The visitors of Guru, Jupiter were exuberantly dressed; families held elaborate picnics in the shade on the cool ancient black stone floors between the pillars. It was a prosperous, abundant Tamil Nadu I encountered, fitting for the planet of wealth, wisdom, healing, fertility, growth and pregnancy. Simple and barefoot, I stood out among the Tamils in brocade and bright coloured silks, the women with fragrant jasmine woven into their hair. A Brahmin took me under his care:

“Where do you come from? Are you married? Do you have children? No? Then please come.”
He had me buy flowers and showed me how to walk twenty-four counterclockwise rounds around the temple carrying the flowers with outstretched arms. I quickly lost count, but the Brahmin stood calling from the shade: “11! … 18! … three more rounds!”

The flowers were not to be touched with my hands before being offered to Jupiter. My arms started trembling in this position Slowly I slipped into trance, like a turning dervish. The scent of flowers and rice pudding mingled with the question of whether I would ever pray for wealth or children myself, or whether health and happiness were offering enough. “Your Birth Star, Madam?” he asked. I said January 1st. I handed him my flowers with trembling arms.- not knowing yet that the nakshatra is the moon sign, on of the 27.
​
The warm gaze of the half-naked Brahmin felt simply encouraging and honest rather than commanding Perhaps I romanticized, but in the eyes of this elegant, vegetarian, goddess-worshipping Tamil I felt the abundance and fertility celebration of a rural lifestyle in an the ecstatic circumambulation. I myself felt more a solitary pilgrim moving through the solar system than a member of Jupiter’s Thursday club.

Ritual
Thursday is dedicated study, sharing knowledge and meditation. Jupiter grants ideals, wisdom, and healing power. Those with a strong Jupiter inspire others with hope and enthusiasm. Devote attention to philosophy and religion. Cultivate inner wisdom. Be conscious of health, prosperity, and generosity. Wear yellow or orange. Choose gemstones such as yellow sapphire, topaz, or citrine. Invite someone to share a meal, so that your abundance becomes shared abundance. Jupiter represents abundance, generosity, and slow but steady growth; the planet takes twelve years to circle the zodiac.

Ingredients and Symbolism or Correspondences
Symbol: square
Colors: golden yellow, orange, saffron, warm light yellow
Gemstones: yellow sapphire, topaz, citrine, yellow quartz
Totem animals: elephant, swan, lion, horse
Plants & foods: chickpeas, almonds, walnuts, cashews, sesame, saffron, turmeric, basil, dates, fi
Aromatic allies: Sandalwood (spiritual elevation) Saffron (purity) Jasmine (joy and wisdom)
                              Frankincense (prayer and devotion)
Ayurvedic herbs: Ashwagandha (vital force) Ginseng (energy and focus) Licorice (gentleness, throat chakra)
                               Saffron (joy) Brahmi (memory and clarity)
Yoga: Raja Yoga — ceremonial and devotional; a synthesis of knowledge, service, and dedication
Mantras: Om Brihaspataye Namaha, Om Gam Ganeshaya Namaha
Ayurvedic type: Kapha–Pitta constitution — strong, generous, sometimes heavy;
                             tendencies toward abundance, wisdom, but also excess.
Healing path: balance between giving and receiving, moderation and inner discipline.
Emotional states: trust, joy, wisdom, gratitude, magnanimity — but sometimes overconfidence or complacency.
Physiology: liver, fat metabolism, pancreas, lungs, blood pressure, growth and cell formation.
Essence: Guru tattva — the principle of wisdom, expansion, justice, and protection.
Karmic Work: Jupiter shows where we learn to handle abundance, wisdom, and power.
                         He reveals how we use knowledge and influence for truth, compassion,
                         and growth — rather than arrogance or excess.
Mirror of Wisdom: In Jupiter’s mirror we encounter our own belief systems. He forces us to take a position:
                                  trust or doubt, generosity or self-protection, expansion or moderation.
Psychospiritual Archetype: the teacher, the sage, the king, the visionary —
                                                 wisdom embodied; knowledge transformed into spiritual insight.
Divine parallels: Jupiter, Thor, Zeus, Indra Roman: Jupiter Greek: Zeus Norse: Thor/Odin Egyptian: Amon-Ra Mesopotamian: Marduk Celtic: Taranis Mayan: Itzamná Vedic: Brihaspati (Guru)

