Moon Transit in Magha

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

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 a first entry into a house are kept for another day. Rites for the ancestors, tarpana and shraddha, sit well under Magha during the Moon's day here.

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 often the family's pride worn as one's own, and the transit makes that visible.

Offer water and sesame to the Pitris, feed an elder, and sit for the Moon's japa in the evening. Thank the ancestors and ask them for nothing.