Sun Transit in Chitra

Chitra is the bright jewel. Mars rules it, and its deity is Tvashtar, the Vishvakarma of the gods.

Two padas lie in Virgo and two in Libra, so the Sun enters Venus's sign at Tula Sankranti in the middle of the stay. Mars is the Sun's friend. Venus is an enemy, and Libra is the Sun's sign of debilitation.

The stay lasts about two weeks. In the Virgo padas the Sun's significations are the craftsman's: authority earned by making things well, and a father skilled with tools. Once the Sun crosses into Libra its strength drops, and the same skill goes to work for others, on their terms. Chitra is mridu, and the fortnight favours design, jewellery, architecture and any work with a visible result.

In the Virgo padas, Cancer, Aries, Sagittarius and Scorpio Moons hold the favourable houses, and in the Libra padas those pass to Leo, Taurus, Capricorn and Sagittarius Moons. Virgo and then Libra Moons carry the Sun in the first. The twelfth passes from Libra to Scorpio, Aquarius and then Pisces have the eighth, and the lagna is read the same way.

Tvashtar made the vajra for Indra and lost a son to him. The fortnight shows the person's relationship to their own work, and whether they can make a fine thing and let it go.

For Tvashtar, keep the tools of your trade clean and in order, and finish one thing to a high standard. Offer water to the rising Sun, recite the Aditya Hridaya on the Sankranti day, and give copper on Sunday.