The Astrology of Baby’s First Solid Food

You can laugh if it pleases you but I think that ancient culture is more subtle, sublime, and wonderful than our modern mess. Ancient and classical Indian culture places a lot of importance on doing things at the right moments. The moment in which you start an important activity has a big impact on how the activity will turn out for you. 

The conditions under which a child eats solid food for the first time will have a significant impact on how the child relates to food for the rest of his or her life; and thus a big effect on their appearance, health and longevity. Here is what ancient and classical Indian astrology has in the way of astrological advice for choosing the best time to feed your baby his or her first solid food. To understand or calculate some of these details you may have to consult with me or with someone who knows Vedic calenders and timekeeping.

Age

Start looking for a good time after the child has turned 5 months and before they are more than 1 year. For boys, even numbered months are better, visa versa for girls. So for girls, look within their 5th, 7th, 9th or 11th month for an auspicious day. For boys, look within their 6th, 8th, 10th, or 12th.

Star

You need to know which of the 27 Vedic stars the Moon was in when your child was born. You can find this out from an astrologer, or probably even online since it is a relatively simple calculation. Knowing this you can find auspicious days within the month you want to start feeding your baby solid food. Again you will need an astrologer to help you with this unless you are familiar with Vedic calenders. The principles are:

• Don’t select a day where the Moon is in the same star as the day your baby was born.
• Select a day where the Moon is in whatever star is 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 15, 17, or 19 stars from the star of the Moon when your baby was born. 
  • Start counting with that star as “1″, so the star in the 2nd position is the next star.
  • Say your baby was born when the Moon was in Uttara-Bhadrapada… Revati (the next star) would be star #2, Bharani star #4, Rohini #6, etc.

If you are following along, by this point you’ll have a list of stars that are auspicious for your baby to have his or her first bite of food. The next step is to cross reference it with this list:

• If one of the following stars is on the list, put a “+” next to it
  • Asvini, 
  • Rohini, 
  • Mrigasira, 
  • Punarvasu, 
  • Pushya, 
  • Uttaraphalguni, 
  • Hasta, 
  • Chitra, 
  • Uttarashadha, 
  • Sravana, 
  • Dhanishtha, 
  • Uttarabhadrapada
  • Revati 
• If one of the following is on the list, put a “-” next to it
  • Ardra, 
  • Krittika, 
  • Jyeshtha, 
  • Bharani, 
  • Aslesha, 
  • Purvaphalguni, 
  • Purvashadha 
  • Purvabhadrapada 

So, in the example of a baby born with the Moon in Uttarabhadrapada, on the list of candidate lucky stars is Revati, Bharani, and Rohini. We would put a plus next to Revati and Rohini and a minus next to Bharani.

Then cross off the stars with minus signs next to them. Any day in the month you are interested in where the moon is in one of the stars on your list with a plus next to it is probably a very good and lucky day to feed your baby his or her first solid food.

Lunar Phase

The Vedic lunar calendar works mostly as a combination of stars and lunar phases (“tithi”). There are 15 waxing phases of the Moon and 15 waning phases. For your baby’s first solid food, the following phases of either cycle (waxing or waning) reduce the auspiciousness of the day:

• 4th, 
• 6th, 
• 8th, 
• 9th, and 
• 14th

Practical Demonstration

My little darling girl was born last december when the Moon was in Uttara-bhadrapada. 

Initial list of lucky stars for first food:

• Star #2 from Uttara-bhadrapada: Revati
• Star #4: Bharani
• #6: Rohini
• 8, Ardra
• 10, Pushya
• 11, Aslesha
• 13, Purva-phalguni
• 15, Hasta
• 17, Svati
• 19, Anuradha

Next I want to apply the “+” and “-” checklist to the above candidates:

• + Revati
• - Bharani
• + Rohini
• - Ardra
• + Pushya
• - Ashlesha
• - Purva-phalguni
• + Hasta
• Svati
• Anuradha

Now I can cross off the “-”‘s from the list:

