Ketu Transit in Magha

Magha is Ketu's own nakshatra at the start of Leo. The Pitris, the ancestors, are its deities, and a throne or a palanquin is its symbol. The Sun owns the sign and is Mars's friend, so by the Kujavat rule Ketu is welcome in both star and sign.

About eight months pass in the stay, backward from the fourth pada to the first, where Magha meets Ashlesha at the gandanta, and a direct spell of the true node can split the stay into two visits. Rahu stands in Shatabhisha for the first half and in Dhanishta for the second.

Lineage, inheritance, authority, ritual and the pride of blood are Magha's themes, and Ketu turns the throne into a seat for practice. Ancestral matters surface: an inheritance, a family duty, a debt to the pitris that asks to be paid. Status loses its taste. A position of authority may be given up under this transit, and the wish for one fades.

Gemini, Pisces and Libra Moons receive Ketu in the third, sixth and eleventh, the houses Phaladeepika gives to Saturn and to the nodes. Leo Moons carry Ketu on the lagna and Rahu in the seventh, and should watch the heart, the back and the marriage. Aquarius Moons have Rahu on the lagna and Ketu on the partner. Virgo Moons hold Ketu in the twelfth and Capricorn Moons in the eighth, and the lagna is counted the same way.

The transit shows what a person owes to those who came before. Uttara Kalamrita counts moksha among Ketu's karakatvas, and in Magha the way to it runs through the pitris.

The remedy is Ganesha, Om Kem Ketave Namah, and shraddha done properly. Parashara prescribes mantra and dana for Ketu, and the traditional gifts are a blanket, sesame or food for dogs on Tuesday. Feed an elder for the ancestors.