#Jyeshtha#Nakshatra spans 16º40′ – 30º00′ sidereal Scorpio and is ruled by the planet #Mercury and the deity #Indra, the King of the Gods. Depending on the tradition, there are three symbols attached to Jyeshtha, an #earring, a talisman and an #umbrella (parasol). This is a sharp Nakshatra and stands for taking action and to overcome challenges.

Indra is the King of the Gods. He controls lightning and produces rain, he also keeps order and offers protection. With all that, Indra also has a great sense of ego, pride and is quite self centred. There are many stories where Indra is being put in place and brought “down to Earth” if you will. We find two of these stories here in Jyeshtha Nakshatra but also in other Nakshatras, one of them in Krittika Nakshatra

The Yogi’s Curse
One day Indra took on the appearance of the Yogi Gautama because he lusted after Gautama’s wife. When Gautama realized what was happening and came home to find Indra having intercourse with his wife, he cursed Indra to be covered with 1000 vaginas. Indra was so devastated he rushed to the Goddess Lakshmi to remove the curse, but Lakshmi told him that not even she could remove the curse of a powerful Yogi. She was however able to lessen the curse so Indra was covered in 1000 eyes in place of the vaginas.

Let’s look at Jyeshtha Nakshatras Symbology
Earlier I mentioned three symbols connected to this Nakshatra, the earring, a talisman, and an umbrella.

The earring is a symbol for Kundalini energy rising like a coiled serpent that some Indian Rishis and Yogic masters would wear to signify the mastery this energy. It also symbolizes the elder sister, heeding advice from others of authority and being protected by them, just like the elder sister would protect her younger siblings.

The talisman is an auspicious symboled that is meant to protect from occult forces. It’s also a symbol for the transition from the material world to the next level of consciousness, the spiritual world. In Jyeshtha we are approaching the last nine Nakshatras of the 27 Nakshatra wheel which mark the last phase of detachment from this material/physical world on the path to spirituality.

Lastly, the umbrella symbolizes protection, and protection from Indra’s anger. There are two stories that highlight the umbrella’s power of protection, from Indra specifically. One of them I already mentioned in Krittika Nakshatra. The other one is this:

One day Indra brought torrential rainfalls down on the village where Krishna lived, because the habitants had a big ceremonial feast but instead of making sacrificing to Indra as they normally had, offered their sacrifice to the animals and plants and people that sustained them every day. Indra had his ego bruised and got incredibly angry of course. The villagers were terribly scared of the storm Indra brought upon them and begged Krishna for help, so Krishna lifted up the nearby Mount Govardhana, placed it on the tip of his finger and held it there, using the mountain as an umbrella protecting the village from the rain.

Jyeshtha is a Nakshatra that can be very good for business and gains. It’s a Nakshatra of action. People who have planets in this Nakshatra often make good business people and negotiators, or are in roles to uphold the law and common virtue. Jyeshtha wants to be respected and taken seriously, when we do it has protection to offer, power and even financial prosperity.

What to do on a Jyeshtha Moon
I already talked about the does and don’ts during the Eclipse in general, here are a few things you can do during this New Moon in Jyeshtha Nakshatra:

Practice Yoga and/or Pranayama to centre the mind and engage your senses in a non outward action way.
Engage in your spiritual practice, mantra practice is great. This is actually a good time to go on a retreat and get away from mundane activities altogether.
Eat light or even take a day of fasting if it comes easy enough to you. Taken a load off your system during the eclipse will be helpful, especially since the eclipse naturally falls in the 8th house of digestion. (The actual placement of this New Moon will be different for each of us, as a general though Scorpio relates to the 8th house and will bring some of the attributes to the table).
Do mundane housework that needs doing, cleaning, laundry, menial things that don’t require much thinking.
Look out for friends and people around you. reach out if you need help or someone to talk things out and through. Meditation can be helpful but you have to know if it’s enough.