Our Sun, the soul of the world, transits in the Galactic Center from December 17th to the 22nd. Known in the Vedic tradition as Vishnunabhi, the Navel of Lord Vishnu, the Galactic Center spans from about two to seven degrees of sidereal Sagittarius. This center is the source of cosmic light and creative power for our whole Milky Way Galaxy including the solar system in which we live. Our Sun is recharged and rejuvenated through an “energetic upgrade” when it transits here, just in time for the New Year!

The solstice occurs on Tuesday, December 21, 2021 at 3:59 PM UTC (10:59 AM EST). In the northern hemisphere, this is the winter solstice, the shortest day and longest night of the year when the Sun reaches its southernmost point in its seasonal declination cycle. After the winter solstice, the Sun will appear to stand still for three days and then slowly begin its move northward. During the three-day standstill, we will experience a “spiritual rebirth,” i.e., the rebirth of the Light.

Astrologers employ a wide variety of horoscopes to forecast upcoming world affairs and events, which encompasses the branch of astrology known as “Mundane Astrology.” One such horoscope that I like to employ is the New Year chart set at the winter solstice. The basis for this chart in Vedic astrology is in the Nārada-saṁhitā (Jyotiṣa-grantha).

At the winter solstice, we move into the Vedic uttarayana half of the year, when the light will gradually grow stronger leading up to summer solstice in June (it will be on June 21, 2022). The uttarayana is the most fruitful half of the year for establishing anything of material or worldly consequence. All of this is of course reversed in the southern hemisphere which celebrates summer solstice in December, and winter solstice in June.

This solstice horoscope will tell us a great deal about the upcoming new year. Please note that I am a Neo-Vedic astrologer and use the sidereal zodiac and Lahiri ayanamsa, and here below I have posted the sidereal wheel chart and the North and South Indian charts calculated for coordinated universal time (UTC) at the solstice in Greenwich, London, in the United Kingdom. The information in these charts is the same, though the formats are different. This Greenwich chart set at the prime meridian can be used to read the collective karma for the entire world at large.

The rising sign (ascendant or lagna) occupies 8 degrees and 43 minutes of Gemini which brings an emphasis on travel; transportation; literary affairs, communication, media, and journalism; trade, speculation, and stocks; education; and illnesses of the mind, nerves, or respiratory system.

The rising nakshatra (asterism or smaller group of stars) is Ardra, as in “arduous and ardent.” Ardra nakshatra lies entirely within Gemini entirely, occupying the area from 6 degrees 40 minutes to 20 degrees of Gemini. Ardra can bring a focus on hunters; butchers, meat-eating and meat production; poisons; medicines; drug abuse; military facilities and weapons; nuclear power plants and electricity; alternative healing, and highly innovative technological research and development.

Lord Rudra is the ruling deity of Ardra nakshatra. He is the fierce aspect of Lord Shiva, the “god of the storm” symbolizing literal as well as metaphoric storms. Ardra nakshatra is known for its destructive force that can tear down what is outdated and no longer working. Many tears are shed when Ardra is prominent, but it also signifies the power to make tremendous effort and overcome our karmic difficulties, known as “yatna shakti.”

The Sun is setting in the seventh maraka “death-inflicting” house, about a half-hour or so before actual sunset. Mercury, the sign ruler of the Gemini ascendant, also occupies the seventh house. The Sun is accidentally debilitated in the natural house of Libra where it can weaken our health and vitality, confidence, status, and authority. This is further indicated as the ruler of the first house (Mercury) is in the seventh house.

The seventh house placements of the Sun and Mercury could indicate the weakness, demise, or retirement of a well-known world leader or several leaders, as well as the fall of various power brokers in scientific, political, or corporate realms. This is also suggested by the papa kartari yoga created by Mars and Ketu in the sixth house and Saturn in the eighth house, which are in effect squeezing the seventh house and its occupants with a lot of pressure and negative energy.

As the Sun rules the third house, its weakness and malefic influence can reflect complications with transportation and travel, global disasters, and information warfare (all third house matters). The papa kartari on the seventh house can also denote escalating international conflicts (war), ongoing tyranny and the resistance against it, and possibly famine, food shortages, and drought in multiple locations.

