A Healthy Financial Flow | Teachings from the Purva-Ashadha Nakshatra

A healthy financial existence flows like a river, is as still as a lake or as forceful as the ocean. It can nourish and nurture life or destroy to the point of devastation.

Do there exist inflows and outflows in your life of which you are completely unaware? You know that you are being obstructed somehow, but you just can’t put your finger on why this is happening. No matter what you do or how hard you try, your efforts somehow seem to be blocked.

A river has no roots, only branches. It has a source, but it is forever flowing to where it needs to go and where it needs to be. A river never stops itself from going anywhere. Similarly, in the world of finance, money is always flowing. If there is a blockage or a leak–not enough or too much coming in; and not enough or too much going out–what is the cause of this sorry state of affairs?

To answer this question, especially as it pertains to our money and our finances, I would like to look to the wisdom of the stars–the nakshatra lunar mansions–to answer this question.

Purva-Ashadha Nakshatra

The nakshatra of purva-ashadha is in Sagittarius. Jupiter rules Sagittarius, but this nakshatra is ruled by planet Venus. People with planets and placements in this nakshatra will feel the energies of both Venus and Jupiter.

If there is such a thing as two planetary energies being polar opposites–it would be Venus and Jupiter. But when opposites come together and reach a balance; the world is reshaped for the better.

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is Planet Earth’s closest neighbour. We call it the Earth’s twin because the two are similar in size, density and the story of their early beginnings. These are not identical twins, however. Venus rotates on its axis backwards. This means that on Venus, the Sun rises in the west and sets in the east, opposite to what we experience on earth.

In mythology, Venus came to be considered ‘the teacher of the demons’. This is not meant to be interpreted literally through the Judeo-Christian lens. Rather, it refers to the Unseen World–not of spirits, per se; but of creatures which reside underground. For instance: moles, octopuses and so on. It is not a realm which is readily or easily assessable to humans.

Venus rules over our desires and ambitions and fulfilling them as a soul in a human body. If you ever wanted to go out to a nice restaurant, enjoy a beautiful love-making session or even just go for a luxurious haircut–that’s Venus.

But what Venus cannot do is promise you lasting happiness. Those things may well make you happy for the moment, but that feeling won’t last. So off you’ll go, in search of the next beautiful flower, which is also one day destined to wither and die. Commercialism can run high and rampant if Venus is very strong in a person’s chart and expresses itself in an overtly excessive way.

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the pleasures of the earth… till you try to hold onto them past their expiry date… or till you take so much that the earth takes back from you.

Jupiter

In Vedic astrology, Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter–which is our Guru. In old Vedic theology, having a great Guru was seen as life’s greatest blessing. You were blessed with an incredible teacher who would guide your path and light your way. Even if you fell on hard times, it was like someone or a certain unexplainable light was there to say, “Hey, this way…”

Does it mean you won’t have or face hardships? Of course not. But it means that when it does happen, you’ve got someone who not so much throws you a lifeline–but the one who tells you to take it. In life, we get opportunities all the time and the reason why we miss out on them is because we fail to recognise them. We fall into traps thinking they’re opportunities.

If you have a great teacher, a great Guru by your side, you’ll get yourself out of your troubles because your teacher will tell you, “Hey! What are you doing? Get yourself out of here!” He or she will make you see the light!

The Teachers of the Cosmos

I hear a lot of astrologers say that in comparison to Saturn, that Jupiter is some sort of ‘nice teacher’ who inspires you and Saturn is some sort of ‘strict teacher’ who punishes you. All that is true. But that is only one part of the story.

If you make Jupiter angry, oh goodness, you better run for your life. Can you imagine how upset your teacher will be if you are walking the wrong path? Jupiter will simply start crying or get angry. That’s Jupiter.

Coming back to Guru, a strong Guru in a person’s chart means that he or she will always be blessed by incredible teachers. And your teacher will guide you towards the light. This is not just the spiritual light of higher consciousness, but the lightbulb that goes off in your head. You know, that moment when you just go, “Oh my god, what in the world am I doing with my life?”

