Saturn and the Muladhara Chakra
Issue 23 Volume 8          2 June 2025

When we do yoga, we are more focused on the muladhara than anything else because if you stabilize this, the rest is easy to create. If the foundation of the building is loose and we try to hold up the building, it will be a daily circus. 

That is what has happened to human life. Holding themselves in some state of balance and wellbeing… every day is a circus for most human beings. If the foundation is unstable, anxiety is natural. But if your muladhara is stable, life or death, you will be stable because your foundation is good… 
 

Place is security, space is freedom.
~ Yi-Fu Tuan (1930 — 2022) Chinese-American geographer; originator of humanistic geography

Dear wonderful neighbour and fellow traveller;

Consciousness underlies all existence, including what you call you. Consciousness is Love. When we’re plugged in, everything in our life blossoms and we experience love and bliss and contentment. It is closer than a thought and only a moment away. Your task is to make this sublime moment your ongoing reality…

Burntisland is a wonderful little coastal village on the Scottish coast. It’s small enough to know everyone by name and big enough to have all the trimmings that make life colourful and alive. There’s an amazing organic bakery second to none, a hardware store that offers everything from finishing nails to curtain rods to carpenter’s squares, and a ‘Veggie Man” who can sell you fine Italian tomatoes just as easily as local grown strawberries pesticide free.

Place… and space; the two are intertwined though each points to different aspects of time — without time, place and space do not exist. Place is where we are and space is what exists between places. Can we ever overestimate the importance of these two as long as we have a body? Home is where the heart is and for now, Burntisland has captured my heart. However, it’s important to understand that place should not become another ball and chain, but an expression of who you are. When that expression changes, you may find your place changes, too.

Fundamentally, I find fulfilment when I help others experience God in the world whether through the written word, astrology, or simply in chatting with a stranger. This is most closely aligned to ‘space’ and has formed the bedrock of my life on Earth — it is a natural expression of who I am. In the boyhood days of long ago, I would often awake before anyone else to slip on my insulated wellies and venture into the November woods. Feeling at home in the stillness of a light falling snow, I’d use an old stump for a chair and simply sit… no purpose save to witness life around me. I think back on those mornings and that young fellow who sat in such quietude. He certainly was not thinking of places to see or adventures to capture; where he sat was both the destination and the journey. The stump was his place; the woods his space…

Saturn is aligned with the muladhara chakra. Mula is Sanskrit for root or foundation and highlights the importance of Saturn in astrology. In the kingdom of the planets, Saturn is the castle that offers protection and a firm foundation upon which the other planets express their qualities. When Saturn is weak or afflicted, the other planets are unable to properly fulfil their roles and their associated aspects of our life suffer.

Saturn and the muladhara chakra are vital to a steady and balanced life. Sadhguru tells us that without a strong foundation, we will not even be able to sit still. This is why, he said, most yogic practices and asanas are designed to strengthen the muladhara chakra. How can we glimpse eternity if we cannot even embrace more than a few moments of stillness?

Sadhguru: When we talk about balance, we are not talking about sanity, we are talking about finding that perch between sanity and insanity where you can venture and adventure. Madness is an adventure. It is a most wonderful thing as long as it is in control. If you lose control it will become ugly. Similarly, sanity is a beautiful thing but if you become perfectly sane, you are as good as dead. This ability to venture and adventure into whatever you want at any moment will come to you if your muladhara is well-established (Sadhguru, Mystic Musings, 2017).

May your Saturn find you resolute and loving. 

 🤗

David 🔆

astrologyofjoy.com


In this issue:

• Weekly Planning Forecast
• Astrology of Now
• Practical Vedanta: Millet and chia jam recipes
• Hero’s Journey: Free App

Saturn Special! If you would like to know the potential and possibility of Saturn for you personally, I am offering an hourly special: £45/hr online. Contact me here.

Practical Vedanta
Tips to strengthen your inner and outer foundation through practical living

Saturn and Jupiter and the good life
Issue 22 Volume 8          26 May 2025

~~ Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, bestselling author, yogi, mystic, humanitarian
Image © 2011 Summer on the Farm by Robin Moline, a real human artist/illustrator 

“Thank you, God, for this good life and forgive us if we do not love it enough.”
~  Garrison Keillor, American author, singer, creator of radio’s The Prairie Home Companion

Dear wonderful neighbour and fellow traveller;

The only thing you need in your life to make it flow like honey is to increase your capacity to perceive life as it really is. To discover how, we can look towards those enlightened wonders who live in a state of complete awareness — think Sherlock Holmes on steroids. There is nothing they need do; their life is simply an extension of living untouched by a conditioned mind. They exist solely to lead us to this same natural state — our natural state.