Temple Information
The Jupiter temple dates from the 7th century and lies slightly outside the straight line of the Navagraha constellation, yet it is never skipped. Jupiter is, after all, the great benefactor.

When Jupiter moves into a new zodiac sign (Guru Peyarchi), millions of pilgrims travel to Alangudi to make offerings. The temple contains fifteen theerthams (sacred water tanks). One of these sources, the Jnana Koopam, lies within the temple itself. To the east flows the Poolaivala River, where rituals are performed. During major transits, the images of Jupiter disappear beneath milk, honey, flowers, nectar, and rice pudding.

Jupiter and the Kumbh Mela
Jupiter, Guru Brihaspati, takes twelve years to complete his journey through the zodiac. Each time he enters a particular sign in conjunction with the Sun and Moon, a Kumbh Mela is held in India — in Allahabad (Prayagraj), Haridwar, Ujjain, or Nasik. This largest pilgrimage in the world draws millions of people, yogis, sadhus, and pilgrims to the sacred rivers to bathe at the Sangam and cleanse themselves in the rhythm of the cosmos. When Jupiter completes twelve full cycles — a total of 144 years — a rare conjunction of Jupiter, Sun, and Moon occurs again. This marks the Maha Kumbh Mela, which takes place only once every 144 years and carries the highest spiritual charge.
​
In February 2025, this Maha Kumbh Mela was held in Prayagraj. Hundreds of millions of visitors gathered: an ocean of bodies and prayers assembling under Jupiter’s order of time — planet of dharma, abundance, and wisdom. Here the Guru principle became visible: the teacher who spans generations, transmitting rhythm and knowledge, teaching humanity to merge into the great river of time.

At this Maha Kumbh Mela of 2025, my film Dramayama was screened— born from the discovery of the Navagraha pilgrimage. Like the film Transspirit, shown at the Transgender Festival in Koovagam and at the spiritual film festival of the previous Maha Kumbh Mela, Dramayama found its place here; you can watch dramayama by yourself with subtitles in English Spanish Portugese French Dutch and Tamil; www.dramayama.com

An experience one encounters perhaps only once in a lifetime: you came from nowhere and you were going nowhere — only this one moment of gathering with millions in the current of time.
 

Travel Information
Opening hours: 06:00–13:00 and 16:00–21:00
Location: 17 km south of Kumbakonam toward Mannargudi
Guru – Alangudi Jupiter Temple
Sivan S St, Alangudi, Tamil Nadu 612801, India

Timing in the Hindu Calendar
Both Guru Peyarchi (Jupiter ingress) and Shani Peyarchi (Saturn ingress) are calculated according to the sidereal zodiac and announced by Tamil Panchangam calendars months in advance. Temple administrations prepare for massive crowd control.
On the exact sidereal ingress day and the surrounding days (usually ±3 days, sometimes longer).
You may expect in the Jupiter temple: several hundred thousand over the transit period.
At the Saturn temple: can approach or exceed one million over the peak days of Shani Peyarchi.
Saturn attracts more fear-driven devotion; Jupiter attracts hope-driven devotion. Both move oceans of people.

Śani Sāḍe Sātī
The best-known — and often most feared — transit of Saturn in Vedic astrology is Śani Sāḍe Sātī, literally “the seven-and-a-half of Shani.” It refers to the 7.5-year period in which Saturn moves through the zodiac sign of the Moon in your birth chart, as well as the sign before it and the sign after it.

