Ashwini Nakshatra 2025 (Transcript from Podcast)
Ashwini Nakshatra
0 degrees to 13 degrees 0 minutes of Aries
Deity: The Ashvini Kumaras
Planetary Ruler: Ketu
Hello everyone and welcome back to Astrology Now podcast.
My name is Christine Rodriguez, and in this segment |am so excited to announce a new series covering the 27 Nakshatras.
And | know that if you've been listening to this podcast long that you're aware that we've done the series together before.
And in the original series, we spoke a lot about the mythology, the stories, the symbolism, deities, rulership.
And | thought it would be really fun to do another series that focuses more on the personality qualities and personal characteristics that I've noticed throughout my time as an astrologer with clients, family, friends, out in the world, and maybe even using some celebrities or public figures to use as examples who really seem to embody the energy of these asterisms.
But if you would like to go back and listen to the original series,
you can go to my website, Inner Knowing dot Yoga, click on Media and then Astrology Now and you'll find playlist available.
And it's going to be the nakshatra playlist where | also have a segment on what is a nakshatra.
And so we are going to be covering the first nakshatra today, which is Ashwini.
And | do just want to point out, you know, you'll hear me say nakshatra, You'll hear a lot of other American astrologers say nakshatra.
The correct pronunciation or the more correct pronunciation |
should say, is nakshatra.
OK.
And so you'll hear me say nakshatra, nakshatra, asterism, lunar mansion, these are all going to be synonymous, but very, you
know, this is Sanskrit and a lot of the words that we're using are Sanskrit.
And so | just want you all to know that the more proper way of
pronunciating is going to be nakshatra.
And so you know, what is this?
What what is a nakshatra?
| do recommend going back to that original series and listening to the podcast | have specifically about this.
But these are lunar mansions in the sky.
And we have the 12 signs that everybody knows, right?
Aries through Pisces, and then we have the 27 asterisms that are within those 12 signs.
And what's so special about these asterisms or lunar mansions is that they contain specific stars.
And it's these stars that give the nakshatra its specific energy, which | think is absolutely amazing because we talk about the planets, right?
Like Jupiter is benevolent and it offers abundance and grace.
And then Saturn offers discipline and commitment and hard work.
And similarly to these planets, these stars have different meanings and qualities.
And what | find so beautiful about this is that the sky is alive, you know, the sky and the stars are alive and with energy.
And the science gives us such a unique opportunity to connect with the natural world in such a, a mystical and intimate way.
And so that's part of why | think that understanding the Nakshatras is so important.
Another reason that | think understanding them is so important is that human life is very complicated.
And it makes sense that astrology is very complicated, right?
The moon changes signs 2 1/2 days, but it changes nakshatra as much more rapidly.
So you could be born in the same day as somebody else.
Maybe both of your moons are in Aries, but the nakshatra is different.
One of you is Ashwini, 1 of you is Bharani
And that's going to have a major impact on personality qualities and also the stories of the nakshatras | have seen play out in people's lives in such magnificent ways, unbelievable ways.
And so understanding the story and the mythology and understanding the deity, it really will bring light to our own lives and experiences that we've had, but it also helps us understand others in a more intimate, deep way.
So | think that it is really fun, really interesting, and I'm really excited to jump into another series.
But again, | do recommend going back and listening to the old one because that's where we're going to talk much more about, again, like the symbolism and the mythology.
These are a little bit more personalized things that I've noticed and focusing much more again on characteristics that you might notice in individuals around you.
So let's go ahead and get started with Ashwini.
So as we were mentioning earlier, the sign of Aries has three Nakshatras within it.
It's going to have Ashwini, Barney, and Kritika.
Ashwini is the first of the 27 Nakshatras and it spans from 0° of Aries to 13 degrees, 20 minutes of Aries.
And Ashwini literally translates into something like born of a female horse and the symbol is a horse head.
So there's this very strong connection to the horse, which is a symbol of vitality, freedom, courageousness, maybe even like horsing around playing.