As with the Ardra nakshatra rising, the setting Sun and Mercury similarly signal a potential for deep and necessary transformation of what is no longer needed in order to birth the next phase of our shared creation. However, this transformation is not unfolding with ease, as seen in the solstice horoscope forming a “locomotive” chart pattern that’s hyper-driven by impassioned and stubborn Mars in Scorpio in the sixth house of contention, and conjoined Ketu/opposite Rahu in twelfth house.

Here are the United States winter solstice/2022 New Year charts:

This chart has Aquarius rising with Jupiter, the ruler of the second and eleventh houses of wealth (dhana karakas), located behind/before the ascendant, which in effect gives it the effect of being in the twelfth house of expenses and losses. The second house, which Jupiter rules, governs the financial condition of the nation including stocks, GNP, banks, revenue, material prosperity, treasury, trade and commerce, purchasing power of the people, and so on.

The traditional ruler of Aquarius, Saturn, is also in the twelfth house along with a retrograde Venus, which further diminishes economic security. Venus is also the planet of diplomacy, and being retrograde and in the twelfth house of international affairs, it appears we will not have the necessary diplomatic leadership this year in regard to international affairs (also a twelfth house matter). Unfortunately, these placements do not bode well for economic matters or international affairs in the coming year.

The lunar nodes form a Kala Sarpa Yoga, or a “Draconic Bowl” formation, from December 16, 2021 to April 24, 2022 (and it has been ongoing since February 2020). However, the Moon weaves in and out of this pattern every two weeks, so on December 21 the Moon’s presence outside the nodal axis mitigates some of the intensity.

What is Kala Sarpa Yoga? Simply put, it occurs when all the planets are on one side of the sky mirror inside the axis of the lunar nodes which are called Rahu and Ketu in Vedic astrology. Also known as the Dragon’s Head or Caput Draconis (Rahu) and Dragon’s Tail or Cauda Draconis (Ketu), the lunar nodes are the “shadow planets” that mark the ecliptic plane where the Moon’s orbit around the Earth intersects the apparent path of the Sun (the ecliptic).

The ascending or north node is Rahu, and descending or south node is Ketu. When the lunar nodes align with the Sun and Moon 2-3 times every six months, this is when and where eclipses occur.

The Kala Sarpa Yoga tends to heighten whatever other astrological energies are at play. Sometimes, it suggests an extreme expression of duality, i.e., the “Serpent of Time,” and as in the current state of affairs, per mundane astrology, it has been expressed as a state of entrapment in unforeseen and catastrophic karmic events that afflict the world with a great deal of suffering due to polarizing, predatory, and subversive forces.

However, Kala Sarpa Yoga is not always as extreme and difficult as we have experienced since 2020. What is unfolding in our collective karma also depends on many other astrological factors in place. In this current case, the transit of Saturn, Jupiter, and Pluto into Capricorn in 2020 also set the stage, and again, this was along with other important astrological triggers that reflect what is happening; for example, the US is in a difficult mahadasha/cycle of the demon Rahu from 2015-2033, and so on.

The current global power struggle and crisis that began in 2020 started during the Kala Sarpa Yoga that began on February 26, 2020, which has been in place on and off since then. Mars moved inside the nodal axis at this time, and though it was conjoined Ketu, it is still Kala Sarpa though some sources might disagree (some sources say that if a lunar node is conjoined another planet it mitigates the effect).

Kala Sarpa Yoga (or Dosha) is relatively rare event, especially if it is calculated in the untraditional way which includes the outer planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in addition to the grahas of Vedic astrology, which are Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Sun and Moon, and the lunar nodes (Vedic astrology traditionally does not include the outer planets, but as a Neo-Vedic astrologer, I do use them).

Since 1900, using the outer planets with the grahas, Kala Sarpa Yoga has occurred on and off during the following years: 1915-16 (partial with Uranus conjunct but slightly outside the nodal axis); 1940-41; 1946-47; 1954-56; 1961-62; 1979-83; 1986-87; 1995-97; and in 2020 (on and off) up until the present, and for the next four months until April 24, 2022. After that, it will not occur again until 2036 (again, if we include the outer planets).

As mentioned above, Kala Sarpa Yoga alone does not indicate extreme events, but it tends to magnify other astrological forces at play, so when you look at previous years, you may not see such profoundly difficult events as we have had the past two years. What occurs also depends on other astrological cycles and transits in place.

