The Sun will transit into the sign of Aquarius late in the evening on February 12th and stay in the sign until March 14th. The Aditya for Aquarius is called Tvaṣṭṛ or simply Tvaṣṭā (the nominative singular form) and he is the celestial architect who is credited to have created the universe with Maya. Tvaṣṭṛ literally means the maker of carriages or a carpenter. Tvaṣṭā is known to have the supreme intelligence to create all things (Rig Veda I.95.2), he is the greatest innovator and is highly skilled. He is also a great diplomat as he the maker of divine weapons for both devas (divine) and asuras (demonic forces). The story goes that he rescued his daughter Saṁjñā from the effulgent rays of her husband Vivaswān by cutting it and made use of it for Indra’s Vajra, Viṣṇu’s discuss and Śiva’s Trisula.
Another meaning of Tvaṣṭā from the Sāṁbha purāṇa is from the root word tuṣ (तुष्) meaning pleasing. The purāṇa goes on to further say that he is the in dweller in all plants in forests and also of all medicinal herbs. He is the guardian of Soma and the sign Aquarius is known as ‘kumbha’ which is a pot. In the Vedic version of the story of defeat of Vritra the demon, Indra had drunk a large volume of Soma at Tvaṣṭā’s house to empower himself before facing Vritra. All the drugs and medicines are manufactured in Aquarius. In another version of this story Vritra was indeed created by Tvaṣṭā to avenge the death of his sun Trisiras.
Sun joins Jupiter in Aquarius making a Gopāla yogā. Jupiter is combust from 19th of February till 20th of March. Combustion is addressed by worship of Shiva and ablutions. In Śiva mahā purāṇa it is said that the coming together of Sun and Jupiter in different signs makes specific rivers auspicious. Sun and Jupiter together in Aquarius makes the river Ganges auspicious. This yoga will be enhanced with Mercury moving into Aquarius after the 6th of March to join Jupiter and Sun. The combination of Jupiter and Mercury is called the Bhagavad Gita yoga that makes all work auspicious.
The ‘war dance’ between Venus and Mars starts on the 11th of February for a period of 29 days till the 12th of March. The war starts in Sagittarius but spills into Capricorn as Mars overtakes Venus on the 16th and moves into Capricorn on the 26th February. Venus follows on the 27th maintaining an upper hand with better focus and skill while overtaking Mars finally on the 6th of March. For more details read Up Close and Personal – The war dance of Mars and Venus – Vijaya Jyoti. The combination of Mars and Saturn together can be destructive (yama yoga). We also have a combination of 5 planets when Moon enters Capricorn on the 27th & 28th February creating a yuga yoga (all planets in 2 houses) in the sky. Yuga yoga creates conditions for struggle and results in a tug of war. Saturn will decide who the winner will be.
Venus is closer to the earth and will obscure Mars in a conjunction called ‘Bedha’. The significations of Mars of courage, will and strategy may be compromised. Open aggression may also be absent leading to more belligerence and in a true style of SunTzu, the planets Venus and Mars will “appear weak when strong, and strong when weak.” Mars may waste its resources moving too quickly and Venus will achieve its objective in stealth. Now, is it worth to mention that US President Biden has a Scorpio Ascendant ruled by Mars and the Russian President Putin has a Libra Ascendant ruled by Venus. Naturally the object of contention is Sagittarius – which is the ascendant of Ukraine. I ponder when the fight carries on in Capricorn, will China be involved?
Here is a peace prayer we could chant
ॐ स्वस्ति प्रजाभ्यः परिपालयन्ताम्
न्यायेन मार्गेण महीं महीशाः ।
गोब्राह्मणेभ्यश्शुभमस्तु नित्यम्
लोकास्समस्तास्सुखिनो भवन्तु ।।
May there be prosperity to the subjects, the rulers protecting the world in a lawful manner; may the cows and brāhmanas have auspiciousness eternally, may all the people be prosperous, may the rains shower in the proper season, may the earth be prosperous with the abundant crops; may the country be free from distress, may the brāhmaṇas be fearless.
This is a time of caution for those with Ascendant Lords or Moon signs in Aries or Scorpio as they can be dragged into a battle and its best to keep to the higher ideals of exaltation. Hold your breath and the awareness of breath will reveal and contains anxiety. Those with Ascendant Lords in Taurus and Libra, this is a time to think whether the fight is worth the cause. Is it jealousy or entitlement a reason to fight?
Let us to pray to Tvaṣṭā so that we may attain the joys of the world with diplomacy.
ॐ घृणि: त्वष्टादित्य
om ghṛṇi tvaṣṭāditya