There's a levity to it and this almost beautiful, whimsical, ethereal quality too.
| think that horses are often used in mythology.
| think that horses very much are revered as almost magical.
And you'll come to find that Ashwini, the Nakshatra is a very mystical magical asterism.
So remember that Aries, it is governed by Mars and it is a sign of war.
It is a sign of passion and energy and the physical body and valor.
That energy is going to be relevant for all three of the Nakshatras within it.
It just depends on how that energy gets directed.
And so that energy of Aries is now getting filtered through the
specific asterism of Ashwini, which is governed by Ketu.
And Ketu is mystical and magical.
It has to do with separating from the material realm.
You know, it has to do with seeking reality beyond the material.
And so individuals who have strong Ashwini energy, they can be incredibly insightful, they can be incredibly intuitive, mystical.
They may be interested in things like astrology, healing.
Ashwini is, you know, the deities are the Ashwin Kumaras and they are the physicians of the gods.
So individuals born under Ashwini, they love to heal and they love to help, even if they're not standard healers in terms of being a doctor or an Ayurvedic practitioner or an herbalist, which is quite common.
But if it's not one of those things, they tend to be helpers and they tend to be counselors.
People may naturally turn to them for support and they're very good at supporting and helping others.
That Ketu influence helps them see without boundaries.
Ketu is Without Borders.
And so those born under Ashwini, they tend to be able to take a step back to see outside of the situation, to offer insight.
And so again, very, very insightful, very mystical.
And the Ashwin Kumaras, they are also associated to astrology.
And so individuals may also be drawn to astrology and, and the study of the stars or maybe even astronomy.
Something that | have noticed with people born under Ashwini is that they tend to love horses.
And I've actually had a lot of readings with individuals with strong Ashwini energy and their interest in horses.
Maybe they owned horses when they were younger, or they jumped, did dressage, Maybe they own horses now.
There there is a literal connection to equine arts or even being a veterinarian for horses as well.
People born under Ashwini, they really do embody the energy of a horse in that they love a lot of freedom, they love spontaneity.
They do not do well with mundane, routine, predictable life.
They thrive in new experiences, adventuring.
|| want to talk about this because there are so many adventurers who are associated to Ashwini.
There are so many rock climbers, BASE jumpers, skydivers, it's not uncommonatall.
But I've met a lot of people who are not interested in any of those things.
Born under Ashwini.
But they love exploration, they love novelty, they love new experiences and mental and physical stimulation.
So their mind is constantly working.
They need to keep busy, they need to have new activities to be engaging with.
They're incredibly inventive and pioneering, so they constantly have new ideas and they do not struggle at all with putting those ideas into action, but they may struggle with carrying
things out.
So they're full of ideas, they're full of passion, full of inspiration that you know, they're never going to have an issue with creativity, but they may struggle with carrying things through and finishing things.
That is something that I've noticed.
Another thing that I've noticed is people born under Ashwini, they tend to love physical engagement.
| mean, | would say of the people I've given readings to who have strong Ashwini energy, like 70% of them are yoga teachers or they've done some sort of asana training where they've done the physical movement of yoga.
Or maybe they're a physical therapist or a personal trainer, or they have done something to study the art of movement and the physical body.
Ashwini is extremely physical.
And so they need a lot of that, as | mentioned earlier, like physical stimulation.
And they also have just that abundance of energy.
So sitting still is actually quite difficult.
Something that | advise a lot of my clients with if they have a lot of Ashwini energy is that it's going to be very difficult for them to pursue things that are not a passion for them.
They have to feel passionate or excited about what it is they're engaging with.
It's going to be very, very difficult for them to do a job that is not exciting for them.
It's going to be very, very difficult to do things that is not fun and enjoyable.
So the more fun that something is, the more passionate they feel about something, the easier their life is going to be.
And you know, |, | would say that that's going to be applicable to many people.
Of course, it's not going to be 100% because all of us have different charts, but | would say it's a good 85%.
| mean, it's a strong, strong personality quality of Ashwini, that need for stimulation, fun, enjoyment, passion, It's it's just built into them.
