- Span: 06°40′ Gemini to 20°00′ Gemini
- Deity: Rudra, the roarer
- Dasha Lord: Rahu
- Symbol: teardrop, diamond, head
- Animal (Yoni): Dog (female)
- Shakti or power: Yatna shakti = power to make an effort
Rudra is a vedic god, said to be an incarnation of Shiva. His name can be loosely translated to “the roarer”, the word Rudra can mean “to cry” or “to howl”. Rudra is the god of storms, strong winds, destruction, death, time, auspiciousness and animals.
Rudra represents all things wild and uncontrollable; representing chaos, disorder, confusion, destruction and havoc. The main goal here is transformation or purification. Nobody enjoys hard lessons, but most people won’t change without a strong push. Similarly, without clearing things out, there is no space for new things. Rudra represents this clearing out, opening space for the new, as well as the purification of all things.
The name Ardra can be translated into “green”, “fresh” or “moist” again making reference to renewal, to some fresh manifestation. An alternative name is Arudra, making a clear allusion to Rudra. The main message of Ardra deals with the Dance of Shiva, the eternal cycle of destruction and creation, death and rebirth.
The main symbols behind this star are a teardrop, a diamond and a head. The teardrop represents the destruction, the traumatic events, the storm affecting us. The diamond represents the radiance, the creation, the freshness after the storm. The head represents the human condition, with a mental focus, stuck at manas or the mental level of consciousness.
This nakshatra has a strong liking for all things wild, unusual, weird and strange. These natives will usually involve themselves with alternative cultures, fringe ideologies, different religions and things somewhat dissonant from what is common around them. Obviously, there are degrees of this, but the very least is that the Ardra native will be attuned to a foreign language or foreign culture. At most, these natives could be daredevils, hurricane chasers or all kinds of bizarre activities.
Their form of communication is another clear marker. Their dark sense of humor is employed to keep a pleasant environment around them, they will have an alluring presence. There is a tendency here to shock with speech, to say harsh or exaggerated things in order to get a reaction. A sarcastic or shock jock nature is a frequent point with these natives.
These natives are usually very intelligent. Going back to the head symbol, this star has a strong mental focus, which strengthens their mind. This gives them quick wit, a good memory and a strong intellect. Usually these natives will have a few interest areas where they are very knowledgeable, and can easily recite facts about it. For instance, an Ardra native could be a geography buff, knowing all about different countries or different areas of the world.
The mental focus signalizes, also, that these natives live a lot in their own heads. A lot of their problems could stem from mental excesses or overthinking. An Ardra native, even when quiet, will always have something going in his mind. They are constantly thinking, constantly planning and calculating, constantly running scenarios on their head. They have frequent mental storms running alongside a calm exterior façade.
Some loose notes:
- Storms that bring transformation and improvement.
- Harsh events in life, strong turning points.
- Daredevil, fringe, caustic nature.
- Shock jock or rude way of speaking.
- Constant thinking, the mind is always running at full speed.
- Good memory, good at remembering facts.
- Multifaceted personality, varying interests and pursuits.
- On an emotional level:
- Has a hard time admitting mistakes, likes to blame others.
- Arrogant behavior at times.
- Suicidal trends could be present, at times.
- Curious and probing nature. They love to understand how things work.
- Like a diamond, Ardra can cut through anything.
- Strong liking for animals and nature, specially wild and beastly creatures.
- Secrets and lies will be a part of their live, on the giving or receiving end, sometimes both.
- The color green tends to be specially soothing to them.
- Career wise:
- Anything dealing with electricity: electricians, engineers, etc.
- Technology fields: developers, programmers, analysts.
- Aerospace field: pilots, air travel, astronomers.
- Music, specially electronic music or techno.
- War related: making of weapons, guns, bombs, etc.
- People working with animals, specially wild ones. Veterinarians and caregivers.
- Science fiction writers.
- Pharmaceutical and food industry, specially canned goods or frozen food.
- Nuclear power or toxic chemicals.
- Manual labor and harsh fields.
- Researchers and great thinkers.
- At times, these natives could be welfare dependent or unwilling to work.
Transformation is a key thing in these natives lives, this is what the storms represent. Transformation is never easy, in fact, some say that each transformation/change in life is a small death. Similarly, Ardra will go through troubles, traumatic events, scandals, ups and downs and turmoils that will trigger change in his life. Usually, these personal storms tend to be short, happening and going away fast. Also, there is always improvement for the native after these events.
Learning to ride the tiger or weather the storm is very important for Ardra, learning to deal with transformation (and the work/sacrifice required for it) is a key lesson in their lives.
Ardra deals with extremes on all senses, and dealing with transformation is one of them.
On one hand, some Ardra natives might crave the constant transformation, the constant movement and agitation. These natives might be constantly creating situations, uprooting their lives and forcing change in their world. Change is good, specially for Ardra. But it can become a cargo cult. You can’t just change for the sake of changing, you have to take the time to learn your lessons, to understand what had to change and why.
On the other hand, some Ardra natives might avoid conflict and avoid change. These natives will go through a storm, they will pretend it didn’t happen, and move on without changing anything. With these cases, they will usually go through multiple storms, multiple troubles, in the same area until they change.
On the first extreme, I’ve met a woman who moved 5 times in about 3 years, all because “she needed a change” and she felt that moving into new homes would give her that. All while uprooting her children and going through all that trouble.
