Shraddh Paksh in vedic calendar consist of sixteen tithis from Purnima(Full Moon) to Amavasya(New Moon) which are dedicated to worship of pitrus(ancestor). Shraddh paksh is the time when most auspicious activities like buying house, purchasing vehicles, starting business venture or getting married are forbidden by astrologers. Shraddh Paksh is time to remember and pay homage to ancestors, donate generously and engage in spirituality.
Vedic astrology is a branch of vedic philosophy and as such pitru puja(ancestor worship) is integrated into vedic astrology. Magha nakshatra located in Leo Sign is ruled by pitrus(ancestors). And Magha is the nakshatra where king among planets aka Sun gets maximum strength as it Mooltrikona position for Sun.
The ninth house in horoscope signifies pitrus(ancestors). Co-incidentally ninth house also signifies fortune and gurus/mentors. That is why vedic philosophy places high emphasis on honouring and praying to ones ancestors. The pitrus(ancestors) can bless you with fortune and provide guidance when an individual feels lost.
There is a misconception that only vedic philosophy follows the tradition of remembering the pitrus(ancestors).
- Mexicans celebrate the first two days of November as Dia De Los Meurtos where they welcome back the soul of their ancestors for two days.
- Obon is a festival celebrated in Japan which includes lighting fires and lantern to welcome back ancestral spirit.
- In celtic tradition the festival of Samhain used to be celebrated where they believed the spirits cross over. Later this was appropriated as Halloween by Christians minus the ancestor worship.
- The pagan Anglo-Saxans celebrated Modraniht where they venerated female ancestral figure as well as Yule where all ancestors were given toast and offerings.
- Ancient Greeks used to celebrate Genesia which was used to visit graves of ancestors, clean and decorate the graves and offer food and prayers.
- Slavs celebrated Dziady where they visited graves of ancestors and offered food as well as drinks.
Even if individual doesn't believe in spirituality and ancestral worship knowing about ancestors is quite important. For example lots of diseases like diabetes, heart condition, alzheimer, thyroid, down syndrome, sickle cell anaemia, haemophilia, cystic fibrosis and a few other diseases are heriditory. Chances of child being born with thalassemia major increases if both parents are thalassemia minor. These are scientifically proven facts which are backed by solid research. This is why knowing about ones genotype is quite important even according to science.
One common observation is a lot of good or bad yogas in horoscope will also be present in the pitrus(ancestors) and relatives on either the father's side or the mother's side. Studying this pattern of common yogas is the key to success, happiness and liberation.
In modern context also thanking the ancestors becomes important who decided to have children not worrying about finances or troubles that come with raising children. They decided to invest their time and money into raising future generations. Today almost all couples have decided to limit the number of children or perhaps stay single to avoid hassle of raising children.