It's something that they can't ignore really.
And that's what | hear a lot when people come to me for readings is that they're feeling almost like they're struggling
because they feel a stifle of passion or they feel that they're creative pursuits are almost at odds with their livelihood and they feel stifled.
And so something that | advise many of my Ashwini clients with is that they need to have something in their life that they have governance over.
So they need something where they have a lot of creative liberty, they have a lot of executive decision ability.
They can be a leader, you know, they can invent, create, destroy at their will.
So they need something that is their own creation to build and mold.
And again, they need a lot of that creative freedom, and they just need a lot of freedom in general.
And so oftentimes, if they're in a job that maybe feels stifling, it's like, is there something else?
If you need that job for stability, is there something else that you can create or do that gives you that outlet of creative freedom?
Because there is a lot of like creative potential.
And | would say 1 of Ashwini's greatest strengths is that they get anidea and they can invent it, create it, materialize it so easily.
Now, the one struggle that they have, as | mentioned, is carrying things out and staying consistent with it.
But if they're really passionate about something, they tend to excel.
Some of the negative attributes, certainly stubborn.
They can be incredibly impulsive.
Again, with this creative energy, they may get an idea and jump into it without necessarily planning it out.
They can also be quite rebellious in a way that is unnecessary, and so sometimes Ashwini will rebel just for the sake of rebelling and instead of trying to communicate about things or ask for needs to be met, they'll just simply sees their sense of independence and rebel and do what they want.
They can also be quite selfish because Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac.
It has to do with the self.
Ashwini has this great sense of purpose and this great sense of Dharma and independence, and so they can tend to focus a lot on themselves and their life's path.
And | think that that's a really beautiful thing.
And again, it comes with a lot of personal power.
But sometimes they can lose sight of other people or how they impact other people.
Again, that impatience they can, they can struggle with like waiting for other people.
They can struggle with waiting for other people to catch up with them or to get on their level mentally.
They're the types of people who will listen to you while while you're telling a story and they'll be like, can you just like get to the point?
Like what are you trying to tell me right now?
What are you worried about?
What happened?
Like sitting through the entire story is not something that they're interested in.
They just they're no nonsense like they just want to get to the
point.
They want to hear what it is that you're trying to say so that they can try to help you problem solve.
So those are some of the qualities | would say for Ashwini to be mindful of.
Now, as | was mentioning, they are the first nakshatra of the 27.
And so there is a youthfulness to this asterism and there's almost an innocence to, I'm actually thinking of Marilyn Monroe.
She has Venus in Ashwini and | was watching that movie, | think it's called A Week with Marilyn, and she's like running through
the field and she wants to skinny dip and she's trying to have this like, romantic fun with this guy.
That's such an embodiment of Venus in Ashwini, right?
Venus is love and romance, and Ashwini is this freedom and spontaneity and childlike energy and innocence.
It's like, yeah, let's go out into this field and run around and then get naked and jump in the water.
It like really embodied the energy of of Venus specifically in
Ashwini and the rebellious quality.
| was thinking of Dean Potter.
Some of you may not be super familiar with him.
He was a famous rock climber and BASE jumper jumper and he was famous.
But what he became quite notorious for was climbing the Delicate Arch in Arches National Park.
This is an arch that you are completely not supposed to climb.
And in 2006 he decided that he was going to climb it.
He has his moon and sun in Ashwini, so, you know, he's a rock climber, he's a base jumper.
He needs that excitement, He needs that adventure.
But then there's also this kind of like unnecessary rebellious energy too, where he just he wanted to climb the delicate arch, even though it was off limits and it sparked a lot of problems.
He lost a lot of sponsors.
And that's the the, you know, I, | actually loved Dean Potter.
He passed away BASE jumping, but | thought he was great.
But this is one of those deficits where there's an impulsivity, there's the rebelliousness and kind of, you know, the focus on the self without necessarily thinking about the greater picture.
So that's also how that energy can play out.
We were talking about horsing around and having fun.
Ashwini individuals love to laugh.
