Valentine's Day

It was a memorable Valentine's Day this year...

Apart from the celebration gifts and dinner...

We've signed our wedding banquet deal at the Mandarin Oriental =) =)

Above is part of the decorative golden murals around Oriental's lobby

Astro Signature

Astrology is the study of positions of celestial bodies like Sun, Moon, Mars etc. with respect to the zodiac and the interpretation of the effect of such celestial bodies on the events in earth in the life of an individual or a country or the whole world. Astrologers believed that the celestial bodies that influence the events on earth such as Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu, and Ketu all loosely termed as planets, appear to revolve around the earth continuously while always staying within the limits of zodiac. 

The Zodiac is an imaginary ring in the sky which encircles our solar system like a girdle. To determine the positions of the planets on this circle we need some reference point, a point which will remain fixed while the heavenly bodies keep moving.

The astrologers selects a faraway star which remains stationary and the position of the planets were determined by referring them to this fixed star cluster. This is known as the sidereal system. Sidereal means measured by stars. The fixed star cluster chosen for the purpose is taken as the 1st degree of Aries, the starting point of the Zodiac.

With regards to astrology and career where most people are interested to know... Some astrologers refers to such material manisfestation as...

"A tree standing on the ground of material nature, bearing two types of fruit: sweet and sour, symbolic of happiness and distress. Its roots go in three direction represented by goodness, passion and ignorance. The first bird is the localized aspect of the Supreme One, referred to as the divine spirit, the Entity who needs neither food nor drink. The other bird representing the mortal, has to select his food from the offerings of the tree: a choice between distress and happiness. Sometimes he eats the fruits of happiness and sometimes the fruit of distress. Having eaten the fruits, he expands along the three directions of the roots, the modes of material existence, namely, goodness, passion and ignorance." 

This individual growth is what makes two mortals dissimilar. Growth is strongly connected with past karma and guidance upbringing. The realities of life have different meanings for each individual. Why does a stable and rewarding professional relationship become distant? Why does the accommodating boss turn into a difficult task master? Why does the team lose spirit for no apparent reason? 

There is no end to such questions, but all the answers can be found if the map of growth can be analyzed. Unfortunately, this is an impossible task for mortals. However, this growth can be monitored by our own efforts and choices and Astrology can be a guide that shows us our very basic instinctive tendencies. Planets and their positions give our respective Ascendants and Moon signs, along with other planetary positions. This doctrine can be a very useful friend philosopher and guide, provided we are open to accept what it shows, provided we are ready to go beyond the predictive elements.

The most important aspect of Astrology is that it shows you the mirror image of your Karmic journey. What one has to understand is that there is no black and white, no good or bad in a horoscope. Each horoscope has both good and bad, each horoscope is misaligned somewhere, which is why the person is born. 

Is astrology a science? Well, this is perhaps one of the most common question posed about astrology by both groups of people - the non-believers and the rationalists who claim that astrology is bogus and that it exploits the fear and insecurity of people. The believers of astrology and the astrologers themselves stoutly defend the stance that astrology is a precise science. 

Maybe both are wrong and both groups of people approach this question from a pre-defined mind set. 

For non-believers, it is fashionable and politically correct to denounce any system of knowledge, which does not fit into the 19th century definition of materialism and physical science.

For astrologers, the mind set is that unless Astrology is a science, it is not respectable in today's world, and for believers, anything that is termed as science can be blindly believed or accepted. 

Since the ancient times, astrology has been important and it even exists in our modern society today. Hence, it is evident that astrology is indeed relevant to humans and every individual has his or her own unique astrological signature. 

Wind of Change

Riding the Wind of Change ~ By Unknown Author 

Time passes in search of a way  

Through the thick forest in summer heat 

A sudden gust of rising air

Came from the West

Filling with the wind of change

A bright spark glowing in the dark 

Showing a path forward 

The future's in the air

I can sense it near 

Blowing the wind of change 

It flows straight into the face of time

Like a whirlwind that sounded the freedom bell

With a peaceful mind at rest 

Let the Balalaika sing again

Riding the wind of change