Suddenly and swiftly–you quit your job, leave that relationship and sever that friendship. It’s not only Saturn who can turn your life upside down. Jupiter is perfectly capable of doing so–especially if the Jupiter person is nursing a broken heart. If you break your teacher’s heart, your teacher will be very sad. Very sad. Then your teacher will start crying… I spent so much time teaching you the right thing and this is what you did? Oh, don’t make your teacher sad and angry.

Jupiter also blesses people with material abundance, but it’s a different sort of material abundance. Jupiter can bless you with ‘fortune’. We’re not just talking wealth here, but fortune. You can have ‘wealth’ and still feel unfortunate. But under Jupiter’s watch, you will never feel unfortunate. You will see the opportunities for abundance all around you because Jupiter will point them out to you.

Imagine going to a bookstore and seeing a book you really wanted to buy, but you couldn’t afford it. Jupiter will find it for you in the library. Imagine you wanted to go do your Masters but your parents couldn’t afford it, Jupiter will send you someone who will teach you. Imagine you wanted to start a business and didn’t have funds to do it, Jupiter will see to it that you receive a grant, a loan or land yourself a benefactor.

Jupiter is a provider–even in the material sense. J

Jupiter and Venus

In my debut novel The Little Light, I wrote that Venus is jealous of her daughter Jupiter. Why did I write that? I’ll tell you why–because Jupiter is far more gifted than her. So for some reason Venus starts ignoring Jupiter and gives Mars all her affection. She has this way, of always supporting the wrong person and the wrong cause. It’s like she just can’t see the light. She’s looking for it, but she can’t see it cause she keeps ignoring her daughter. She just looks for everything in the wrong places and can never find it.

How can we interpret this in the context of the nakshatra? If you have a problem in your life, you should first tell me what you have been ignoring. Is there an opportunity that presented itself to you which you have ignored for some reason?

Usually, this is not some hidden opportunity, but an opportunity that most likely revealed itself to you in a very direct way. Maybe you couldn’t believe your good fortune and maybe you just ignored it cause you couldn’t see ‘the light’.

So what happens when you have an opportunity in your life that you tossed aside because you couldn’t see it?

The Elephant in the Room

The symbol of Purva Ashadha is the elephant’s tusk. There’s an old children’s story of Ganesha. It’s kind of a funny story that grown ups tell kids.

Ganesha went for a dinner party and ate too much. He could barely make his way home because he’d had too many ‘sweets’. I think it’s some kind of metaphor. Anyways, he was having a sugar high… On the way home, he fell off his transportation vehicle. His stomach split open and all the sweets he’d eaten fell out of his tummy. The moon, who witnessed and saw everything, started laughing and couldn’t stop.

Ganesha got angry at the moon and threw his tusk at it, scarring it and giving it that dark spot. After he threw his tusk at it, the moon went into hiding and didn’t come out. People started suffering. How can the world exist without the moon? Eventually, Ganesha realises that he cannot let the world suffer because the moon and him had a conflict.

So what has all of this got to do with the blockages and obstacles that you face in your life? Purva Ashadha means the invincible, the unbeatable or someone who cannot be conquered: like the Moon.

It’s very easy to get into an argument with someone. The moon laughed at Ganesha, but just think about the scenario–I mean, maybe Ganesha didn’t deserve to be laughed at; and the moon could have been more polite or something, but oh well, he got himself in that sorry state in the first place.

Why did he eat so many sweets? Fighting with the moon did not remedy or change the sorry situation Ganesha was in.

The Financial Flow

I know I talked about a fair few seemingly disparate stories. But how are they connected?

Water is considered ‘invincible’ because sooner or later, it will find its path. What has all of this got to do with the elephant’s tusk? An elephant’s tusk never grows back. So Ganesh never got back the tusk that he threw at the moon.

The deity for this nakshatra is Apas, the Goddess of Water. Water has an easily changeable nature. Those born or influenced by this nakshatra can suddenly and swiftly change the direction of their life with little forewarning. The Moon disappeared–something that it isn’t quite ‘known’ to do. But disappear it did; till Ganesha brought it back.

The ‘mistake’ here was Ganesha’s and not the Moon’s. And yet it is the Moon that was forced to go into hiding. So, if you want to strengthen your Jupiter and find your lot of fortune, don’t throw anything at anyone–and most importantly, don’t throw it at the moon.