- Span: 23°20′ Virgo to 06°40′ Libra
- Deity: Tvashtar, the celestial architect
- Dasha Lord: Mars
- Symbol: Pearl
- Animal (Yoni): Tiger (female)
- Shakti or power: punya cayani shakti = power to accumulate purity
The name Chitra refers to bright, transparent or brilliant. All qualities that can be related to this star. A word of a similar root is Chitta, which refers to a person’s mentality or consciousness. Chitta is an important concept in religions like Buddhism and Hinduism, and a fairly long one to explain and discuss. But to sum things up, it refers to consciousness, perception and the mind.
The mind is considered the source of of everything in Eastern philosophies, as our reactions and perceptions dictate our experience in this world. The mind creates the perception of good, the mind creates the perception of bad, and the mind starts our reaction to everything. As such, mind is the source of Maya. Maya refers to illusion or magic, denoting mostly the illusion of life’s events. If the Soul is eternal, nothing bad in life matters, but nothing good matters as well.
Again, these are complicated concepts upon which long books have been written about. If you don’t understand it all at once, it’s fine. The important things to understand:
- Chit or Chitta: refers to the mind and our perception
- Maya: illusion of life, refers to the things (good and bad) that fascinate and distract us from the spiritual (detached) reality of life.
Chitra nakshatra deals intimately with Maya. These natives are fascinated with life, they tend to be movers and shakers in the world. Many times they are related to beauty, creation and improvement of the world. They tend to have a genuine desire to improve the world.
Going into the symbol, of a Pearl, we yet again go to the word bright, brilliant or perfect. Chitra deals with the quest for perfection, the quest for something fantastic or amazing. The quest for creating beautiful and extraordinary things.
On a more esoteric level, the Pearl can also be related to spiritual progress and achievement, reached when we free ourselves from the mind and from Maya. Chitra natives have this potential. Although, I’d say that about 90% of these natives will forever be stuck on Maya and the material world. It’s not a flaw of character, it is just the nature of our times.
The deity Tvashtar is the celestial architect, responsible for creating great structures and great weapons/tools for the gods in the universe. Again, we are brought back to the idea of creating beauty, creating perfection and improving life.
The power of this nakshatra is punya cayani shakti, which refers to the idea of accumulating or achieving purity. Some authors say merit, but I think purity is a better translation. The power here shows a native creating and improving, at a quest for perfection, brilliance or purity. This can both deal with material achievements, as well as reaching spiritual purity and progress.
Some loose notes:
- Strong need to create/act and have something to show
- High desire for achievement.
- Strong focus on material life and the world.
- Great desire to improve the world.
- Also love for material things and luxury, specially the Libra portion.
- Sense of importance
- They want to fix the world, they might consider themselves responsible for improving and fixing things.
- Could show involvement in politics, activism or volunteer work.
- They feel unhappy when they can’t fix/help/improve the world around them.
- “I could’ve done something to change that”
- Great hope and trust in their own potential
- Desire to achieve the impossible, many times they do it.
- Hard workers who go after their dreams.
- Love for luxury, beautiful environments, designer items, etc.
- At times, they can be a tad superficial.
- They love debating, discussing and writing walls of text about their thoughts.
- Very convincing and charming natives.
- Orderly and attentive natives.
- Great need for support, appreciation and praise from others.
- Sensitive, emotional and caring deep down.
- Career wise:
- Architecture
- Design and beauty fields
- Arts, drama and movies
- Fashion
- Jewelry making
- Medicine
- Dentistry:
- specially orthodontics and cosmetic fields
- Executive roles
- Financial fields, stock market, etc.
- Leaders, analysts, etc.
- Communication:
- Think tanks
- Advertising
- convincing others
- Engineering:
- Computers
- Machines
- any kind of fine and advanced technology
- Policy advisors or political fields
Chitra natives are the embodiment of the Celestial Architect, so they similarly carry a need to improve life, fix the world and make everything better. I consider this one of the most active nakshatras. This natives have a hard time sitting still. They are always on the move, doing something.
Frequently, these natives will hold multiple jobs, along with hobbies that are as much work as their jobs. I’ve met a few doctors with a Chitra Moon who would work their main job, volunteer at charity clinics and still find time to engage in some artistic hobby. Some of them paint, others write, either way they have a lot on their plate.
From an early age, Chitra tends to promote great achievers. The Chitra teen tends to be on top of his class, along with multiple extracurriculars, an active social life and maybe a few hobbies to spare. Achieving, making and creating are fundamental impulses for Chitra.
