Dear Friend,

Every lunation takes us closer to what we are meant to fulfil in the larger scheme of things during this year, in a way that is unique to our charts. With this past New Moon, I believe there was space both to release something and to welcome something meaningful into our lives.

I also wanted to introduce a new section called The Chosen Moment in these letters where I share an election whenever possible. An election refers to an auspicious or favourable moment that you can use to do something meaningful or productive. Interestingly, the very first election I found, naturally fits with the idea of release during this fortnight, even though I did not intentionally search for one. At times, I may not be able to share an election if the time does not permit or if there is no truly good election to recommend.

I am working on your 2026 gift, which will focus on the remainder of Saturn’s transit through Pisces. It will include insights for all signs, along with guidance for those who are living through Sade Sati, the 7½ year transit of Saturn over the natal Moon.

Venus in Scorpio

November 25 to December 18, 2025

Venus in Scorpio enters its detriment as it is going to be in the sign opposite to its rulership, Taurus, and therefore is not entirely at ease. This does not mean anything is doomed. Venus in Scorpio signifies depth and intensity in relationships and in the expressions that arise through relationships. The weight and significance with which we approach matters pertaining to relationship, especially for those entering new relationships, will be noticeable. There is a possibility that these new bonds might occupy most of our time and attention, and we may almost begin living parallel lives with the person we are involved with. Adjusting our days for each other becomes natural and instinctive.

YouTube - Venus in Scorpio

At times, there can be probing tendencies within relationships aimed at bringing greater transparency. Seeking honesty is good, yet it does not mean we should push someone into discomfort in order to secure that honesty. The need for transparency must be mutually acceptable and not enforced. There is a slight risk of forcing or being forced into something in the relationship that we would normally avoid. With Venus in Scorpio, we may sometimes compromise unnecessarily or allow ourselves to be drawn too far into something without remembering who we are. You can read the full piece, where I have also included the Nakshatra delineations for this transit of Venus in Scorpio.

Read my article

The Chosen Moment

The election for this letter is

25 November 2025 at 00:43:27 (Chennai, India).

Please convert it to your own time zone. I recommend using timeanddate.com.

This particular election is remarkable, with the Moon at the end of Sagittarius and Venus at the end of Libra. Normally, when the Moon approaches the end of a sign, it is void of course, but here we see a final applying connection before the Moon leaves Sagittarius. This creates a window of opportunity for engaging in spiritual practices, meditation, or releasing something that has been weighing on you. It could be a habit or a pattern that has kept you in an unproductive state.

With both Venus and the Moon preparing to leave their signs, and with the Ascendant applying to Ketu, this moment strongly supports letting go of what is no longer necessary. Freeing yourself from something that has outlived its time with you becomes a fruitful act under this election.

For instance, I have decided to use this election to offer a few mugs of water to the plants in my home, allowing the water to return to the ground. This act is considered an offering to the ancestors. Traditionally, one sits on the ground, ideally on grass, holds the mug in the left hand, and pours the water through the right hand so that it reaches the earth. Usually, this is done directly on the ground, but offering the water to a plant brings the act closer to nature, as we assist something in growing in the process. This ritual has its roots in the Rig Veda, in the passages where the Pitri, the Ancestors, are mentioned.

Twelve years ago, my father unexpectedly passed away in his sleep at the age of 53 on this very date, 25 November 2013. A part of my psychological frame has never moved on from that moment, and something within me remains anchored to that day. I do not see this as negative. I see it as something I can live with, because every memory has remained intact, and only I know how much I transformed after that experience.

I will use this election to offer my gratitude to my father. I consider myself fortunate to have found an election that falls exactly on the same date as his memorial day (totally unplanned), even though the rituals are traditionally performed according to the soli lunar calendar.

I hope you are able to release something, so that you can make space for something meaningful to enter, something that stays with you for many moons

If you feel called to receive astrological insight before the year begins, or if you simply wish to stay aligned with what the planetary movements are indicating, I am open for personal consultation sessions and have a few slots available for November.

