Eclipses in Ashlesha and Shatabhisha

Hey everyone!

Hope all of you are well. It’s been a while, apologies — shortly after the last newsletter a year and a bit ago, my family and I moved into our current home, and if you’ve ever moved with a 1 and 4 year old… you already know how the rest of that sentence goes. Anyways, the kids are doing well (and are turning 3 and 6 this year!), and I hope you’ll forgive my extended writing sabbatical.

Through my break from newsletter writing, I’ve continued giving readings, and recently launched a redesign of the website. The big new feature is that you can now plot your own birth chart by yourself, and the website gives you a short description of your life based on your Ascendant, Sun, and Moon’s Nakshatras / constellations. I think it’s pretty cool; if you’re interested, you can give it a try here.

Looking up at the skies, the main upcoming celestial events are the two eclipses this month. In general, eclipses are not a good time to start something new, but are really useful for spiritual endeavors. This is true especially for the 3 days before and after the eclipse, and is also true regardless of whether you can see the eclipse or not. In addition to this, eclipses can affect certain individuals more intensely if the eclipse occurs over a prominent place in their birth chart. This can lead to major changes or turning points in that person’s life. To learn more about eclipses, please tap here.

The Total Solar Eclipse in Ashlesha

The first eclipse is a total solar eclipse taking place in a constellation called Ashlesha, and peaks on Aug 12th 2026 at 1:46PM EDT (5:46PM UTC, 3:46AM on Aug 13th in Melbourne). It’s visible in Canada, parts of the Northern US, Western Europe, and Northern Africa:

Ashlesha is ruled by the Nagas, the deified serpents. These serpents live in the underworld, which the Vedic people uniquely conceptualized as a realm filled with gold and gemstones, of opulence and sensual desire. This is a completely different conceptualization from the Christian Hell or the Greek afterlife. Basically, it was a very good time, materially. Despite all that, the underworld was not seen as an advantageous place for souls to reincarnate to, because all those glittering items serve as a distraction from truly knowing yourself, from self realization.

With this eclipse disrupting the material energies of Ashlesha, the period becomes an inauspicious time to do things like start a new job, or officially start a relationship, etc. I think the way to navigate through this period is shown in a classical image related to the Nagas — Shesha Naga, the thousand-headed King of the serpents and a form of Vishnu, sits in the underworld full of gold and gemstones and sensuality. On one of his heads, he balances our Earth, and he manages to do that because he is deeply rooted in his true self, and completely unaffected by the material energies swirling around him. During the days around this eclipse, my suggested practice is to periodically remind yourself to look internally, to keep some of your awareness inside as you simultaneously go about your day. That way, you too can develop the deep rootedness that Shesha Naga has managed to completely internalize.

The Partial Lunar Eclipse in Shatabhisha

Next, the second eclipse is a partial lunar eclipse taking place in a constellation called Shatabhisha, and peaks on Aug 28th 2026 at 12:13AM EDT (just after midnight in NY / 4:13AM UTC / 2:13PM in Melbourne). It’s visible throughout the Americas, Africa, and Europe:

Shatabhisha is associated with all types of healing and problem solving, and is ruled by Varuna, the god of the ocean. There’s a story from the Ramayana that highlights Shatabhisha’s energies. Let’s dive straight into it (pun intended).

Near the end of the Ramayana, a demon king named Ravana captures Sita (Rama’s wife) and keeps her in his kingdom in Sri Lanka. Rama, in India, like any other loving husband, assembles an army of Vanaras (a race of forest dwelling ape-like beings with extraordinary strength and intelligence), but has to find a way to cross the ocean to rescue Sita.

Rama then sits in meditation and fasts for 3 days while facing the ocean, praying to Varuna to allow him to cross the ocean. After 3 days, Varuna still had not answered him, and that really pissed Rama off. He got out his bow and arrow, chanted some mantras, and started firing arrows into the ocean, setting the whole thing on fire.

Varuna, the god of the ocean, then appears, probably looking apologetic, and offers to calm the ocean waters so that Rama’s army can build a bridge to cross over to Sri Lanka. That’s what the painting at the top of this newsletter is referencing.

The story is an encapsulation of Shatabhisha — a problem presenting itself, and the solution appearing soon after. Because the eclipse will disrupt this energy, the days in late August are not a good time to start a new course of medical treatment, or implement a new course of action intended to solve some problem. What you can do instead is — like in the story, fire metaphorical fiery arrows into the ocean of your own unconscious mind, burning up the negativity and other emotions that are no longer useful, then stilling the waters of your mind just as Varuna did for Rama, and cross your own ocean of unconsciousness into a more embodied self-awareness.

Anyways, that’s it for the eclipses, may they lead you down fruitful spiritual paths. Till next time!

Ken

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