The Week Ahead, The Chosen Moment & Self Reflection
Jan 31, 2026 12:31 am
Dear Friend,
Happy February!
Hopefully, January was a month where you truly found your stride and began making progress. February will offer a similar experience, with careful thought, that starts promisingly with the Full Moon in Cancer in Ashlesha Nakshatra. Like how we saw a lot of prominence of Capricorn, February is going to be prominence in Aquarius and therefore, we are all set to fly! I will continue to inform you in each of my letters.
Mercury enters Aquarius on February 2, followed by Venus on February 4. This shifts the tone towards greater objectivity, regardless of what we are dealing with. There is a need to step back, look at things from a wider angle, and think about where our actions are actually taking us; a futuristic perspective. Doing this requires self reflection, naturally bringing a sense of personal clarity. How we relate to the world outside is never separate from what we carry within. Our experiences, memories, and ways of seeing shape how we understand what is unfolding around us. Mercury turns retrograde on February 26 and I will write about it when we get there.
There is also a wider conversation around 2026 that echoes this theme of action preceding certainty. A recent video by my friend Meghna Bhagat titled “Neptune in Aries 2026: Act Now. Refine Later” reflects on the cultural mood of beginning without waiting for perfect conditions. While I do not work with the outer planets in my own practice, the reflection itself is valuable. It points to a period of this year where progress creates clarity, showing up matters more than reaching the finish line, and that's exactly when refinement happens.
This period supports connecting with people, exchanging ideas, and allowing our thinking to move in more innovative directions. Communication generally feels easier and more open, but it will need more care toward the end of the month when Mars enters Aquarius, as there is a tendency to speak too quickly or say more than necessary. Relationships have the potential to hold and stabilise during this phase, especially when shared values are respected. Social circles may begin responding differently, or we may find ourselves engaging with them in a more balanced and conscious way.
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Monthly Astrology Kit
The Monthly Astrology Kit is designed as a tool to stay in touch with the transits through the month. It includes planetary ingresses, lunar phases, and an ICS calendar file that can be added to your personal calendar. New Moons and Full Moons are not included here, as a more in-depth, Nakshatra-based lunation calendar has already been shared separately.
This monthly kit increases awareness, helps us pace ourselves, and hopefully will bring more meaningful engagement not only with life but also with ourselves. You can add this to the same calendar where you have already added the lunation kit.
If you have not downloaded the lunation kit yet, please download using the button below.
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Astrological Commentary - The Week Ahead
Full Moon in Cancer in Ashlesha Nakshatra
Soma is celebrated in the Rig Veda for what it is: the nectar of immortality. It is consistently used in the Rig Veda as a rejuvenator or revitaliser, and Soma is associated with the Moon. This Full Moon in Cancer becomes one of the more important lunations of 2026. The year began with a strong cluster in Capricorn, pushing us to get our act together. The New Moon earlier in the month acted as a trigger point, and this Full Moon, with the entire Capricorn cluster standing in opposition, is where we are confronted with external realities. The larger message is clear: we need to take care of not just ourselves and yet remain confident about how and where we are progressing.
This is not a problematic lunation, but it is certainly an interesting one. It is a moment where we learn to shift our priorities and understand shared values. I emphasise shared values because of the Capricorn planets in the 7th from the Moon in Cancer. In Astrology by Moonlight, Tara Aal and I describe the Moon as “me” and Venus as “we.” With the Moon in opposition, it is not only to acknowledge the feelings of others in our lives, but also to recognise that we exist within an environment shaped by shared values, ethics, needs, and wants. With Venus and the Moon opposing each other, the aim should not be to win the situation, but to ensure that no one loses. Creating a win-win situation naturally brings harmony despite differences, and that is something worth striving for.
Using the below buttons, you can watch the YouTube video or read the complete essay on the Full Moon in Cancer.
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Diploma in Indian Astrology - Batch 3
The course I began in July 2025 has taken shape and progressed wonderfully well, thanks to those who study with me. With more zeal and motivation, I look forward to welcoming you if you are interested in studying Indian astrology.
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I have opened 20 slots for personal consultation sessions for February 2026. If you are interested in a session, I’d be privileged to work with you.
