This is a month divided into two sections. A fortnight for remembering the Pitris or our forefathers from 5 to 18 September is known as Shraddha. Specially 18 September which is the amavasya night is most important day to remember the dead and those who have passed on by donating money, giving feasts to the por and clothes , medicine in your ancestors names. During Shraddha, people in north India do not start any new projects or get married. In Bollywood, no new Movies are released during Shraddha, Then from 19 September we begin the nine days of the goddesses know as Navaratri and the 10th day (28 September) which is victory day for Goddess and for Sri Rama  Click here to read more on the festivals and their origins.

The main story of September is that Saturn changes signs and this is good news for all us who have been caught in the most destructive transit of Saturn in Leo. More below. In September we also have Mercury in exaltation and the retrograde of Mercury to consider before we more to discussing the next two and half years of Saturn.

 Mercury exalted, its retrogression and connection with Saturn.

Mercury continues in a similar vein to Aug. it is strong in september even when it is retrograde. It will remain in Virgo till end of 24 October.  But I think the most important fact Both Gemini and Virgo ascendants should remember is that life is about to change. For Virgo it comes first with Saturn's transit into Virgo and the first connection with Saturn on 21st September. They have to become more realsitic about life and then Ketu comes into Gemini in November. There is a fundamental shift in how Mercury behave over this period as it will be challenged by Saturn and Ketu durings its annual periods of strengths.

Mercury turns retrograde on 6 September and will remain so till 29 September. It will be exalted most of the time. It is still important to check your travel arrangements, appointments and generally Mercury retrograde is a period of disconnection and lack of communication. It is not a dangerous or negative time- so nothing to worry about. This is a regular phenomenon and we need to be aware of it.

  Saturn in Virgo Health, Healing and Hard work.
  9 Sept 2009 to 14 Nov 2011 and 14 May 2012 to 3 Aug 2012 

One of the greatest aspect of this transit is that Saturn is friends with Mercury the ruler of Virgo and is moving towards its exaltation. Therefore this transit of Saturn is going to be much better than the previous transit of Leo. According to the myth, Saturn is the son of Surya and his shadow wife Chaya. Surya rejected Shani and Shani has lot of anger towards his father. Although Shani is a Prince and of royal patronage, during his transits he tends to punish those who are in power. There Leo which is ruled by Surya is the worst place for Shani to transit through. His anger becomes more and his Vaayu ( air) energy makes the fire of leo out of control and very destructiv. So coming into the Earth sign of Virgo will be a great relief for the world and for all of us as this is a much easier place for Saturn to dole out his message of truth and justice.

One of the biggest areas of Saturn's Journey in Virgo will be towards Health and Healing. Virgo is the natural 6th house of the Zodiac and under its command comes Health and healing. It will also bring into our consciousnes global health issues and for People to stop thinking only about their own agendas but look to heal the others. Saturn's ingress in Virgo is very good news for President Obama's Health Care Programme. There are two important changes that Saturn brings- one is that Health care will be the prime agenda and second will be the strenth this give President Obama. He is Capricorn Lagna and his Lagna lord moves out of the 8th house into the spiritual and dharmic 9th house. The lagna lord is going towards exaltation and has a 5 year  good transit. If anyone is needed to win the health care debate, it is the blessing of Saturn. Plus Saturn is democratic ( he rejects his royal birth too) and therefore will be looking for public option for health care.

This is going to be a very powerful few years for the world where we move from the global problems on every level to starting to fix these problems. We should not be afraid of putting in hard work and in this world of Saturn it will be the poor, the workers will be rewarded. The next few years will see the evening up of wealth. Justice for all- whether it is in health care, financial field, equality of  earnings etc.

The main aspects that Saturn will deal with during this transit will be opposition to Jupiter in May 2010 and then in aug 2010 and April 2011, Conjunction with Mars at the end of July 2010 and opposition to Mars in April 2011. Saturn Jupiter opposition is a culmination of 10 year half cycle and Mars Saturn usually bring up some frustrations. I will be writing more about these in later newsletter.

Saturn will also cross through three nakshatras- Uttara Phalguni, Hasta and Chitra. It begins its transit in Uttara Phalguni. More about this in the next newsletter.

Saturn ingress into Virgo on the 9th Sept 2009 is end of Sade Sati those with Moon in Cancer and the beginning of Sade Sati for those with Moon in Libra.  For those with Leo Moon's this is the last phase and those with Virgo Moon's the most intense phase of Sade Sati is about to begin.Sade Sati is a difficult transit of Saturn that lasts for seven and a half years and leads to many changes in life. It is not always negative but Saturn usually reminds us of responisibility, Karma and paying our debts to society. There are many remedies you can do to lessen the  effects of Saturn and they are very effective if you do them with belief and honesty. I have written about Remedies for Saturn. Click here to read about Saturn Remedies.

 To watch for

As Mars gets closer to its long debilitation starting from 5 October and the Mars Ketu conjunction on 8 Oct. Plus debilitation of Venus, Sun, Jupiter and Moon- all in October. It makes October one of the most complex month of 2009.

Festivals in September 2009