Moon Transit in Magha

Magha begins Leo, the Sun's sign, and the Moon is in a friend's house here. Ketu rules the nakshatra, the Pitris are its deities, and its symbol is a throne or a palanquin. Ketu stands outside Parashara's table of friendship, and the Moon meets it as a stranger. The Sun's sign gives the day dignity; Ketu's rule gives it a debt to the dead.

Muhurta Chintamani classes Magha as ugra, fierce. It is a day for hard tasks: dispute, the removal of an opponent, fire and weapons, and the ending of what has become corrupt. Gentle beginnings, marriage, and the first entry into a house are kept for another day. Rites for the ancestors, tarpana and shraddha, sit well under Magha, and the Moon stays about a day.

Ashwini, Magha and Mula births have their janma tara, a mixed day. For the rest, counting from the birth nakshatra:

• Sampat: Ashlesha, Jyeshtha, Revati. Kshema: Punarvasu, Vishakha, Purva Bhadrapada.
• Sadhana: Mrigashira, Chitra, Dhanishta. Mitra: Krittika, Uttara Phalguni, Uttara Ashadha.
• Parama mitra: Bharani, Purva Phalguni, Purva Ashadha.
• Vipat: Pushya, Anuradha, Uttara Bhadrapada. Pratyak: Ardra, Swati, Shatabhisha.
• Naidhana: Rohini, Hasta, Shravana.

The day shows what a person has inherited and what they owe for it. Pride under Magha is the family's pride worn as one's own, and the transit makes that borrowing visible. Offer water and sesame to the Pitris, feed an elder, and sit for the Moon's japa in the evening. The ancestors are thanked and asked for nothing.