August 7-8, 2021 - New Moon in Ashlesha Nakshatra

There are 27 Nakshatras, each of which is associated with a deity or deities, a planet (or other celestial body or point), and various other symbols such as animals, plants and energies, etc.

The 9th Nakshatra of the Vedic sidereal zodiac, Ashlesha, spans from 16°40' - 30°0' of Cancer.

The New Moon occurs at 6:51 am PDT at 22°05' of sidereal Cancer, conjunct the Sun.

Planet/Celestial body/Point: Mercury is the planet associated with Ashlesha. Mercury is the swift-footed messenger of the gods, and is associated with the last Nakshatra of each water sign (Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio) and thus the difficult transition between the last degree of a water and first degree of a fire sign known as Gandanta zones or points in Vedic astrology. As the last Nakshatra lord of each water sign before the purifying fires ruled by Ketu (the spiritual south node of the moon.) Mercury prepares us for meeting this divine, intense transformational process. (More about this down below.)

Mercury also deals with all of the mundane tasks of life- our skills, intellectual and analytical activities, our communication with others in all forms, relationships with our peers, neighbors, siblings or cousins, and the people we work with, and our daily routines, financial and debt matters, and health matters including diseases and general illness. Because Mercury moves swiftly, its individual effects by transit are short lived, but as it is also so worldly, it effects all areas of our lives. However, if you are ruled by a Gemini or Virgo ascendant, or are going through a Mercury ruled time period (called dashas in Vedic astrology) then Mercury's transit behavior will be much more influential.

As the Nakshatra lord of this New Moon, Mercury joins the Moon itself (ruler of the sign of Cancer that this lunar transit occurs in the fixed stars/sidereal sky) in its influence. Mercury is itself directly Gandanta between Cancer and Leo during this New Moon

Gandanta zones are areas in the zodiac (and in your personal birth chart) which represent karmic knots- areas with extra work, things to deal with, to untie as it were, to resolve and pass on to the next phase of life. You might consider these excess points- overdetermined with meaning, areas which bring up symptoms for you to reckon with. The area of your chart (the house) that the sign falls is going to be the area of life where intense experiences or emotions come up as planetary activity activates them. If you have planets placed there these will be far more prevalent, obvious, persistent throughout your life. Different sources and authorities define the gandanta zone in wider or more narrow degree arcs, but generally if a planet or your moon or sun are in the last 3 degrees of a water sign or first three of a fire sign (sidereally, this is very important) then you will feel it. If it's within one degree of either side of the water/fire divide then it will be much stronger.

Deity: The Nāgas- serpent gods who live deep in the underworld and who represent both the ability to deliver toxin as well as the cure, much like a snake's venom. The Nāgas are represented as serpents, half-serpent and half-human, or with the ability to transform from one to the other. The king of the Nāgas was said to have served by sheltering both the Buddha as he sat beneath the tree in Buddhist descriptions, as well as Vishnu according Hindu tradition.