#solar eclipse India timings

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Solar Eclipse 2024: Get Ready For The Dazzling 'Ring Of Fire' – Visibility And Timing For India! | Culture News

On October 2, 2024, an annular solar eclipse will take place, producing a stunning “ring of fire” effect as the Moon partially covers the Sun. This celestial phenomenon will be visible over parts of the Pacific Ocean, southern Chile, and southern Argentina. People in the path of annularity will witness the Moon forming a glowing ring around the Sun, while those outside this path will experience a…

[vertigoblockbuster]

☋☋ ☋ मघा Magha Nakshatra मघा ☋ ☋☋

Past lives, ominous, traveling inward

Hughes Merle's Mary Magdalene in the Cave, 1868. The reptilian arms are not part of the original painting.

The Basics Ruling planet: Ketu Ruling deity: Pitris Yoni: Male rat Symbol: Royal throne

Rahu and Ketu We can't talk about Ketu without talking about Rahu as well. Rahu and Ketu are referred to as the lunar nodes in astrology. They aren't physical objects in space like Jupiter or Saturn. They are calculated points. However, for ease of communication, Rahu and Ketu are often referred to as planets anyways.

The lunar nodes are determined by the orbits of the sun and the moon. The intersections of the orbits of the sun and moon as apparent from Earth tell us the position of the nodes at a given time. It takes about 18 months for the nodes to journey through a single zodiac sign and about two decades for them to cycle through all twelve.

Image from Wikipedia.

Since the nodes are located where the sun and moon overlap as seen from Earth, they are associated with eclipses. Rahu (the north, or ascending node) swallows the sun during a solar eclipse and Ketu (the south, or descending node) swallows the moon during a lunar eclipse. We can further assume that the nodes are always exactly 180° apart, or opposite to, one another. If the north node is in Sagittarius, for example, the south node will always be in Gemini.

The nodes in astrology deal with karmic destiny. The nature of your south node placement shows who you were in a past life, what you have previously mastered and now know in your bones to be true. Your north node placement shows what you are working towards in this life, what you strive to accomplish, the lessons you are here to master.

Rahu and Ketu In Mythology According to Vedic mythology, Rahu and Ketu started out as one being, a demonic serpent called a rakshasa. They were separated into two beings as punishment. During a ceremony to honor the planets, Lord Visnu churned up the oceans to create a divine nectar for them to drink and become immortal. When the planets (or deities) lined up to drink, the demon snuck under Visnu's nose to drink some of the nectar for himself. Rahu/Ketu had already ingested the immortal drink before they were caught in the act - becoming accidentally undying. Furious, Visnu beheaded the demon but at that point it was too late. Rahu (the demon's head) and Ketu (the body) become two entities and were cast to opposite ends of the sky.

A depiction of a rakshasa (demon) done in Yakshagana, a traditional style of theater prominent in southern India. Image from Wikipedia.

Rahu, being the head, is arguably more responsible for the separation of the demon into two parts. As the head, Rahu is consumptive by nature. This is why one's natal Rahu placement indicates what they are after in this life. The devouring head symbolizes our insatiable desire to obtain more and become more.

Rahu's willingness to ignore boundaries to obtain the immortal nectar is telling - he has no regard for authority. He is not much of a leader himself, more so interested in mocking those holding positions of power. In this way Rahu is hypocritical because he attacks the character and methodologies of those in power yet he himself demonstrates childishness and irreverence. When he is rendered a head without a body, he is left an eternal troublemaker.

When separated from his head, bodily Ketu is doomed to forever long for his other half - reminiscent of the past being the past, something we can never go back to and simultaneously can't shake the memory of. We master our Rahu and Ketu by connecting our heads with our bodies - that is, by balancing past with future, applying ancient knowledge stored in the body to achieve future-facing objectives the head seeks to fulfill.

"Ketu's permanent longing for wholeness is a consequence of Rahu's excited refusal to respect conventional boundaries. As a result of Rahu's wildness, Ketu the Dragon-Tail Cauda Draconis is forced to gaze with eternally unsatisfied longing at His dear severed partner Rahu the Dragon-Head Caput Draconis." - Barbara Pijan Lama, Vedic astrologer based in Portland, Oregon

A makeup look done by smeyuka on Instagram. Note the grey/smokey tone of the face and red emphasis added to the eyes.

In Phaladeepika, a classical Sanskrit text on Vedic astrology, Ketu is described like this:

"Ketu is fiercly red-eyed, is venom-tongued (speaking venomously), and without a body or disembodied, he is violent (using weapons, wants to scare), and ignoble (low, fallen, no social contribution, uncultured, wild, intense), his complexion is smokey (ominous), he is a constant smoke drinker (using opium or marijuana), his body is covered in scars (not cooperative), not fatty (emaciated, thin, angular), and cruel (unforgiving)."**

** what is in paranthases are notes on different ways the text can be translated. Watch Vic Dicara's videos on Rahu and Ketu.

Artistic rendition of Ketu/Kathoo in E.A. Rodrigues's The Complete Hindoo Pantheon. Image taken from Wikipedia.

Some people think that what we experience as eclipses are actually Rahu and Ketu taking revenge for their separation. Eclipses are times of sudden change - when the sun is obscured by the moon or vice versa, the atmosphere on Earth is very different. Having witnessed the total lunar eclipse of 2017, I remember things turning a grey/yellow/brown hue, and the air taking on a kind of hazy quality (but I believe this was due to wildfires). If you have ever seen the movie Enemy with Jake Gyllenhaal, it looked like that.

Still from Enemy (2013)

Here is a description of a solar eclipse by Dr. Rick Feinberg, astronomer and science communicator (now retired):

"Measurements made at recent total eclipses put the illuminance at totality around 5 lux, comparable to civil twilight. The sky is still some shade of silvery, purply blue. In contrast, the black sky on a night of full Moon is 10 times darker still, less than 0.5 lux. Yes, bright planets –– especially Venus and Jupiter –– are obvious in twilight, but stars? I don’t like to waste valuable time during totality looking for stars; the only time I saw one was on August 21, 2017, when 1st-magnitude Regulus glimmered just to the left of the totally eclipsed Sun.

It certainly feels like it gets as dark as night during the final minute before totality, but that’s just because your eyes haven’t had time to adjust. The changes in illumination at the beginning and end of totality happen much faster and more dramatically than at dusk and dawn, respectively."

Image of the 2019 solar eclipse above the European Southern Observatory in Chile, taken by Mahdi Zamani.

Non-dualism and the Ouroboros The nodes are inseparable opposites, both two and one - like how the past and future becoming one in the present. In this way they demonstrate the concept of non-duality. Non-dualism is a philosophical concept observed in many spiritual and religious traditions, particularly ones that originated in the East such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism. The non-dual perspective holds that there is no fundamental separation - between objects, energy, people... it's all one.

“All things are permeated with God, just as all things are permeated with air.” – Hildegard of Bingen

Ketu's rulership over Magha suggests that people with heavy influence from this nakshatra in their birthchart are deeply spiritual and/or philosophical. If you think about Rahu and Ketu as being an axis - that is, talking about the same topics but having opposite opinions on them - Rahu expands outwards, forever seeking to consume and grow materially. Ketu expands internally. The expansion of Ketu looks like material poverty from the outside, but Ketu is not interested in earthly objectives. Rahu wants to grasp and Ketu wants to release. By releasing attachment to the physical, Ketu finds bliss.

Rahu's knowing is of the head. It is entirely cerebral. Ketu's knowing is bodily. That is, it is completely intuitive and feeling/sensory-based. In the world we live in, computational and logical thinking is (for better or worse) king. For this reason, if you have prominent Magha placements, I wouldn't be surprised if you feel like you either 1) don't belong in this world or 2) have been here before, perhaps many times over. Ketu, symbolizing past lives and knowledge gained from them, wanders the earth, aimless, forever drifting. He finds nothing on earth to be of substance.

While Ketu-heavy or Magha-heavy people can possess deep inner knowing that endows them with a certain type of respect, this same trait can be the source of an overly apathetic attitude when taken to an extreme. Detachment is all well and good, but unless you're truly the type to pursue a monastic or nomadic path, it's necessary to keep your feet on the ground at least a little bit to live in a well-rounded way. Ketu people are faced with a challenge to ground their intuitive knowledge and bring what they find on their travels inward out to the world around them.

One symbol that is steeped in unity and oneness is the ouroboros. Depicting a serpent or dragon devouring it's own tail, the ouroboros has appeared in ancient Egypt, Mexico, India, as well as Hermetic and Alchemical texts. The serpent chases its continually regenerating tail in an eternal circle, just as Rahu and Ketu are condemned to chase one another from opposite ends of the sky forever.

Two ouroboros symbols shown encircling a figure in An Enigmatic Book of the Underworld, funerary text and shrine discovered in King Tutankhamun's tomb. The figure has been speculated to be the mummified form of King Tut himself, while some think it is the unification of Ra and Osiris.

An Enigmatic Book of the Underworld is regarded as the place of the first appearance of the ouroboros, dating it to at least 14th century BCE. It is thought that the book illustrates the replenishing of the solar disc - the ancient Egyptians believed that the sun would use up all of it's heat and energy during the day and had to 'recharge' at night. At night, the Sun was said to pass through the same region of death where the gods were believed to reside. Their souls would follow the Sun as he cycled above and below the horizon while their bodies remained in the underworld. Time was seen as cyclical repetitions rather than a linear unfolding. The ancient Egyptian's understanding of time was based on their observations of recurring natural events like the Sun's daily journey across the sky and the annual flooding of the Nile.

An illustration of the ouroboros in an alchemical text from around 400AD.

The Alchemists believed that all physical materials on Earth originated from the same original source material and could be differentiated by their varying levels of purity. Gold was held as the most pure and 'perfect' form of matter, which is why the Alchemists sought to create it using lower quality metals such as lead - a process called chrysopoeia. The desire to create gold from crude materials that is central to Alchemy is largely metaphorical. The broader goal of the Alchemists was to evolve the human soul through deepening the understanding of one's self. The ultimate objective of alchemy was to transform personally into someone 'greater' than you were before. More knowledgeable, powerful, physically healthy or beautiful...

The Pitris The deities ruling Magha are the Pitris, spirits of the paternal ancestors of humanity - the word 'pitris' is Sanskrit for "fathers."

The word Magha can mean gift or it can mean power. As it relates to Magha nakshatra, it means gifted power - that is, inherited power. Each nakshatra has it's own associated sutra, which are kind of like condensed teachings. The translated sutra for Magha is "The forefather's gift of power needs demoralization, to ruin."

