of our Soul, each time plunging us Deeper and Deeper.

In the Nativity, the Fourth House assumes the Mantle of Cancer, the House indicator of the Mother, the Home, our sense of Security and it is our Refuge throughout the rest of our Lives.

Cancer represents the End of a Cycle, the dissolution of prior norms and it is the Trial for which the previous three Rashis have prepared the Individual. To emerge victorious from Cancer is to be Reborn, to rise up out of the Abyss and venture out into the World outside the childhood Home and the Playpen. It is only the failure to confront the Darkness latent in this sign that begets the more monstrous and undesirable outcomes and phenomena alluded to and discussed above.

Harry Neal John Macrae lives in the beautiful Cape Breton, Nova Scotia where he operates as a professional Vedic Astrologer under the name Iron Age Jyotish.

Watch DWTV Podcast Episode #3: “Mysteries of Jyotish: The Rashis” with Neal John MacRae of Iron Age Jyotish on the Dharma Warrior YouTube Channel!