Sai bye bye or Saionara Baba

Fri 6 May – Thurs 19 May

Sun in Taurus; Mercury in Aries/Taurus 16^th; Venus in Aries/Taurus 16^th; Mars in Aries/Taurus 11^th  

As the world mourns the departure of highly revered guru Sathya Sai Baba, let’s not forget the upcoming birthday on 10 May of that revered guru and eternally present Vishnu avatar- Gautama Buddha, aka Siddhartha. In Korea and possibly some other countries this is a public holiday, on par with Christmas or Easter. What is this holy of holy avatars doing by being born in the month of Taurus, traditionally known for its somewhat earthy and mundane affiliations? Well let’s not forget that Buddha was born a prince, like William (aka “Will-I-am”) who, when making his vow to Kate, said “I will”. Being a prince affords one all the mundane opulence one could imagine, as we saw during the recent wedding ceremony of Prince William, with all its pomp (from where we get the word “pompous”) and ceremony (from where we get the words “serious money”). Of course the story goes that by his Saturn return at the age of 29 the Buddha renounced his nobility and opulence and turned to a life of austere asceticism. William, on his Saturn return has opted for marriage, which tells you something about the Saturn return. It is the time in all our lives when we enter real adult maturity and our own chosen vocation or calling. Nevertheless the Buddha renounced the joys of a prince and accepted the austere path of a renunciate, while William renounced the joys of a bachelor and accepted the austere path of a husband. Jokes aside though, The Buddha tried the renounced path for a few years but only really came to be the Buddha (“enlightened one” or “awake one”) when he eventually renounced even the renounced order and chose the topmost path of “the middle way”. Here he taught a balance between austerity and opulence, along with the four noble truths as a path to Nirvana for anyone. And Nirvana is described as the perfect peace of a mind that's free from ignorance, greed, hatred and other afflictive states or "defilements". And if a prince can master detachment from greed then we definitely can too, so remember that when Mars enters Taurus on the 11^th and Mercury and Venus do the same on the 16^th. I mean if a holy man like Sai Baba can amass an empire worth $8 000 000 000, that’s eight billion dollars, and still stay saffron then either he had a few tricks up his sleeve, or the godman industry is simply the niche market worth investigating. And he’s not the only saffron-coated swami around today raking in the opulence while still remaining completely “detached” therefrom. Or so they say. Maybe this is the modern equivalent of the “middle way”. I can amass for myself a small fortune in mundane Taurean opulence and at the same time wear the robes of a renunciate. Adi Da did it. At least Osho never wore the saffron robes of a celibate himself, although he gave them to all his non-celibate disciples. Sorry you lost me there Osho. Nevertheless, what I’m getting at is that in this day and age of material facility, it is difficult even for the holy men to avoid the pitfalls of luxury, greed and the general weaknesses of the flesh – the traditional department of Taurus. And it is equally difficult for the sincere yet gullible seeker to be bewildered into following any charismatic godman in saffron with the odd trick up his sleeve or way with word-jugglery. Therefore even more the need to look back to he original holy men like the Buddha and remember what is meant by the middle way.

Some like it hot

Fri 22 April – Thurs 5 May

Sun in Taurus; Mercury in Aries (dir); Venus in Aries; Mars in Aries; Jupiter in Aries (conj Mars)

Joining Mercury, Mars and Jupiter in action-oriented Aries this edition is Venus, our goddess of love. That only leaves the Sun in Taurus to temper the current impulsive adventurous spirit. Let’s hope the Taurus influence will slow the otherwise furious pace available now. After all, Mercury is over his retrograde phase so it’s full speed ahead, which could lead to potential dangers, were it not for the slow, steady bull. The danger of all that Aries fire could spark off the furies, for Major-General Mars is at his strongest and most belligerent in his own sign, with loads of energy, initiative and courage urging for expression. Add to that an impulsive “shoot first” attitude and you have a recipe for anything that requires action, enthusiasm and drive, or worse. To compound that, Taurus will heighten the sensory and sensual urges – whatever can be relished via the five senses will demand priority attention. I just hope you like your curry hot, for chili is not a side order this week but a primary ingredient, as in red hot chili peppers on rice - or potatoes. Don’t waste your time thinking teamwork or compromise will come easily either, like a little yoghurt or banana to cool the tongue and lower the blood temperature to just below boiling point. No sir, you will just have to steel your gullet and pretend you are doing an impersonation of a volcano as you swallow those chilies whole, and then potentially find yourself barking orders like a sergeant major on parade ground. Of course if you are currently at war then the competitive urge will stand you in good stead, but if you’re just trying to decide the menu for the family dinner then I suggest you have a backup plan of “I’ll make my own then”. After all, not everyone can handle that much chili in their salad. And this is not just for the men; Venus, our archetypal epitome of femininity, is also in camo fatigues now so don’t expect too much self-control when it comes to satisfying the demands of the senses in that department either. The lack of patience means she won’t even want to waste time trimming of the outer leaves as she hastily gets her tongue into action and swallows that chili, seed and all. Needless to say, love at first sight comes quite naturally under these circumstances, so make sure you’re looking in the right direction. Just imagine all that above-mentioned Aries assertiveness in the romance department and it definitely won’t be enough for you to just lie back and think of England. And after all that chili I doubt if that will be possible anyway. So if it’s excitement you’re looking for in your love life then you won’t even need that chili sandwich for breakfast, because the extroverted, demonstrative and excitement-seeking qualities abound, regardless of your gender. More timid souls may want to carry a liter of yoghurt around with them in case things spice up a bit too much for their liking, and be sure to econdomise on the luxuries, for the senses really are easily aroused now, and may invariably have the staying power of a bull in a chili shop.