Vic Dicara explains the lesson of Magha nakshatra as illustrated in it's sutra - how to be victorious without getting wounded. The sutra for Magha is saying that the way to defeat your enemies is to prevent the battle from happening in the first place. And how do you do that? By bullying them, basically. Magha natives have the power of the forefathers (Pitris) behind them, which they brandish and threaten their potential opponents with. Before a single punch has been thrown Magha puffs out his chest, letting his opponent know that he has friends on the other side backing him up - think Dr. Facilier from the Princess and the Frog.

Magha's Yoni: the Male Rat The word "yoni" in Sanskrit refers to the vagina. The word can be used to refer literally to female genitalia, but it also has a deeper meaning relating to source material - the empty 'womb' out of which the universe materialized.

Each nakshatra has a corresponding yoni assigned to it. The yonis of the nakshatras describe their primal and sexual nature - how they behave when backed into a corner and the different ways they behave in the bedroom. In the vedic astrological system, the yonis are depicted as different types of animals - appropriate, considering the aspects of the human personality they attempt to describe and categorize.

Magha's yoni animal is a rat. Rats are inquisitive, playful and sociable by nature. They are intelligent and, as pets, trainable. They are hygienic, keeping themselves clean by grooming their tails, fur, and faces. They also do everything quickly - I've never seen a rat move in a leisurely way.

Rats are venerated at the Karni Mata temple in Deshnoke, India. Large saucers of milk are left out to keep them fed. The temple is a monument honoring the coexistence of life in every form - which is why rats are treated reverence here rather than seen as pests. Image by Paolo Bampani.

The rat signifying the primal nature of this nakshatra suggests a few things. We can easily surmise that Magha people are curious, likely quick-witted due to an above-average intelligence, and energetic. We can also guess that Magha people are adaptable - think about the poor conditions rats are able to survive in. An additional quality of rats which I think relates to Magha is their use of their whiskers to both balance themselves and maneuver around objects in their environment - they don't have the best eyesight and rely heavily on the sensitivity of their wire-y mustaches. This hearkens to Magha's bodily, ketuvian intelligence.

At first, the personality of the light-footed and friendly rat seems to clash with the ancient wisdom Magha has. When I think of someone in touch with their forefathers and past lives, I think of someone who moves slowly (literally and metaphorically), approaching and completing all tasks with patience, precision, and caution. The good-natured and hyperactive qualities of the rat combined with Magha's connection to protective (paternal) ancestors, dispersing and wandering ways of Ketu, and transforming power of the eclipse paints a particular personality profile. This is a person who has their head in the clouds and could rip you to shreds - if you provoke them first.

The Symbol of the Royal Throne Magha is considered to be an auspicious nakshatra - that is, it brings positive things to whatever planet is placed here. The rulership of the Pitris over Magha cements their innate power. It is one thing to be a powerful person because of the things you have accomplished, but when someone is powerful because of their ancestors has royalty in their blood. It can never, ever be taken from them because it is simply who they are.

Magha spans 0°00' to 13°20' Leo. Leo is the most regal and royal of all twelve zodiac signs. The most common gripe people have with Leo's is their pride and self-centered attitude. The thing is is that Leo is ruled by the Sun - the literal center of our solar system. Resenting a Leo for shining is like disliking the Sun for burning. Of course, egotism has the potential to run rampant if a Leo person has not matured very much, which is the shadow side of this sign. Oftentimes, though, you will find that the warm, glowing self-sureness of Leo's triggers the insecurities in those around them, causing them to lash out.

The Iron Throne from Game of Thrones.

The symbolism of the throne for Magha should come as no surprise. Those who sit and have sat in thrones throughout history were usually born into that role as opposed to being appointed - bringing us back to the ancestral power brought on by Magha's connection to the Pitris.

Song for Magha: You Don't Mess Around with Jim by Jim Croce And they say... You don't tug on Superman's cape You don't spit into the wind You don't pull the mask off that old Lone Ranger And you don't mess around with Jim

This song talks about a local legend who's reputation precedes him. It is known so well that you don't cross him that doing so would be as obviously foolish as spitting into the wind. While Jim, the menacing figure the song centers around, is described as being big and dumb - traits that aren't as applicable to Magha - his reputation as someone you don't want to mess with fits perfectly with the power of this nakshatra. Jim, just like Magha, has won the fight before it started because you're probably too intimidated to approach him in the first place. Maybe Jim had the Pitris backing him up, too.

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Check out Vic Dicara and Claire Nakti on YouTube - both influential figures in the vedic astrological community.

[artistsmellslikeunemployment]

Things that natla did do:

- Katara stealing a water pouch from a merchant shop at night

- zuko draws!

- include pieces from the books and comics (mother of faces, Kyoshi‘s personality,

- „water the most promising seed“

- Katara standing by and smirking as Sokka flounders trying to impress Suki but her not buying any of it

- Katara never letting anyone talk over her once diplomacy fails

- Bumi‘s armpit hair

- Zuko talking about Lu Ten

- Azula learning to use a blue flame and failing

- what can I say, the actors make the show very enjoyable 🤷🏼‍♀️

- Kuruk refusing to take possession over Aang‘s body/ Avatar state

- overall I think they drew info from the books about the other eras

- the sound of Iroh‘s firebending reminding of a dragon‘s growl

- Avatar Roku making fun of Avatar Kyoshi

- Zuko basically enthusing about Kyoshi‘s strength only to then get his ass kicked by her

- Suki (and mom) gushing over seeing their role model Kyoshi in action

- random woman with broom and Zuko letting her hit him

- Aang running away at the end, after the battle. He might not have run from his responsibility but he ran from the consequences

- „have you seen my flying bison?“ which is way better because even less believable

- Katara being bold enough to train her waterbending in the abandoned fire navy ship around Wolf Cove

- emphasis on Sokka‘s inventory skills and by elongation his bad ice dodging skills

- Zuko deciding to stay with/ look for Iroh instead of chasing Aang twice

- Lu Ten‘s theme playing every time Zuko and Iroh confess their love for each other

- Omashu‘s part of the earth kingdom being India coded

- Zuko so specifically being triggered by the word „compassion“ but not „empathy/ emphatic“ because he actually does believe in kindness and much like Azula is still trapped in the pressure of having to represent all his father believes

- Zuko looking disgusted all the time

- 41st division bowing to their prince

- I had fun watching it and most of it makes sense tbh.

What I don’t get (logic mistakes):

- Mai being too openly anti fire nation by saying she wouldn’t ever come back if given the chance

- Iroh finding the Blue Spirit‘s mask in Zuko‘s pile of clothes but maybe that’s not even a negative.

- no talk about the meaning of the necklace

- Gyatso Living in the Spirit World (doesn’t Aang have enough guides with all his previous lives?);

- that assassination attempt on Ozai and Azula infiltrating the plan? Was this meant to show Ozai‘s cruelty and Azula‘s strategic thinking??

- what was Bumi‘s point exactly?

- Yue being a spirit fox. Why? It added nothing.

- „i bet you taste like chicken“ no opossum chicken. just chicken.

- Kyoshi being the narrator

- Aang being able to communicate with his past lives only by visiting their shrines and not in the right order (usually the avatar has to contact every avatar before him in the order of their lifetimes before he can get through to the next)

- Aang being shamed and gaslight by everyone

- confusion over what happened to the villagers as well as Katara and Solla by mixing Hei Bai‘s and Ko‘s stories as well as the Fog of Lost Souls and creating a new loophole into the spirit world when people stand too close to Aang while he meditates? Also, Ko‘s „Magic“ with individuality and his reason for stealing faces when showing emotion is lost.

- with all due love, what was Suki‘s mother for?

- Wan Shi Tong randomly sitting at some wayside

- Why wouldn’t normal people understand Wan Shi Tong? How are they planning for Team Avatar to find out about the solar eclipse if not through Wan Shi Tong‘s library later?

- Iroh suspecting Ozai behind the apparent assassination of Zuko so openly in front of Zhao

- Iroh justifying his war crimes with „I was a soldier“??

- Iroh „sacrificing“ himself in Omashu when the earth kingdom forces were looking for the firebender even though they both would’ve gone undetected otherwise

- Iroh killing Zhao

- does Momo carry the spirits‘ life now?

- the fire nation inventing a solar system model to predict Zosin‘s Comet and potentially the eclipse as well

[saturniandevil]

October 2024 Important Dates

AKA my notes on The Astrology Podcast's October Forecast, hosted by Chris Brennan and Austin Coppock.

Here's a graphic from honeycomb.co showing the exactness of planetary transits throughout the month as well:

September Recap: We're starting the month in the middle of eclipse season (there was a lunar eclipse in Pisces on September 17th). Chris talks about how the biggest intensity of events usually occurs within 10 days on either side of an eclipse. For example, on the 10th there was the US Presidential debate, which fell in Harris's 10th house/North Node and indeed represented an improvement in her public image. The Vice Presidential debate also takes place today, October 1st, right before the next eclipse. Another Pisces eclipse story is the second assassination attempt on Trump--Chris & Austin connect these to the close square of Uranus on his natal Mars and on top of his natal Midheaven. Using nativities, Chris points out that for the past 20 years the winning presidential candidate has had an eclipse in an angular house, which would point towards Harris winning. However, using zodiacal releasing, Trump is set to enter a new era of prominence in April of next year--whether from presidency or another set is unclear. There are a lot of factors indicating this year's election (and the time between then and the inauguration period!) will be confusing and full of surprises.

Another eclipse story is Israel's attack on Lebanon--the pagers were detonated on the day of the Pisces eclipse. The current war in Palestine began under last year's Libra eclipse, and escalation with Iran occurred along an eclipse as well. They predict October 2nd may very well be the date Israel starts a ground offensive into Lebanon, with implications of a regional war (A/N: this episode was recorded September 29th). There will be another eclipse in Aries before the nodes move off this axis, but the Pisces eclipse's coincidence with the electronics attacks and assassination of Nasrallah may be foreshadowing another 2 years of conflict.

The Pisces eclipse also highlighted Saturn's transit through Pisces: the OceanGate submarine wreck was finally found (crushed during Saturn rx), as well as the sunken wreck of the Erebus, a 19th-century polar exploration vessel. In other water disasters, Hurricane Helene ravaged much of the Appalachian US, the worst storm in a century for many cities and small towns. There were also devastating floods in Europe, Nigeria, and India and typhoons hitting much of East Asia.

