We are visited once again by the depth of the Ancestral world. This Dark Moon is known as Shuni Amvasya. Shuni is the lord of Karma who corners us to face ourselves. He is a ruthless strict benefactor who teaches the deepest lessons of destiny.

ANCESTRAL MOON

Once or twice a year this Saturn dark Moon occurs. This is when the Dark Moon is on a Saturday. Recently we had a Saturn dark Moon, and this one following directly after the last one is surprisingly close. In the Tantric calendar the ritual day of Saturn’s dark Moon is a time of deep ancestral healing work.

Tantrics dedicate the dark Moon every month to the Pitris (ancestors). It is a time when the veil between our world and the ancestral world is at its most diaphanous. Tantricly, it has been reserved since time immemorial for ancestral healing work. This applies in both an orthodox and esoteric sense.

On this ritual night we will be working with the deep emotions of our hereditary. A Saturn Dark Moon is a time when one goes to the very fundations of ancestral energies, unto the deeper essence. Saturn is the planet who has an ever downward gaze, that penetratingly peers past periphery, into the roots below.

THE STAR OF RAGE

The Moon on this night is in the Nakshatra (lunar house) that belongs to Rudra, the god of rage. Ardra Nakshatra is the star of the screaming storming god Rudra. His name means ‘the one who screams and howls’. Rudra is the raw force of Shiva.

The symbol of Ardra Nakshatra is a teardrop. This is the tear of emotional expression and release. Emotion is an ocean in which we can drown. It is a doubled edged sword. On the one hand, its restraint can cause inner suffering, yet on the other hand, its unbridled expression can cause outer suffering. Outer and inner suffering mix together when the emotions of rage rain upon the sacred Heart.

Is there a way to make emotion work for us?
More precisely…
is there a way to work with rage?

RAGE & ADDICTION

Most probably, along the line of ancestry, our ancestors suffered the inner and outer fires of rage – Unless our ancestors were ‘saints’. Rage is a very real force, perhaps a hidden or disguised force. It may be hidden in the garb of spirituality and religion. It may be hidden behind the garb of excess activity, in work addiction for instance, or any addiction for that matter. Some of the addictions that rage hides behind are perhaps even considered the norm. Yet some expressions are far off the scales of the norm. Release of rage can get one locked up and injected with sedative drugs in a short amount of time.

Better in that out?
Or better out than in?

Even the word Anger is a milder way to say RAGE! Then we have other words such as stressed, moody, flustered, fired-up. All these are just milder ways to say RAGE! Rage can be kept hidden behind a snappy attitude, a grin, or even a well cut waist-coat.

THE BOWELS OF EXISTENCE

The rage of Rudra is the primal howl from the bowels of existence. It is a sacred rage that takes us to the seat of power. And so, on this night, we shall work with Rudra the red, and let him take us to the cool blue door of Shiva. This will be a ritual of working with the screaming form of Shiva. The one the Tantrics call Rudra. We will be applying the Rudra Mudra of healing buried and frozen rage.

It is to be remembered that rage is sacred power that can be knotted up in a corner of the soul. Rage is no demon to cast out and destroy. Rage is a sacred energy of life.

To kill rage, it to kill life.

Tantrics have offered innumerable sacred ritual formulas to work with this energy. On this ritual night will be contacting the roots of RAGE! that are perhaps woven into our ancestral twine. These may be energies that echo along the hallways of heritage unto the present time, creating the inner and outer soundscapes of our personal reality.
On this night, we will be applying the inner and outer Mudras of Tantra, along with the astrological invocation of Ardra Nakshatra, relevant to working with storm, anger and rage.