Lunar station


A lunar station, also called a lunar mansion or lunar house, is a segment of the ecliptic through which the Moon passes in its orbit around the Earth. The concept was used by several ancient cultures as part of their calendrical system. In general, though not always, the zodiac is divided into 27 or 28 segments relative to the fixed stars – one for each day of the lunar month. The Moon's position is charted with respect to those fixed segments. Since the Moon's position at given stage will vary according to Earth's position in its own orbit, lunar stations are an effective system for keeping track of the passage of seasons.
Various cultures have used sets of lunar stations astrologically; for example, the Jyotisha astrological nakshatras of Hindu culture, the Arabic manzils, the Twenty-Eight Mansions of Chinese astronomy, and the 36 decans of Egyptian astronomy. Western astrology does not use stations, but each zodiac sign covers two or three. The Chinese system groups houses into four groups related to the seasons.
The concept of lunar stations is thought to originate in Babylonian astronomy. In his A History of Western Astrology, Jim Tester explains that they appear in Hellenistic astrology in the 2nd-century list of fixed stars in the Katarchai by Maximus, the Arabic lists by Alchandri and Haly Abenragel, and a similar Coptic list with Greek names.
Tester believes that though they were known in the Vedic period of India, all lists "seem to betray" transmission through Greek sources. Though pointing out that the Babylonians had well established lunar groupings by the 6th century BC, he also notes that the 28-station "scheme was derived via Egyptian magic by the linking of the lists of lucky and unlucky days of the lunar month with the hemerologies and with the zodiac."

Chinese 宿 ''xiù''

The 28 Lunar Mansions, or more precisely lodgings are the Chinese and East Asian form of the lunar stations. They can be considered as the equivalent to the Western zodiac, although the 28 stations reflect the movement of the Moon through a sidereal month rather than the Sun in a tropical year. In their final form, they embodied the astral forms of the Four Symbols: two real and two legendary animals important in traditional Chinese culture, such as feng shui.

Indian ''nakshatra''

The nakshatras are the Indian form of lunar stations. They usually number 27 but sometimes 28 and their names are related to the most prominent constellations in each sector. They start from a point on the ecliptic precisely opposite the star Spica and develop eastwards. In classical Hindu mythology, the creation of the nakshatras is attributed to Daksha. They were wives of Chandra, the moon god. The nakshatras of traditional bhartiya astronomy are based on a list of 28 asterisms found in the Atharvaveda and also in the Shatapatha Brahmana. The first astronomical text that lists them is the Vedanga Jyotisha. The stations are important parts of Indian astrology.

Arabic ''manzil''

In the traditional Arabic astrological system, the moon was seen to move through 28 distinct manāzil during the normal solar year, each manzil lasting, therefore, for about 13 days. One or more manazil were then grouped into a nawaa which were tied to a given weather pattern. In other words, the yearly pattern was divided in the following manner: A year was divided into anwaa, each of which was made up of one more manazil, which were associated with a dominant star or constellation. These stars and constellations were sometimes, but not always, connected in some way to constellations in the Zodiac. Moreover, as the anwaa repeat on a regular, solar cycle, they can be correlated to fixed points on the Gregorian calendar.
The following table is a breakdown of the anwaa and their position on the Gregorian calendar.
ManzilAssociated NawaaSignificant Stars/ConstellationsZodiac ConstellationsBegins on
SharaṭānAl ThurayyāSheratan in Aries--17 May
PleioneAl ThurayyāPleione in the Pleiades--31 May
Al-BuṭaynAl ThurayyāAlbatain in the Pleiades--13 June
Al-Tuwaibe'Al Tuwaibe'Aldebaran--26 June
Al-Haq‘ahAl Jawzaa/GeminiHaq‘ah in OrionGemini9 July
Al-Han‘ahAl Jawzaa/GeminiAlhena in GeminiGemini22 July
MurzimMurzimCanis Major--4 August
An NathraKulaibainAn Nathra--17 August
AlterfSuhailAlterf in LeoLeo30 August
DschubaSuhailDschubaScorpio12 September
AzzubraSuhail25 September
AssarfaSuhail8 October
AuvaAl WasmAuvaVirgo21 October
SimakAl WasmSpica--3 November
SyrmaAl Wasm--16 November
Az ZubanaAl WasmAcubenCancer29 November
Akleel "The Crown"MurabaaniaCorona Borealis--12 December
Qalb al AkraabMurabaaniaAntaresScorpio25 December
ShaulaMurabaaniaShaulaScorpio3 January
Al NaamAsh ShabtAscella and NunkiSagittarius16 January
Al BaldaahAsh ShabtPi SaggitariSagittarius29 January
Saad Al ThabibThe Three SaadsBeta CapricorniCapricornus11 February
Saad BalaaThe Three SaadsSaad Balaa--26 February
Saad Al SaudThe Three SaadsSaadalsudAquarius11 March
Saad Al AkhbiaHameemainSadachbia--24 March
AlmuqaddamHameemainAlmuqaddam--6 April
Al MuakharAl TharaeenPolluxGemini and Aquarius 19 April
AlreschaAl TharaeenAlreschaGemini and Aquarius 2 May

The dates above are approximate; notice that there are 2 days missing from a solar year in the table above.

Also, the following letters has no alphabetical value in numerology of the Abjad system known as "Ilm ul-ʾAdad".
Notes of the table above in accordance to strict traditional Arab Islamic astronomy and theology:
1) the Arabic alphabet resonates the alphabetical value in numerology of the Abjad system known as "Ilm ul-ʾAdad".
2) the ʽAmal is the Angel that rules the corresponding Arabic alphabet, manazilu-l-qamar and constellations. Generally speaking, the four Archangels in Islam ace Jibrāʼīl, Mīkāʼīl, ʼIsrāfīl and Malaku-l-Maut.
3) the alphabetical orders follows the sequence of the original abjadī order, used for lettering, derives from the order of the Phoenician alphabet, and is therefore similar to the order of other Phoenician-derived alphabets, such as the Hebrew alphabet. In this order, letters are also used as numbers, Abjad numerals, and possess the same alphanumeric code/cipher as Hebrew gematria and Greek isopsephy.
4) those angel name with an "asterisk" needs source citation upon Arabic transliteration but the given is the closest pronunciation based upon uttering the consonants.
A few of the numerical values are different in the alternative Abjad order. For four Persian letters these values are used:
TransliterationLetter NameLetter Name in Persian
Letter ValueLetter
ppe پِ2پ
č / chče / che چِ3چ
ž / zhže / zhe ژِ7ژ
ggāf گاف20گ