October 2nd - Solar eclipse in Libra

Immediately afterwards, the Sun and Moon move towards a square with Mars, boding ill for world events with its significations of war, anger, and aggression. Eclipses on a particular axis often indicate a series of events over about a year and a half (this one began early October), so we know already know which stories are going to wrap up to make way for something new. In our personal lives changes may be for the better--for example, for one viewer this indicates the end of a relationship making room for a new one. Mercury has just separated from a cazimi with the Sun (11♎), and Mars is waiting at 15 Cancer to square all of these planets after they conjoin each other. The changes will take place abruptly, jarringly, and painfully for some. Eclipses shock us, even when they're positive. Mars-Mercury indicates arguments, fighting words, and foul language (goes direct at 17 Libra/Cancer on the 6th). Be careful with your words, as this may represent a longer conflict than you realize, as Mars enters its pre-retrograde shadow period soon after:

Like all retrogrades, Mars brings revisions, repeats, and unexpected delays. With Mars hanging out in the same few degrees of Cancer & Leo for awhile, we'll be spending a lot of time and energy in those areas of our chart. Mars retrograde can work well for those born under one, though--for Mars rx natives sometimes it's when big projects finally come to fruition with them.

During the Mars-Mercury conflict, we will have some support: Venus (14♏) will trine Saturn (14♓) on the 4th-5th, and on the 8th she'll (18♏) trine Mars (18♋) with reception. She comes in to offer a bit of a salve after the chafing of Mars contacts. Also on that day, soon-to-retrograde Jupiter (21♊) will trine Mercury (21♎) with reception, soothing some of the previous hard aspect to Mars. These are the kinds of situations where a terrible accident occurs, but you miraculously escape major injury. This can also represent extremes of good and bad happening at the same time.

October 6th - Mercury square Mars (discussed above)

October 9th - Jupiter stations retrograde He's going to hang out in the same few degrees of Gemini for a long time. See eclipse above for some details on transits leading up to this.

October 11th - Pluto stations direct From the 11th-13th Pluto, while slowing down and stationing, squares Mercury as the inner planet moves from Libra to Scorpio. We've been having Pluto stations in Capricorn since 2008-9, and this is the last he'll be in Capricorn for the rest of any of our lifetimes. Mercury brings the underworld planet's hidden matters to light: think investigative journalism, mystery stories, and exposés on dark scandals. Conversely, we can also see manipulation, control, and suppression of information by forces who prefer to remain in the shadows. Pluto is like a doorway to the underworld: it both plunges things into obscurity and brings up secrets from the depths. This is one last burst of intensity in late Capricorn/cardinal signs for those of us who've been feeling its effects--think of molting, with its vulnerabilities and benefits alike. This also marks the end of the United States' Pluto return--an uncertain evaluation of the next 250 years.

October 13th - Mercury enters Scorpio

October 14th - Sun square Mars While the Sun (21♎) squares Mars (21♋) with Jupiter (21♊) attempting to mediate by trining the Sun, Venus (26♏) opposes Uranus (26♉). With Uranus-Venus we may see some surprises in our relationships. (Chris notes Mercury is at 01Scorpio this day, same as Kamala Harris's natal chart, so the news will probably be about her.)

October 17th - Aries Full Moon, Venus enters Sagittarius

Normally we'd breathe a sigh of relief that eclipse season is over, but the luminaries (🌙:24♈,🌞:24♎) are coming right off a square to Mars (22♋), and are headed right into a square with Pluto (29♑). Thus, by the end of the month, Mars and Pluto begin to oppose each other, an intense configuration that will stay with us for the rest of the year thanks to Mars's retrograde. Don't ignore the little issues that Mars is highlighting in your life; nip things in the bud or keep an eye on them because the problems will only intensify over the next few months. The Mars-Pluto opposition will go exact right around election day in the US, or early November. Thus this full moon sets an ominous tone for the months ahead.

Mars signifies cutting, separation, and conflict, while Pluto takes themes to their utmost extremes, making the small massive and the massive small (think of a mushroom cloud explosion borne from mere atoms colliding). Combined, this indicates annihilation, survival responses, severe overreactions, power struggles, aggression & confrontations, manipulation and control. Other keywords are ruthlessness, forcefulness, and lashing out at perceived enemies, real or imagined. Pluto really enjoys hidden power as well--we may fall for decoys of where the real power lies. Unfortunately this strongly overshadows the US election. Overall, with Pluto involved we can't see clearly, so paranoia and conspiracies abound. It can also indicate horrific acts coming to light, like CBS News publishing the first photographs of torture at Abu Ghraib during the Mars-Pluto opposition of late April 2004, and financial developments like the 2008 bank crashes.

In our personal lives, this may be a period of extreme mental or physical exertion where you accomplish more than you thought possible. Austin cautions us not to react to negative things in a way that makes the situation worse, which is our impulse with Mars in Cancer. Sometimes we have to accept that events beyond our power--control what you can and accept what you can't. Uranus in Taurus will also get folded into this background tension via sextile with Pluto.

October 22nd - Sun enters Scorpio

October 25th - Auspicious electional date

This is a difficult month, but if you have to do something important, the 25th is a good time. A few different times will work; Chris likes around 3PM local time, adjusting until the Ascendant is at about 20 Aquarius. This makes the ruler Saturn in the 2nd house in a day chart, good for financial matters. The Leo Moon applies to a sextile with Jupiter, boding well for earthly events--as long as you can catch it when the moon is applying (at a lower degree; moving towards the aspect) rather than separating (at a higher degree, moving away). (Viewers on the West Coast of the US, for example, may have to move it back a day.) With 20Aquarius rising you get a nice, supportive trine from Jupiter in the 5th house, good for games and leisurely activities. Venus in the 11th house is also helpful, and in Denver they were able to get her near the Midheaven as well, though it's not a dealbreaker if you can't get that to line up. Venus in the 11th, ruled by Jupiter, does well with friends and alliances. Furthermore, though she is applying to a square with Saturn, in this chart it has her in contact with the Ascendant ruler, affirming and supporting you and the actions you take at this time. Not recommended for health or routine matters with a cranky day chart detriment Mars in the 6th house, and beware of Pluto in the 12th house of hidden enemies and self-undoing. Thus, it's not ideal, but we can get some things done.

October 28th - Venus square retrograde Saturn Venus would normally be happy to get out of her detriment Scorpio and into a neutral sign like Sagittarius, but she has to get past this square to Saturn before she can really party. However, this does put her in a whole-sign opposition to Jupiter while being received by him (in his domicile), giving a silver (copper) lining to everything else going on. When one benefic is setting, the other is rising for us.

October 30th - Mercury opposes Uranus (not pictured) At 25 of Scorpio and Taurus respectively, this may be an "October surprise" news scandal (or events in our personal lives).

[accessible-tumbling]

Video description: The Quora site is displayed and the narrator, who has a British accent and is speaking quickly and excitedly, opens by reading from it: "My MacBook Air weighs 2.3 pounds. If I download more files on it, will it make it heavier?

"This is Quora," he continues. "A place where once grand intellectual questions would be mused over. But if you recall, 2 years ago we sadly bid farewell to our friend, Yahoo Answers, a place where those sorts of questions didn't happen, and in that time it seems many Yahoo users have made Quora their new home.

"Do chimpanzees get pregnant? Does anyone live on the sun? How high do planes fly when landing? What percentage of people are going to die? Do lesbians get periods?"

(A response to that question is read in a gruff tone:) "Oh, come on! Where the hell are you getting that question?"

"You are sleeping with your partner and suddenly realize that he/she is a ghost. What would you do? Are there werewolves in Texas? Why does the sausage have two ends? What happens to the time it takes to actually time travel into the past/future? Which hole does an actress push out a baby in a birth sense?"

(Another answer is read:) "She doesn't. She acts."

"I heard that in the Middle Ages, nobles used to wipe their butts with ducklings. Is that right?"

(Response, gruffly:) "No!"

"Is it true that pregnant women should not sleep during a lunar or solar eclipse as it may cause harm to the unborn?"

(Response:) "No. That's the dumbest thing I ever heard."

"Can I sue Germany for putting my grandfather in prison for 7 years in the second world war?"

(Response:) "No, no, no, no, no!"

"Can you think of a sentence that contains the words 'book' and 'crabs'?"

(Response:) "Well, yes, I can."

"Why does the 'bros' abbreviation for 'brothers' end in 's' instead of 'th'?"

(Response:) "Because that would spell 'broth'."

"Do rich people get embarrassed that their servants know what their stuff in the toilet looks like?"

(Response:) "This is a very weird question."

"What happens when we wash vessel and use it with water in which a lizard was dead? Is it poisonous? What can we do?"

(Response:) "Uhh..."

"Why does the United States promote homosexuality and not consider what happened in the petrified village of Pompeii?"

(Response:) "Wha…?"

"How can I have sex with Asia?"

(Response:) "Pretty sure you mean an Asian girl."

"Is Israel on the world map? Are the Irish really from Ireland? My son speaks Arabic. (in a panicked, shouting tone:) What do I do? Does India have airports?"

(Response:) "Putin came to India in 2014 swimming in the ocean. I have a photo to prove." (A flash of a picture of Putin swimming can be seen briefly at this point in the video.)

"Where do animals live? Why are things? What is my date of birth? Do you know a microscope? Real mathematicians (in all caps): I have 5 live cows and then I multiply them by 0. How then do you come and tell me that I end up with 0? Where did the 5 go? Which is larger: 0 or 2+7? Math math what is angle?

(Narrator comment: "I do believe this Quora user was intending to ask 'what are the names of the most powerful angels?' but…) What are the names of moist powerful angles? I'm an atheist who believes in God. What should I do? Why do atheists watch fiction movies? During airplane turbulence, how do atheists keep calm?"

(Narrator comment: "This question I could only find an old link for, even Quora went nowhere, not even, that is way too stupid:) How do atheists know what foods are 'sweet' versus 'sour' or 'bitter'?

"I am 11 and stand at 5 foot 2. Am I obese? Do celebrities fart? What's the meaning of a single white egg left at my door? (narrator's comment: that is weird.)

"My mom slapped her own bum in front of me what does that mean? Is this correct, 'similarvgbhujkljhgtyhujk'? Why is Zelda so 'thicc' in Breath of the Wild? Do demons always say 'I am a demon' when they are introduced? Is it possible to balance your entire body on your penis?"

(Response:) " Yes, but I'm scared of heights."

