🪔 “Before we offer, we remember. Before we heal, we acknowledge.”
While most recognize Pitru Paksha as a 16-day sacred fortnight, its real beginning lies just before — on the Full Moon, traditionally known as Purnima Shraddha or Ishti. In 2025, this Purnima carries exceptional significance, as it aligns with a powerful Lunar Eclipse on September 7th, creating a rare cosmic moment of ancestral awakening and karmic release.
🌑 What is Purnima Shraddha?
- Purnima Shraddha is observed for those ancestors whose tithi or death date is unknown, or whose souls may have been forgotten, neglected, or unlisted.
- Known in some traditions as Ishti Shraddha, it’s a day of universal offering, a blanket act of remembrance and reverence.
- It’s especially potent for those who never received proper rites, such as aborted children, miscarried souls, stillborns, or ancestors lost in war, epidemics, or disasters.
This day is like lighting a lamp in the darkness for all souls still seeking light.
🌕 Why Is the 2025 Purnima So Special?
This Full Moon (September 7, 2025) is accompanied by a total Lunar Eclipse in Pisces — a water sign associated with moksha (liberation), dreams, dissolution, and the collective unconscious.
✨ Eclipses = Portals
Lunar Eclipses are energetic amplifiers. They bring what’s hidden into light. When one overlaps with Purnima Shraddha, it activates:
- Karmic Memory
- Emotional Ancestral Patterns
- Unfinished Lineage Cycles
- Deep Healing Potential
This is not a time to manifest personal goals. Instead, it’s a sacred pause to reflect, release, and return offerings to the Source.
📿 Ritual Suggestions for Purnima Shraddha + Eclipse
Even if you’re not able to perform traditional Shraddha rites, simple acts done with sincerity carry immense power.
🌸 Morning or Pre-Eclipse Ritual
- Light a diya (lamp) facing south or near a Tulsi plant.
- Offer water with black sesame and rice (Tarpana) facing south.
- Say aloud:
“To all my ancestors — known, unknown, remembered, forgotten — I offer light and peace.”
🌑 During the Eclipse
- Meditate in silence.
- Chant mantras such as:
“Om Namo Bhagavate Vasudevaya” or “Ram Ram Ram” - Write a letter to your ancestors. Burn it after the eclipse ends.
🪷 After the Eclipse
- Take a bath or sprinkle clean water to purify.
- Donate food, clothes, or money in their name.
- Feed crows, cows, or offer flowers to a river or sacred tree.
🧬 The Energetics of Day 0
- Emotionally: It may stir up old grief, longings, or inexplicable sadness. Let it rise. Feel it. Let it go.
- Energetically: You may feel a pull inward, a desire to disconnect from the outer world. Honor this withdrawal.
- Spiritually: You’re standing at a doorway between dimensions. Listen. Pray. Offer.
🌌 Who Should Observe This Day?
✅ If you don’t know your ancestor’s tithi or history
✅ If you’ve had miscarriages, abortions, or stillbirths
✅ If you’ve lost friends or community in disasters
✅ If you carry emotional pain that doesn’t feel like it belongs to you
✅ If you’re seeking to close ancestral loops and release inherited burdens
✨ Final Blessing
“On this lunar eclipse, may your light reach every soul that longs to be seen.
May your prayers travel upstream through your lineage.
And may the blessings of those you honor become the roots of your grace.”
🪔 Pitru Paksha 2025 begins not with death — but with remembrance.
