The Moon's 27 mansions
Nakshatras
The zodiac divided into 27 spans of 13°20' each, one for every day of the Moon's circuit.
Ashlesha
106°40'00" – 120°00'00" · lord Mercury
- Symbol
- Coiled snake
- Deity
- Nagas
- Lord
- Mercury
- Gana
- Rakshasa (fierce — forceful, self-willed)
- Yoni
- Cat
- Nadi
- Antya (kapha)
- Varna
- Mleccha
- Element
- Water
Ashlesha is the coiled serpent — the nakshatra of hypnotic charm, deep intelligence and the knowledge of how things really work behind what is said. Mercury rules it and the Nagas are its deity. It gives penetrating insight into other people's motives, which can be used to heal or to manipulate, and the chart usually shows which.
Strengths
Perception, strategic mind, healing knowledge, and the ability to see what is hidden.
Needs watching
Manipulation, secrecy and entanglement. Poison is the symbol's other half.
Suited work: Psychology, medicine and toxicology, research, negotiation, occult studies, politics.
Gana, yoni and nadi are the three attributes used in marriage matching; the varna and tattva describe temperament and element. The reading below describes the nakshatra itself, not the whole chart — the Moon's nakshatra is the strongest single indicator of temperament, but it is one factor among many.