"I saw the cop the gay eating a raw bird in my backyard. What should I do?" (Narrator comment: "I became a bit obsessed with this question, it's so indecipherable and googled it for clues to find apparently there was much debate on the site about whether this was a weird autocorrect from 'cat'. Which word was supposed to be cat?")

"Can deaf people laugh out loud? Can deaf people do surfing? How do def people know what facial expressions look like and how they're used outside of American Sign Language (ASL)? If so, how do they learn about them if there's no way to see someone else make that face?" (Narrator comment: "I mean, I don't think there's any intelligent questions actually left on this site, is there? Who's asking 'Can music cause candle to light?' Obviously, no!")

"Do people still eat mashed potatoes? (Yes!) Can semen travel up your foot? (No,, it cannot.) Is the word 'stay asleep' alwasy spelled 'J'? (I don't even know what that means.) Do lobsters pee from their faces? (Uh, ugh, are you mad? Obviously no!)"

(Response:) "Yes, as others have pointed out, many crustaceans have two different types of excretory organs, both near the head. Usually only one is used, depending on the age of the animal. Lobsters and crabs, etc, use their urine smell like cats, to mark territory, warn rivals, etc." (Uh..oh.)"

The screen goes white and the scene transitions to footage of the narrator walking up to a door. He places an egg on the mat, then runs away.

End video description.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Proba-3 becomes two: Satellites successfully separate

Last night, a crucial step in the European Space Agency's eclipse-making Proba-3 mission was completed: the two spacecraft, flying jointly since launch, have successfully separated. This leaves them ready to begin their cosmic dance in the world's first-ever precision formation-flying mission.

The two Proba-3 platforms remained attached together for six weeks following their 5 December 2024 launch on a four-stage PSLV-XL rocket from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India.

The mission control team at ESA's European Space Security and Education Center in Redu, Belgium managed the initial in-orbit commissioning during this stage. The team uses four ground antennas in Australia, Chile and Spain to communicate with the spacecraft.

Last night, 14 January, at 23:00 GMT (15 January 00:00 CET), the pair successfully separated from each other while flying 60,000 km above Earth at a speed of 1 km per second.

Proba-3 mission manager Damien Galano describes the critical milestone: "The separation relied on a well-known technology, routinely used when a spacecraft separates from its launcher. The two Proba-3 spacecraft were held together by a clamp-band, which is essentially a belt tightened around two metal rings, each attached to one spacecraft. Once the clamp was released, the two satellites started slowly drifting away from each other."

Although the clamp-band technology is not new, performing this kind of separation at spacecraft level—as opposed to the spacecraft/launcher separation—is uncommon, as not many satellites are launched while attached together in this way.

"Now, the two platforms will drift up to 50 km away from each other. Over the coming week, we will determine their relative positions, then use their propulsion systems to stop this drift and bring them back into a stable, safe configuration," Damien adds.

In their most precise formation, scheduled to be achieved initially in about two months' time, the two Proba-3 spacecraft will be flying 150 m apart, the equivalent of one and a half football pitches, and will need to maintain their relative position down to a single millimeter, for up to six hours at a time. The distance will be maintained by a sophisticated set of propulsion and navigation systems working together using on-board autonomy.

The mission will demonstrate this level of precision by creating artificial solar eclipses in orbit. The Occulter satellite will cast a shadow onto the main optical instrument of the Coronagraph satellite, allowing it to study the elusive solar corona.

Multiple sensors, including a laser-based system, will ensure that the shadow of just 8 cm across created by the occulting disk will remain on the sensitive coronagraph instrument positioned 150 meters away. In this precise configuration, the two satellites will be mimicking a single, giant spacecraft.

As the next step following separation, the flight control team will now make sure all systems on both spacecraft are running smoothly in preparation for the operational phase of the mission, due to begin in March.

TOP IMAGE: ESA's double-satellite Proba-3 mission. For six hours per 19.5 hour orbit, the pair will line up so that the Occulter spacecraft casts a shadow upon the Coronagraph spacecraft to open up the sun's corona atmosphere for sustained observation. Credit: ESA-P. Carril

CENTRE IMAGE: Credit: ESA-F. Zonno

LOWER IMAGE: Proba-3 Occulter eclipsing sun for Coronagraph. Credit: ESA-P. Carril

[witchoftheouachitas]

April 8th, 2024 New Moon Total Solar Eclipse Manifestations:

This celestial event is in the sign of Aries, the zodiac’s symbol of release & rebirth, taking action, endings & new beginnings, resistance & revolution. This eclipse is a prime time for humanity to do the work to abolish oppression and manifest universal peace, love, compassion, joy, healing, and liberation for all.

Under the power of this eclipse, We are focusing our thoughts and actions to manifest an end to the oppressive old world during this 21st century to bring in a new world and reality of universal peace, love, compassion, joy, healing, and liberation. We are all awakening to the divinity that lives within each and every one of us, inspiring us to take action to recycle the old oppressive world and transmute its negativity into the new universally liberated world that we all long for.

During this 21st century, We will put an end to the ongoing Palestinian genocide and colonization of Palestine, as well as the Zionist regime, Christian nationalism, Christian supremacy, Christofascism, and more. All individuals, organizations, corporations, and entities that enable Palestinian (and all other) oppression will have their influence, resources, capital, and power banished from them; these enablers will also receive sufficient divine punishment for their numerous crimes.

The Collective will continue to awaken, being enlightened with divine light, wisdom, and spiritual clarity. We are all open to channeling and transmitting the loving, peaceful, and liberating energy of the divine for the highest good of all! We will no longer support any individual, organization, corporation, or entity that enables and supports any form of oppression. The Collective is screaming for Palestine, Hawai’i, Turtle Island, Aotearoa, Congo, Sudan, Somalia, Yemen, Lebanon, Turkey, India, Iran, Iraq, Australia—DURING THIS 21ST CENTURY, EVERYONE WILL BE FREE TO EXPERIENCE THE UNIVERSAL LIBERATION WE HAVE ALL WORKED FOR!

With the renewing power of this eclipse, We the Collective will abolish all forms of oppression that run rampant throughout our universe, including the colonization of Turtle Island, Aotearoa, Palestine, Australia, and other lands; slavery, violence, land theft, war, crusades, genocide, cultural erasure, ecocide, racism, sexism, queerphobia, xenophobia, capitalism, classism, ableism, poverty, mass hunger, homelessness, and more. All these forms of oppression will cease to exist in the new reality of universal liberation thanks to the perseverant efforts of the Collective.

Humanity and all other organisms that We share the earth with (with the help of our ancestors, spirit guides, deities, what have you-) will collectively do the work to manifest us all a reality of universal love, peace, compassion, joy, healing, & liberation; this reality includes ecological restoration, land back, and decolonization; liberation of all indigenous peoples, cultures, lands, and languages; abolishing all forms of religious and spiritual oppression including sexism, queerphobia, xenophobia, racism, colonization, “mission work,” compulsory spiritual conversion, genocide, and more; abolishing capitalism and all other oppressive economic systems; promoting food sovereignty, climate change mitigation, and poverty reduction through local sustainable farming and foraging, native agroecology, agroforestry, and regenerative/indigenous farming; making sure everyone has a healthy home; taking care of ourselves *and* others; ensuring the survival of rural communities; ensuring the survival of all life on our planet.

In the 21st century of this Age of Aquarius, the Collective will ultimately manifest the abolishment of all oppression and the creation of universal peace, love, compassion, joy, healing, and liberation.

And it is so.

[clarynewme]

Hi 👋 new follower here

My initial is N,she/her. I am from Imphal, India

My D.O.B is 13th December, 2001

Time of birth : 8:42 pm IST

I would like to know about my future husband.

Thank you 😊

Hi😊 For your reading I am going to use mostly vedic astrology.

First and foremost , we are having taurus jupiter transiting your 7th lord saturn in 9th house taurus in D1 chart, this indicates you might meet your fs or long term partner this year, maybe through travel/education or he could be a foreigner or from a different culture/ethnicity/religion.

NOTE1: Taurus jupiter is transiting until next year 9 june 2025 só 2025 is a good chance as well.

MOON CHART (considering moon as rising)

Additionally taurus Jupiter is transiting 7th house from scorpio sun+moon+venus(love) affecting your relationships( luck/meeting a longterm partner or spouse).

Also pisces/virgo rahu/ketu is transiting your 5th house/11th house so you probably going to focus on romance more than friendships. (5th house also means creativity/hobbies/skills/pleasure/fame)

D9 CHART

In your D9 Jupiter (significator of spouse) is in pisces 12th house being affected by pisces/virgo rahu/ketu, possibly confirming meeting your partner through foreign lands (dreams, manisfestation are also relevant).

D7 CHART

Looking at your D7 chart you have saturn (7th lord D1) in aquarius in 9th house (travelling AGAIN could be online/friends/education too), scorpio sun in 6th house.

When jupiter, saturn, rahu/ketu are transiting in the same or opposite sign of sun, saturn, rahu/ketu in D7 chart it indicates a major event might happen during this time of your life like meeting your future spouse or a partner, engagement, pregnancy, career,success,fame, breakup, divorce, moving out, etc.(This technique is by Camila Regina from tiktok).  

DASHA/TIME PERIODS

You are currently running ketu dasha from 2024 to 2031 (actually ketu is conjunct your mercury Darakaraka in D1 chart so this could be a past life partner/soulmate or even an ex). If we dig deeper you are going to enter ketu-ketu-venus dasha from 16 august 2024 till 9 september 2024 (leaning towards eclipse season in september pisces affecting 5th house from moon ). Then you have good chances from 30 october 2024 till 3 january of 2025.

2025 is also relevant cause you will go through jupiter return in gemini👀👀👀, among other factors( saturn transit in pisces affecting 5th house from moon chart --> serious dating).

If you want to know specific time periods or more you can DM me. 

NOTE2: Remember that we might have many soulmates and potential long term partners.

SOLAR RETURN

Since you decided to see 2025 energies I am going to use solar return of 2024/2025.

From the 7th lord sign and 7th house energy we can see what kind of person you will meet,  probably one of his big 3 placements and how your relationship would be.

