Whenever I see a client have Swati nakshatra connected to their seventh house or significator of spouse or partner in their life, I always see the themes of interdependence, and see travel, shoes and the number three connected to the day they first met their partner. I see hammocks also, and swings, and quite literally, these natives may often have had a swing on their terrace or just really love the wind in their hair; a deep love for being in open spaces seeing the horizon, such as being near the sea or at the shore. This is because Swati has a deep longing for freedom, and connects to our breath, space and weather, all of which are about a certain sense of feeling freedom and allowing freedom to others also. So the travels, shoes and swings are just symbolic or a material manifestation of the wind nature and deep longing for freedom that resides within this lunar mansion.
Perhaps even more importantly, I see the power of planting seeds. You see, it is the wind’s blessing to us when he takes the seeds into the farther places, so that beautiful flowers bloom perhaps where they haven’t bloomed before. Within the heart of this lunar mansion, and the heart of Arcturus, is the dharma of uplifting – to sustain and bring forth things that sustain, support and uplift other people. This part of the sky holds within itself a movement from hunter-gathering to agriculture; this allows more life to flourish and take root.
Freedom is important, and as part of the Siva trimurti, Swati longs for freedom and to liberate itself and others from illusions; but at the core of Swati is interdependence, born of a free heart and free mind and intention to contribute and be of service, and using the power of its creative winds to reach farther than ever before, make things flourish and take root.
This part of the sky, with Arcturus shining bright, essentially reminds us of what we need to hold sacred while also offering it to the greater lands. It allows for talent, particularly creative talent. It shows our work needs its nurturing and home caring, its incubation and protection, and so patience of rhythm and integrity here matters. But when it needs to be brought to the world for its higher benefit, even if others around you may not understand it or think it’s “too far ahead of its time”, it is a dharmic duty to answer the calling and bring it forth, like the gods of winds would. The right people will always find you.
Entering the Lunar Mansion Swati
The Sun enters Swati usually around October 24th, and stays in this lunar mansion until the first week of November. Swati is the Saskrit name and deity personification of fixed star Arcturus of the Boötes constellation. Boötes is said to be one of the most ancient constellations in the sky, and is the 13th largest constellation in the night sky with Arcturus being one of the brightest stars in our sky.
This is a part of sky which shows movement and direction, change and initiation, travel and is world oriented, and relates to sharp thinking, courage and independence. Fixed star Arcturus rules two inches below the navel, so there is a lot of creativity and passion found here. There is a lot of potential for inspiration and for planting seeds of fruition.
Swati is ruled by the wind god Vayu, so with its feminine power Shakti, it gives the power to scatter like the wind. It moves in many directions, and has the power to change forms and make new shapes. With power comes responsibility, and all in nature can be either medicine or poison. If one doesn’t know how to master the energy of wind, it becomes destructive, like a tornado or hurricane.
But when one masters wind, love is born is many ways and many shapes. If one masters wind, it becomes healing, like music, like roses blooming in distant places where the wind brought the seeds, like words that heal and uplift others, like the divine messengers who bring people together for love and harmony.
Wind is dance, wind is lovers walking a life path of togetherness, wind is Zephyr, the god of the warm breeze bringing the eternal lovers Eros and Psyche together. Wind is the ever moving poetry, and turning of pages, so that people remain flexible, adaptable, and able to sustain a long term marriage or relationship. Wind cleanses us. Wind moves us.
When one steps into the higher dharmic path of Swati, one holds the ability to do what they want and desire in all the worlds. Because here we find travel and movement, and if we know how to move aligned with virtue and truth and integrity, we reach any worlds.
Swati is about having a free mind, open mind, remaining flexible and adaptable. These natives are very independent, and will be quite repulsed by anyone trying to control or limit them. They need freedom. It’s not necessarily freedom from relationships, it is freedom within relationships.
They need a certain level of movement within their relationships also, which is about feeling free to share their ideas, but also free to explore their creativity and express their unique selves. Their free mind is a treasure, because creativity needs freedom to thrive. Their free mind allows them beautiful unique insights and creative expression and flow of energy.
Loyalty and integrity often drive them. They seek truth, and truth is something that frees but it is also a very “clean pure high note of sound”. With Swati, it is about the power of words and the voice, because it is part of the Shiva trimurti.
It is usually very easy to see who someone is based on their words, perspectives – it shows you who they are, it shows you what moves through them, the kind of nectar they hold. Our voice can cleanse, can heal, can purify the hearts and even souls of others; but it can also hurt others and make them unwell. It is only up to us whether we choose to use our voice and words for wisdom, to raise others, to encourage and be kind, to lift each other up.
Truth is powerful and carries a very clean high note, it’s a very specific note; once we know what it sounds like because we’ve awakened and risen to its higher vibration, we can’t ever mistake it for another sound nor note. But to recognize it, we need to awaken within and purify the within, otherwise we can’t resonate with it nor receive it nor hear it even if it’s loud in front of us. Truth cleanses and frees, it doesn’t hurt nor harm; it liberates. It liberates us from illusions and deceptions, and when aligned to integrity, tenderness of the feminine, and the higher virtues, the dharmic person knows how to express it and the world itself is a better place.
