by David McConaghay

Ayur-celebrities aside, it was of profound practical significance to meet with various members of the NAMA board and staff to explore the near and long-term potentials for Ayurveda in the United States. Of particular interest was a meeting focused on NAMA’s relationship with the state organizations.

Approximately 25 individuals from 9 states and Canada attended the meeting to discuss relevant topics about what it takes to start and maintain a state organization, what is the proper relationship between NAMA and the state associations, and of course, the pros and cons of health freedom laws and licensure.

The first outcome of this meeting is the formation of a State Organizations sub-committee whose purpose is “to support the development of state-level Ayurveda associations and to coordinate with them in order to foster community and avoid redundancy. Ideally, the committee will serve as a center of gravity, encouraging creative cooperation between states and alignment with the NAMA mission."

As it happens, I am the chair person for this newly formed committee, and very much looking forward to helping NAMA and the states work together for the benefit of Ayurveda and everyone involved.

The conference was also full of top-notch talks on panchakarma in the modern world, the Ayurvedic approach to gastrointestinal conditions, and Ayurvedic psychology. I particularly enjoyed Arun Deva’s presentation on Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy, as well as the research posters presented by two students who looked at NOAA climate data to determine appropriate rtucharya protocols for their local environments.

Even beyond the official presentations, the casual conversations between all the practitioners and life-long students were fascinating and uplifting. I came away from the conference feeling a sense of camaraderie that gives me more enthusiasm about Ayurveda in America than ever before. 
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Next year’s conference will be held at the 1440 Multiversity campus outside Santa Cruz, California. It promises to be a beautiful and intimate setting to explore the theme, “Ayurveda and the Mind.” I’m already looking forward to it, and hope you will consider joining us there.

by David McConaghay

Today is May 10, 2018 and this letter is composed in Boulder, Colorado, USA.

Until May 15, both Mars and the Sun are exalted in the sky, bringing prominence to the fire element. This can bring great clarity, but also a tendency towards explosiveness, which we can see with the volcano erupting in Hawai'i, all the bluster about nuclear weapons and the (thankfully, until now, relatively minor) exchange of rocket fire in the Middle East. Individually, the fire element is associated with rakta dhatu, so watch out for eruption of pitta skin conditions which can arise when our blood is boiling, so to speak.

​Last week, Mars moved into the sign of Capricorn, where it will remain in exalted dignity until November. Mars is a tamasic planet primarily concerned with keeping us alive. When it comes to survival, things are very black-and-white — you either make it, or you don’t. Mars is that part of us that will fight for our right to exist.

Capricorn is a tamasic sign, focused on avoiding what might go wrong. This awareness of potential obstacles makes Capricorn skillful in commercial enterprises, as they always have a contingency plan. However, their deep aversion to risk can prevent Capricorn from taking action on even the most robust plan — which is where Mars comes in.

Mars is exalted in Capricorn because it provides the courage and discipline needed to activate carefully laid, long-term plans. The fiery quality of Mars serves as a spark plug to set the machine in motion. Mars represents the courage of a warrior, willing to do whatever is necessary to accomplish the mission, and this quality comes with just enough impulsiveness to  initiate the proceedings.

Here’s a story to illustrate this dynamic: imagine there’s an attractive person that you would like to know better. They are in your extended group of friends, you’ve seen them before, exchanged smiles, but that’s it.

Every time you see them, you spend the rest of the night thinking about what you’ll say when you meet, rehearsing how it will go. You’ve found them on Facebook and (obviously not sent a friend request; that would be crazy) discovered that they like hiking and live music, just like you (you both live in Colorado, after all). You practice the words in your head, and then out loud. You game plan for all possible scenarios. You're ready for every disaster possible in the context of this hypothetical future interaction.

Now, you are at a party with a dear old red-headed friend of yours, when this attractive person walks in the door. Your ginger friend knows about your crush, knows how perfectly prepared you are for the encounter, and also knows your fear of failure may prevent anything from ever happening.

So what happens? Of course, your slightly insane freckled friend physically pushes you towards your crush, causing you to bump into them and unavoidably engage in conversation. You mention the trail you hiked yesterday, or the last band you saw. Your crush touches your arm in disbelief — they were at that show too! And that’s their favorite trail!

The combination of your preparation and the endearingly spontaneous moment created by your rude (or, funny) friend sets the gears turning and you can make up the rest of the story from here.​

You are Capricorn. Your ginger friend is Mars. Your crush relates to whichever house is occupied by Capricorn in your chart. Sam Geppi provides a reliable place to calculate your Vedic chart at this link.

Remember: Mars is in Capricorn from now until November 6.
​It will be retrograde from June 27 until August 28.

Now, let’s go through the signs one by one...

​Look for the next edition of Seasonal Astrology on the Summer Solstice. Until then, take care. Many blessings,