Does the Kala Sarpa ending on April 24, 2022 mark an end to the global crisis we have been facing since 2020? It is likely that many of the draconian public health mandates in place will start to be withdrawn by then, but I am more of the belief that much of the crisis may go on until early 2023 after Saturn enters and remains in sidereal Aquarius for its two year transit. That said, it is possible that some significant release from our state of collective entrapment may begin in the second half of the month of April.

It is concerning is that several factors in the solstice chart reflect the worldwide presence of what I and many others believe to be a mass formation event, i.e., a collective psychogenic event that’s in place now and has been happening since the 2020 world crisis began. This is described by Dr. Mattias Desmet, Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Department of Psychology and Educational Sciences of Ghent University, who has discussed the predicament of global “group think” driven by programmed fear, isolation, lack of meaning, frustration, aggression, and deference to authoritarianism…Anxiety and psychosis have blinded the masses from critical thinking, independent decision making, and have allowed the loss of autonomy and human rights across the globe, giving rise to a dangerous trend of global totalitarianism.

Here are some of the factors that point to the current state of global hysteria and unrest, based on the top two horoscopes posted above for the 2022 New Year chart set at the 2021 winter solstice/global universal time:

1. The lunar nodes forming the Kala Sarpa Yoga occupy houses six and twelve indicating the presence of a worldwide disaster which has most likely been instigated by secret nefarious forces. Mars in Scorpio conjunct Ketu is driving a locomotive pattern within the nodal axis, indicating some collective mental instability and societal breakdown of a psychic or spiritual origin.
2. The Kala Sarpa suggests socioeconomic disintegration which is occurring through the constant bombardment of mixed messaging, political and economic opportunism, and fear programming, leading to mass panic and frenzied and polarized viewpoints.
3. Jupiter conjunct the midheaven (MC) in a tense t-square to the nodal axis and Mars points to ongoing ideological conflict among not only the common people of the world but also among leaders in science and health, media, and politics.
4. Jupiter and the Sun form a Yod, i.e., a Finger of God (or Finger of Fate) aspect, in quincunx (6/8 or inconjunct) to the apex Moon, which symbolizes the public. The Moon is in the death-inflicting (maraka) second house, suggesting a collective nervous breakdown or mass dissociative event driven by a 24-7 disinformation campaign along with governmental restrictions on freedom. Our collective emotional body has become highly reactive due to PTSD coupled with acute stress, leading to so many negative emotions and maladaptive behaviors, and a dire need to collectively heal the multiple divisions within ourselves and society.
5. Venus is retrograde along with Pluto and Saturn in the eighth house, which suggests declining moral values and civil strife. Pluto opposes the Moon, highlighting our profound vulnerability to propaganda, manipulation, and control. Many people I speak with these days feel a strong mix of anxiety, anger, exhaustion, hopelessness, and incertitude, as seen in the Pluto-Moon opposition.

Nonetheless, there is some hope, as Jupiter is conjoined the MC (midheaven) in the sign of Aquarius, the Water Bearer whose purpose is to brings protection, wisdom, truth, and healing into the world. The MC falls in Dhanistha nakshatra, whose symbol is Lord Shiva’s drum. Dhanishta is called “the star of symphony” and symbolizes connection to and receptivity with the Divine Mind. Ruled by passionate and fiery Mars and governed by Lord Shiva, Dhanishta nakshatra is also associated with Rishi Angira, one of the Saptarishis and a supreme teacher of knowledge who composed many of the Vedas. He is also a warrior. His name means “the fiery one,” and his body is radiant with light. So there is a powerful warrior energy shining down upon the world now, which is sympathetic to the underdog, as for example, the people of the world who are standing up and speaking out for peace, freedom, and truth.

In my opinion, based on the placement of Jupiter in the solstice chart, the secret for success in this new year is to tune out the noise, i.e., wake up out of this nightmare by shutting out all the propaganda. Instead we need to anchor to the “small still voice within,” in order to truly listen, receive, and then to be able to further reflect and transmit the heavenly vibrations which are always streaming into us whether we choose to align with them or not.

As we do this, we can “defeat the planets” and “outwit the stars,” as the late great Swami Sri Yukteswar guided us to do. In other words, when we transfer our faith and allegiance away from the outer world and all its vicissitudes, and instead align inward with the ultimate creative force, we can then access more peace, joy, prosperity, and happiness in our lives. The cosmic power is not subject to karmic pressure and truly is the divine birthright of each and every one.

I wish a blessed new year to all!