You actually have 7th house Sagittarius which means this would be a connection based on travel, education, foreign, culture, optimistic, intellectual curiosity, adventure, freedom, respect, discussions about philosophy/beliefs and spirituality/religion, learning together like workshops/classes, open communication, etc. (He could be a foreigner or from a different culture/ethnicity/religion)

With 7th lord taurus jupiter conjunct moon in your 12th house confirms the foreign/travel energy AGAIN and dreams/manisfestation/near water. He could be family oriented, emotional, sensitive,sweet, nurturing, romantic, dreamy, open minded, generous, supportive, guru, motherly, optmistic, funny, wise, creative, intelligent, spiritual,intuitive, writer, poet, psychic, healer; values home, family, childhood, solitude, spirituality, stability; loves travelling, meditation,  arts,etc; could be close to his mother/family. Could be ambivert, only truly opens up to his loved ones, aloof and pessimistic if not managed. Family, spirituality, arts, creativity, emotional/financial security, healing could be strong themes in your relationship.You can have a psychic connection,  intuitively knowing what the other is thinking. You can do artistic projects together, maybe you and his mother/family can become very close, travel together in family, family dates, do meditation together or spiritual/religious practices, karaoke nights with family, beach dates, shopping together, spoiling gifts, physical touch, intimacy, watching stars together, sharing secrets, communicating about feelings/trauma/fears, etc. ( 12th house can also represent karmic/soulmate connections.)

However on a negative way could show possessiveness, jealousy, money loss, overspending, addiction (specially shopping), codependency, oversensitivity, exploitation, misunderstandings, depression, anxiety, insomnia, solitude, detachment, confusion, deception(lies/secrets), expectations, idealization, etc.

Balance between solitude and partnerships is crucial.

These aspects I had to research a bit more:

Now 7th lord taurus jupiter 12th house is aspecting scorpio mercury + sun  + ketu in 6th house by 7th aspect so this can show difficulties in balancing the emotional needs, personal desires and  responsibilities, specifically related to learning/spirituality/daily routine/physical and mental health/money/work (you might criticize/nitpick those things; ego clashes; health issues might occur due to overindulgence/overworking/codependency/detachment).

This could be eased by making pratical plans to work creatively together, communicating openly, positive and philosophical discussions, etc.

Lastly 7th lord is aspecting  venus in 8th house capricorn by 9th aspect this actually shows abundance of love/finances/spirituality/family/creative goals. Ypu could work together (capricorn energy).

Furthermore this connection could be very transformative/intense/intimate (twinflames/karmic) growing together.

However one of you might want space and freedom and the other one wants to get closer (stable connection ->venus).

One of his big 3 placements could be same or opposite sign of 7th lord so taurus or scorpio. If you happen to meet someone new before your birthday he could have Sagittarius/gemini in big 3 placements.

DARAKARAKA

In regards to your mula sagittarius mercury Darakaraka in 6th house conjunct ketu your spouse could embody these characteristics: intelligent, go through ups and downs (health/work majorly), transformative, intense, mysterious, deep communicator , analytical, while he might enjoy work/daily routine and health/selfcare but might detach from it or feel lazy, sociable, friendly, lucky, fortunate, optimistic,curious, youthful, persuasive, spiritual/religious, tricky, flirty, well educated (have a high education),intelligent, dualistic, honest/blunt, loves travelling/philosophy/adventure/freedom, adventurous, seeks the truth(hidden), service oriented, good sense of humor, know it all, anxious, health issues maybe related to digestive system/kidney (those could happen during his life doesn't have to be serious), nitpicking, critical, pessimist, neat freak, etc. 

DK is aspecting gemini jupiter+rahu in 12th house which indicates learning about spirituality/creativity, intellectual discussions about dreams,spiritual beliefs, creative goals and emotions. But jupiter is debilitated and rahu in 12th house could indicate confusion/illusion, scattered thoughts and ideas, anxiety, solitude, pessimism, fears and traumas (for example writing blocks, fear of expressing himself/exploring occult or spirituality, deep connections etc).

JUPITER

Jupiter is also significator of spouse/marriage, your jupiter is in ardra gemini: blunt, striking, transformative, intense, chaotic emotions/mind, intelectual, emotional,  curious, communicative, flirty,  charming, dual, flexible, talented, mimicking impressions, etc. Examples of ardra natives are Taylor Swift, Taeyong (NCT), Ariana Grande, Drake, Robert Pattinson, etc.

7TH LORD D1

Your 7th lord rohini taurus saturn it's in 11th house. This means your partner could be beautiful, famous, attractive, well dressed, influential, ambitious, stable, wealthy, creative, romantic, possessive, youthful, curious, goal oriented, leader, loves spirituality/arts/technology/nature; values independence/freedom, luxury, comfort and money; could have older/wiser friends,  mirror you (twinflame/soulmate energies -> opposite your scorpio moon), serious, strict, controlling, jealous, etc. This also shows a strong focus on creative partnerships and doing business together. (artistic activities, community activities, service/charities/activism, online games,groups, going out with friends, social media, etc) This gives me friends to lovers and slow burn due to 11th house and saturn energy. With saturn energy there can also be a delay in financial gains and fame/sucess (for you/spouse). You can also marry later after your saturn return.

Your 7th lord is aspecting sun+moon+ venus scorpio in 5th house by 7th aspect. This can show problems when balancing friendships and romantic relationships, personal desires VS social responsibilities/society expectations, union vs freedom, etc.

There could be emotional conflicts/misunderstandings, jealousy from friends (third party situation), and power struggles.

Finally 7th lord is aspecting aquarius mars in 6th house indicating challenges related to health, work, enemies, routine. Friends can actually help you  solve those issues. There is competition involved as well. This can be resolved with understanding, patience, pratical thinking and plans.

7TH LORD D9

7th lord in D9 nakshatra and sign could also show future spouse characteristics and how will be the marriage.

You have 7th lord sun in pisces uttara bhadrapada so there is another strong confirmation of spirituality/travelling/creativity/stability; Spouse can be social, communicative, adaptable, wise, caring, supportive, charming, intelligent, dualistic, famous, generous, overgiving, oversensittive, nurturing, optimistic, emotional, grounded, ambitious, stable, spiritual, values family/father, respected, flexible, creative, etc.

APPEARANCE + CAREER + SYMBOLISM

When it comes to appearance fs would have attractive/thin legs; beautiful/ high pitched voice or strained/hoarse; thin/long neck; muscular, stocky; short to average height; have reddish or dark features; prominent ankles,knees; defined/short/bulky unique private parts; piercings/tattoos on legs or ankles maybe, etc(You can find more from Camila Regina tiktok🤌)

For your future spouse career I am trying out this tecnique the 10th sign from 7th lord in D1 or D9 could indicate possible fields: 

D1 Aquarius (with mars)  so anything related to leadership, education, spirituality, technology, engineering, healthcare, alternative medicine, arts, creativity, research and development, entrepreneur, environment, science, politics, social service and community, charities,etc.

D9 Sagittarius (with mars) anything related to spirituality, philosophy, law, teaching  education, travel, tourism, sports, fitness, adventure sports, entrepreneur, leader, politics, social/community service, education, research, academic, media and communication, etc

Regarding your meeting, pay attention to symbolisms of these signs: 

Scorpio:occult, night, dark, hospital, funeral, nightclub, scorpion, mall, death,sting, surgery, private, secret, spiritual, blind date, transformative place, intimacy, etc

Taurus: nature, food, restaurant, luxury, jewel, bull, shopping, finances, bank, dirt, slow, Redbull, concert,music, voice, arts, etc

Sagittarius: horse, arrow, Bow, education, travel, foreign, OK cupid, shooting, spirituality, museum, adventure, risk, culture, college, etc.

Gemini: social media, online, siblings, friends, books, double date, duplicate, twins, writing, library, school, nervous, science, relatives, group, etc

Vedic Astrology placements D1/D9 (includes atmakaraka AK):

Aquarius/Leo/Scorpio/Taurus/Gemini/Sagittarius/Aries/Libra/Virgo/Pisces

Mars,rahu, saturn, mercury, jupiter,venus nakshatras/influence

Okay I think I am done😅 I hope you like this reading if you do leave feedback on my page🙏 And let me know if it resonates👌it helps improving my readings🫶💜

[kumamedia]

Redesign time! Helium, the element, was first discovered in India, in the middle of a solar eclipse-- I think a stylized (saree?) fits into the Noble Gas group quite nicely. I also wanted her design to compliment Hydrogen a bit, with the big ol' draping ribbon-fabric.

Hetika, placeholder-named, expertly flies through the air as the second-fastest of the Elementals. Because there's very little helium in our atmosphere, she carries balloons with her to give herself energy/power boosts while out on the field.

I think this redesign is a huge step in the right direction, but I still feel like we're missing something...

(previous Elemental Helium)

[ferventrabbit]

Ao3 Fics

Hello hello! I thought I'd pin a post of my works on Ao3 :-). Here are the pairings I write:

Hannibal: Hannibal/Will Good Omens: Aziraphale/Crowley Interview with the Vampire: Lestat/Louis Our Flag Means Death: Ed/Stede Red White and Royal Blue: Alex/Henry

Fic Key

🎨 Art Available

🤝 Collaboration

🎙️ Podfic Available

Series

🐭 Hannibal: Disney for Cannibals

🏝️ Our Flag Means Death: Exit Zero

🏡 Our Flag Means Death: Tales from a Seaside Inn

✨ Our Flag Means Death: Written in the Stars

Completed longer works (>5k)

Hannibal

🐭 Tale as Old As Time (M): "I would consider very carefully before moving any further, Will," says Hannibal. Will can feel the mirth dancing in time with Molly's pulse. "What am I considering?" A great perhaps," he says. If he could learn to love another, the spell would be broken. But who could ever learn to love a beast? (24.7k)

Our Flag Means Death

🎨 Ariadne with art by @babykittenteach (E): While out thrifting for furniture and decorations for the inn, Ed comes across a painting that leads him on a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance. (17.3k)

Down to Fall (E): Stede decides he wants to expand their repertoire, so to speak. Like all things worth having, it's worth working for. (5.9K)

High Point (T): Documentary videographer Ed Teach retired at the top of his game five years ago. An odd request from documentary producer Stede Bonnet has lured him back into the field to join a film crew in the mountains of India. Ed and Stede are looking for a snow leopard, but end up finding something unexpected along the way. (9.6k)

🏡 Old Friends (T): The crew of the Revenge pay the innkeepers a visit. (6.7k)

🎨🎙️ One Day You'll Awaken (T): A sea witch gives Edward Teach a gift - Blackbeard, a shadow, a sentinel - to keep him safe and strong. Her condition? He must keep Blackbeard close, or she will make sure he sleeps soundly forever. Stede Bonnet threatens to ruin her plans. (32.6k)