Arcturus is one of the fifteen Royal Stars, the Behenian Fixed Stars. These are magical stars, and I’ve written in depth before about they mean. The original Arabic name for Arcturus is “al-simāk al-rāmiḥ”, meaning “The Uplifted One with a Lance”. The word simāk, comes from the root س م ك (s-m-k), meaning “to be elevated or lofty,” “to be supported or held up,” or “to sustain.”
So there is a sacred quality here with this star, and also its companion Spica, because this shows us that there is something “uplifted” here. Arcturus shows something sacred that needs to be held high, because it is worth elevating. As he connects to farming and the winds and progression from hunter gatherer to agriculture, it shows the need to nourish and sustain – i.e. to provide the support and nourishment upon which others can be uplifted.
Arcturus isn’t just a farmer – he holds a sword, so he protects what needs to be protected. This is a powerful part of the sky, and these natives are very independent, and will protect their privacy and freedom at all cost. Gandhi had prominent Swati in his chart, and there he was, fighting for freedom and longing to free his own self from whatever inside of him he needed. He was able to gain incredible self control also, and not fall into compulsions or lower ego. And he fought for justice, fairness, and his words reached far and wide; he planted seeds that are still used by others to nourish them.
Vayu, the ruler deity of Swati, is the Hindu god of the wind, and associated with breath, space and weather. So it’s about the intentions we breathe into what we do, how we speak and how we move through life. Vayu is actually closely connected to Indra, the king of the gods; and whenever I think of Indra, I tell the beautiful story about the necklace of Indra.
In his heavenly kingdom, there lived a talented craftsman who made a special necklace – a string weaving jewels, one by one. Each jewel, pure and clear like the clearest light, reflects the other; in each jewel is itself and the all others. This is the necklace of life. Interconnection. Each holds itself and the other; in each is itself and the other. Just like a seed holds the fruit, the fragrance, the sun, the wind, our hands – the seed is whole in itself, yet holds all future, past and present, and reflects all else around it, just like the jewels of Indra.
This is what I believe the heart of this part of the sky is – whether you call it Swati or Arcturus, Tropical Scorpio or Sidereal Libra – this part of the sky is about interdependence. It gives us an opportunity to allow more life to flourish and take root. To rise ourselves as we rise others. To use our wisdom and light to nourish the flames of others, to use words to uplift and inspire. Winds are part of nature, and they always carry things and move things. It is up to us what we will choose to offer with our opening of palms, what seeds we’ll hold and offer to the winds, because this is what will be moved.
Love Notes
If you have this nakshatra connected to your 7th house or significator of spouse or partner in this life, you need to learn interdependence. Whether you or your partner will be very freedom seeking, i.e. you love spending time by yourselves sometimes and just doing whatever you love to do creatively. It’s not about freedom from relationships, it is about freedom within relationships. You need to honour your unique individualities, while also walking hand in hand in togetherness. You can still choose to stay embraced in the hammock, as much as it moves with the winds.
Around the time of meeting your person, or any partner in your life actually, you may find the themes of travel, shoes or the number three. Perhaps you started talking on the third time you saw each other, perhaps you met on a number three, perhaps it took you three times to walk past him until he approached you to talk to you, perhaps it took you three dates to actually like him.
You may have been travelling or planning travels around the time you meet; or your partner was travelling and met you where you live. Perhaps he is from a distant place or country, or it starts with a long distance relationship. Perhaps he travels for work, or you end up living in two places across two continents. Perhaps one of you has to move to be with the other.
Swati is about movement, travel – and as such, shoes. Many of these natives meet someone significant shortly after they bought some nice shoes. And it’s not just any shoes, it is something not every other person has. This part of the sky is very individualistic, and it’s not necessarily about expensive things, but it is about something more unique and rare, i.e. not part of the mainstream.
Either you or your partner may be quite the rebels sometimes, and it’s good to be non-mainstream. Support each other’s individualities, because otherwise the air you breathe in your relationship will become quite stagnant and polluted, and you will begin to experience tension and even conflict, or become restless and just want to leave or separate. The remedy is usually just give each other some space and freedom to be yourself.
Travel when you need, and you need movement too. So stay active. Whether it is going out for walks, to the gym, or mental travels by learning new things and exploring, or re-organizing the house, you need movement, or the feeling of it, so that your relationship thrives. Remember: while freedom is your dharma, to keep your mind free and spirit free, Swati is about the art of interdependence.
It’s not about changing each other, fixing each other, it’s like a garden: wind is needed, sun is needed, hands are needed, each petal with another, the tree with the flowers, it is all a relationship. It is precisely how it all interconnects that makes a garden a garden. Like the necklace of Indra, Swati is like a garden of all and with all. Ech seed holds the soil, the fruit, the sun and our hands.
Everything in life is a relationship, and we are in a relationship with everything else around us continuously. It is the movement that makes things beautiful, and connecting to each other, the way wind touches our skin, the way it touches the petals and moves the leaves of trees so beautifully. This is freedom, it is life itself, moving through you, just as love moves you and offers to become your hands, your voice, your rhythm.
And isn’t it beautiful? To one day look back at the paths you’ve created, along the ways you’ve walked and planted seeds, how many flowers and fruits and trees grow. Isn’t it beautiful, to hold each other on the swing at your terrace looking towards the gardens or vineyards, and have the warm evening breeze in your hair and touch your skins, like the fragrance of the sweetest flowers, the fragrance of love.
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Cover art by Camille Pissarro, Jardin et poulailler chez Octave Mirbeau, Les Damps, 1892.
