Lahiri sidereal, IST.
The week turns on a full moon. By Saturday night the Moon is full in Pisces, and the fortnight that follows is Pitru Paksha — the fortnight of the ancestors, which the tradition keeps apart from new beginnings.
Monday 21 September — Mercury into Chitra. Mercury, exalted in Virgo, moves from Hasta into Chitra at about 22:42 IST (17:12 UTC). Chitra is the architect's mansion, ruled by Mars; Mercury here likes plans, drawings and exact measurement. The Sun and Mercury still share Virgo — the Budhaditya stretch that began at Kanya Sankranti runs until Saturday.
Thursday 24 September — Mars into Pushya. Mars, debilitated in Cancer since 18 September, leaves Punarvasu for Pushya at about 05:41 IST (00:11 UTC). Pushya is Saturn's mansion, and the one the tradition calls the most auspicious in the sky. A debilitated Mars in it works through care and provision rather than open contest: effort goes into protecting and feeding what already exists.
Saturday 26 September — Mercury into Libra; the full moon. Mercury leaves its exaltation for Libra at about 12:39 IST (07:09 UTC), and the Sun–Mercury pairing in Virgo ends. In Libra, Mercury joins Venus in Venus's own sign. The Moon is full at about 22:19 IST (16:49 UTC), at 9°23′ Pisces in Uttara Bhadrapada: Bhadrapada Purnima.
Sunday 27 September — Pitru Paksha; the Sun into Hasta. Saturday's full moon opens Pitru Paksha — Purnima shraddha on Saturday, the waning-moon shraddhas from Sunday — and the fortnight runs to the new moon of Saturday 10 October. The Moon crosses Saturn in Pisces at about 12:50 IST (07:20 UTC). The Sun moves from Uttara Phalguni into Hasta at about 13:20 IST (07:50 UTC).
Background. Venus is in Libra, its own sign, slowing toward its retrograde station on 3 October at 14°15′ Libra. Venus Retrograde 2026 Saturn is retrograde in Pisces, in Revati, until 11 December. Saturn Retrograde 2026 Jupiter is exalted in Cancer, in Ashlesha, with Mars in the same sign. Rahu is in Aquarius and Ketu in Leo. Read each of these twice — from your lagna for what happens, and from your Moon for how it feels. That is the double read, and it is why one week lands differently on two people.
Starts and signatures — one do, one don't
Do: close what is already open — the signature, the filing, the invoice — while Mercury is still exalted in Virgo, before midday on Saturday.
Don't: begin what you mean to last in the fortnight after the full moon. Tradition keeps weddings, house-warmings and new ventures out of Pitru Paksha; the fortnight is for remembering, not for founding. If a start can wait until after 10 October, let it.
This almanac is for orientation. It is not legal, financial or medical advice, and it does not replace a muhurat or reading done on your own chart.
Use the first half of the week to finish things, and the fortnight after it to remember the people who came before you. The Transit Forecasts carry the longer arcs behind the weekly weather.