• + Revati
• + Rohini
• + Pushya
• + Hasta
• Svati
• Anuradha

Now I have a list of lucky stars for feeding my little girl! Since she was born in december, she’s just turned four months, so lets look in her fifth month (since she is a girl) and see when the Moon is in these stars. She turns 5 months old on May 5th so lets look from May 5th to June 5th and consider that her fifth month. In Japan (where we live, lunar calendars are location-specific) the Moon’s stars between these dates are:

• May 5: Chitra,
• 6: Svati
• 7: Vishakha
• 8: Jyeshtha
• 9: Mula
• 10: P.ashadha
• 11: U.ashadha
• 12: Shravana
• 13: Dhanishtha
• 14: Satabhisha
• 15: P.bhadrapada
• 16: U.bhadrapada
• 17: Revati
• 18: Revati
• 19: Asvini
• 20: Bharani
• 21: Krittika
• 22: Rohini
• 23: Mrigashirsha
• 24: Ardra
• 25: Punarvasu
• 26: Pushya
• 27: Ashlesha
• 28: Magha
• 29: P.phalguni
• 30: U.phalguni
• 31: Hasta
• June 1: Chitra
• 2: Svati
• 3: Vishakha
• 4: Anuradha

First I want to pick from this the days that have the stars on my list. That gives me:

• + Revati – May 17 & 18
• + Rohini – May 22
• + Pushya – May 26
• + Hasta – May 31
• Svati – June 2
• Anuradha – June 4

I should mention that when the calendar stays in the same star or phase across more than one sunrise (“day”) those days lose auspiciousness, so this puts a “yellow flag” on the 17th and 18th (Revati) for me.

The next thing is to consider the lunar phases. The calendar of lunar phases for Japan between May and June 5th is:

• May 5: 14th phase, waxing
• 6: Full Moon
• 7: 1st phase, waning
• 8: 3rd phase
• 9: 4th
• 10: 5
• 11: 6
• 12: 7
• 13: 8 (halfmoon)
• 14: 9
• 15: 10
• 16: 11
• 17: 12
• 18: 13
• 19: 14
• 20: 14 (second sunrise with the same phase)
• 21: New Moon
• 22: 1st waxing phase
• 23: 2nd
• 24 3rd
• 25: 4th
• 26: 5th
• 27: 6th
• 28: 7th
• 29: 8th (halfmoon)
• 30: 9th
• 31: 10
• June 1: 11th
• 2: 12
• 3: 14 (sunrise skipped a phase)
• 4: Full Moon

Now lets remove any that are on undesirable lunar phases (4th, 6th, 8th, 9th, and 14th):

• + Rohini – May 22 – 1st phase of waxing
• + Pushya – May 26 – 5th phase of waxing
• + Hasta – May 31 – 10th phase of waxing
• Svati – June 2 – 12th phase of waxing
• Anuradha – June 4 – full moon

None of the days on the list fall on bad lunar phases, so none of them have to be crossed off. 

So I can choose now between any of these dates with confidence that I have an astrologically lucky and fortunate date for my child to eat her first solid food – which will give her a good subtle mental impression about food and nutrition for the rest of her life.

How to choose between these? Well, this list has been made using the most essential and ancient techniques. There are many, many more techniques of Vedic and Indian electional astrology that we can use to differentiate the best of several good days. Considering all these, the 26th comes out to be the most auspicious of all these days for feeding my daughter her first “grains” (usually a soupy mash of rice).

Why the 26th?

It meets all the fundamental basic principles we explained here. The rest has to do with planetary positions in the signs and houses, and the more ancient principles of combinations (“yogas”) between various factors. This particular day has three good combinations!

Bye Bye!

I hope you can use the principles and the example to select auspicious dates for your own child’s first solid food! You may need help from me or some astrologer or reliable person who knows how to calculate these lunar calendars for you. You can apply essentially the same type of technique for getting the best days for all sorts of important events in your life.

Thanks,

Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Importance of Electional Astrology

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Image via Wikipedia

If you do something at the right time (on an “auspicious date”) the effect will be far far better than if you do something at the wrong time, on an “inauspicious date.”

