 |
PRESIDENT'S LETTER - DECEMBER 2020
Dear ACVA Learners, Friends, and
President's letter - Solstice Edition
Hello dear ACVA friends and alumni. Greetings of every sort, from all traditions! Happy Solstice, Saturnalia, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year, Makar Sankranti, and every other celestial event to be celebrated.
This is quite a special and wonderful time, with Jupiter and Saturn conjunct in Capricorn for the first time since 1961. It's been an amazing sight - to actually be able to see, in real time, this worldview changing combination in the sky. I do hope that you will take the time to look up and be awe-struck. As eternal students of the grahas, we should be observers of the night sky, too.
The results of this significant conjunction remain to be seen. On a personal note, I believe that we now live in an era of a much more sophisticated understanding of how the planets actually "work" than we collectively did almost 60 years ago. By that I mean that it appears that our individual consciousness affects the collective outcome. Will this conjunction contribute to more equity and security for the disadvantaged (Saturn)? I hope so. Will this conjunction coincide with the practical matter of revising our moral and ethical standards and general belief systems (Jupiter), and quell the cultural divisions? I hope so, too.
|
Onward and upward,
Charlotte Benson (Jyoti Devi), President of ACVA
|
Star Guidance January - March 2021
|
I don't know about you, but I am ready to move forward into 2021. But before we finish with 2020, we have one last major event to witness. This is the Jupiter Saturn conjunction on 21 December at 6 degrees of Capricorn. These two planets conjunct every 20 years and they last met in the sign of Capricorn on February 18, 1961. When these two powerhouse planets meet, they release deep karmic ramifications which shape a generation. The 1960s were a time of social and political reckoning and exploration. Again, we find ourselves in a position to reexamine how our society implements justice for all.
These questions reflect the energy of Capricorn. Capricorn is the sign where we begin to move beyond personal wants and needs begin to consider the larger community in which we live. This conjunction will be a turning point and the good news is that we will begin the new year with forward motion directed toward addressing the issues which have been stagnant in 2020. Jupiter, who is debilitated in Capricorn, will be moving very fast and will enter the next sign of Aquarius in early April, rather than sitting in his debilitated sign for the whole year. While he will return in late summer during his retrograde phase, we can appreciate his segmented time in Capricorn.
|
MEET THE PLANETS: JUPITER AND SATURN
by Lynn Bootes. Sept 17, 2020
|
This winter season all eyes are on the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Ramdas Bill Sinclair's article features this remarkable conjunction, but here I will be introducing the reader to these two grahas or planets as seen from the eyes of Vedic Astrology or Jyotisha. Some of you, dear readers, may already have some knowledge of these two, but this article is also for those of you who may not have much previous knowledge. Each season in 2021 I plan to present some of the planets to you by way of introduction. If you want to learn more, you may wish to have an individual chart reading, purchase a textbook, attend a conference, or even pursue a course of study to learn how to become a Vedic astrologer yourself.
Jupiter and Saturn share many traits as they are the most distant and largest of the visible planets in our Solar System, and also the slowest in motion. In the zodiac of 12 signs, they rule the winter months. (1) Here is a guide to the dates when the Sun is in the winter Zodiac Signs in the Calendar, and how they relate to Jupiter and Saturn.
|
FOR SALE: DR. BILL LEVACY'S PAINTINGS AND JYOTISH LIBRARY!
Peggy Levacy
 Dr. Bill asked me in the fall of 1996 to help him sell his paintings. He always wanted to sell his artwork. That didn't happen. He was too busy with his life, especially his decades-long volunteer work with ACVA promoting his deep love of Jyotish astrology to the world, to spend his time promoting his own artwork.
And, now, I'm asking you to help me fulfill this wish of his.
Bill loved beauty. He seemed to find it everywhere. He loved creating beauty, whether via the photoshopped pictures he put on Facebook of squirrels surfing or squirrels playing pool, as well as his large, bold canvas acrylic paintings.
He never tried to sell his art.
He was busy with his other loves - Jyotish astrology, writing three books and scholarly astrological articles, our cats, travel, as well as me, his wife!
Previously they were still in storage.
This is Phase One. Please check it out!
|
|
MEET THE AVCA FACULTY
Lynn Bootes
Astrological Teacher, Advisor and Author
|
Lynn Bootes began her study of Western astrology in 1970. Her personal astrology mentor encouraged her to become a medical doctor (MD) and she had a successful career in family medicine. In 2004-2012 she attended Kepler College and obtained an academic AA and MA in the history of Cosmology. In the process, she fell in love with Vedic astrology through a course taught by Dennis Harness. She enrolled in ACVA and completed levels I and II in 2006-2009 and certified through ACVA in both courses. In 2012 she finished her Master's thesis on planetary remedies in the ancient Middle East, traditional Western astrology, and in Vedic astrology and presented it at the United Astrology Conference in New Orleans.
After ACVA, Lynn has continued jyotish study with Penny Farrow and the study of Sanskrit and Vedic literature. She is retired from medicine and living in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she does individual consultations, writes the Astrobiography
series in the Astrologic magazine, and most recently has become an ACVA instructor. Lynn is particularly interested in examining and critiquing astrology techniques through detailed study of biographies, and in application of Vedic astrology chart readings for people in difficult circumstances.
|
| |
Your Donation Makes a Difference!
|
 |
| |
Om Shri Mahalakshmi Namah!
|
ACVA is a 501-C3 not-for-profit educational institution that provides a very valuable service to learners of Vedic astrology.
It is due to the generosity of our volunteers and patrons that ACVA can continue to thrive. If you choose to press the "donate" button, your donation will be tax deductible.
In gratitude,
THE ACVA LEADERSHIP TEAM & STAFF
|
| |
|
|
OUR EVER-GROWING LEADERSHIP TEAM!
|
To contact any one of us - click on our website.
More to come, stay tuned!
Current Leadership team members
- Charlotte Benson - President, ACVA's Goodwill Ambassador and PR Leader
- Ramdas Bill Sinclair - Creativity and Finance Leader
- Sisira Amarasinghe - Information Technology (IT) Leader
- Cathy Coleman - Curriculum Leader
- Shoba Mohan - CEO, ACVA's Success Leader
|
|
|
|
See what's happening at ACVA
| |
|
|
|
|
|
