The Rest, Recuperation and Review
The return after a hiatus with the Nine of Wands and the upcoming eclipses
I’m not sure if I know how to do this anymore after over a two-month hiatus (latest newsletter published on July 11). But here I am again, typing away on the blank page after what feels like forever.
This time feels like deja vu. I stepped through the looking glass once again and found myself back in Guadalajara, Mexico. A whirlwind trip that I didn’t entirely see, though suspended all disbelief of the astrological possibilities because I am the it-ain’t-true-until-I-see-the-actual-“contract” kind of person, until a few days before.
While I can’t say that this is my favorite city in the entire country as this is the only city I ever visited thus far, perhaps it is slowly becoming one. A home across the other side of the world, where I feel I can blend in enough without sticking out like a sore thumb, despite by la china facial features, with my un poquito español (Thanks to shared colonization roots with shared palabras and two years of university Spanish classes planted in the nether recesses of my brain!) and intuitive street smarts from decades of navigating the crowded city avenidas and kalyes of Metro Manila. There is so much I want to write about this city and my homeland that I don’t know where to begin, but I do know where it will end - that we are the same. We are twins separated at birth, echoes of each other across the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean.
It is only apt that I talk about the Nine of Wands, the card that represented the beginning of my hiatus and the end of the momentum I built for myself writing this newsletter. A battle weary person, head bandaged, sleeves rolled up, two hands grasping and leaning on a single wand. Behind him are eight more wands, staked to the ground. He’s built something, but he’s not yet entirely done. He is taking a breather, at the same time, giving his obra some side eye. As if to say - “Am I really almost done?” An incredulity of clear and present achievement, yet a tension of the reality that the work is not over, as seen in the grip of the hands over the ninth wand. When one pulls this card in a reading, it is a call to both look back to admire how far you’ve come. It is also a recognition of pause, rest and possibly a review, an evaluation of what’s next.
Guadalajara was not much different from when we first visited. It is a mega city, like Metro Manila, that commands one’s full and undivided attention. Turning one’s head will make you miss both the crumbling and resurrected historic mansions that once housed the turn of the 20th century’s familias de alta sociedad that are now converted into museums, event spaces and restaurants. A few minutes of mindless scrolling through social media or exploring Google maps will make you miss the vendor peddling ice cold tejuino con nieve, a fermented pre-colonial drink of mais y piloncillo with a scoop of lime ice or vasos de fruta, fresh fruit, sliced and cubed in front of you with a generous pour of one’s choice of chamoy and a sprinkle of sea salt and tajin (or more chamoy powder por favor!) or the papas caseras, home style unbelievably not greasy potato chips in an unbranded transparent bag. Or in a blink of an eye, a slight peek onto the phone in the palm of one’s hand spells a trip to come face to face with the cracked concrete sidewalk littered with orange peels, lime slices, used bolsitas plasticos drained of desayunos’ salsitas and mounds of caca de perro.
¡Las alegrías de caminar!
Thank God for presence of mind training from decades of living in the developing world. The Manileño instincts just kick in and go on overdrive. After all, one can easily let their guards down after a decade of living in the middle American suburbia. A place where each person hobbles along inside a impenetrable bubble, where a safe distance is kept from the other for “protection.” Yet it is where every move, every word uttered is neither protected nor valued, closely monitored by Big Brother Tech’s eyes and ears, to be sold to the highest bidder, then to be peddled back again.
Guadalajara is a break from that bubble. While contrary to the American narrative of danger in this country, it feels safe here around real people, walking alongside you on the streets, elbow to elbow, con permisos y disculpes thrown in as you squeeze in between the crowd and lineas para comer o viajar a casa. Guadalajara is the closest I can get to feeling at home without the exorbitant airfare and brutal 20+ hour, two layover flight. It is a great alternative for homesick Filipino Americans without the privilege of a ginormous budget or long vacation days. Or heck, even actual paid time off.
I am home, yet not home, still a foreigner in a familiar place. I revel in that distance with the familiarity. I feel alive again. A resuscitation after the hellfire Texas summer of being cooped up inside. My writing muscle memory moving again. And that in itself is a triumph. Hope you are happy to see me back at it!