The bad effects of an inauspicious date depend on the exact nature of what is inauspicious about the date. But in general, lets say you have karma that enables you to win 40 million pounds in poker. If you play poker on the auspicious day you can win 40 million pounds and that money will go to good use and make you happy now and in the future. If you play poker on an inauspicious day you may win 40 million pounds or perhaps less, and the money will become a source of trouble to you. So for marriage… marriage done on an inauspicious date makes it much harder if not impossible to realize the positive karmic potentials one may have had with that marriage, and can make even good things about the marriage ultimately be the cause of grief. Conversely, if you marry on a very auspicious date, whatever negative marriage karmas you have as an individual get minimized, and even the difficulties and hardships you might encounter in the marriage turn out to be a source of great fortune and happiness for you and even for the relationship.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com

Reality Check on Astrology

I read for twins who were born about a minute apart. Their lives follow great parallels of course, but there are very significant differences now and then. Do you know why this is?

Basically it is because astrology is fantastically complex.

Here are some details: One of the twins is a boy and the other is a girl – that makes a difference. Another part of the reason is that one of the sub-divisional charts (“vargas”) has a different ascendant for each twin. You might not know what a sub-divisional chart is, right? But that is part of the point I am making! Astrology is very complicated.

The biggest reason for the difference between these twins is that the slight difference in their birth time pushes their life-cycles (“dashas”) out of sync with one another by a few days.

Why is this important?

Because transits are important. And especially important is the transit of the planets at the moment that a life cycle starts. With a few days difference at the beginning of a life cycle, the position of the Moon will be quite different, and that will create a distinctly different theme of subjective experience for the cycle that is beginning.

You probably don’t know exactly what I am talking about.

I don’t blame you. This is ridiculously complicated stuff. And that’s the point of why I am writing… to give you a reality check on just how absurdly complicated astrology actually is.

Now that is just a taste of how complicated a birth chart really is. There is other stuff that affects your life, outside of your birth chart! For example, did you know there is something called “horary astrology” (“prashna”) and something else called “electional astrology” (“muhurta”)? Did you know that this astrology is all about how your current decisions in this lifetime will affect how your destiny (“karma”) will unfold? Yep! If you make a decision one on day, with the planets in particular places, the decision will play out and affect you differently than if you made the decision on another day – when the planets were in different places.

Again, maybe you are not exactly understanding how it works.

That’s not a problem. What I hope you understand though, is how fantastically sophisticated, detailed and complex life (and therefore astrology) really is.

And now… the reality check…

Someone wants me (an astrologer) to tell them if you will get a job on Sunday or not. (Or something similarly exacting)

WOW… Can you now appreciate just how much detail I would have to go into to make an accurate prediction of this question (which 9 times out of 10 they want answered on Facebook or Yahoo!, for free, in 10 minutes!)

Can astrology predict with acceptable certainty (80-100% accuracy) if you will get your job on Sunday, or whatever it is???

YES!

By all means yes. Astrology is absolutely perfect.

Can I do it?

Maybe. I am not absolutely perfect. But I am pretty good.

Can we do it?

Yes, but how well we can do it depends… How accurate is your birth time? How willing are you to give your time and energy into a reading of this nature?

Can I do it for you in an hour?

Now it’s starting to get a little intense. We will need a good dose of blessings and divine favor to get this much work done in that short an amount of time with acceptable accuracy. But, yes, maybe we can. Two or three hours would be better.

Can I do it in 10 minutes for free on Twitter or Skype?

No.

Are there people who will do it for you in 10 minutes for free on Yahoo/ Facebook/ Twitter/ Skype?

Yes. The real question though is, Are they any more useful than a fortune cookie?

How to Approach Astrology

You should use astrology in a way that is commensurate with the amount of effort you are willing to put into it. In many ways, but not all, “effort” equals “money.”If you are not willing to put any effort in at all, then you should utilize astrology as you would utilize a fortune cookie.

If you are willing to put a little bit of effort in, great! Ask little questions which are about general trends, and hope for general answers which can be “useful” without needing to be “accurate.”

The more effort you put it, the more detailed questions you can ask and get reasonable answers on. Like all things, astrology will give to you what you give to it. Treat it with respect, and value it’s complexity appropriately – and the universe shall unlock her secrets unto you.

- Vic DiCara

www.vicdicara.com