Astrologically, Saturn passes through three phases:
The pre-phase, when Shani enters the sign before your natal Moon and the first shifts become noticeable.
The core phase, when Saturn moves over your natal Moon and you carry the heaviest burdens.
The post-phase, when Shani enters the sign after your Moon and the lessons are slowly integrated.
In popular belief, Sāḍe Sātī is often feared as a time of bad luck or calamity, but in essence it is a spiritual purification period: you are forced to release ballast, take responsibility, and mature. A widespread ritual during this transit is to make offerings on Saturday (Śanivāra) at Shani temples.

Saturday and Saturn
For centuries, Saturday has been devoted in many countries to the spirit of Saturn. In India, this powerful force is called Shani. Dressed in black, with a narrow chest and a limp, he rides a black crow. A Saturn period can foretell seven lean years — and where people suffer, his strange form of abundance is also found. Saturn embodies patience: his journey around the Sun takes 28 years. In your first round you grow; in your second you maintain; in your third you experience decline — laws of nature you can read like a clock.

Astrological and Symbolic Layer
The atmosphere around Saturn is heavy, gloomy, and saturated with human suffering. Even near the sea, the lightness of a tourist beach is absent. And yet the Saturn temple is extraordinarily ‘popular’: tens of thousands of people come when Shani enters a new zodiac sign. Every Saturday, devotees stand for hours in line behind crowd barriers and police. During festivals, Saturn is carried in procession, and the entire town dresses itself in a dignified garment. Saturn teaches craftsmanship, durability, loyalty, patience, concentration, mourning, failure, and humility. We live under his influence for 29 years, again and again in cycles of seven years — the seasons of Saturn.

Sani’s - Saturn’s - Astrological Way of Life
A transit of Saturn often lasts about nine months and can bring major changes: separations, broken bones, illness — but also periods of deep concentration, such as writing a book.
Black clothing during mourning is a visible symbol of these lessons: others recognize that you are moving through a serious process. Saturn teaches respect for time and disappointment, and invites maintenance, discipline, and care.
On Saturdays you can honor his energy through meditation, fasting, visiting the sick or the elderly, or through simple work such as repairs.

Pilgrim Experience and Temple Story
The Saturn temple lies in Thirunallar, near the sea, but without the lightness of a holiday town. No fish restaurants or terraces — only the heavy, devotional atmosphere of Shani. Tens of thousands of pilgrims gather, especially when the Sun moves through Aries and an 18-day festival takes place. On the tenth day, with the full Moon in Libra, Saturn is carried in procession. It is a consecrated event symbolizing the end of a Saturn cycle. In the temple you find inscriptions from the 12th century. Inside, you see Saturn on his golden crow, an arrow in one hand, and with the other hand a gesture of greeting. His wife is named Chayya — Shadow. Every day at 10 o’clock the emerald linga is washed: a peaceful ritual.

Rituals and Symbols
Those who visit the Saturn temple in Thirunallar pass lines of pilgrims waiting in three classes — first, second, and third rank — each with its own waiting time and line of sight: a tangible lesson in patience and inequality. At the gate sit beggars, of whom it is said that one may be Shani himself, present incognito to test your generosity. Inside, there is the ritual of breaking a coconut: with one hard strike the fruit bursts open — an offering in which ego and karmic burden are shattered.
​
At the temple tank, pilgrims leave behind a black garment, as if releasing grief and heaviness into the water and continuing on with a lighter soul. Around the temple, small oil lamps burn for the Nāgas — snakes in every form — guardians of the cycles of time and rebirth. Their winding presence, lit by tiny flames in the darkness, intensifies the heaviness and mystery of Shani’s domain. The most important Saturn ritual lasts for months: every Saturday, pilgrims repeat their offerings, sometimes for as long as eight months. You wear the clothes in which you have lived your sorrow, enter the Saturn tank, and leave those clothes behind there — a dignified farewell.
Saturn asks for patience and helps you thoroughly address obstacles, fears, and shadows. His lessons are maintenance, discipline, respect for others, and acceptance of disappointment. Saturday is the day to honor this.