On the second extreme of avoidance, I’ve had a man who had several setbacks, all lining him towards abandoning a certain profession, which he didn’t even enjoy. He chose not to do it, in order to please his family, who had a long dream for him to pursue said career. After years of trouble, multiple complicated incidents related to this career, he finally changed and things went well.
A key point is to learn balance, to change and transform in a conscious manner. Although, if I had to pick the worst path for Ardra, it would be the one where a native avoids change. This star is all about transformation. If a native goes overboard, uprooting and changing all the time, some troubles will occur, but the natural flow is happening. If a native never changes, not only is he creating problems, but the flow of the nakshatra is being interrupted. This avoidance of change, a lot of times, stems from a degree of laziness on the part of these natives
The shakti or power of this star deals with making efforts, reaching goals. Similarly, the diamond symbolism alludes to effort, as finding a diamond is a hard thing on itself, but polishing and making it perfect is even harder. These natives, on their best, are hard workers for themselves and the world. But, in some cases, learning about putting in the effort and creating gold becomes an important turning point in life.
Something that I notice about these natives is that their lives require a little bit of chaos at all times. Even when they are still, or when they are supposed to be resting, they will find something to do. They will get involved with some mental activity or arguments. An example is singer Cher, who has an Ardra ascendant, she used to watch C-SPAN (a political channel in the US) and call-in the shows as a listener to argue about politics. Similarly, these natives can be frequently found on online arguments and discussions.
This “required chaos” becomes specially interesting for the natives who avoid change. A lot of times, they will find sudden troubles or issues knocking on their door, uprooting them and again reinforcing the need for change. Alternatively, subconsciously they will create or build-up tension towards an argument/conflict. Said conflict becomes another storm in their lives, triggering transformation. They will feed the elephant in the room, until it grows tall enough, to put it metaphorically.
Catharsis is a key thing for Ardra, releasing the past, letting go of things and moving on. This is what the teardrop represents, a short burst of sadness, to clear things up and allow us to move on.
Another key point of their existence is finding depth, understanding things to their deeper details. Ardra loves to analyze things, dissecting and going deep like a butcher, tearing ideas/things apart to understand their inner workings. These natives can be great researchers, analysts and critics. They are always able to find out (and point) areas for improvement.
In any area of knowledge, these natives will tend to develop great insight. Usually, some of their areas of focus deal with technology, electricity, aerospace and air-travel, as well as most areas of occult knowledge. Maybe even a combo of areas. These natives are very multifaceted, with multiple diverging interests.
Emotionally, these natives tend to be like a child, they can go from crying to smiling in a very short amount of time.
Ardra’s wild energy creates some issues on an emotional level, these natives can act in antisocial or negative manners at times. These natives can be extremely ungrateful towards people that helped them, not thanking them, not recognizing them or not cutting them some slack when these people need help. Similarly, these natives have a hard time admitting and accepting their own errors, they love playing the blame game. Blaming people for theirs mistakes, finding a way to pin their faults onto others.
Two big areas of growth for these natives, that will improve their lives and karma, deal with learning about gratitude and acceptance. Being grateful to others, giving back to those that helped you. Accepting and admitting your own mistakes, learning from them and moving on, instead of paralyzing yourself on a blame game.
As a daily star, Ardra favors all activities related to electricity or technology. It favors discarding old items, demolishing things or any kind of clearing of the past. Good for confronting problems or long standing issues. Great for research and analysis. Excellent day for worshipping fierce deities, like Rudra and Kali.
This star is unfavorable for new beginnings. Not a great moment for marriage, travel, ceremonies or friendly activities.
Predictively, Ardra will represent people that carry this wild and caustic energy. 11th lord here could show unusual and chaotic friends, for instance. Any planet in Ardra shows turbulence, transformation or ups and downs. For instance, the 2nd lord could show the parents divorcing or separating. The 10th lord could show ups and downs in career, or a major change in career at some point. A final meaning deals with controversy or conflict, Ardra planets will tend to shock or create some degree of upheaval.
Examples:
- Vanessa Williams (Ardra ascendant 16° Gemini): American singer, actress and former beauty contestant.
- She was crowned Miss America in 1984, among controversy, as many criticized her choice for the title.
- Nude photos, taken in 1982, that she thought had been destroyed by the photographer resurfaced as they were bought and published by Penthouse Magazine.
- The public scandal forced her to resign her title. After the scandal, she shifted her focus into a career as actress and singer.
- Temple Grandin (Ardra Mars 17° Gemini): American animal behaviorist
- An autistic child, she grew up experiencing constant fear, anger and sadness.
- Upon visiting her aunt’s cow farm, she observed how the animals reacted to stress, and this inspired her to find ways to manage her own stress, as well as in helping animals and livestock do the same.
- She invented the hug box, a soothing device for autistic people. She went on to specialize on animal care and animal stress relief.
- Scorpio Ascendant, Mars in Ardra becomes a focal point by ruling the ascendant.
- Kurt Cobain (Ardra Moon 19° Gemini): American musician who wrote anguished and emotional lyrics, died by suicide at the age of 27.
- As a child, he was diagnosed as hyperactive and given amphetamine-based drugs. Those caused him insomnia, which were counteracted with sleeping medication.
- His parents divorce was another traumatic event in his childhood, which caused him to antagonize both of his parents.
- His life was filled with turbulations, emotional pain and overall inner suffering.
See more Nakshatra posts here