Astrology & Practice

The 27 Lunar Mansions (rgyu skar)

The lunar mansions (རྒྱུ་སྐར, rgyu skar) are 27 divisions of the sky that the Moon passes through each month. Each mansion has an associated element, quality, and influence.

The mansion at daybreak is what's listed in calendars—it tells you the Moon's position when the solar day begins.

The 27 Mansions

Element Compatibility

Each lunar mansion and each day of the week is associated with one of four elements: Earth (sa), Water (chu), Fire (me), or Wind (rlung).

When the weekday element and mansion element interact favorably, the day is considered more auspicious. The four traditional relationships are:

• Mother-Son (supporting) — very favorable
• Same element — harmonious
• Friend relationship — neutral to positive
• Enemy relationship — challenging

Yoga (sbyor ba)

The yoga (སྦྱོར་བ) is calculated from the combined longitudes of the Sun and Moon. There are 27 yogas, cycling through the month, each with distinct qualities ranging from highly auspicious to challenging.

Some notable yogas:

• dge byed (Śobhana) — "Creating virtue," very auspicious
• rdo rje (Vajra) — "Diamond," strong and stable
• zhi ba (Śiva) — "Peaceful," excellent for practice
• yongs 'joms (Parigha) — "Complete destruction," challenging

Karana (byed pa)

Each lunar day is divided into two karanas (བྱེད་པ), giving 60 half-days per month. There are 11 karanas, with 7 repeating (movable) and 4 fixed.

The 7th karana, vishti, is traditionally considered inauspicious and called "the lame one" (byed bzang). Important activities are generally avoided during vishti periods.

Practice Days

Certain lunar days are traditionally emphasized for Buddhist practice:

• 8th day — Medicine Buddha practice
• 10th day — Guru Rinpoche day (especially in Nyingma)
• 15th day — Full moon, major observance day
• 25th day — Ḍākinī day
• 29th/30th day — Dharma protector practices, new moon

The 4th month (Saga Dawa) multiplies merit, with the 15th of that month—commemorating the Buddha's enlightenment and parinirvāṇa—being the most significant day of the year.