by Jana Astanov
Some charts are more karmic than others. I wrote about karma previously, in very simple terms karma are the lessons we came to process – or not – in this lifetime. We do have a choice, however, if one chooses not to face her challenges, karma becomes far more debilitating and painful. Beyond what karma is, I want to talk about how it shows up in one’s chart. If you happen to have personal planets together with Pluto, Saturn and Mars conjoint with the Moon’s Nodes, and to complicate things even further, in squares to personal planets or malefics, then you are dealing with a huge amounts of karma to work through in this lifetime…if you choose to do so…..
What does it mean to have a lot of karma? The Europeans would quote Nietzsche: “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”, yes this one is obvious, and interestingly it is more popular quote than Kant for instance or Jesus: “Love will save you, will save us”. Truth being told, not much of European Christianity followed the enlightened being known as Jesus, I wouldn’t call Nietzsche nor Kant as enlightened beings as they are so much in their European male heads. When I look deeper into my culture from before the Western Europe felt obliged to include us on the maps (chuckle, go look at the medieval maps of Europe produced by the “real Europeans” and you won’t find my country there) so then the answer to those spiritual and life challenges changes. Suddenly the karmic entanglements are smoothed over as long as you focus on taking good care of your family and community and standing up for each other regardless of the circumstances. Slavic culture is community based, the deepest values we hold and grow up with are related to the bonds of the family, community, klan. My culture is very different from the individualistic West, and the longer I live, the more I cohabit with the Western people, the more obvious are the differences in our core motivations.
Back to astrology, with hard aspects, personal planets involved and malefics conjunct the Nodes there is a great amount of karma and possible suffering inscribed into one’s chart and life. Sometimes it is good to simply know it, aware of one’s complexity, and all the lessons we bring into this incarnation (pra Slavic culture believed in the soul’s travels through the lifetimes). However, knowing is not enough. We need tools, and strategies to deal with it, and although Tropical, Hellenistic astrology gives us some clues on how to cope with our karmic burden (I wrote a separate article on Saturn, Pluto and Mars aspecting the Sun and the Moon, dm me if you are interested), I feel it brings a temporary relief without offering a true and simple solution. Studying Joytish astrology, also known as Vedic or Sidereal, we begin by learning the yogas and the remedies. The concept of a remedy to a complicated alignements of one’s chart is probably the most valuable aspect of Jyotish that I bring into my postHellenistic neoVedic astrology practice. There is an art to the knowledge of remedies (yes it does include the CRYSTALS!), but the one that is the most effective is the SELFLESS SERVICE to others. Through the service we burn what’s left of our karma, we are capable of removing ourselves from our own suffering, as we become giving and loving towards others. It’s a great art to be practiced as much as one is capable of suspending the judgement going in – towards oneself – and out – towards others.
It is always easier to say than do, but if you want to free yourself from the pain and suffering, do something for others!
For me, one of the ways of embodying the selfless service is sharing my astrology gnosis which I acquired through the years, and which keeps on expanding with each chart I analyze, learning about people’s lives, and trying to provide them with what I think are the most useful insights. I offer many free readings, and free courses, and it is true that sometimes people take it for granted, but that’s ok. I do also have clients who I am very grateful to, and who generously reward me for my cosmic passion or even galactic obsession (!). That’s how the world goes round!
Now, go do something for another being or form of consciousness in the spirit of selfless service!
About the author
Jana Astanov is an interdisciplinary artist, a poetess, an astrologer and an independent curator born in Mazury Lake District of Poland and currently living in the Shawangunk Mountains, in upstate New York. She is the founder of CREATRIX Magazine and the author of five collections of poetry: Antidivine, Grimoire, Sublunar, The Pillow Book of Burg, and Birds of Equinox. Follow her on IG @Jana_Astanov & Twitter @JanaAstanov
