Q:I am entering the mahadasha of Guru

nichha-

in bhava-8,

in the middle of mid-life (I'm approaching age sixty).

What should I expect?

How to navigate the difficulties of these sixteen years under a nichha graha?

A:

nichha-Guru-Makara sends a Contradictory set of instructions, which represent a

contradictory set of programmatic beliefs and expectations in the mind. Guru is
an"easy" graha full of wisdom and inclusive generosity.

Randhra-bhava-8 = a difficult place * dushthamsha * surging with catastrophic

changes and knowledge of the conditions of Death. It does not however contain the
time-triggers for death. Graha in bhava-8 are simply the descriptors of the
conditions which must come together to create the proper scene for permitted
departure.

Guru's ease in the harsh house of sudden, unexpected but indeed cyclic change and
upheaval can be good news or bad news.

It can be good news if you can use the wisdom of age and self-management to deploy
Guru's optimism as leverage against the pessimistic"realism"and fixation on
statutory law (denying or ignoring divine law) that is often found in found in
Shani-ruled environments.

Guru does good work in the swabhava of Kuja, although the nichha factor means that
one must be VERY careful in handling"other people's money".

It can be bad news in the early years, when nichha-Guru's over-confidence and
tendency to substitute optimism for skill can lead to bad-faith investments into
pooled money funds. Due diligence can be lacking, causing the native to expect easy
results when much more effort is realistically required. nichha-Guru-Makara = also
a dead ringer for"tax problems " caused by the over-confident native who skipped
paying their taxes because one"didn't think it would be a problem". Makara rules
the statutory law , and failing to attend to the consequences of this law can give
some unpleasant results.

For Mithuna lagna, Guru has lots of good potential to be developed. Guru rules two
kendra (7 and 10) from radix lagna, and also two kendra (4 and 7) from the Moon.
That means Guru's realm of expectation controls several Pillars of the social
personality: 4 (home and education) and 10 (profession and public respect) and -
double-effect - 7 (marriage and contracts).

When improvements are made to the beliefs behind Guru's behavior, you'll get the
most improvement results in the areas of marriage - partnership -contracts -
agreements and the resolution of conflict through legal process.

nichha- Guru = Misplaced Optimism

One suggestion is to consider the discipline of curbing the instinct to gloss over
a legally serious situation with some pleasure-drug or platitude. Treat any
situation that involves shared assets (bhava-8) as " serious " on the material
plane.

This is a bit tricky and can only be done by a mature self-knowing person, but for
those who have reached sixty or have a strong Shani influence in the nativity, it
is realistic.

The task is to not let rashi-pati Shani's fear of change" enable" the dysfunctional
habit of claiming that if everything superficially looks orderly and in control,
that it really is enough to just" keep a lid on it". Admit corruption when you feel
it, and honor the feelings first with a commitment to make the changes as required,
not sweep them under the rug.

Allow that inner voice which knows when something is out of order in the world of
statutory law . This is Makara, the law of the Jungle, applying to statutory law
only not the higher divine law of the gods. It's statutory law and human
consequences here!

Don't indulge in False Trust, which is the knee-jerk instinct to assert that"
everything is fine" without first seeing material evidence that things really are
fine. Ask for confidential, professional advice on situations that have been
glossed over with drugs or platitudes (mental drugs!) in the past.

In your spiritual explorations of tantric, magical processes of transformation and

change, plain speaking and staying close to facts will be a good policy."Half-job"
Makara-Guru has a tendency to gloss over inconsistencies.

In the project of describing the magical relationships on the pattern"as above, so

below", focus on the Below. Due to Guru's wide perspective, you are good with the
Above, but completing the clear and plain-spoken connection to the Below will make
your knowledge accessible to normal people.

Rigorously avoid platitudes, exaggerations intended to raise enthusiasm or prove

magnificence, false assurances that" everything is all right", pontifications,
pollyanna-ism, and any reference to the spiritual"above" which is not tied to an
equal-and-opposite manifestation in the material" below".

Guru provides natural and sincere compassion, generosity in sharing secret

knowledge, and philosophical acceptance of the turning of the wheel of birth and
death. Those are all wonderful assets. However it is a management task to ensure
that the broad acceptance and inclusiveness of Guru do not mask the harsh
consequences of statutory law . To pretend that the hunt will be successful (bhava-
8 is the tantrik hunter) without extremely close attention to the directions of the
guiding forces is misleading or worse.

At birth, the nichha- Guru often suffers a lack of Accountability.

This deficiency is karmic and can be corrected during the present lifetime.

Lack of accountability to material reality is the calling card of nichha-Guru. If,

in maturity, one can institute a program of accountability to the material truth
regardless of the survival fear that truth might provoke, or the work it might
cause to address the problem in a sensible manner, then very many areas of your
life will directly benefit.

For Mithuna lagna, these areas are home and properties (4), partnerships and
contracts (7), and professional dignity (10).

One can experience liberation from the dysfunctional habit of glossing over
inconsistencies (usually with a chemical drug, or mental drug like a denial or a
platitude) and gain credibility with self and others. False optimism will be
eliminated, while reactive fear which causes excessive realism (pessimism) will
also be calmed.

When nichha-Guru's tendency toward psychological numbing and denial is replaced

with attention to reality and skillful step-wise action, you won't sound like a
tantrik-pretender crackpot or a sensationalist, someone who is pretending to get
results from superficial happy beliefs.

Rather, you will earn the credibility of a hands-on professional who can"profess "
the steps taken to connect the spiritual to the material, the belief to the
outcome, the expectation to the manifestation. Once you can make these connections
without skipping any steps, you will be a sincere and authentic Healer.