And | think that one of my favorite qualities about Ashwini is
this youthful, fun, happy go lucky, silly energy and their ability to laugh at themselves.
Ashwini can make fun of themselves.
They can make themselves the point of a joke.
I'm actually thinking about Ram Das.
He has Mercury in Ashwini, which I've actually noticed.
Mercury and Ashwini makes incredibly funny people.
Ashwini, it's the horse.
It likes to play, it likes to have fun, it likes to laugh.
It's silly.
Mercury is cognitive processing.
Mercury is humor.
It also has to do with youthfulness.
When Mercury is an Ashwini, people tend to be very quick witted, very silly, very fun.
And something that | love about Ramdas is that he makes
himself kind of like the butt of jokes a lot.
And he had this deep sense of humility and he had no issue making fun of himself.
And Mercury is actually his first house ruler.
So his connection to Ashwini is actually very strong.
And | think that this, this youthfulness and playfulness that I'm trying to describe is really embodied in him.
| think that Larry David, who made Curb Your Enthusiasm, I'm pretty sure that his Mercury is in Ashwini as well.
| need to double check that.
But anyway, that's that kind of fun, light hearted energy and |
would say that if you are an Ashwini, remember that having people to let loose with and having people to play with and people who feed that lightness of heart, it is very soul giving for you.
It's so important to be around people who can fuel that fire.
It's going to feel so good and invigorating.
And if you have Ashwini individuals in your life, you've got to, you know, let loose a little bit.
Try not to stifle them with overly serious energy, with too much routine.
Doing the same thing over and over again is a quick way to stifle the flame of an Ashwini.
Offering spontaneity, offering novel experiences, switching things up, and again, being willing to laugh and play.
| think it's a it's a great way to love your Ashwini friend or partner or person.
They also love being told how funny they are, so remind them
how hilarious they are.
Let's see, we talked about being impulsive and poor planners,
so the energy of Mars and Ketu can create a sense of fearlessness.
And a lot of the examples | have, we were talking about Dean Potter.
Someone else is Chris Sharma.
He's arguably the most famous rock climber.
He has.
Honestly, | think that he just like embodies the American rock
climber energy.
He was super popular when | was first getting into rock climbing.
You probably know who Chris Sharma is.
| wouldn't be surprised.
But anyway, he has many plants in Ashwini, including the sun, and he's just completely fearless, you know, as we were talking about with Dean Potter, completely fearless.
They have this courageous energy about them.
But it doesn't always have to be in this daredevil sense.
You know, I've met so many people with planets in Ashwini who are courageous and brave and powerful, but not necessarily with rock climbing or skydiving.
They may be spiritual leaders, they may be great practitioners of yoga, great healers and meditators.
And they can show up courageously for others.
They can show up courageously for their students.
And | think that the path of healing requires the greatest sense of courage.
That's my personal opinion.
| think that rock climbing is super cool.
| think skydiving is super cool.
But | don't think that anything is more brave than trudging through the depths of the soul and really trying to understand ourselves in a psychological level.
And | think it requires so much courage to be with someone else
in their struggle and be with someone else on their path without judgement.
And | think the Ashwini has that ability to be courageous as well.
And so though there are a lot of explorers and adventurers with this, | just want to be clear that it doesn't always show up that way.
Another example that | wanted to mention is John Muir.
He is famous for the quote The Mountains are calling and | Must [CTon
He's known for his conservation work.
He has an exalted son in Ashwini and another individual who | wanted to mention, the first person that they have record of reaching the summit of Mount Everest.
His name was, | think that he went by Ed Edmund Hillary or Ed Hillary.
Again, he was the first person to ever summit Mount Everest.
So we do have all of these great explorers and people who have achieved incredible things with Ashwini.
Also, as we were discussing earlier, there is so much creative and innovative energy.
lam thinking of Steve Jobs.
He has Mars in Ashwini, which it's taking more of the technical energy.
We were talking about Mercury in Ashwini and how someone can be fun and silly and they can say really funny things and have avery comedic effect or even heal with their voice, like Baba Ramdas.
