Muhurta for an Important Meeting and Negotiations

Negotiations, an interview, a defence, a talk with a superior or a hearing in court — all of this belongs in muhurta to the affairs of speech and of two sides meeting. The branch is small but applicable more often than the others: a meeting nearly always allows some freedom within the day, and a single hour can be enough to improve the terms.

That is its peculiarity. A wedding or a housewarming is chosen months ahead, a meeting within the day, and what decides here is not the panchanga but the lagna of the chosen hour. The reading therefore starts from the chart of the moment, and the calendar prohibitions are checked only as filters.

What is examined in the chart of the moment

The lagna stands for the person going to the meeting, the seventh house for the other side. The balance of their strength is the chief indicator: if the lagna and its lord are stronger, the advantage in the conversation is yours; if the seventh house is stronger, it belongs to your counterpart. Mercury answers for the speech and the arguments, Jupiter for how they are received, the tenth house for the outcome of the meeting, the eleventh for what it will lead to.

The strength of the lagna and the seventh house is judged by the same signs: where the lord of the house stands, whether it is combust or retrograde, whether the house is aspected by a benefic or a malefic, and whether planets occupy the house itself. A useful guide: the lord of the lagna in a kendra or trikona and unafflicted by malefics is already sufficient grounds to count the moment suitable.

The sixth house is read as dispute and opposition, the eighth as what is concealed and will surface later, the twelfth as concessions and losses. For a conversation about money the second and eleventh houses are added, for one about work the tenth and sixth, for a court hearing the sixth house and its relation to the lagna.

Auspicious guidelines

Nakshatras: Ashwini, Mrigashira, Punarvasu, Pushya, Uttara Phalguni, Hasta, Chitra, Swati, Anuradha, Uttara Ashadha, Shravana, Dhanishta, Uttara Bhadrapada, Revati. Tithis: 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 11, 13. Weekdays: Wednesday for negotiations and anything requiring argument; Thursday for meetings with elders, teachers and in matters of law; Friday for agreements and reconciliation; Monday for personal conversations.

Swati is worth singling out from that list: its nature is bound up with balance, independence and the ability to come to terms. Shravana is connected with listening and suits conversations where being heard matters. Pushya and Hasta give a quick and businesslike course to the talk.

The rikta tithis — the 4th, 9th and 14th lunar days — are excluded, as are ashtami and chaturdashi. Of the yogas, Vyatipata, Vaidhriti, Parigha, Vyaghata, Shula, Ganda, Atiganda and Vajra are not used. A waxing Moon is preferable to a waning one for meetings from which an agreement is expected.

Matching the natal chart

Chandra bala is checked: the transiting Moon must not stand in the fourth, eighth or twelfth house from your natal Moon. Tara bala is checked: the nakshatra of the day must not fall into janma, vipat, pratyari or vadha from the natal nakshatra.

For a meeting that decides a great deal it is worth looking at the periods too: a conversation about work in the dasha of planets connected with the tenth house more often ends in what it was undertaken for. The calculations rest on the natal Moon and need a correct birth time — if it is approximate, it makes sense to go through rectification first.

What is avoided

Rahu kala is the first thing checked for a meeting: that stretch of the day is traditionally left free of important conversations. Then: the karana vishti, amavasya, eclipses, gandanta, ashtami and chaturdashi. A meeting is not appointed when the Moon passes the eighth or twelfth house from your natal Moon, or when Mercury is combust or retrograde, if the talk concerns terms and figures.

A time when the lord of the lagna is combust is not taken either: it is associated with conversations in which a person is not heard. If at the moment of the meeting malefics occupy the lagna while benefics hold the seventh house, tradition reads this as a talk that will prove more advantageous to the other side.

Kinds of meeting

An interview: the lagna is the candidate, the seventh house the employer, the tenth the outcome. The best days are Wednesday and Thursday, with a strong lagna and an unafflicted Mercury. Negotiations about money: the second and eleventh houses are added, and Venus and Jupiter examined. A talk with a superior: the Sun and the tenth house matter most, and Sunday is permitted. A court hearing: the sixth house is read — if its lord is weaker than the lord of the lagna, the position is better; the moment of filing a claim is chosen separately by the same rules. Reconciliation and family conversation: Friday, Monday, a waxing Moon, a strong Venus.

For a meeting with several participants the date is checked against the chart of whoever has most at stake — usually the person who calls it.

Prashna: a question instead of a muhurta

The meeting has a kindred branch — prashna, the astrology of the question. Muhurta answers "when should this be arranged", prashna "how will what is already arranged end". It is built in the same way, from the chart of a moment, except that the moment is the time the question was asked rather than the beginning of an undertaking, and it is read by the same houses: the lagna the questioner, the seventh the other side, the tenth the outcome.

In practice this helps where there is nothing to choose: the hearing is set, the interview is on Thursday, the conversation is happening today. The chart of the moment is then built not to move the time but to understand the balance of forces — and to prepare accordingly. It is best to avoid substituting one for the other: arranging a meeting by prashna is as wrong as divining by muhurta.

The hour of the day and the planetary hours

Besides the lagna the day has a simpler division — the horas, or planetary hours. The daylight and the night are each divided into parts and each is ruled by its planet in a known order; the first hora of the day belongs to the ruler of the weekday. For a conversation the horas of Mercury and Jupiter are taken, for money matters those of Venus and Jupiter, for affairs requiring drive those of Mars and the Sun; the hora of Saturn is not used for meetings.

This is cruder than a full reading of the lagna and does not replace it, but it can be worked out in the head and suits everyday decisions: when to call, when to send a letter, when to come with a request. If there is no time for a full reading, the reasonable minimum for a meeting is this — avoid rahu kala and vishti and choose the hora of Mercury or Jupiter.

A call and correspondence

A telephone conversation and a letter are read exactly like a meeting: the event is the moment you begin the conversation or send the letter. For a letter this is especially convenient — the time of sending is in your hands to the minute, and the right stretch can always be reached.

If the initiative is not yours — someone calls you, a letter comes first — there is nothing to choose, and the muhurta is applied to the reply rather than to the approach. The rule is common to the whole branch: you choose the time that actually belongs to you.

The order of work

• establish what the meeting is about and which house of the moment answers for its subject;
• discard vishti, amavasya, eclipses, gandanta, rikta tithis and spoiled yogas;
• check chandra bala and tara bala;
• within the day find a stretch where the lagna is stronger than the seventh house, outside rahu kala;
• if the day is not yours to choose, choose at least an hour within it.

Proportion

For an ordinary working meeting it is enough to get round rahu kala and vishti. A full reading of the chart of the moment is warranted where the meeting decides a great deal — negotiations over a large contract, a court hearing, a conversation about an appointment. And as always in muhurta, preparing for the conversation on its merits gives more than choosing the hour.

It is worth remembering the obvious as well: a favourable hour does not make arguments stronger and does not substitute for knowing the subject. It only removes hindrances — and is therefore useful when everything else has already been done.

The general rules of date selection are set out in the date selection section, the calendar indicators in the calendar, and the nearest related cases in the texts on signing a contract and starting a new job.