"The Pythagoreans say, 'Look at the sky at dawn'- to remind ourselves of the constancy of those heavenly bodies, their perpetual round of their duty, their order, their purity, and their nakedness. No star wears a veil." -Marcus Aurelius
Society is made possible by Rahu, which is why he rules over taboos and illusory restrictions that people of a particular group or culture obey and follow in order to make that civilization possible. The Rahu nakshatras in particular represent the "gaze of society" working to suppress and limit the individual (individuality represented at its pinnacle by the birth of the opposing Ketu, and Sun's exaltation point, Ashwini)-- Rahu animating those who's energy is always projecting outward into observing, regulating, and restricting others. This kind of extreme tendency to observe others then reflects back on the nature of those dominated by Rahu, who then can fall into severe tendencies to inhibit and restrict their own outwardly expressed behavior and inner light to too far of an extent, as they fear the same harsh gaze being turned onto themselves that they cast onto others. They are embodiments of the cosmic "whisper", often times painfully aware of every movement and action of themselves and others. Ketu-dominated individuals, on the other hand (the headless, with no senses, eyes or ears), have very little observational abilities, do not observe and judge others, and therefore place very few inhibitions on themselves. They are in many ways oblivious to the "gaze of society", or cannot let its influence penetrate past the most shallow part of themselves. This leads to the tendency of their voices being loud and jarring, their actions uninhibited, and a thicker Tamasic "deaf/blind" darkness that makes it harder for them to learn from their outer experiences (of which they do not "drink" much from), instead tapping into the ability to learn through inner ones & darkness. Rahu's controlling nature begins in a less-refined state, through blatant criticism (Ardra) to call out those acting out of accordance with "normal" behavior through humor or otherwise, and sacrifice oneself in doing so (angering or offending others). As it develops, it hardens and reaches a deeper form of suppression of the expression of both itself and others, that then crystallizes into more sinister, indirect, & obfuscated means of control, where Saturn mixes with Rahu in Shatabhisha. Shatabhisha conceals itself while controlling others, and is therefore more susceptible to accumulating impurities, with the perceptive abilities and intelligence (through observing others) to know what is doing wrong, but keeping those things in the shadows where they can't be criticized. Shatabhisha is represented by the "circle" of the social group that limits and encloses the individual, which is why it is at the core of Aquarius and, being the height of Rahu, is a most dangerous pinnacle of illusion and deception. This makes it a key nakshatra for the female path and it of course possess many important and sacred qualities (which I will explore in the video I make on this nakshatra), but there is a dangerous side to it (as there is to all nakshatras) that I am going to explore today. The 11th house, being 12 houses (drainage) from the 12th house (of liberation), is the social circle that we disperse our own individuality into. Shatabhisha is the "concealing star" that hides the light of truth, eclipsing the Sun (the dispeller of ignorance), stifling the individual through trying to rally the masses, and therefore stifling and eclipse the development of connection to one's Paramatma, the Universal Self or the true Soul, that ties to Sun itself.
This can be understood in the way that Sigmund Freud (a Rohini native, the nakshatra that is the exaltation of Rahu where its tendencies are "healed"-- discussed in my video "Rohini Nakshatra in the Modern World") observed that the greater the sexual repression, the more developed and complex a society becomes, but the more neurotic and confused the inhabitants become. Freud is credited with creating the sexual revolution that occurred in the 60's, and it was certainly something that he was aiming to create, for he believed that much of Western Society had strayed too far away from nature and lost touch with its sexual creative powers. While in many ways, many of the ideas of Freud range from being unscientific at best to deliberately subversive at their worst, there is a powerful grain of truth contained in his viewpoint that originated out of his more secret Kabbalistic studies. Freud, while outwardly critical of religion and claiming atheism, was in truth deeply involved in Jewish mysticism, which acted as the inspiration for many of his ideas that lead him to create Psychoanalysis in the way that we have come to understand it today. Essentially, society itself is a two-edged sword, in the sense that it allows for a greater degree of material comfort, while at the same time inhibiting and suppressing the libido, which cuts people off of the core truth of reality in order to maintain greater social order. Millions of individuals are trapped believing (or fearing to go against) certain moral or social ideas that have no objective reality whatsoever, and which are actually counter to the desires and aims of nature itself. For example, nature has no concept of mercy and things that are weak are rapidly consumed and assimilated into the body of stronger organisms. Human beings, on the other hand, often attempt to prohibit consumption of meat, alcohol, or displays of sexuality, all of which are said to be loved by the Goddess in her hymns and myths. Through gaining a deeper level of contact with Goddess energies, one can come to experience the primordial truth that is embodied by the original Goddess herself, that frees a person from the negative aspects of the social collective that seek to enslave a person into illusion forever, and drain their individual vitality into the collective, again tying to the 11th house draining the 12th (of liberation). If our energies are vampirized and stifled by our social network through the links we have formed with it and the thousands of eyes we let control our behavior, how we will ever rise up out of the collective and complete the individuation process? It is no secret that Mahavidyas have a subversive character to each of their mythologies; each one is innately anti-society and performs actions that isolate her from society or the collective. While the one stuck under the control of the masses seeks to submissively obey the restrictions (and frantically impose them on anyone who doesn't), the adept seeks to transcend them and liberate themselves from all restrictions. To do this, one can take a Goddess as a guide, Shakti, (pure power) that allows a person to contact these deep sexual creative energies and move them towards truth in a way that no God ever can. This is why the Goddess can be worshipped for things that society tells you are not allowed, as they do not submit to those rules. Individuals attracted to radical freedom and the destruction of illusory societal modes of conduct in favor of a return to the primordial cosmic order naturally are attracted to this group of Goddesses, or Goddess worship in general. If you contact the Goddess you can be certain you will be able to overpower any person that wants you to worship them, or anyone at all that wishes to control your behavior in anyway, as she grants liberation.