🎨🤝🎙️✨Paint the Sky with @shieldmaidenofmithrilhall (T): It’s been a month since Ed and Stede met on the top of a mountain during a solar eclipse. Ed’s supposed to meet the kids for the first time this Friday, but a new solar event, the impending aurora borealis, upends their well-laid plans. (8.5k)

🎨 🏝️ Shore Thing with art by @tresdem (E): Stede books a room at The Queen Anne B&B in Cape May, run by mysterious proprietor Blackbeard. His life is about to change again in ways he could never have expected. (36.9k)

Red White and Royal Blue

Once in a Century (E): After the kiss everything goes to utter and complete shit. OR COVID-19 interferes with best laid plans. (23.7k)

Completed one-shots (<5k)

Hannibal

A Terror Quiet Calm (E): Will makes up his mind during Mizumono, when things could have ended differently. A Mizumono fix-it. (1.2k)

Conversion (T): The woodsman notices a presence in the wilderness. A giver of gifts. (2.5k)

Hot Stuff, or The night Hannibal realized he was well and truly whipped (T): Hannibal wakes up to find Will is missing. His search leads to some surprising discoveries. (2.1k)

Into the Dark (G): "In the dark Will looked like a shadow. Hannibal felt the soft sound of Will’s breathing on his skin, tasted it in his throat." Prepare for super creepy times! (1.3k)

Raindrop Prelude (T): Will and Hannibal, on a boat, feeling feels. (1K)

🐭 Poor Unfortunate Soul (M): Will would sell his soul to be rid of the nightmares that plague him. Or, at least, his voice. (4.9k)

Surge (E): "He remembers that look in the kitchen, tries to place it. He’d seen flashes of it in Baltimore: the night of Clark Ingram’s arrest and maybe even the first time they met, glimpsed from the corner of Will’s eye. Then in Italy, seated together at the feet of spring. He doesn’t think about the cliff – can’t, or else his lungs tighten and he feels like he can’t breathe, like he might be dying." (2.3k)

The Tide (M): Based on this prompt: I can’t shake this idea: Hannibal and Will being intimate for the first time and being utterly overwhelmed by it. (1.5k)

🐭 Trust in Me (G): Will is lost in the jungle. He finds refuge in a familiar place. (2.1k)

Until (M): Will is desperate for an end. Hannibal will fight him every step of the way. (1.8k)

Interview with the Vampire

Room for One More (E): Baby Vampire's First Night In. or: Louis is feeling some type of way about sleeping in a coffin, but after some finagling he and Lestat finally get it right. (2.3k)

Good Omens

Hush (M): Aziraphale has returned from heaven, but there are things still left unsaid. Crowley has finally had enough. (2.1k)

Our Flag Means Death

🏝️ A Holly Jersey Christmas (M): Stede arrives at The Queen Anne for a Christmas party with the crew. He's brought a special gift for Ed, and has a surprise or two in store. (7.3k)

A record of the kingly duties of Maximilian, cat about town (T): Maximilian may be a new cat on the island, but it looks like he'll need to teach these clueless human innkeepers a thing or two. This fic is a remix of "Leave a Mark" by dance_across. (1.8k)

🎙️ Anchor (E): Ed assures Stede that their first time was not a mistake, which Stede desperately needs (AND DESERVES) to hear. (1.7k)

🤝 Canvas(s): Not just for sails anymore with @the-widow-olivia (T): Stede is newly divorced and ready to turn over a new leaf. Ed is trying to escape the monotony of his day-to-day life. Sparks fly when they are paired up at a "Get Out The Vote!" event. (6.4k)

Captain's Quarters (G): Ed and Stede platonically share a bed and feel feelings, like pirates do. (2.3k)

Daylight (E): Ed doesn't know what to do with himself when Stede comes back, until he does. (2.1k)

🏡 Filled (E): Stede thinks about what it would be like if he could carry Ed’s child, which leads where all roads lead during Bottom Stede Week. (3.6k)

🏡 Filled Out (E): Ed tries to figure out how he feels about his body post-piracy. A post-season 2 inn fic. (1.6k)

🎙️ The Finer Points (G): Stede expands his fancy pants curriculum to include a simple waltz. (1.9k)

🏡 First Night (E): Truly just an entire fic of Ed and Stede making out in this shitty house. A post-season 2 inn fic. (2.1k)

Five Kisses (E): A chronicle of five important kisses on the good ship Blackbonnet. (2.3k)

🎨🤝🎙️✨ Forever's Gonna Start Tonight with @shieldmaidenofmithrilhall (G): As the total solar eclipse approaches, two strangers meet at the top of a mountain, one with a telescope and one with a picnic basket full of eclipse treats. (5k)

Holdover (E): A PWP in which Stede wears a nightie for one reason and one reason only. (3.5k)

I Feel Pretty (E): Stede engaging in body worship of Ed, his preferred occupation. (1.4k)

Interlude (E): A PWP missing scene from 2x08 because BOYFRIENDS. (1.7k)

Leather and Silk (E): A PWP based on the “leather and silk” bts we received from Samba 🙏. (1.6k)

Midnight on the Revenge (G): Literally just a smol fic about Stede holding Ed until he falls asleep because I need that, okay? (1k)

🤝 Milkmaid with @dracothelizard (E): Stede remembers the little song he and Ed sang at the floating market, and Ed decides it’s as good a day as any to show Stede the true meaning of “all things milk.” (4.6k)

🤝 Perfectly Ordinary Tuesday with @petrichorca (M): Dave just wanted a place to sleep for the night, but he gets a lot more than he bargained for when the owners of a seaside inn make him an unwitting participant in their wedding. Will he make it through the ceremony unscathed? And what’s that seagull doing here? (4.9k)

Pinned (E): Ed has been thinking about Calypso's Birthday since they arrived at the inn, specifically about Stede shoving him up against a wall - the strength of his arms, the look in his eyes. Maybe it's finally time to ask for a repeat performance. (2.5k)

🎙️ Reset (E): Ed notices Stede looking at him more than usual, leaving them both a bit hot and bothered. He proposes a failsafe plan to give them both a reset. What could go wrong? Set sometime between 2x05 and 2x06. (5k)

🤝 🎙️ Row Your Boat with @petrichorca (T): A missing scene following the events of season 2, episode 4, “Fun and Games.” Ed’s agreed to come back to the Revenge with Stede for the night, but they’ve got two dinghies to row back to the ship—will the distance between them linger? (3.3k)

🎙️ Skintight (E): Ed wears a set of lingerie that he's kept in the back of his closet before now. Stede does what anyone would do after seeing Ed in lingerie, bless him. (3.7k)

🏡 Soft Open (T): Ed and Stede start sprucing up their inn and welcome Mary and Doug for a soft open. (3.3k)

Storm (G): Stede helps Ed through his grief in the season 2 finale. (1k)

🎙️ Taking it Slow (E): As requested, Stede takes it slow. (2k)

🎙️ That Ship Has Sailed (E): My interpretation of what happened after Calypso's birthday. (2.1k)

The Lube That Fell to Earth (E): A fic in honor of the Astroglide lube-along, in which Ed and Stede are in receipt of a gift from outer space. (4.1k)

🏡 Threshold (T): Ed and Stede take turns carrying each other over the threshold of the inn. Eventually, they cross it together. (2.6k)

🏡 Tucked In (E): Discussion of first times and new discoveries under the Wee John blanket. A post-season 2 inn fic. (2.7k)

Wanted (T): The fuckery after their inevitable discovery at the inn, and what it means for Ed. Written for the #13DaysofCrimesmas! (2.7k)

Wide Awake (M): Five times Stede wakes Ed up, and one time Ed returns the favor. Set throughout seasons 1 and 2. (2.2k)

Works for Spiders, Works for Men (G): Stede rescues Ed from a formidable eight-legged foe. (575)

Works in progress

Good Omens

The Second Coming and Other Heavenly Tales (T): Aziraphale is the new Supreme Archangel of Heaven, and he's made a huge mistake. As Aziraphale navigates a tricky heavenly web, Crowley tries to find a way forward - is there one? - while being periodically interrupted by wishful Bentley songs and transmissions from Alpha Centurai. Can the ineffable duo save Earth from "Plan C?" Will the ducks in St. James' park ever get the good bread again? Join my headcanon for season 3 to find out! (16.5k, 15/20)

Our Flag Means Death

🎨 Life in a Major Key (E): Stede Bonnet loves his job as artistic director of Revenge Community Choir. They might not perform on the biggest stages, but what they don't have in prestige they make up for in heart and gusto. A chance opportunity with the Philadelphia Symphony might be the big break Stede's choir needs. Stede will have to work with illustrious guest conductor Edward Teach to make sure his singers' voices soar. Will the two of them be able to work in harmony? (2.6k, 2/?)

[thepastisalreadywritten]

2 September 2022

Fresh off its success at the moon, India is now headed for the sun.

The nation launched its first-ever solar observatory today (Sept. 2), sending the Aditya-L1 probe skyward atop a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from Satish Dhawan Space Centre at 2:20 a.m. EDT (0620 GMT; 11:50 a.m. local India time).

The PSLV deployed Aditya-L1 into low Earth orbit (LEO) as planned about 63 minutes after liftoff, sparking applause and high fives in mission control.

"Congratulations, India, and congratulations, ISRO [the Indian Space Research Organisation]," Jitendra Singh, India's Minister of State for Science and Technology, said shortly after deployment on ISRO's launch webcast.

"While the whole world watched this with bated breath, it is indeed a sunshine moment for India," Singh added.

The successful launch followed on the heels of another big milestone for India: On August 23, its Chandrayaan-3 mission became the first to land softly near the moon's south pole.

Chandrayaan-3's lander-rover duo are expected to conk out in a week or so, when the harsh lunar night falls at their touchdown site. But Aditya-L1's long journey has just begun.

A long road to a good sun-viewing spot

Aditya-L1 won't stay in LEO forever:

After a series of checkouts, it will use its onboard propulsion system to head toward Earth-sun Lagrange Point 1 (L1), a gravitationally stable spot about 1 million miles (1.5 million kilometers) from our planet in the direction of the sun.

That destination explains the latter part of the mission's name. And the first part is simple enough: "Aditya" translates to "sun" in Sanskrit.

The 3,260-pound (1,480 kilograms) observatory will arrive at L1 about four months from now, if all goes according to plan.

But the long trek will be worth it, according to the ISRO.

"A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the sun without any occultation/eclipses," ISRO officials wrote in an Aditya-L1 mission description.