Many years ago in upstate New York while walking along a wooded path at the ashram of Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, a self-realised spiritual master, I came upon her gazing into the woods. She was alone and turned to me as I approached with a big smile. Without a word, she pointed silently towards a thick group of trees. I desperately tried to see what she wanted me to notice, but all I saw was bark and branches and a thousand different leaves. After what seemed an eternity, the gods must have had mercy on me for she gestured again towards the woods and this time I saw it; a hummingbird’s nest about fifteen meters away. Hummingbirds are not naturally found in Europe, so for my European friends, a hummingbird’s nest is about the size of half a walnut shell. It was the first time I had seen one in nature. What struck me most, however, was the incredible state of perception required to notice that teeny-tiny nest on a small branch among hundreds of other branches…

From their heightened state of aliveness, spiritual masters also perceive the Gordian knots we carry inside, the castle walls we hide behind that prevent us from living life to its fullest possibility. During the beginning of my ten-year stay in the ashram, I was assigned to the kitchen to assist the head chef with breakfast for the four-hundred staff who stayed through the winter. Breakfast consisted of oats, fruit, toast, chai, and a delicious savoury porridge developed by Gurumayi’s guru consisting of grains, ginger, dates, fresh coconut, chilis, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, salt, and several spices associated with Indian cuisine — jeera, ajwan, and dhanya. To work, each ingredient required perfect balance or whoever made it would suffer the indignation of hundreds of diners. 😁

At that time, I was young and impatient which is another way of saying I was not paying much attention to what the head chef was doing. He told me to stir what needed stirring and simmer what needed simmering. He’d toss cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamon into the chai telling me “about this much” for each, then ask me to turn my attention to an industrial blender where he’d blend several of the ingredients for the savoury cereal to be added to the grains and spices simmering in a steamer — all 300 litres of it.

After about a week, I went into the kitchen one morning at the usual 3AM time slot and waited for the head chef. We were expecting higher numbers for breakfast as the Christmas retreat was just beginning. I looked at the clock as the minutes ticked by, perhaps a bit nervously. Where was the chef? Just then, the ashram manager came through the door looking jovial and upbeat and straight at me — a sure sign I was about to pay off a karmic debt.

“Hi, David! Yesterday, Gurumayi sent the head chef to Australia to help organise the kitchen at the Melbourne ashram. You are on your own this morning making breakfast, but I do have helpers to bring it out to the dining hall. It needs to be ready at 7AM sharp. Have fun!”

I stood there unmoving, not by choice, but because I had forgotten how to move. When she got to, “You are on your own” my mind was not able to register anything else. There was no use trying to explain how I didn’t know how to make breakfast. The curtain had lifted, the show was on, but I was still getting dressed.

“Oh, by the way, an influx of participants came in for the Christmas retreat. You’ll need to make breakfast for 2000 guests — perhaps 2100 to be on the safe side.” She relayed this information to me like she was telling me about a new pair of shoes she had just bought. No worries. All is well. Have fun!

After I regained my ability to breathe, I immediately went into a desperate search of the kitchen filing cabinet. Surely the recipes were written down somewhere… anywhere! And just as surely, I discovered they were not. These recipes had been part of ashram life for as long as the ashram had been around. They were stamped into the minds of all the cooks… but I wasn’t a cook. I was just a helper — or so I thought.

The irony of the situation did not escape me. I had a computer science degree, yet I was put in the kitchen to replace a Culinary Institute trained chef who was placed in the, you guessed it, computer department. She barely knew how to find the on/off switch on the computer and I had made not much more than a PBJ sandwich. My greatest accomplishment was toasting the bread before slabbing on the peanut butter.

