If you want to listen to a song about divine love, listen to Radhamadhavam by M.S. Subbulakshmi, listen here on YouTube. (Warning: It’s 40 minutes of Sanskrit chanting, not everyone’s cup of tea. I love to practice yoga on this song sometimes…)
For your more mundane love song, listen to The Pleasure and The Pain by Lenny Kravitz (also in honour of Venus and Mars who are still quite entangled, but… Venus is finally slowly but surely separating from Mars; can’t wait till April 5th when Venus will be swimming in calmer waters).
Movie tip: The Worst Person in the World. In theatres now. Watch the trailer here. It doesn’t tell the divine love story of Radha and Krishna, but it does tell a story of love that involves pleasure and pain. I really enjoyed this movie. Maybe because I recognize myself a lot in the main character (though my ex husband should know that I never cheated on him, in case he reads this, which I don’t think he does, but still I want to state it in case he does). Maybe because the movie is so so so much more about ‘meaning in life’ than the trailer shows. Maybe because the movie is a perfect combination of romance and comedy. Maybe for other reasons. I laughed a lot watching this movie. I also cried (and I don’t often cry watching movies; but I cried during a scene that was oddly and painfully similar to an experience that I had in my life; and I’m always thankful when that happens, because it helps me to process…).
Radhamadhavam
Radhamadhavam tells the story of the divine love of Radha and Krishna. The story of the love between the divine lord Krishna and the milkmaid or gopi, Radha, his devotee, is among the most celebrated of all Hindu myths. Such was their love, the couple ultimately became one, unifying the masculine and feminine forms of the divine. Krishna enchants the world, while Radha enchants him.
Radhamadhavam tells the story of divine love, eternal love, unconditional love. It’s not your typical Disney fairytale story. Most of us when we imagine love, as we’re growing up and also when we’re adults, think about the Ten of Cups / Ten of Pentacles. These two cards in Tarot together depict that fairy tale ending of love and the love that most of us seek: a loving partner, kids, a dog, a white picket fence, and a BMW. We seek that material security of the Ten of Pentacles combined with the emotional fulfilment of the Ten of Cups. The love of Krishna and Radha is something totally different, it has nothing to do with cars, pets and kids.
The Full Moon in Virgo arrives on March 18th 08.17 am CET / 02.17 am ET at 27 degrees Virgo. This particular decan in Virgo (the last ten degrees of Virgo) is related to the Ten of Pentacles in tarot. The Moon at 27 degrees Virgo opposes the Sun at 27 degrees Pisces. The last decan of Pisces (the last ten degrees of Pisces) is related to the Ten of Cups in tarot.
The Moon in Virgo is under the ruling of Mercury. The Sun in Pisces is under the ruling of Jupiter. When the Full Moon occurs, Mercury is applying to a conjunction with Jupiter in Pisces. This is significant! Not only are the Moon and Sun aligned, their rulers are too! With Jupiter being in Pisces, this is quite beautiful. The Sun is connected to Pluto in Capricorn by sextile. The Moon in Virgo is connected to Pluto in Capricorn by trine. This makes this a powerful Full Moon. I would say this is a Full Moon of possibilities. Of things coming together in a beautiful / powerful / significant way. Take a look at the Virgo – Pisces axis in your personal birth chart, to see where the magic happens.
The Tens in Tarot: fulfilment and endings
The tens in tarot speak about fulfilment. There are four suits in tarot: cups, pentacles, wands and swords. These four suits are related to the elements, respectively: water, earth, fire and air. To summarise it briefly: the cups are related to the realm of emotion and love, the pentacles to the physical / material realm, the wands to the realm of passion and inspiration and the swords to the realm of the mind (thinking and communication). Each suit goes from the ace to the ten. The aces speak about beginnings, seeds planted. Then the journey goes on… and it ends with the tens. The tens speak about the fulfilment and the ending of a suit.
If the Ace of Cups is about falling in love, the Ten of Cups is the fairy tale happy ending as we see it in Disney movies. If the Ace of Pentacles is about a job offer, the Ten of Pentacles is about the house with the mortgage and the money saved on the bank account.
But as we all know… these things are not everlasting. That house and the money on the bank is not everlasting. That happily ever after is also not everlasting too. Plenty of marriages end in divorces, and if not they will end when ‘death do them part’. The only thing that’s certain in life, is that things always change. That things always occur in cycles: beginning to end, to new beginning; birth to death to a new birth; falling in love, to marriage to the end of the fairytale…
Not saying that to spoil the mood…
The only thing that surpasses space and time and the cycles of life, is the transcendent. Call it the laws of Nature. Call it Divine Love. Call it God. Call it Krishna. Call it whatever you want to call it.
I’m the type of person that wants it all. Call me greedy. I want to experience that transcendent divine and eternal love. I also want to experience the messy pleasurable and painful and exciting human love.
And I want to sit on a motorcycle with Lenny Kravitz…
Dream big and pay attention to detail
This Full Moon in Virgo truly holds some magic! Enjoy it. Savour it. Because tomorrow it may be gone…
For an eternal experience of love, turn to the ancient teachings of the Hindu mystics and pick up some books on Advaita Vedanta. Having said this, I don’t want to take away any of the happiness of the Ten of Cups and the Ten of Pentacles, because they are truly happy places to be. They are just fleeting (and it’s no coincidence they are related to mutable signs). It’s totally okay to want the kids and the dog and the white picket fence. These are truly dreams that are worth to go after. It’s just that we human beings sometimes tend to forget that they end, even if it’s just for the simple fact that we’re mortal beings. However, while we’re here on this Earth, better enjoy life, right? Better try to make our dreams come true.
Pisces is ruled by Jupiter. Jupiter is focused on the big picture. Pisces is all about dreaming big. Pisces belongs to the ocean. Virgo, on the other hand, is ruled by Mercury. Mercury is all about details. These two are conjunct while the Full Moon occurs. The big picture and the details come together. Dreaming and planning have the potential of coming together. Thus my question is: what are you dreaming about? What is YOUR dream? What do you want for your future? What does your Ten of Pentacles and Ten of Cups look like? Most of us dream away, without ever putting in the work to make our dreams become reality. Mercury can help us with that. Mercury can help us make those dreams become reality. Because dreams are so big, they often seem unachievable. But what if we take it step by step? Mercury can help is do that. Mercury can guide us along the way. And with this Full Moon, both Mercury and Jupiter get a power boost from Pluto.
This Full Moon in Virgo, you may actually want to sit down and make a moodboard and plan + take a first step towards your Ten of Cups and Ten of Pentacles. I wish you the best in your endeavours! X Maud