Self Alchemy: The Indian Immersion Retreat
Along with my friends and astrologers MuthuVijayan Elango and Karthik Ritty Sudharshan, I am exploring the possibility of organising a small in-person immersion in India called Self Alchemy – An Indian Immersion Retreat. It is envisioned as a carefully guided experience bringing together personal astrology consultations, Ayurveda, yoga and meditation, conversations around rituals, and visits to spiritually significant places, with an emphasis on clarity, self-reliance, and practical application in daily life. To begin with, I’ve shared a short expression-of-interest form below to understand whether this resonates. This will helps us in many ways to efficiently organise this program to serve you well. There is no obligation in responding.
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The Chosen Moment
We have an election or a chosen moment for the upcoming week and please get it for your time zone by using the below button.
This election is about direction, visibility, and purposeful action. With Aries rising, there is clarity about beginning something consciously, while the Capricorn cluster in the 10th house indicates effort in responsibility, structure, and long-term outcomes. The Moon in Cancer keeps the work rooted in meaning and emotional foundations, reminding us why we are doing what we are doing, not just what we are doing. Jupiter retrograde in the 3rd house is about learning, teaching, revisiting ideas, and refining communication rather than rushing ahead, while Saturn in Pisces can speak to patience and boundaries. This is an election that supports steady progress, public engagement, and work that grows through consistency.
This election is offered as a general window that many people can work with meaningfully. However, when intentions involve major life decisions, sensitive matters, or specific outcomes, a personalised electional reading helps the chart to be aligned more precisely with the individual context.
Please see the exact time for your time zone by using the button below - Your Chosen Moment.
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Inward Glance
Epictetus' Discourses: A Retelling
Book I, Chapter 8, 1.8.1 to 1.8.15
Epictetus begins this chapter by noting something simple but dangerous. Arguments can be rearranged, reworded, and dressed up in many forms without changing their meaning. A debt can be stated directly or wrapped in clever language, but the obligation remains the same. Because philosophers are trained to see through these shifts, they are naturally skilled at argument. If someone understands full logical reasoning, they will easily handle shortened or rhetorical versions of it.
So the question arises. If argument and persuasion are powerful tools, why do we not train ourselves intensely in them?
Epictetus gives a sharp answer. Because we are not yet making progress in the one thing that actually matters. Moral character. Even without formal training in rhetoric or logic, we already struggle to improve our judgment, restraint, and integrity. If we add another demanding skill on top of this, especially one that attracts admiration, applause, and pride, the risk is obvious. We will be distracted from virtue rather than helped by it.
Skill in argument easily feeds ego. A person who can win debates, expose contradictions, and impress others with clever reasoning may begin to care more about appearing intelligent than about being good. What begins as training becomes vanity. What should serve truth becomes a way to dominate others. How relevant is this to our lives and today’s context!
This is why Epictetus calls such talents treacherous. Not because they are bad in themselves, but because in the hands of someone whose character is weak, they magnify the weakness. A sharp mind without discipline becomes arrogant. Eloquence without humility becomes noise. Logical skill without ethical grounding becomes manipulation.
He presses the point further. What is to stop a young student, clearly gifted and praised for it, from becoming enslaved by these abilities? Instead of mastering the argument, the argument begins to master him. He starts performing rather than examining himself. He becomes deaf to correction and hostile to reminders of what he still lacks.
Then comes an objection from someone. They ask: Was Plato not a philosopher? And was he not eloquent?
Yes, Epictetus replies. And Hippocrates was a physician who also wrote well. But Hippocrates did not heal because he wrote beautifully. Writing well was incidental. It was not the source of his excellence. We should not confuse qualities that happen to coexist with qualities that define a role.
If one philosopher happened to be handsome or strong, would that make beauty or strength essential to philosophy? Obviously not. The mistake lies in mistaking accidental traits for defining ones.
Epictetus is not attacking talent. He makes that clear. To dismiss rhetorical skill would be as foolish as dismissing eyesight. Talents are real goods. But they are not the good. When people ask what truly matters in a human life, the answer is not brilliance, elegance, or cleverness. It is the right kind of moral character.
Everything else must be ordered beneath that. If talent serves character, it is useful. If talent replaces character, it becomes dangerous. The more impressive the talent, the greater the danger.
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I wish you a very wonderful February.
Until Next Letter,
Love,