"This will provide a greater advantage of observing the solar activities and its effect on space weather in real time."

Indeed, another sun-studying spacecraft is already at L1 — the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a joint NASA-European Space Agency mission that launched in December 1995.

(Several other spacecraft, including NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, are at Earth-sun Lagrange Point 2, which is a million miles from Earth, in the direction away from the sun.)

Solar flares, the coronal heating mystery and more

Once it's settled in at L1, the solar probe will use four three science instruments to study the particles and magnetic fields in its immediate surroundings and four others to scrutinize the sun's surface (known as the photosphere) and its atmosphere.

This work will help scientists better understand solar activity, including the dynamics of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), ISRO officials say.

Flares are powerful flashes of high-energy radiation, and CMEs are huge eruptions of solar plasma.

Both types of outburst can affect us here on Earth. Intense CMEs that hit our planet, for example, trigger geomagnetic storms that can disrupt satellite navigation and power grids.

(As a side benefit, such storms also supercharge the gorgeous light shows known as auroras.)

Aditya-L1 will also tackle the "coronal heating problem," one of the biggest mysteries in heliophysics.

The corona — the sun's wispy outer atmosphere — is incredibly hot, reaching temperatures around 2 million degrees Fahrenheit (1.1 million degrees Celsius), according to NASA.

That's about 200 times hotter than the solar surface, which is "only" 10,000 degrees F (5,500 degrees C) or so.

It's still unclear what is responsible for this startling and counterintuitive discrepancy.

(Why would it be hotter away from the sun's core, where the energy-producing nuclear fusion reactions are occurring?)

Aditya-L1 has other science goals as well. For instance, the mission also aims to more fully flesh out the solar wind, the stream of charged particles flowing constantly from the sun, ISRO officials said.

Aditya-L1 will measure the composition of the solar wind and attempt to determine how it is accelerated.

And Aditya-L1 will do all this work on the cheap:

The mission's price tag is about 3.8 billion rupees, or $46 million US at current exchange rates.

That's in the same ballpark as Chandrayaan-3

India's first successful moon-landing mission costs about 6.15 billion rupees, or $74 million US.

For comparison, NASA's most recent big-ticket sun mission, the record-setting Parker Solar Probe, costs roughly $1.5 billion.

This disparity should not be viewed as an indictment of NASA, however; labor costs are much higher in the United States than in India, among other differences between the two nations' economies.

Aditya-L1 is a coronagraphy spacecraft to study the solar atmosphere, designed and developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and various other Indian research institutes.

[ancientcosmicsecrets]

Nagas, the mythical creatures

The Nagas

The Nagas, mythical creatures from Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism, are half-human and half-cobra beings that can be both a threat and a boon to humans. Their name means 'serpent' in Sanskrit, and they reside in Pata-loka or Naga-loka, an underground kingdom adorned with exquisite jewels and stunning palaces. According to legend, Brahma, their creator, sent them underground when they overpopulated the Earth. They only emerge to bite those who are genuinely evil or fated to die prematurely.

The Nagas were a group of people living during the period of the Mahabharata, an epic from India, and were spread across the country. They had a fierce rivalry with the demigod tribes known as Suparnas. The Naga clans in Kerala and Kashmir were believed to be the original and indigenous abode of all Nagas, and cities like Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala and Anantnag in Kashmir stand as testaments to this. In Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism, Nagas can take any shape, but they mostly appear as human beings. They are demigods associated with water and treasure. Lord Shiva, the most powerful god in the Hindu pantheon, wears a garland, anklets, and armlets made of snakes.

Snakes also serve to decorate and protect the gods Bhairav and Mahakala. Ananta, the thousand-headed Naga, protects Kali, the Hindu goddess of destruction. In Hindu myths, Nagas defend the gods and even serve as their resting place. Nagas also safeguard doors, windows, and temple walls, making their carvings and sculptures a common sight in Hindu temples. Female Nagas, referred to as Nagis or Naginis, belong to serpent royalty and are renowned for their breathtaking beauty. They hail from dynasties, including Manipur in northeastern India, Pallavas in southern India, and Indochina's ancient ruling Funan family. The Hindu canon contains several references to beings from other planets.

For example, the Bhagavata Purana, one of the 18 significant Puranas from a Vaishnava perspective, mentions other beings. The creation of the universe is described in detail in Canto 3, the universe in Canto 5, and battles between demigods and demons on other planets are detailed in Canto 8. The Mahabharata also extensively mentions beings on different planets. The Panchang, an ancient Indian calendar, has evolved in Indian astronomy over the past 5000 years. It predicts the exact time of lunar and solar eclipses and the dates and times of all our festivals from time immemorial. It continues to be widely followed in India. The star positions for all significant events in the Mahabharata and Ramayana, two major Indian epics, are also given.

Modern astronomers have dated these positions and found them to be internally consistent. Surprisingly, our ancient story of Dasavatharam, which mentions the ten avatars of Vishnu, also describes the evolution of life from fish to amphibians, animals, half-animal/half-human creatures, short, intelligent humanoids, forest-dwelling axe-men, ideal homo sapiens, wise politicians, and finally, Buddha. Darwin's theory mirrors this up until the homosapien. The tenth avatar, Kalki, is believed to be the technically adept human of tomorrow. Finally, a 16th-century hymn called the Hanuman Chalisa describes the distance to the Sun. It states that one yuga, an epoch, equals 4.32 million years. The Hanuman Chalisa claims that the Sun is at a distance of 100 crore yojanas from the Earth, with one yojana equating to about eight miles, which translates to 800 million miles.

Ancient references mention that the Earth and other planets orbit the Sun and that the size of our solar system is close to the same as it is now. Various texts also discuss the nature of time, reality, and consciousness. Modern science is validating these ideas one by one.

[blrowanducks-blog]

Exploring the word CHAKRAVARTIN and its symbolic associations:

The term chakravartin, usually translated as 'universal monarch or emperor', literally means 'wheel-turner' or 'a wheel that travels everywhere without obstruction'. The prefix 'chakra' or wheel is a familar term but has various interpretations. It can refer to the fiery wheel of the sun, or the sun god's chariot of two wheels (heaven and earth), which rides through the sky drawn by seven horses, representing the seven days of the week. As an emblem of Vishnu it is the discus, which appears as an auspicious sign on the palms and soles of divine beings. As a unit of land measure the chakra refers to the whole of a land's surface area, from coast to coast. This is implied in descriptions of the chakra touching the rim of the horizon, or the encircling perimeter of land seen as a disc from a central vantage point. The turning of the wheel symbolises both secular and religious authority; it denotes change, movement, extension, conquest, and the formation of a new ethical and moral order. The deliverance and transmission of the Buddhist teachings are known as 'turning the wheel of dharma'.

When Shakyamuni Buddha was born the great seer Asita interpreted the miraculous events and auspicious marks on the baby's body as divine indications that the child was destined to become either a chakravartin or an enlightened Buddha; temporal or spiritual sovereignty lay in the child's destiny. There was a choice, the pendulum could swing either way. It was for this reason that Shakyamuni's father, King Shuddhodana, endeavoured to keep his son away from the harsh realities of life, cocooning him in the opulence of sensual gratification and the illusion that youth, vitality, and beauty are eternal delights. Curiosity beckoned the young prince to venture beyond his golden cage, where he witnessed the god sent apparitions of old age, disease, and death. The realisation that suffering was man's lot tore asunder the illusory veil of eternalism and materialism. What could it profit a man to gain the whole world if in the end one's soul was lost in the deterioration of old age, disease, and death and decompostion? In the face of such blatant impermanence there was no longer any choice for the young prince. World domination was the ultimate illusion; only self-enquiry into the root cause of suffering and the nature of the mind, the eternal quest, could lead to the ultimate understanding of reality.

The concept of the chakravartin probably arose from the Vaishnavite ideal of the mahapurusha or 'great man', which in turn had its origins in the Vedic and Puranic epics of ancient India. Such a being is destined to become a world leader and, like the Buddha, there can only be one chakravartin in the world at any one time. Auspicious events and astrological configurations precede the birth of a chakravartin, reminding one of the journey of the three Magi to Jesus's birthplace seeking the one 'who would be born king of the Jews'. The role of the Messiah in ancient Judaism also referred to both a temporal and spiritual sovereignty.

Thirty-two major marks and eighty minor marks appear on the body of a chakravartin. These include: slightly webbed fingers and toes; retracted sexual organs; a fleshy protuberance (ushnisha) on the head; lion-like chest, thighs, and jaws; soft smooth skin; pliant hands and feet; and a thousand spoked wheel mark on the soles of the feet. The mother of a chakravartin usually dies shortly after his birth, as was the case with Queen Maya, Shakyamuni's mother. A total eclipse of the sun is believed to coincide with the death of the chakravartin as the sun itself is represented as the personification of the chakravartin. The Asiatic concept of the 'solar death' of the chakravartin finds a parallel in the midday darkness at Jesus's crucifixion, which is believed to have been

caused by a total eclipse of the sun. The birth of a chakravartin heralds the onset of seven wealths or abundances which arise in the realm: a wealth of faith, morality, honesty, modesty, learning, renunciation, and wisdom. At the time of his birth his seven precious jewels or possessions also appear simultaneously: the precious wheel, jewel, queen, minister elephant, horse, and general. These seven possessions are the property of the chakravartin, and karmically come into existence as his mandala The wheel and jewel are both symbols of his temporal and spiritual majesty, and the miraculous means of its accomplishment. The horse and elephant, as symbols of inexhaustible speed and strength, are his vehicles. The queen, minister and general are his trinity of love wisdom, and power, their fidelity, his blessing.

An auxiliary or lesser group of seven royal jewels also acompanies the rule of the chakravartin. These are the sword, the naga skin, the throne, the robes, the boots, the royal house ar palace, and the palace gardens. These seven secondary jewels represent the material inheritance or attributes of the chakravartin.

A third group of seven auspicious royal jewels also occur as insignia or emblems of the chakravartin's possessions. These comprise the rhinoceros horn, the square earrings of the minister, a branch of precious coral, the round earrings of the queen, the insignia of the general, a pair of elephants tusks, and a triple-eyed gem enclosed in a trefoil gold mount. These seven symbols represent the precious horse, minister, wheel, queen, general, elephant, and jewel respectively. As a single composite group these seven insignia are very commonly placed as offerings before deities, usually appearing amongst piles or lines of coloured, oval-shaped jewels.