To attain liberation and break from these bounds, an individual must return in many ways to the state of Ashwini, which is why Ashwini is Shatabhisha's yoni consort and is the only nakshatra that can heal the diseases caused in Shatabhisha. You have to tap into your inner light, reflect it outwardly, and reveal all that is within you with no inhibition. This is the same light that illuminates what is in the darkness of the shadows cast by Shatabhisha, and expels the impurity building there. Shatabhisha cringes at the looseness of Ashwini; Ashwini can't hear Shatabhisha's self-concealed whispers, and shouts instead. Ashwini can't feel Shatabhisha's encircling limit on its behaviors, so it flails around, and Shatabhisha ducks out of the way instead. In this same way, the Truth of the Sun always wins & no darkness is thick enough to resist its rays.
We each must cast light onto our shadows, act authentically, and resist the urge to conceal ourselves to please those who try to control us, and thus we become embodiments of Sunlight with no inhibitions holding us from liberation.
The only question is, do you want freedom and liberation? You may answer "of course, doesn't everybody?" and yet there are so many extremely restrictive & controlling people who continually try to pass more and more restrictions on everything you can think of, which points to otherwise. Shatabhisha on a cosmic level especially relates to the complete flip of what one says versus what they do; it is the pinnacle of acting totally in accordance with normality outwardly and outwardly polite and supportive, while inwardly developing tendencies to try to restrict, limit, and control others in a wide range of devious ways. Why restrict artificially, when Truth itself always prevails and wins out due to it being aligned with the eternal cosmic order? The primary cosmic purpose of Shatabhisha is that its limiting traits work to restrict the impure, who are dominated by the root emotion of fear (being internally separated from the light), and keep them in control from harming others or social order.
If you personally really want Freedom, you have to shed absolutely every tendency to try to control others, and direct every drop of life-force towards controlling and perfecting your own actions. When you act in "goodness" only when others are watching, the gaze of society is fed and the eyes of Rahu (illusion) are pleased to have your weak submission. When you act in what you know to be truth and goodness (aligned with your own duty) when no one is watching, or despite the "groups" scorn and judgement, the eyes that see this are of the higher Soul that stirs and awakens, and the rays of the Sun are cast onto you. Relating to the individuality, the Sun also requires that a person not enslave themselves to any false constructs, authorities, or other human beings, and to act boldly and bravely. Shatabhisha's control of others, at the core, plays on nothing but their fear of societal rejection stemmed from falsehoods-- but pray that if they must, you embrace that they should reject you rather than let them control you; how sad it would be to let those blithering mouths control you who cannot even control themselves. The former is a sacrifice of scared ego and the latter a sacrifice of the highest truth within you.
You don't need to worship a man in robes, or ask his permission to worship the Goddess. For those who want true Freedom, the Goddess is everywhere and in all things; it is only you who cannot see her in everything due to your ignorance, and as you give power to your inner light, you will begin to see the divine light up around you. Nobody can form the sacred connection for you, and spiritual authorities that claim otherwise are of the most sinister form of control that there is; form a connection to a Goddess and overcome your limitations. What are you waiting for? Fortune, who was often portrayed as a beautiful goddess, "favors the bold".
श्रीं ह्रीं क्लीं ऐं वज्र वैरोचनीये हूं हूं फट् स्वाहा