​Correspondences
Symbol: bow
Colors: black, dark blue, brown, gray, lead-gray
Gemstones: blue sapphire, onyx, lapis lazuli, amethyst, hematite
Foods & plants: sesame seeds, sesame oil, small purple flowers, blue lotus, blue lilies,
                              Triphala, black pepper, bitter vegetables, root vegetables
Aromatic allies: frankincense, cedar, juniper, myrrh, shilajit, patchouli, vetiver
Totem animals: crow, vulture, turtle, buffalo
Divine parallels: Hindu: Shani, Kali, Yama Greek: Kronos Roman: Saturn Egyptian: Osiris
Mesopotamian: Ninurta Celtic: Crom Dubh Chinese: Zhuanxu (time and order)
Yoga and devotion: fasting, discipline, retreat, acceptance, surrender, objectivity, karma yoga
Emotional states: mourning, sobriety, loneliness, patience, respect, melancholy, perseverance
Physiology: bones, skin, teeth, joints, nervous system, chronic illness, aging, lymphatic system
Essence: Shani tattva — the principle of time, limits, karma, sobriety, and ordeal
Mantras: Om Shanisharaya Namaha; Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Karmic Work
Saturn shows where we meet the boundaries of time and karma. He confronts us with obstacles, loss, and finitude. His lessons are discipline, patience, and humility. He reveals that true growth arises from limitation, that wisdom ripens through mourning, and that the road to freedom runs through responsibility and perseverance.

Mirror of Reality
In Saturn’s mirror we see our own limits and shortcomings. He makes us feel where we fail, where we get stuck, and where we can no longer escape. He forces acceptance and transformation: either we bow and learn, or we break under the weight. His mirror is harsh — but truthful.

Psychospiritual Archetype
Saturn represents the elder, the teacher, the judge, and the keeper of time. He embodies sobriety, responsibility, mourning, and ripening. As an archetype he is the gatekeeper of karma: strict, but just. He grants durability, structure, and the strength to carry — and transform — the inevitable.

Travel Information
The temple is open from 06:00–13:00 and 16:00–21:00. Rituals between 60 and 4000 rupees.
Location: Thirunallar, 5 km from Karaikkal
Bus connections: from Mayiladuthurai (30 km), Kumbakonam (45 km), Nagapattinam (20 km)
Address: Sri Dharbaranyeswarar Temple, Thirunallar 609607

Psychosphere
The Karaikkal coast, where the Saturn temple lies, was among the areas severely hit during the 2004 tsunami. Entire fishing villages were swept away; hundreds of people died; thousands of houses disappeared. That left deep traces in the psyche of the place: poverty and vulnerability have remained among fishing families. Tourism has barely returned. Where elsewhere beach resorts and fish restaurants grow, here sobriety and recovery dominate.

The sea is not a source of recreation, but of respect and fear. As a result, around Thirunallar and Karaikkal there is little beach culture or tourist infrastructure.
Add to this the colonial legacy (French influence, but without real tourist development), alcohol-related problems (because of low excise duties in Puducherry), and the presence of power plants and oil fields — and you get an environment that feels heavy, functional, and not at all lighthearted. This explains why the atmosphere around the Shani temple carries such a pover, dirty, heavy, devotional, sober tone: the psychosphere of the place itself mirrors Saturn’s qualities of loss, discipline, and mourning.

The air around Thirunallar is filled with crows, inseparably linked to Shani and present everywhere as shadow and warning. Higher above, vultures, sea eagles, and brahminy kites circle — guardians of the coast and the rice fields. Along the water’s edge, herons and ibises stand motionless in silence, while storks traverse the wet fields. These birds give the landscape its heavy, carried tone: black and white, shadow and light — a terrain in which time slowly stretches out under Saturn’s gaze.

