Chitra
Nakshatra 14 · 23°20′ Virgo – 6°40′ Libra
Chitra is the 14th of the 27 lunar mansions of Vedic astrology. Its deity is Tvashtar, the celestial craftsman, its symbol a bright jewel, and its ruling planet Mars. Tradition reads in it aesthetics, invention, brilliance.
Attributes
- Deity : Tvashtar, the celestial craftsman
- Symbol : a bright jewel
- Lord : Mars
- Animal (yoni) : the tiger
Gana : Rakshasa (demonic)
An intense, independent temperament; in the tradition the word carries no moral judgement, it speaks of strength.
The four padas
- Pada 1 : 23°20′ Virgo – 26°40′ Virgo · navamsa ♌︎ Leo
- Pada 2 : 26°40′ Virgo – 30°00′ Virgo · navamsa ♍︎ Virgo
- Pada 3 : 0°00′ Libra – 3°20′ Libra · navamsa ♎︎ Libra
- Pada 4 : 3°20′ Libra – 6°40′ Libra · navamsa ♏︎ Scorpio
Each pada covers 3°20′. The 108 padas run through the zodiac nine times: the navamsa is the sign of that second cycle, which Vedic astrology reads as a shade of the first.
The Moon's next passages through Chitra
- From Saturday 7 November at 00:11 to Sunday 8 November at 01:20
- From Friday 4 December at 05:50 to Saturday 5 December at 07:16
- From Thursday 31 December at 11:41 to Friday 1 January at 12:57
Paris time, from the Moon's real position (NASA JPL DE440s ephemeris, Lahiri ayanamsa). The Moon goes round the 27 nakshatras in 27.3 days.
Deities, symbols and lords: Wikipedia's nakshatra table, after A. L. Basham (1954). Gana and yoni animal: checked against two Jyotish reference tables. The one-line readings are ours.