Saturn Transit in Ashlesha

Ashlesha closes Cancer, the Moon's sign, where Saturn is uneasy. Its lord is Mercury, Saturn's friend, so Saturn sits more easily in the nakshatra than in the sign. The Nagas are the deity and a coiled serpent the symbol. The last degrees are gandanta, the knot between water and fire before Magha.

Secrecy, poison and its cure, suspicion, binding ties and the kundalini coiled at the base are the themes, and Saturn tightens the coil. Hidden family matters surface slowly, a promise long ignored demands settlement, and words carry more venom than intended, most of all at home. The stomach and the nerves react to worry.

Saturn spends about a year here in all, usually in two or three visits split by the retrograde. The gandanta degrees at the end are the most testing, since Saturn's slow crossing drags out an ending that wants to be over.

Leo, Cancer and Gemini Moons are in Sade Sati, with Gemini finishing its last phase as Saturn leaves Cancer. Aries Moons have Kantaka in the fourth and Sagittarius Moons Ashtama in the eighth. Taurus, Aquarius and Virgo Moons and lagnas hold Saturn in the third, sixth and eleventh, the favourable houses of Phaladeepika.

What a person keeps hidden, from others and from themselves, comes up. Ashlesha's serpent guards a treasure, and Saturn insists that the guarding be honest. Naming one's own suspicion helps turn the poison into medicine.

Speak truthfully and release a grudge. Offer milk at a Naga shrine, give sesame oil on Saturday, and recite Om Sham Shanaishcharaya Namah. Green moong given on Wednesday supports Mercury, the nakshatra lord, and the Hanuman Chalisa keeps fear in check.