Thirunallar – Shani Temple attendance
Attendance at the Shani temple spikes during Shani Peyarchi — when Saturn enters a new sidereal sign.
This happens roughly every 2.5 years.

​During those ingress periods:
Over the main transit days, 500,000 to 1 million devotees may pass through Thirunallar.
On peak days, crowds can exceed 100,000–200,000 people per day
Ordinary Saturdays already draw thousands weekly.
During Sāḍe Sātī-sensitive periods, numbers swell further.
Because the sidereal zodiac is ~24° behind the tropical zodiac, Saturn will enter sidereal Pisces in 2025, and only later move into sidereal Aries (Mesha) — approximately mid-2027 (exact date depends on ayanāṁśa). In temple culture in Tamil Nadu, the sidereal ingress is what counts. So the massive temple response will happen in 2027, not 2025.

Van de Maan naar de Zon met Beatrice Boucher
Waar komen we vandaan ? Wie zijn we ? en Waar gaan we heen ?
De Maan en de Zon vormen de fundamenten van elke horoscoop interpretatie.
De Maan is het symbool van het verleden en de Zon staat voor het potentieel,
het bewustzijn dat we in de loop van ons leven (leren) ontwikkelen.
Tezamen beschrijven ze het plattegrond van ons levenspad.

In deze workshop richten we onze aandacht op deze symbolische reis.
Hoe ziet dat pad er eigenlijk uit? Wat komen we onderweg tegen?
Wat zijn de uitdagingen? Welke (existentiële) geheimen liggen
verborgen in de symboliek van de Maan en de Zon?
En wat betekent het, in ruimere zin, voor de maatschappij waarin we leven?

​Wees welkom, zorg dat je op tijd je kaartje hebt!
Geboortedatum van te voren opgeven.

Beatrice Boucher Biografie
Geboren in Parijs, sinds 1976 woon ik in Nederland waar ik vrijwel direct in aanraking kwam met de humanistische astrologie. Ik studeerde af aan de Sociale Academie en volgde ik lessen bij diverse astrologen, ook counseling- en intuïtieve trainingen. Dit leidde tot een studie bij de Faculty of Astrological Studies in Engeland waar ik afstudeerde en 18 jaar distance learning tutor ben geweest.

Bij de humanistische en trans-persoonlijke astrologie van Dane Rudhyar vond ik veel inspiratie, bij de esoterische astrologie helderheid. De ‘blauwe boeken’ van Alice Bailey en aanverwante filosofische en spirituele stromingen brachten het inzicht, hoezeer het pad of ‘methode’ van de ziel verweven is met het Pad van de Astrologie.

Ik ben een tiental jaren editor geweest van de wekelijkse e-zine van de VS-based International Society for Astrological Research, heb het boek ‘Naar het bewustzijn van het ware zelf’ van Alexander Ruperti in het Nederlands vertaald in samenwerking met Joyce Hoen en uitgegeven door het CHTA, lezingen en workshops gegeven in binnen- en buitenland, co-organisator geweest van het AstroCafé Arnhem en van de Astroworkshops in Gorssel. Vanuit Arnhem geef ik nu alleen cursussen ondermeer in de esoterische astrologie, soms lezingen, supervisie en vooral consulten. 
​www.icaquarius.nl

Nicole  is een ritualist – “een persoon die kennis heeft van rituelen en deze uitvoert.” Met een achtergrond in Rituele Architectuur. Door middel van ritueel, spoken word en ceremonie geeft zij betekenis aan grote gebeurtenissen. Denk aan geboorte, trouwen en sterven. Waar vroeger de kerk dit deed is nu een meer universele spirituele belevenis op zijn plaats. Met haar teksten en Spoken Word zet zij de toon en neemt zij mensen mee in bijvoorbeeld waterblessings en vergevingsceremonies.
Na het ritueel van Nicole neemt Jeanette Groenendaal ons mee op reis tijdens een lezing over de Astrologische pelgrimstocht ‘Navahraha-negen planeten’ en zal haar film Dramayama worden vertoond in onze knusse 7 Ster Yurt waar we de hele avond over kunnen beschikken. Jeanette is filmmaker, artistiek onderzoekster, producer en Astroloog.

