I am learning Jaimini and discovered that in my relevant charts for bhakti, I only have Venus in Scorpio in the navamsa. The only aspect is Mars in Aries (OH). In the Trimsamsa I have Venus debilitated with Rahu/Ketu (neutral dignity) without aspects.
In the rasi from the lagna, I have Venus (GF) and Rahu (lord OH) in the 9th. It does have a rasi aspect from Cancer with Jupiter there.
I have a couple questions..
Regarding low spirits.. I started a time period where I've been devotional to what I thought was "God". There was much confusion to what it actually is, but the experiences were healing, blissful, miraculous, etc. For example, it guided me to the Aum vibration (Ketu). I discovered what I thought were spiritual gifts. But now I consider that I have been connecting with something other than God due to experiences such as getting pulled out of my body. Why would God do that? My meditations go much differently when I focus on the Sun instead of a general "letting go and observing what happens". So my question is, did my devotion to whatever this is happen due to my navamsa Venus? In the Jaimini audio course, Ernst mentioned a healer who used her Venus in a mars sign to help others. I am new to this idea and would like to learn more. What are some good resources for a confused person who has found themself in this world of low spirits?
Second question, would it be effective for this lifetime to become devotional to Lakshmi? What if I protest devotion to low spirits instead of embracing it?
Thank you!
Karinia
Hi Karinia,
We are all in this journey of self-discovery and mastery; so, some of us experience things as you have described in order to learn lessons and develop our ability to discern truth from untruth. Many people have experiences with "low spirits" that they believe to be divine due to having the ability to heal and perform supernatural type of "miracles" - however, I see this as an opportunity to develop our own ability to become more of an individual that is empowered instead of disempowered. What I mean is that when we work with "low spirits" or entities, we are basically giving our power away to them not realizing that's what's happening. Since we are living and they're in the realm of the non-living, they need us to rely on them and connect with them. When we start to become dependent on the connection to these types of experiences or entities then we run a risk of losing ourselves in the process. That's the danger with this. If a person can keep their wits about them and still work with such energies, then great...unfortunately, what I have seen over and over again is that the power of the individual is being leached and sucked out. With that said, I truly believe that it's an opportunity to become more empowered because it is through the living of this experience that one learns the lesson to develop discernment and rely on the internal compass - the heart. I don't think that there's a wrong way to achieve this or a right way since it's all about the lessons that we learn along our journey as we become more self-realized.
A good resource to learn about self-inquiry is the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharshi. The book that comes to mind is "Be As You Are" which is a compilation of different topics.
Concerning the chart, astrologically based on the Jaimini teachings, the dignity is important to be considered. Meaning that if a planet is debilitated, that's not the planet to focus on for the best results because it's already low. Instead, look for the Graha with the highest dignity to connect with that energy for best results. The idea is that a planet with low Uccha is deficient in the energy so you would want to look for a planet with high energy in order to get the results that would be beneficial for growth.
It's not clear to me how you reached the conclusion of your experience having been with "low-spirits". It's possible to have an 'out of body' experience that is divine.
I suggest reading works by Sri Aurobindo Ghose and/or Mirra Alfassa (The Mother). The latter's words are easy to understand and have a crystal clear clarity, especially on this type of topic. They also typically don't use words like "low" and "high", but just speak of entities belonging to different layers or planes.
The problematic entities are usually of the "Vital plane" (Vampiric..), though not everything from the Vital plane is necessarily problematic.
@xyzabc Exactly; most of the members in this forum, myself included, come here with a christian mindset I believe, and "high" and "low" are very concepts in that context. There was a time when nature itself was looked on as belonging to the devil. It leads to misunderstandings, I believe.
My guess is that "lower" in this context rather means "minor".
Staffan
@karinia Did you check this Jaimini technique in your Siddhamsa, the D24S chart in Kala? If I am not wrong, that's the most important varga to apply this Jaimini technique for moksha according to Ernst
@xyzabc I came to this conclusion because I was pulled out of my body. I didn't choose it. I had a pleasant experience though. But similar to what @suzanstars brought up, it felt disempowering to be pulled out of my own body.
@qwertym2 Thank you for mentioning that. I was looking at the D24, not the D24S. In the D24S I have Saturn there in neutral dignity. In Leo but I don't think the Sun counts as a malefic for these. I am still learning and I don't know the difference between the D24 and D24S yet.
@suzanstars, so in the D24S, the graha with the highest dignity is the Sun in Cancer. So, if 12th from my Karakamsa was either empty or with a debilitated graha or Saturn/Venus in malefic rasi, then I would want to focus on the Sun for bhakti?
@karinia Is the Sun Rasi aspecting the 12th from your AK in that Varga? If so, then I would say, yes, focus on that Sun. A good thumb rule for the Siddhamsa is that no Graha is bad in the Cancer or Leo Rasis because they represent the third eye. The Siddhamsa is all about the perfection in understanding and contemplation, which is linked to the third eye - Leo and Cancer.
Also to note directly from the course:
"For these planets to have some kick, they need to be related somehow to the 12th house in the birth chart. Any of these planets that Jaimini talked about, for a person to put energy behind them, they have to fall into the paradigm of their path in life. When we just look at things from the Svamsa, we're just looking at their potentials. But is their path going to let their potentials flourish? We need these planets to relate to the 12th house somehow. The stronger they relate to the 12th house, the better."
Another thumb rule I like to incorporate when judging these Grahas especially as they relate to what can help someone's spiritual progress is to look at the Uccha in the Rasi chart to see what the Graha's available energy is to begin with. I have found this to generally be very helpful to decide which Graha would work best. The higher the Uccha, meaning the higher energy that Graha has available makes it much easier to get the benefits when effort is applied.
Also worth mentioning, when looking at this Jaimini technique, the reverse for even Rasis rule applies. So if your AK falls in an even sign, remember to count in the reverse direction to the 12th.
@suzanstars Thank you! You're very helpful. 🙂 In the Rasi, Taurus is the 12th and Venus is in Aquarius. Saturn owns Venus and is in Capricorn which rasi aspects Taurus. So, I think they both apply although Venus is higher in Uccha than Saturn (42 over 32). I attached my relevant charts excluding the Trimsamsa just in case I read them wrong. My AK is Sun.
@karinia you can check out this article by one of the students of Ernst - https://laurabaratastrologer.com/know-your-personal-deity-through-astrology/
Just replace Chaturvimsamsa D24 with Siddhamsa D24S
@qwertym2 As Suzan pointed out, in the Jaimini audio course Ernst said that Leo and Cancer do not count as malefic rasis in the D24. Perhaps that specific detail got left out of the article. I have experienced a little bit of horror but probably not for as long or as harsh as Saturn in a malefic sounds. I think I can count the number of times on my hands. I have frequently practiced karma yoga spontaneously out of inspiration though.
@karinia Focus on Saturn/Vishnu and Karma Yoga...but, first ask yourself if you're more drawn to Vishnu or Lakshmi. I bring this up based on what you originally asked where you brought up Lakshmi. The interesting thing is that Vishnu and Lakshmi are a pair. The way I would play this is Vishnu and Lakshmi.
Based on your Siddhamsa chart, Saturn/Vishnu would be the way to go. Again, ask your heart meaning what attracts you more? Ultimately, that will have more sway because it will be pure devotion, which is the whole point. It defeats the purpose if someone does anything without having their heart in it.