#tvashtr

Disclaimer: the point of view I will give is merely the astrological point of view, not my personal perspective, likes and dislikes. Astrology is light and is above petty, ambitious, business-minded and biased agendas of some media. Also, I will not analyze the countries’ birth charts in this series as it would be too long. I might refer to them a little bit sometimes only.

🤔What is it all about? How do we analyze the sounds in Jyotish? Why? See intro here. In Russian, Russia/Россия, as well as the entire official name (Российская Федерация) starts with "Ro" which is pronounced as "Ra", not the Sanskrit "Ro". "Ra" sound corresponds to Chitra pada 3.

Chitra: The Dazzling Pearl in the Dark

🦪Pictures, colors, craftsmanship: The Russian traditional art is quite famous. Colorful, repeated, folk handicraft patterns are usually seen in their art. You can find them on textiles, wooden household items, metal trays (the rushnik, kokhloma, zhostovo paintings...), and even on traditional izba's walls. It can be also found on the famous matrioshka doll with their endless drawings. The religious orthodox icons are widely spread in Russian churches, as well as mosaics sometimes. Churches' roofs and walls are still colorful today, like in the Middle Ages unlike in Western Europe where cathedrals' and churches' colors faded away. There is a knack for visual details. Chitra means "picture" and is fond of colors. Chitra natives appreciate details and colors' balance.

🦪Architecture, cities: Russia is not only famous through its art, but also through its architecture. Its architecture blends the Eastern and Western influences, most notably through the churches and palaces. The Russian revival architecture, the Neo-Byzantine style can be cited as an example. But inventions had been made in masonry too (cast iron cupolas, rebars). Unique constructions took place as well, such as the ice palace, the amber room in the Palace of Tsarskoye selo. A lot of cities had been built too such as St Petersburg, and a lot of others in Ural region, Siberia, the Far East (Vladivostok and even Harbin). Tvashta, the ruler of Chitra is called the celestial architect. He is the creator of forms.

🦪Knowledge, inventions, crafts: Russia is not so known for its inventions and scientific knowledge, the USSR being more famous for it. Yet the list is long: law of mass conservation, hypothesis on Venus' atmosphere (Venus ruling Libra where Chitra is partially situated is interesting to note), off-axis reflecting telescope, electric lamp, railway electrification system, AC transformer, the electric telegraph, naval mines, armored cruiser, the electric submarine. Spica is the main star of Chitra and represents knowledge. Tvashta is the creator of forms and he is also known for creating weapons.

🦪The Russian Soul: The uniqueness of the Russian identity is called as "the Russian Soul": it is a concept which describes the Russian core as mysterious, intangible, full of emotions and nostalgia that you will find nowhere else. This uniqueness is expressed through the arts, such as literature and music. Russian literature is famous worldwide. Chitra's goal is to express its own soul through senses, then, tools. If Chitra uses tools to show its authenticity, then, its creations will become unforgettable. Who can forget about Dostoievsky?

🦪The Painful transformation: Chitra is the pearl, which is born out of irritation and pain. Russia underwent many difficult transformations, such as under Peter I, the coming of USSR, and perestroyka. Not to mention the fate of the White Russians throughout the world. 🦪The unpredictable conquest: Chitra's animal is the tiger. The tiger is a powerful, muscular, nocturnal feline who scared entire generations of humans. They usually attack by surprise. Russia surprisingly conquered territories and defeated powerful enemies, such as the Mongol Golden Horde, the Ottomans, Napoleon, the Nazis. 🦪Revenge, the precious resources: Tvashta was also the guardian of soma, the nectar of immortality. That is why he had problems with Indra, always thirsty for it. In short, Indra stole it and killed his son. Infuriated, Tvashta created a monster, Vrtrasura in revenge. Indra ended up killing the monster thanks to his allies with great difficulty. Russia is a fertile land full of enormous natural resources. Interestingly enough, the worst enemy of Russia is the U.S.A, whose name starts with Jyeshtha's sound: Indra is the ruler of this nakshatra. But the UK also shares the same sound. The UK rarely had friendly relations with Russia, the reason being still the same: controlling the resources. 🦪Lastly, it is interesting to note that this sound corresponds to the pada 3. Chitra's pada 3 falls in Libra again: Libra is much more concerned with beauty and art. But also toughness as Saturn is exalted in this sign. Libra's qualities are doubled here. There is a need for harmony with others but it is hard to attain it as Chitra is about inner struggle, transformation, and external fights: Mars is related to this nakshatra.

Next, we will see India 🇮🇳. And Spain 🇪🇸 after that.

Soma, the divine plant and drink of the Vedic gods. Confers power, vitality, wisdom, healer of ailments, and bestower of riches.

A divine drink. But, what was it? The stories tell us it was a drink made from honey likely and a plant that had to be distilled.

Soma in fact means in Sanskrit: distill, extract, sprinkle. Sounds like words to brew up a...brew.

Interestingly enough, though, scholars theorize that part of the drink was most definitely honey, and....magic mushrooms. Magic Mushroom wine, in fact.

Now, another interesting tidbit is that the Zoroastrians had a similar drink called Haoma - which scholars also theorize was made along the same lines and had the same benefits.

Does divine honey wine sound familiar? <Mead has entered the chat>

Then there is the Greek Ambrosia, nectar of the gods (NECTAR) that can grant immortality, just like some of the drinks I mentioned from other myths.

Here we get into some actual comparative mythology stuff as the concept of immortality linked to drinks exists in written in the Greek and Vedic with the word ambrosia being semantically linked to amṛta - concept of immortality -- food/drink to reach that path. This makes sense because the words come from the proto indo european: ṇ-mṛ-tós, "un-dying".

Many of the early epics seem to feature some kind of overall divine healing plant or divine drink that empowers its heroes. Why is that?

Simple as people just loved booze and the idea of super magic special booze? "Honey, I'm not drinking...I'm communing with god to make the strongest of our bloodline!!!! I SWEAR."

Or...was it something else? Is there a shared older story beat that all these epics draw from?

Right now? People still figuring that out. But there are _some_ connections. And they're fascinating.

(As I don't drink, you'll have to tell me if getting sloshed on honey wine has given you power, magic, healed you, or let you see god.)

In the Vedic stories, the Artisan and craftsman god, Tvashtr, creates this magical drink, along with Indra's lightning bolt (that myth sound familiar?), the creator of forms, living wombs, and oh, he creates vritra, the three-headed asura dragon that captures and holds hostage the waters of the world and is slain by Indra. Vritra becomes so dangerous and empowered by, you guessed it, drinking all the Soma at Tvashtrs house.