De Yurt zullen we verwarmen met een houtvuur maar winterse jassen voor buiten is raadzaam.
De muzikale omlijsting zal worden gedaan door Cato Fluitsma en vrienden en Mark – De Gongluider van Amsterdam ondersteunt het process middels zijn gong vibraties.
Trek je warmste rituele jurk aan! En zeg het voort… 

Tarot en Astrologie met Marcel Zwart
Tarot en astrologie spreken dezelfde taal van symboliek en synchroniciteit.
In de horoscoop onderzoek je patronen die al in de sterren staan; de tarotkaarten brengen het onverwachte moment tot leven. Ze worden getrokken in het intuïtieve veld tussen jou en de ander, daar waar betekenis zich vanzelf ontvouwt.

De beelden van de kaarten nodigen uit tot spel, reactie, gesprek.
Wat via het beeld binnenkomt, raakt vaak dieper dan woorden. Zo ontstaat ruimte voor ontdekking en inzicht, zonder dogma, zonder voorspelling, maar vol resonantie. Tijdens de workshop onderzoeken we hoe tarot en astrologie elkaar versterken. Na de lezing leggen we kaarten bij onze eigen horoscopen. We werken in tweetallen en gebruiken de huizen als uitgangspunt. Je hoeft niet elk huis te ‘bezoeken’; het gaat om de ervaring van de uitwisseling tussen astrologische symbolen en archetypische beelden.
Breng je eigen tarotdeck mee of gebruik er een van ons.
​
Wees welkom, zorg dat je op tijd je kaartje hebt!
Geboortedatum van te voren opgeven.

Marcel Zwart Biografie 19-12-1950
Sinds de jaren ’80 begeleidt Marcel mensen via astrologie en tarot. Hij is schrijver van de Gids voor de Voyager Tarot, docent, spreker en gepassioneerd onderzoeker van symboliek. Zijn werkwijze is helder, speels en intuïtief – en nodigt uit tot een nieuw soort luisteren: niet alleen met je hoofd, maar met je hele wezen. Laat je verrassen door de eeuwenoude jeugd van astrologie en tarot.

Activiteiten sinds 1980
Consulten en cursussen astrologie. Tarotwerk met de Voyager Tarot, Rider–Waite–Smith en Crowley–Harris Thoth. Docent astrologie en tarot aan diverse scholen, de School voor Universele Wijsheid (Nijmegen) en De Ster (Terborg). Auteur van Gids voor de Voyager Tarot (uitg. Koppenhol). Samenwerkingen met zangdocenten, psychotherapeuten en yogadocenten.
www.marcelzwart.nl

Heavenly Bodies and Sexuality
Session date: Sunday, January 18, 2026 9:00 PM
Category: StarClub Webinars in English,
StarClub Webinars Every Sunday (English), All Star Club Webinars
Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes 
Timezone: Europe/AmsterdamYou need to be logged in to register for this meeting.

Rooted in Amsterdam’s avant-garde and queer art scene, filmmaker-astrologer Jeanette Groenendaal presents her ongoing research into sexuality, symbolism, and inclusive astrology. Drawing from decades of artistic and astrological practice, the session reconsiders how planetary archetypes shape desire and identity beyond heteronormative codes. Participants are invited to engage with Jeanette’s astrological game, which opens new ways to speak, imagine, and reframe our sexual complexities. Between astrology and language, taboo and transformation, this workshop explores how the heavens reflect the full spectrum of human intimacy and creative becoming.

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