They have an almost child-like belief that everything is possible, that everything they dream about is achievable. This makes them great leaders. Also, many times they actually achieve their impossible goal. Frequently, Chitra is the flower that grows in the desert.
This belief creates and inner sense of duty or protagonism. They always think that they can fix and improve things. Many tend to get involved with politics at some point in life, usually stemming from a believe that they can fix things.
Chitra can be specially related to silicon chips and computer advancements. Those are engineering marvels that sound more than impossible, yet here we are. Silicon is some random sand that is turned into computer chips, which can show us high quality images, videos and more. Few people appreciate the magic in this.
Other fields related to Chitra are, not shockingly, architecture and design. Medicine is another prominent area for this nakshatra, being an area that requires hard work and a lot of faith. Dentistry, specially orthodontic and aesthetic areas, as it relates to perfecting things.
I remember the Chitra Moon dentist my parents took me to, always puppy-eyed trying to convince me to whiten and fix my teeth, to make them perfect. But I must’ve had my momma’s will and God’s amazing grace (being born under an evil nakshatra), I always refused. Now my teeth belong to coffee and I never went back to his office.
These are hard working and charming natives, who will always try (and many times succeed) to convince you with their pretty smiles and bright eyes. They will usually rise in life through their gift of charming communication. They can excel on many fields, and they are always striving for high paying jobs.
Specially on the Libra side of things, these natives will have a great passion for the good things in life. They tend to be suckers for designer labels. Filling their home with beautiful and expensive things is usually a priority. However, money alone will never satisfy them. They need to improve things. If things are stagnant and there is nothing to improve, they might switch jobs or find some hobby to fulfill their eternal need for creation.
Speaking of needs, a big need for these natives is support and appreciation. But don’t we all need it? Yes, but they need it more than the average. These natives see the world through a lens of achievement and results, having people around them who are thankful and proud is the ultimate award. Partners to Chitra natives should always be mindful about this, and show appreciation and encouragement to them.
As usual, let’s delve into the negative. The main negative point of this nakshatra can be started from my final point above, they live through an external mirror, the appreciation and support of others. The lack or excess of it is usually the root for the trouble in their lives.
They might be engaged in the most evil of works, if they get their fix of praise and support, they will still do it. Similarly, at times, they can lack discernment. Only seeing the appearance and pomp, forgetting to look beyond it to understand things better.
In their relationships, they can leave and (in some cases) cheat on partners simply because they didn’t give them enough appreciation. The inverse is also true. They might keep a terrible partner, maybe even accept being cheated on, as long as they get the support and appreciation they desire.
Discernment and seeing beyond the superficial, going beyond appearances, are key lessons in life.
As a daily star:
Chitra is the day of appearance, of Maya, the mask of the world. For good, it is one of the best times in the month to improve and beautify life. Adjusting our appearance, improving our home and things of the sort. On the negative, it is hard to get the truth, as people tend to put on a mask and focus on transmitting a positive image.
→ Favorable activities with Chitra: extremely favorable for improving your appearance, buying new clothes, changing your hairstyle, etc. Any creative activity. Decoration or home improvement. Good for charming others or anything needing charisma. Great for socializing and enjoying. Good for structured work and planning.
→ Unfavorable activities with Chitra: unfavorable for confrontation, conflict or anything harsh. Not good for discovering the truth or uncovering something. Not good for marriage.
Planets in Chitra will indicate areas of life where a native has great attention to detail, as well as knack for inventing new solutions. For instance, someone with a Chitra planet related to the 11th or 2nd houses could have great skill in managing financial assets. The 9th house will frequently show some sort of esteemed academic. On love matters, Chitra is very prosperous, although partners and the relationship will need a lot of attention.
Example:
- Tom Brady (Chitra ascendant at 24° Virgo): American football quarterback.
- Great achievements: Considered to be the greatest quarterback of all time.
- Hard-worker: He had achievements in both baseball and football while in high school, which led to his career.
- Diane Warren (Chitra Moon at 29° Virgo): American songwriter.
- Great achievements: You might not know her, but you have heard her. She has written nine number-one songs and 33 top-10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. She has won a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, two Golden Globes and multiple other awards.
- Themes of creativity and perfection can be seen here. A strong need to create, that Chitra tends to promote, is also present here. Diane tends to work 12–16 hours a day, and she has produced more than a thousand songs in her career.