We have Marilyn Monroe with Venus and Aries, where she has this playful, light, innocent quality to her, even though she's seen as asex symbol.
It's this very interesting dichotomy of energy.
Then we have someone like Steve Jobs who takes the energy of Ashwini and adds a Mars, a Martian quality to it, because Mars is here and he takes that incredible spark of creativity, right?
The first nakshatra of the 27, and utilizes it in the technical sense.
He created the iPhone, he created Apple.
He was just incredible with his innovation.
And so that's how Mars can operate in this Nakshatra as well.
Let me see if there are any other notes here.
Stubborn, unyielding, childish at worst, scattered, too passionate, without direction.
The Ketu quality we touched on already, but those who are born with a lot of Ashwini energy, they do tend to be naturally
spiritual and insightful.
They may have a natural sense of detachment with a love of
travel and new experiences, as we've mentioned multiple times.
But Ketu is also the underdog.
It's also the energy of the outcast.
It has to do with the taboo or things that are unorthodox.
So it can also show up as people kind of maybe having some psychological stuff.
You know, people may have some psychological issues.
People may feel like they're an outcast or they may have personality qualities that are at odds with mainstream society.
| would say that those are some of the at worst qualities, right?
Ketu is also history archaeology.
It has to do with things from the past or uncovering information.
And so it may not always play out as a spiritual person.
It could play out as someone who's interested in delving into history or archaeology.
But regardless, it's it's otherworldly.
It is this escape from this mundane present material reality.
It's going back in time or it's going into the ether or it's going into the spirit.
There's something about the energy that is intangible, which | find very interesting.
Something that | do want to say is that | have noticed this pretty
consistently.
People who are born with like moon in Ashwini or maybe they have sun in Ashwini.
Couple of planets in Ashwini.
Because Ketu is otherworldly.
When people are born in their early life, they may feel out of place.
I've noticed this with the Ketu natashatras.
This is Magha, Mula and Ashwini.
They feel like they don't necessarily belong or they're kind of like the odd duck in the family, or there's just something about
them where they feel like they don't quite fit in and that they're meant to be doing something else.
But | would say pretty consistently across the board, people who have strong Ashwini energy, they have this very, very strong sense of Dharma and purpose.
And | would say at best that looks like individuals being very close with their spiritual life.
They create and innovate amazing things.
| would say at worst people can be almost like delusional with their grandeur.
Like people can feel that maybe they're the only ones in the world who have a certain gift or they're the only ones in the world who can do a certain thing.
And so areas | have to say they can become quite arrogant.
| would say at worst, all of the signs are going to have some negative personality qualities and there isn't naive quality to Aries.
In general.
| would say Ashwini is of the three Nakshatras and Aries, Ashwini is the most innocent and the most naive and and almost like the most gentle and the most pure.
There is this spiritual reckoning that comes with Barney that we'll get into next time.
And Aries or excuse me, Ashwini tends to be way more, | almost want to say like unscathed.
Like they tend to have a much more innocent, jovial outlook on life, which will juxtapose to Barney and our next session together.
And | think that the innocence is really beautiful, but it is
something to watch out for because they can sometimes see the bright side of things.
They can give people a lot of credit.
They can overlook past negative qualities.
Ashwini is associated to marriage actually and supporting marriage and having a positive married life.
And so they take relationships very seriously.
They tend to be very, very loyal, but sometimes they will overlook less positive quality.
So anyway, | know this podcast was a little scattered.
| know that it wasn't very well planned or organized.
Talking about impulsivity, | woke up this morning and | was like I'm going to record about Ashwini.
Here we are.
But blessings to all of our Ashwini friends.
If you are an Ashwini or if a loved one is an Ashwini, |am sending you so much love on your journey and again, | hope that you found this helpful.
| will be posting again on Friday, but until then | do weekly horoscopes at patreon.com/astrology Now podcast, my Instagram is Astrology Now under score podcast, and my website is Inner Knowing dot yoga.
My name is Christine Rodriguez.