So, what’s up astrologically?
This Saturday morning (October 14) in my corner of Texas is an annular solar eclipse. Meaning the sun and moon and earth will be in line, single file, within the same degrees. The moon blocking the light of the sun from the earth. In Vedic astrological terms, the sun and moon will be conjunct or together in the same sign in the same degrees or within a particular range for a specific period of time. As these heavenly bodies, including the earth, continue to move on its axis (as does the Earth) and across the sky.
Then on October 28 (Wednesday), a partial lunar eclipse is happening. Not visible in my neck of the woods, but happening nonetheless.
In Vedic astrology, there are two grahas - Rahu and Ketu - that cause these eclipses. They are actually, not the planets of our knowledge, actual things with tangible matter, but the exact mathematical points in the sky. They are “shadow planets” or the “planets” that cast shadows over the two luminaries - the sun and the moon.
There is mythology behind these beings, of course, to help explain who they are, how they came to be and more. Svarbhanu, an asura or demon, slipped into a gathering of the devas or gods, when they were in line to partake of amrita or the drink of immortality. When it was it’s turn, Surya or the Sun and Chandra or the Moon noticed that it was not supposed to be there and told Mohini, the female avatar of incarnation of Vishnu, who was serving the amrita. She then transformed into Vishnu, who wielded and threw a disc that split Svarbhanu’s head and body. But unfortunately, Svarbhanu already got to drink a single drop of the amrita that now rendered it immortal.
The body-less head is now known as “Rahu”, while the headless body is called “Ketu.” Two parts of a singular being, who are doomed to chase each other for the rest of eternity in the hope of reuniting. Rahu-Ketu are always exactly 7 houses away from each other, sharing the exact degrees. They are separated, but connected.
[Sidebar: it is similar to the Bakunawa, the serpent-like being that causes the eclipses among other things from Philippine mythology.]
I continue to study the relationships of Rahu-Ketu with the other planets it will be conjunct with, be together in the same house, or aspect to, looking at directly, as well as observe what will be happening on those days. It should be interesting.
Speaking of, while now, Rahu-Ketu are in the Aries-Libra axis. A few days after the lunar eclipse, they will finally move into the Pisces-Virgo axis. This means, that there will be major shifts, which will again depend on one’s personal birth chart. Please do keep me posted on personal eclipse news. I’d be happy to hear all about it!
If you’re following me at all on IG, you’ll notice that I did something new today. On top of this newsletter! I’m on a roll! So every Thursday, 11 a.m. CST, I will be hopping on IG Live to do Transit Thursday: A Vedic Astrology Tutorial. I will try my best to talk about Vedic astrology for open and curious people. It is a thing for students by a student, as I simply consider myself a student of the practice. So I hope to see you every Thursday. I will post the IG live videos in case you miss it. Let’s see how this goes!
What I am watching:
I watched a lot of TV and movies over the two months that I was out of commission newsletter-wise. Notable things I watched:
“Made in Heaven” an Amazon produced two season Bollywood series,
Barbenheimer (Barbie + Oppenheimer), which I was surprised to have watched twice.
“Reservation Dogs” on FX finally concluded.
The fifth season of “What We Do In The Shadows”
The second season of “And Just Like That”
The new season of “The Wheel of Time” on Amazon Prime, which I honestly found the final episode very rushed.
“While We Watched’ a documentary by Vinay Shukla, covering the daily struggles of NDTV news editor Ravish Kumar. It was a chilling watch, reminiscent of what’s been happening in the Philippines since 2016. Well, all over the world.
“Dark Winds” a now two season series on AMC+ based on the “Leaphorn & Chee” book series by New Mexico legend Tom Hillerman. We mainly watched the series because it was set in Monument Valley, which we visited in 2021.
I got loads more to say, but there’s always a next time! TTFN!
If you’d like to read more about tarot cards and their meanings, head on over to what I’ve written below:
Major Arcana
Minor Arcana