The 28 lunar mansions · 1st of 28
Al-Sharaṭān الشرطان
The two marks/signs. A theme of beginnings and setting out: first steps taken with clear purpose.
- Its stars
- Sheratan and Mesarthim (β and γ Arietis), the two horns of the Ram
- Where it lies
- 0°00′ Aries to 12°51′ Aries, as Baghdad counted it
- How often
- The Moon passes through about every 27⅓ days and stays roughly a day
- Next visit
- Calculating…
Born with the Moon in Al-Sharaṭān
You are a starter. Like the two bright marks that open the Moon's path, you see a first step and want to take it. People notice your directness and your appetite for something new.
Gifts
Initiative, honesty, the courage to go first
Watch for
Leaving things half-built once the novelty fades
A theme your life returns to. New beginnings come back to you again and again. Your best chapters open when you commit to one road and walk it to its end.
A night in Al-Sharaṭān
The astrologers of Baghdad chose the night for a task by the Moon's mansion. For Al-Sharaṭān the old lists say:
Good for
- journeys
- starting a course of remedies
- matters of livestock
Better left for another night
- marriage
- partnerships
A thought for the night Today I take one clear first step toward something that matters to me.
The readings are modern, drawn from each station's traditional name and meaning. They describe tendencies, not events, and are offered for reflection and fun.
Sources
- Al-Bīrūnī, The Book of Instruction in the Elements of the Art of Astrology (1029), the chapter on the lunar mansions. Translated by R. Ramsay Wright (1934).
- Picatrix (Ghāyat al-Ḥakīm), Book I, chapter 4: the 28 mansions and the works begun in each.
- Ibn Abī l-Rijāl (Haly Abenragel), The Distinguished Book on the Judgements of the Stars, Book VII: elections by the Moon's mansion.
- Star identifications follow Paul Kunitzsch, Untersuchungen zur Sternnomenklatur der Araber (1961), and the usual modern lists.
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