As we hear so often from the gurus themselves, the guru we seek is not found in the guru’s body, but in the guru principle they imbibe. There are many anecdotes of Gurumayi’s guru admonishing crowds of gawking onlookers to stop looking towards the guru’s physicality for answers and embrace the guru inside. Sadhguru, too, has said the guru is not a body, but a principle that permeates Life. It’s our task to plug into this aspect of the guru’s unlimited nature even as we are enjoying the guru in physical form.

As it turned out, I made breakfast on time though I lost 5 kilos of body weight in the process. In the midst of sheer terror, I was able to piece together the recipe with the help of a memory in desperation mode and a guru principle which did not want 2000 guests starting their day with indigestion. The real breakthrough, of course, happened within me. I learned a valuable lesson to live life as a participant and not a spectator. Along the way, a good dose of pride melted away replaced by shock and awe in the power of the guru’s grace.

For the next couple of years, Jupiter and Saturn will be playing a game of hide and seek and how we play the game is more important than the results. As Sadhguru teaches, the success we seek is a natural result when we become awake in our own life. Saturn is our karmic destiny whose path is changed only by right action in the right moment. Jupiter is the grace that is always present in our life to make it happen…

All we have to do is care.

 🤗

David 🔆

astrologyofjoy.com


In this issue:

• Weekly Planning Forecast
• Hero’s Journey: Free App

Revolution Special! If you would like to go over in detail the potential and possibility of the next six months for you personally, I am offering an hourly special: £45/hr online; audio recorded. Contact me here.

Saturn: The Price We Must Pay
Issue 21 Volume 8          19 May 2025

Astrology Monday:
Just the facts, please! 
In the land of ’60s American television, hard-boiled detective Joe Friday always insisted on “just the facts”. Here’s this week’s no-nonsense forecast:

20 May — Sun joins Jupiter in Gemini (Varuna)
Vedic astrology: An influx of the masculine brings reward through the faculties of logic and reason. Step back and re-evaluate where you are heading as a botanist might examine the health of a forest. Remember to see the forest AND the trees.
Aditya astrology: Varuna relates to the loving embrace of Life: the Sun and Jupiter do well here. Slow down; be kind to yourself. Your path and way forward is revealed during quiet times.
25 May — Saturn joins Neptune and Venus in Aries (Aryamaa)
Vedic astrology: Saturn in Aries is a bit like a ship at sea taking on water during a storm. Knowing what to keep and what to throw overboard can be confusing. Seek a safe harbour through the healthy masculine of the Sun and Jupiter in Gemini. Act on your loftiest goals. This is not the time for sensuality and sense gratification, but for sensibility and sensitivity.
Aditya astrology: Aryamaa relates to the heart chakra and the external world. Saturn reveals lack of vision and harms Venus (support of friends). Lean on Mars, the dharma warrior within you.
25 May thru 9 June — Saturn aspects Jupiter and Sun by sign
In Vedic astrology, aspects also occur as whole sign aspects. Thus, beginning 25 May, Saturn aspects the Sun and Jupiter by sign. Saturn relates to survival and Jupiter encourages revival. Let your zest for life guide practical decisions and necessary choices, not your pain body, worry, or concern. The world is fine; it’s the prescription of your perception that needs correction. 😉

Dear Wonderful Neighbour;

Let’s chat about Saturn. It’s going into a difficult sign on 25 May, so maybe a chat can reveal a plan of action.

Saturn is the price you must pay if you are to assume your rightful place on the throne of eternal joy. Saturn represents the unravelling of your karmic trajectory and is the medium through which you learn to keep what is beneficial while letting go what is not. Saturn always gives you what you deserve — even if it hurts — but it is the elephant goad that keeps you moving in the right direction towards the ultimate realisation.

In world affairs, Saturn needs a healthy Jupiter lest its power goes unchecked resulting in trials and tribulations and never ending misery. During the COVID-19 pandemic, for example, Saturn (authority) was very strong, while Jupiter (good fortune) was debilitated. Saturn is a planet of destiny, the karmic price we must pay for what has occurred in the past and Jupiter is our highest conscience, truth, and selfless intent. Thus, it was through the door left ajar by Jupiter’s weakness that Saturn rectified the world’s karmic debt, but the fee exacted was high: hardship, calamity, and death.

On a personal level, even as millions were dying, some people thrived: it all depended upon one’s individual karmic trajectory. What is significant to understand is that most of the world acts unconsciously, including its leaders, so much of life simply unfolds the way it does because the conditioned mind does not perceive what is best. The world exists on autopilot.