Book A Session

Inward Glance

Epicetus' Discourses: A Retelling

Book I, Chapter 6, 1.6.1 to 1.6.9

In Stoicism, providence refers to the rational order that runs through the universe. It is the idea that the world is not random, that everything unfolds within a larger structure shaped by divine reason. Providence does not mean that everything happens the way we personally want. It means that everything happens within a meaningful whole, controlled by a wisdom greater than ours. The Stoics believed that this order is always working toward the good of the universe, even when individual events feel painful or confusing. To trust providence is to believe that life is coherent and that nothing occurs outside the logic of nature.

Epictetus begins Chapter 6 of Book I by saying that it is easy to praise providence when life feels clear and we can see how things fit together. When we have the ability to look at events in the world and understand them as part of a larger pattern, gratitude comes naturally. But this ability is not automatic. Without the ability to see things in context and without a sense of gratitude, even good events can feel meaningless. Either we do not recognise their usefulness or, even when we do, we take them for granted.

To help us understand this, he uses a simple and beautiful example. If God had created colours but had not given us the ability to see, colours would be pointless. If God had given us eyesight but had not created light or visible objects, eyesight would serve no purpose. Even if both colours and eyesight existed, but there was no light, neither would have any value. Everything must work together.

Epictetus is recommends to reflect on this harmony. Vision, colour, and light fit together perfectly. They serve one another and complete one another. This is not an accident. This isn’t random. It suggests a deliberate arrangement, an order behind the scenes that supports and facilitates the experience of life.

He then asks us to look at human craftsmanship to understand this better. When we see how a sword fits perfectly into a scabbard, we know someone designed it. We never imagine that such harmony came about by chance. We immediately assume an artisan was involved. If we readily attribute design to human craftsmanship, he asks, why do we cannot see the same intentional structure in nature?

Visible things, the ability to see, and light itself work together in a far more intricate and beautiful way than any sword and scabbard. If we recognise the human artisan in the simple pairing of those two objects, how can we miss the divine artisan in something as complex as sight?

Epictetus then turns to a very everyday part of human life to make his point clearer. He says that the attraction between male and female and the physical design that allows for intimacy and reproduction are not random accidents. The desire itself serves a purpose, and the organs involved serve that purpose with incredible precision. They correspond to each other in a way that shows intention rather than chaos.

His point is not biological but philosophical. When two things fit together this perfectly, we do not say it happened by chance. We recognise structure, meaning, and design. In the same way that a lock and key speaks about the mind of the craftsman, the harmony between human desire and human anatomy hints at a greater intelligence behind nature. Epictetus wants us to see that the universe carries this kind of coherence everywhere, even in the most basic areas of life.

When we look at these natural harmonies closely, we begin to understand what he means by providence. Life is filled with arrangements that work together too well to be dismissed as random. The body functions with unbelievably subtle coordination. Nature provides what supports life. Even our impulses and instincts are aligned with the continued flourishing of the species.

For Epictetus, this is enough to see a divine hand at work, something wiser than us, something that thought through the whole structure long before we arrived. He is just suggesting us to slow down, observe, and realise that nature is not careless. There is an order woven into everything, from the movement of the stars to the simplest urges within the body. And the more attentively we look, the more we recognise the supreme intelligence that holds the world together.

This should encourage us to look at the world with a deeper awareness. The more we notice the coordination between different parts of life, the more we sense that nature is not random. There is a wisdom behind it, and once we begin to see this clearly, gratitude becomes natural. Providence no longer feels like an abstract idea but something we can recognise in the very structure of the world.

My Upcoming Talks

I will be giving a talk on the shifting global order using the Great Conjunction charts for astrologer Rod Chang’s Academy of Astrology on December 7, 2025. You can register for the event by clicking here. I will also be giving a talk for OPA on December 14, 2025 on USA 2026 using ingress charts and you can register here.

Saturn and Mercury will turn direct by the end of this month, and we are about to welcome an organic progress towards accepting dissolving realities and to embrace life's circumstances with more clarity.

I wish you a wonderful rest of the month.

Until next letter,

Love,

Aswin