Sun Days

Sundays have become very important days over the last few months. Early on in 2025 I began a 7.5 year Saturnian journey during which time Shani dev will transit through the 12th, 1st, and 2nd house from my natal moon. During the last 2.5 years of that journey he will also be transiting through my own natal first house thus doubling down on the intense saturnine lessons of this period. For those of you that don’t know, this 7.5 year Saturn period is called Sade Sati and it is generally feared and reviled. Being the contrarian, Saturn-boy that I am, my feelings on this period are mixed. On the one hand, with Saturn being the strongest planet in my chart, it is a time for Shani dev to do some big work in my life and to get it done faster than he would have without the aid of Sade Sati, on the other hand; an over abundance of a massively over-powered Saturn is just a fuck ton of Saturn.

This is where Sundays come in.

As it so often happens, the spirits and deities in my life saw this coming from much further away than I did and, with their usual unknowable grace and timing, set me on the path of Matangi and Bhairava, both of whom have very strong Solary connections. My practices with these deities have become exceedingly important in balancing what can only be described as way-too-much-goddamned-Saturn.

Don’t get me wrong, I love Saturn and will always stand up for this beautiful, misunderstood outcaste. However, as someone who got ALL the Saturn, balancing out the gravity of such a powerful planet is necessary and the Sun seems to be the best fit for the job. The Sun is, for those that don’t know, viewed as the father of Saturn in Vedic astrology and, needless to say, they do not get along at all well. Saturn loves his father as he loves and respects all elders but he does not understand him. Shani dev is an incredibly practical graha with great respect for boundaries, humility, hard work, and traditions and Surya dev’s constant usurping of the powers and stations of the other graha is upsetting and baffling to Shani dev. When the sun combusts another graha in Jyotish it is seen as Surya dev absorbing the role usually played by that planet into his own repertoire and taking over for the duration of the combustion period.

Few are the times when Surya dev and Shani dev get along but we happen to be living through one of them currently. When the sun moves into sidereal Capricorn it is viewed as Surya dev’s yearly visit to the home of his estranged son, Shani dev. Interestingly, within the saturnine sign of Capricorn we have 2 notable Solary events: firstly, we have Makara sankranti which is marked as the sun beginning his waxing journey towards summer, the days get longer and the sun grows in power until he reaches sidereal Cancer; secondly, we have Ratha saptami which is the suns birthday itself. In the Vedic cosmovision they place high value on the beginnings of things, nishita muhurt or the mid-night muhurt is where all the power and potential for the next day is stored and, for those willing to stay up and get weird, that power is accessible before the sun ever rises on that day. Similarly, when the sun moves into Capricorn or has his birthday, all the Solary power for the coming year is accessible before the year ever kicks off. There’s a ton of solar potential to be had as the sun picks up steam.

I think in the west we often look for the sun at full power in spring or summer but the Vedic system and, in truth, many others throughout the world (look at St. Brigid’s day marking the beginning of spring as the ground still lies frozen on the 1st of February) have a more salient view of the true power stored in the beginnings of things.

Now that we’ve got all that out of the way, let’s talk about Sundays.

For the next 3 weeks we have some truly excellent Sundays. January 25th plays host to the sun’s birthday, Ratha Saptami, I take the fact that this falls on a Sunday in a year ruled by the sun as a powerful sign. February 1st houses, at sunrise, an extremely auspicious moment wherein Sunday coincides with the moon’s presence in Pushya nakshatra which creates a Ravi Pusya Yoga. February 1st is also the feast of Saint Brigid bringing the fire of the first flush of spring from beneath the frozen earth which only serves to brighten this already Solary day. The Ravi Pushya yoga is only in effect on the west coast from 7:30-10:30am. February 8th is the final special Sunday on the immediate horizon as it happens to be kaalashtami, the 8th waning lunar tithi (lunar day). This one may not be for everyone but, for those with a Bhairava practice, it promises to be an eventful day. Bhairava is often associated with the sun and the 8th waning lunar tithi belongs to him as well so, at the very least, I will be a busy boy.

In my lifelong quest to balance out my own over-saturnine tendencies it is the sun and the deities associated with it which have helped most effectively.

Stars are also massively helpful but that’s another post for another time.