Full Moon in Ārdrā
The Star of Liberation
December 26th at 7:33pm ET
At 10° of Gemini
In the Nakṣatra of Ārdrā
Symbol: A Teardrop
Devata: Rudra, the fierce form of Shiva
Shakti- Yatna Shakti- The power to make effort and achieve
“What shall we sing to Rudra, strong, most bounteous, excellently wise, that shall be dearest to his heart? To Rudra, lord of sacrifice, of hymn and balmy medicines, we pray for joy and health and strength.” Rigveda
Ārdrā- ‘the howler’ also means wet, moist, and damp. The symbol for this lunar asterism is a teardrop suggesting deep sorrows that can be turned towards feelings of compassion. Rudra is the deity for Ārdrā, and as soon as Rudra was born he began to cry. He was thus named Ārdrā ‘the one who cries’, but he howled ‘that's not my name!’. All the names that Brahma (the creator) gave him he rejected. He then wanders off on his own to live in the forest and becomes a healer, making medicinal balms. He is also considered to be the lord of magic. This star brings up intense feelings of separateness, abandonment and not belonging. His cries turned to howls, so thunderous that it turned into raging storms. Themes of going against the natural order, social uprisings, and seeking liberation are emphasized now.
The shakti for Ārdrā is Yatna Shakti, the power to make efforts and acheive, this is a powerful placement for actions that require great amounts of courage and strength. Through turbulent times, we become tender, and vulnerable, but once the storm passes there is opportunity for progress, healing, and new growth. When Ārdrā retires to the forest he learns the healing powers of plants, and is considered to be the lord of magic.
Ārdrā occupies the mid portion of Gemini, from 6°40-20° of zodiacal arc. Gemini is a ubhyodaya Rashi (solar constellation), meaning it rises on its side, ubhyodaya means ‘both way rising’ as Gemini rises in the eastern sky the stars of this constellation appear to be flipped on their side. The yogatārā for Ārdrā is Alhena, located at 15° of Gemini. This star rests within the band of stars that the Moon travels.
Ārdrā, the wanderer, is pointed out here by the bright star Alhena, the foot of the Gemini twins. Sometimes Betelgeuse, the bright red shoulder of Orion is used as the marker star. Betelgeuse will evoke the meanings of this star, and in my opinion is a very useful star in locating its dimmer counter part in the feet of Gemini. Betelgeuse also helps to identify the entire ‘zone’ of this nakṣatra.
The red line in this image is the Sūryamārga, the royal path of the Sun. This is the apparent movement of the Sun through the stars as we obvserve it from Earth, also called ‘The Ecliptic ban’. The ecliptic line is how we perceive the Sun revolving through the same stars year over year, with the naked eye. However, because we can’t actually ‘watch’ the Sun move through the stars since its light masks this universe we call home. We watch the Moon, and planets move through this 16° band of sky that the red line (the Sun) is the center of. Many ancient cultures focused on the Moons movement through the fixed stars, the fullness of our nightly stargazing experience rests withe the Moon and the stars. The Nakṣatras (lunar asterism based on the Moons daily movement) are the 27 lunar mansions, or nightly homes of the Moon. The Moon is thus, Queen of the night, and the Sun is the ‘King’ of the day, the day maker.
“Pain is the crucible in which Nature puts man whenever she wishes to mould him into a sublime superman.”- Swami Sivananda
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