§ With revisions
In observation of the lunar shaktis, I will call the visible constellations by their graphic or story-book names, RAM, BULL, TWINS, rather than the Greco-Latin names used in astrology, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc. Each constellation of the Tantric Zodiac can be correlated to Mahavidyas (MV) or Diamond Sky Dakinis (DSD).
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CONSTELLATIONS with Shakti Cluster Correlations RAM: Chinnamasta (Buddhist Cinnamunda) MV NOTE: These are the real-sky constellations of the Zodiac, visible to the naked eye, not the invisible astrological signs. |
These correlations are somewhat, with doubling and striking inconsistencies. They are not rigid, logical correspondences that can be locked into a strict framework. Working with the lunar shaktis over time inspires great respect in the fluidic and metamorphic properties of time and imagination. Nevertheless, according to my practice to far, this is the way that dakini instruction will play out following the lunar cycles.
Note that there are thirteen visible constellations in the zodiac, not twelve. And these vast animations are irregular in shape and extent, not even, pizza-like slices of the sky. The thirteenth constellation is Ophiuchus, the Snaketamer, a shamanic figure wrestling a python-like snake. The corresponding devata is Parnashavari, “the Leaf-Clad Lady.”
Note also that of the 18 entities in the Shakti Cluster, only 14 match the zodiacal parameters. There is no correlation for the Mahavidya Dhumavati. There are no correlations for Durtro Lhamo and the Prajnaparamita, two guardian devatas positioned above and below the Varja Jewel. And there is no zodiacal correlation for VV, the 18th Diamond-Sky Dakini. These exclusions are not rigid, however. There is a way in which the excluded Mahavidya Dhumavati can participate in certain lunar cycles, if she is called to do so. You could stay that in not being correlated to a specific constellation and its 30-day timeframe, she is constantly “on call”. How and why you would call in instruction from Dhumavati is something to be learned in the course ahead.
The two guardians Durtro Lhamo and the Prajnaparamita represents mutable facets in the Shakti Cluster: that is, portals of interchange where various divine feminine powers can come into play. The identity of Prajnaparamita is a kind of blind, or perhaps better said, the identity given to a portal. PPM is a portal through which other devata powers can emerge, but recognition of her role as teacher and guide is essential to these contacts. More on this this works as we proceed month-by-month with the lunar shakti calendar.
Durtro Lhamo is a dangerous protector who watches over termas, wisdom-treasures, and tertons, those who discover them. The Terma of Gaia Awakening is the first of its kind: a generational or group-generated treasure revelation with a duration of 208 years until 2216, the end of Kali Yuga. Her role is stable and well-defined and does not have to be associated with the shifting patterns of the lunar shakti cycles.
VV is situated centrally to the pentad of Diamond Sky Dakinis, but she permeates the entire Shakti Cluster as well. She has no particular correlation in the zodiac, but she does have a celestial reflection outside the zodiac, in the extra-ecliptic constellations that lie north of the path of the sun, moon, and planets. More on this graphic detail as the right conditions arise in the course of dakini instruction.
NOTE: The BULL is unique, indicated by a double shift involving two Mahavidyas, Bhuvaneshvari and Tara in the form of the Wrathful Green Tara, the Selector. |
Difficult as it is to understand, and tedious to explain over and over again, these real-sky constellations do not correlate or correspond to the astrological signs Aries, Taurus, Gemini, etc, except by superficial and often specious associations derived from Greco-Latin astrology and its medieval spinoffs. The ARCHER correlated to Kurukulla must not be associated with Sagittarius, the astrological stereotype. The constellation of the BULL does not represent the traits of sign Taurus, although Taurus has some aspects similar to those of the BULL because that constellation pre-existed it and some of the mythic lore of the real-sky pattern got absorbed into the astrological model. The shared references between sign and constellation are semantic, a matter of terms in use. The same holds true for all the signs; hence there are overlaps between the invisible signs and the visible constellations, but no true correspondences, or equivalences. Nor did signs and constellations at one time match up with each other, in a perfect overlay. There are thirteen signs of uneven extent, and twelve signs of 30 degrees each. These two disparate formats never matched, as some historians of astrology wrongly assume.
The constellations of the Tantric Zodiac do not indicate styles of personal behavior, the talkative Gemini, the secretive Scorpio, and so forth. They indicate numinous resources of wisdom in the mindstream and human psyche, archetypes of enlightenment conceived as channels of subliminal instruction. The lunar shakti calendar is like the program for the emanations of the Shakti Cluster in the course of a year. The constellations correlated as above indicate themes, challenges, spiritual talents, sublime teachings, and prevailing moods, revealed first-hand through cultivation of dakini instruction.
Please try to keep personalistic astrological notions out of the real-sky constellations and the Tantric Zodiac! Transceiving dakini instruction is an opportunity to get off your act, decenter from personal concern, and get involved in transpersonal learning.