It is no news the influence that the stars, or at least the sun and the moon, have on the planet and on us, its inhabitants, so today it's time to talk about Chandra, the Sanskrit name for the moon.
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Actually, the literal meaning of Chandra is "illuminated or bright" and for Vedic tradition it is a deity that refers to the earth's satellite, although it is also identified with another Vedic lunar deity called Soma. The name Soma particularly refers to the juice of sap in plants, thus making the moon the "lord" of plants and vegetation.
It should be noted that although it is currently represented in male form - as a reflection of patriarchal domination in Hindu society - Chandra was originally a female deity, symbolizing the goddess or the female archetype in general.
In Vedic astrology, the moon represents the subconscious mind, emotions, intuition, higher perception, sensitivity, softness, imagination, and is recognized as queen and mother. Traditionally, the mother goddess in pre-Vedic religion was always associated with the worship of the moon.
At the internal level of consciousness, Chandra is the reflective light of the mind, and Soma is the sacred nectar of higher states of consciousness. At the elemental level, Chandra represents water, and the infinite flow that unites and separates all existence. It is the aspect of the psyche that allows us to feel, perceive, and understand the world in a subtle, gentle, and non-evident way.
Physically, in addition to being inspiring of poetry and romance, the moon with its gravitational action around the sun is responsible for the tides along with the forces of rotation of the Earth-Moon system. The maximum height of the tides coincides with the new moon or full moon, while the low tides are related to its waxing and waning phases.
Its influence is such on minerals, plants, animals, and especially on human beings because, in an average adult, their physical body is composed of 60 percent water and in children, almost 75 percent, and the water in our body reacts in the same way as the water in the oceans.
In astrology, it is the ruler of the sign of Cancer, associated with emotions and the digestive system, autonomic nervous system, lymphatic system, left eye, and women's breasts. The moon also influences our mood and vitality, our intellectual ability and sensitivity. Its 28-day cycle, which is the duration of a complete rotation around the Earth, affects us at a vibrational level depending on the phase it is in.
Depending on this as well, the cycles of breaths are stronger or weaker and our internal liquids rise and fall as in the case of the female menstruation that is fully associated with this cosmic cycle.