The investiture of the chakravartin as ruler was ceremoniously conferred by anointing him with water drawn from the four directional oceans or lakes surrounding his realm. Similarly tantric initiation into a mandala requires the disciple to be sprinkled with water from five vases placed at the mandala's centre and four cardinal directions. The mandala palace itself is modelled on the divine four gated palace of the chakravartin. The Dravidian temples of southem India, the Mesopotamian ziggurat, the Chinese impe- rial palace of the forbidden city, and the royal Persian palace. all comprise architectural ideals comparable to the divine abode of the chakravartin or universal monarch.

Alexander the Great, whose thirteen-year conquest extended his empire westward from Greece and Egypt to the Indus river, may have been seen as a secular chakravartin. Yet his untimely death from fever in 323 BC, at the age of thirty-three, put an end to his potential divinity. The Indian Buddhist emperor Ashoka, who ruled over two thirds of India between 273 and 232 BC, was a far more worthy can- didate. A bloodthirsty military campaign sickened the victorious Ashoka, Renouncing violence he adopted Buddhism, and from his capital city of Pataliputra (near modern day Patna in Bihar state) he sent out Buddhist monks to proclaim the dharma in all directions. Historically, after Shakyamuni himself, the emperor Ashoka was the most important figure in the propagation of Buddhism. Around the beginning of the second century AD, Kanishka, the emperor of the Kushana dynasty, advanced Ashoka's example. From his capital city of Purushupura (now Peshawar), Kanishka introduced Buddhism into Afghanistan and the Swat,

Gandhara, and Kashmir areas of northwest India (now Pakistan). From Gandhara some of the earliest Buddha images evolved, interestingly sculpted in the Greek style by the descendants of Alexander the Great, producing the classic Buddha image.

The chakravartin is, first and foremost, a righteous universal monarch who rules purely through compassion and wisdom. The divine human form realises its perfection in the nondual identification of the chakravartin and bodhisattva ideals.

Just as the sambhogakaya forms of bodhisattvas and goddesses are endowed with the thirty-two major and eighty minor marks of a divine being or chakravartin, so are they likewise attired in the silk robes and ornamental gold jewellery of the ancient Indian kings, princes or princesses. Bodhisattvas are the 'spiritual sons' or princes of the Five Buddhas, they are crowned by them, and as symbols of their investiture bear the image or syllable of their parent Buddha on the crown of their heads. Their golden thrones are modelled on the square-based pedestal thrones of ancient Indian kings, and frequently placed before their thrones are the seven insignia of the chakravartin. Bodhisattvas and goddesses are apparelled in the thirteen sambhogakaya ornaments of a chakravartin, five of which are fashioned of coloured silk, and eight of which are wrought of precious stones and metals. The five silk attires consist of a white upper bodice with gold-embroidered patterns made from Benares silk or muslin (kashikamsuka); a rainbow' or multicoloured skirt or dhoti (panchalika); a yellow silk scarf worn as a sash over one shoulder; a variegated ribbon binding the crown or tiara; and a long blue scarf draped over the shoulders.

The eight precious jewellery ornaments consist of a five jewelled tiara made of natural and divine jewels; golden earrings; a short necklace around the neck; a medium necklace reaching to the level of the heart; a long necklace reaching below the navel; bracelets and armlets; anklets; and a jewelled belt with little silver bells. On peaceful bodhisattvas and goddesses these eight jewelled ornaments are usually condensed into a group of six, representing the six perfections or paramitas of patience (earrings), generosity (necklaces), discipline (bracelets, armlets, and anklets), effort (belt), meditation (jewelled tiara), and wisdom (a divine or flaming jewel above the hair-knots). Semi-wrathful male deities wear the equivalent earrings, necklaces, bracelets, armlets, and anklets, and belt, as bone ornaments, with a bone wheel at the crown of the head symbolising medita- tion, and cemetery ash applied to the forehead symbolising wisdom. Semi-wrathful female goddesses wear only the five bone ornaments; they are not adorned with cemetery ash as their form itself symbolises the perfection of wisdom.

The attributes of the chakravartin are very ancient symbols, dating back to before the time of Shakyamuni, more than two and a half thousand years ago. Other auspicious groups, such as the eight auspicious symbols and the eight symbols of good fortune, originated at a similar point in time. Their meaning and relevance have inevitably become diluted over the course of more than twenty-five centuries; the concept of monarchy itself has virtually collapsed over the last few decades. Yet the transposition of these symbols has remained intact, even though their original utilitarian purposes may now seem extremely redundant.

When Buddhism entered Tibet from India its entire symbolic content entered simultaneously. The depiction of Indian Buddhist deities dressed in the flimsy silks of Indian royalty was a foreign import into Tibet. The same is true of its vast array of jewelled ornaments, offerings, symbols, and motifs. They became indigenous by the philosophical values placed upon them as 'pure symbols', self-existent in their own right as visual encapsulations of the Buddhist teachings. Some fashions change, other traditions endure; hopefully the Buddhas will never be depicted in denim and trainers. The wheel moves on, yet it is always circular and cannot exist without its hub, spokes, and rim.

[geeknik]

10 Weird Phenomena Unleashed During a Solar Eclipse: A Prelude to North America’s “Ring of Fire”

As celestial bodies choreograph their cosmic dance, every now and then they align in a way that captivates onlookers from below. Solar eclipses, one of nature’s most theatrical displays, never cease to enchant. Tomorrow, on October 14, 2023, parts of North America will stand witness to an awe-inspiring “ring of fire” eclipse. As the moon slides between the sun and the Earth, it will craft a fiery halo, leaving spectators in awe. But apart from the visual spectacle, solar eclipses tend to unleash a range of peculiar phenomena. Here are ten weird things associated with solar eclipses, underscoring the oddities that occur when day momentarily turns into night.

1. Animal Behavior Alterations

Various species exhibit bewildering behavior during solar eclipses. For instance, birds may cease flying and seek refuge in nests, while daytime insects like bees and butterflies might be seen heading back to their shelters. Nocturnal animals could become active, deceived by the sudden darkness. Observations of such responses underscore the keen sensitivity of fauna to light and celestial events.

2. Shifting Shadows

As the moon inches over the sun, the usual shadows transform. They might appear sharper initially, but as the eclipse approaches its peak, unusual shadow patterns emerge. The gaps between leaves act as pinhole cameras, projecting mini crescent suns on the ground below.

3. Temperature Drop

The sun’s temporary concealment results in a noticeable temperature drop, often referred to as eclipse cooling. The extent of cooling depends on various factors including the time of year, geographic location, and eclipse magnitude. It’s a natural reminder of our constant reliance on solar warmth.

4. Baily’s Beads

Named after British astronomer Francis Baily, this phenomenon occurs when the moon’s jagged terrain allows beads of sunlight to seep through in some places while blocking others. It creates a visual akin to a string of glowing beads around the moon’s silhouette.

5. Solar Eclipse Wind

The sudden cooling during an eclipse often induces a change in wind direction and speed, creating a peculiar wind known as eclipse wind. It’s believed to result from variations in atmospheric pressure and temperature caused by the eclipse.

6. Shadow Bands

These elusive, snake-like bands of alternating light and dark slither across the ground immediately before and after totality. It’s believed that they are caused by the Earth’s atmosphere scattering the rapidly diminishing sunlight.

7. Diamond Ring Effect

A breathtaking sight where, for a fleeting moment, a single bead of sunlight remains visible as the moon covers the sun. This “diamond” sits atop a ring formed by the corona, creating the illusion of a diamond ring in the sky.

8. Corona Unveiling

The solar corona, characterized by its ethereal, wispy strands of light, is the sun’s outer atmosphere which is usually obscured by the sun’s bright surface. During totality, spectators are treated to a rare, splendid view of the corona which can stretch out for millions of miles into space.

9. Gravity Anomalies

Some studies have reported slight gravitational anomalies during solar eclipses. For instance, during the 1954 solar eclipse, a pendulum experiment in India recorded anomalous behavior. However, the phenomenon is not well understood and remains a topic of active research.

10. Enhanced Galactic Sightings

The temporary nightfall brought about by a solar eclipse allows for a brief but spectacular visibility of stars and planets normally hidden by daylight. This fleeting glimpse into the cosmos provides a wider perspective of our position in the galaxy.

Conclusion

The “ring of fire” eclipse is not merely a visual marvel, but a trigger for a myriad of bizarre phenomena that remind us of the intricate and sometimes peculiar ties between celestial bodies and our home planet. As the sky darkens momentarily, the curtain lifts, unveiling a brief act of oddities that celebrate the endless wonders of the cosmos. So, as you step out to witness the eclipse, you’re not just observing a celestial alignment, but becoming part of a tradition of awe and wonder that has persisted through the ages.

[spacetimewithstuartgary]

Proba-3 will use laser for millimeter precision in space

ESA's double-spacecraft precision formation flying mission, Proba-3, is due to be launched from India on 4 December. The spacecraft pair will employ a set of positioning technologies to keep formation in space and this image shows the most precise: a laser shone from one platform to a retroreflector on the other. The reflected laser beam will provide positioning precision down to a single millimeter.

This infrared view of the reflected laser beam was acquired during on-ground calibration testing performed by ESA, MDA and Center Spatial de Liège personnel which took place at Redwire Space in Kruibeke, Belgium, back in February.

The goal of the mission is to achieve artificial solar eclipses on demand, as Proba-3's Occulter spacecraft casting a precisely-controlled shadow onto its Coronagraph spacecraft for six hours at time.

To maintain the position of a shadow just 8 cm across on the Coronagraph satellite from the Occulter satellite around 150 m away, the two satellites rely on multiple sensors, including inter-satellite radio links, Global Navigation Satellite System receivers, visual imaging of LEDs and—for the most precise positioning at closest range—a laser metrology (or "measurement of measurement") system.

The laser is seen being fired from the Occulter spacecraft towards the Coronagraph's retroreflector, designed to reflect it back in precisely the same direction it originated from. In addition, a set of Shadow Position Sensors located around the coronagraph aperture will ensure the shadow remains in the correct position.

This mission is being put together for ESA by a consortium led by Spain's SENER, with participation by more than 29 companies from 14 countries. The Proba-3 platforms have been designed by Airbus Defense and Space in Spain and satellite integration by Redwire in Belgium. GMV in Spain is responsible for Proba-3's formation flying subsystem, while its main coronagraph instrument comes from Belgium's Center Spatial de Liège, CSL.

Proba-3 is due to be launched via PSLV-XL launcher by the Indian Space Research Organization, ISRO.