According to social psychologists, all inputs, including familial, environmental, social, cultural and economic, impress themselves upon the developing mind affecting behaviour, choices, attitudes and what we consider valuable and significant. However, like all impressions, value and significance are not set in stone; rather, they are like a sailing ship on the open sea whose direction is dependent not only upon the wind but whether the sails are unfurled. Likewise, what we consider valuable and significant is influenced not only by external circumstances and events, but by a changing inner landscape which allows us to “unfurl the sails” when opportunity presents itself.

A healthy Saturn rids you of what you don’t need so your authenticity can shine forth. In this way, Jupiter’s unconditional Love becomes your inspiration and you perform deeds for the good of all. This is why an unchecked Saturn (as during the pandemic) can be so devastating: it causes one to indulge their pain, blocking the brilliance of their authenticity (Sun). A healthy Saturn and Jupiter are both needed to evolve and when one or the other is challenged astrologically as we experienced during the pandemic and are about to again beginning 25 May, progress becomes more difficult to experience. 

On 25 May, Saturn enters Aries, its debilitation, and about two weeks later on 9 June, Jupiter enters Cancer, its exaltation. Saturn is the foundation of all things, the root, the earth. Jupiter is water and takes the shape of what you give it. In Cancer, Jupiter needs the dispassion and objective thinking of Saturn to keep it from becoming needy. Jupiter is also the fire of purification that must be endured to enable us to bring good to the world. Saturn’s structural integrity helps Jupiter maintain itself as a force of revelation and not a conflagration fuelled on greed and self-righteous indignation. 

Best-selling author Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev pointedly reminds us, “Your mind is not your own. It is a complex amalgamation of all kinds of influences. The more you are identified with it, the further away you are from yourself.”

We are not the body, we are not the mind, and we should not fan the flames of such falsehoods in ourselves or others. Saturn in Aries can be uncomfortable and disjointed as we look for something to hold onto. The world can at best only give us a temporary hold while we catch our breath. The real answer lies in allowing the strength of our magnanimous Jupiter to make the world a better place. 

Seek truth. Practice kindness without it becoming narcissistic. Jupiter will be strong over the next two years, and this alone can soothe the aches and pains of our Saturn.

 🤗

David 🔆

astrologyofjoy.com


In this issue:

• Planning forecast and weekly reminder
• Astrology of Now
• Hero’s Journey: Free App

Moon Planner
Has the Moon got you hurried and harried?
 

No worries! The Moon represents your capacity to receive, a feminine quality, and recognising the resources you have available to fulfil your emotional needs.  Too often, we get distracted with what is not ours and miss out on the available opportunity, experiencing disappointment and disillusionment… or worse, we become like the poor fellow in the photo — Mr Lou Garou. 😉

Moon Gauntlet:
The Moon goes through a bit of a gauntlet this week and so do our emotional needs:
Yesterday, 18 May:
Moon conjunct Pluto in Aquarius: Pluto asks the Moon to look closely at the emotional needs. Perhaps they are not as critical as one might imagine.
Thursday, 22 May:
Moon conjunct Saturn in Pisces: Saturn’s influence causes the Moon to needlessly worry and fret. To make matters worse, Moon’s influence makes Saturn believe the grass is greener in the neighbour’s yard — it’s not.
Moon conjunct Rahu in Pisces: Your Moon just jumped onto the back of a bucking bronco thinking it was just a carnival pony. All you can do is hang on and hope that when it throws you off you land safely!
Moon conjunct Neptune in Aries: Moon and Neptune together are like going for a walk in the early morning fog: silent, mysterious, perhaps discomforting… you never know what you might find there!
Friday, 23 May:
Moon conjunct Venus in Aries: Moon and Venus make for some interesting imaginings, especially in relationships. Today, at least, what you want to happen will have to wait another day.

Put astrology aside for a moment: transformation begins with your willingness to change. Retrograde Pluto in Aquarius thru 13 October helps you push the reset button. Where in life do YOU want to reinvent yourself?

This week: Saturn/Jupiter preview

Transformation Special! If you would like to go deeper into the potential and possibility of the next three months for you personally, I am offering an hourly special: £45/hr online; audio recorded. Contact me here.