Rahu & Ketu

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Renu

What is your divine confusion?
The lunar node Rahu (north node) versus Ketu (south node)

A central principle of Yoga and Vedic

Astrology is the cycle of human birth, death and rebirth, as the soul’s journey
towards the realization of its cosmic roots. With each successive birth the desires
of the soul to experience all aspects of life evolve until all desires have been
transmuted (not suppressed) and surrendered. The desire that propels the soul to
take birth on the physical plane is Rahu (north node) and the completion of the
desire is Ketu (south node). When all longings cease and everything is embraced
as an aspect of the divine, the journey is complete, and the soul merges back into
its source.
While conscious memories of past lifetimes are wiped out at the time of birth,
each lifetime is connected to the past through the subconscious. The birth chart is
a reflection of stored memories from past lives (as well as early childhood), which
become the basis of our reactions, feelings, choices, obsessions, fears etc., giving
the astrologer a glimpse into the choices the individual may make, as well as the
potential consequences. Thus, all influences in the horoscope are in a sense the
“whispers” we hear in our head and heart compelling us to make certain choices,
sometimes even despite our best judgments. The loudest voices are those of Rahu
and Ketu, while at the same time the ones we are least consciously aware off.
The seven embodied heavenly bodies (Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter
and Saturn) indicate the outer battles we wrestle with in life. Rahu and Ketu have
no physical form, as they are positions of mathematical calculation, where lunar
and solar eclipses occur. Their formless influences are harder to grasp and are
usually the most entrenched aspects of our personality and psyche, as well as the
most resistant to change, especially when afflicted in the birth chart. Rahu and
Ketu are our deep seated inner battles.

Rahu and Ketu’s influence is usually more on the mental than physical level.
Since they are always placed in opposite houses and signs to each other in the
horoscope it is their tug of war that is usually responsible for the psychological
turmoil in our life.

The nodes are often compared to marching armies- Rahu as the conquering army
and Ketu as the retreating army. Rahu as the unconscious force of our deepest
desire marches obsessively to “taste” a new area of life and to conquer a new
territory. It is fixated on the new opportunity where he hopes to find Paradise.
Ketu is the retreating army negating the territory it is walking away from as

Paradise Lost.
In the allegorical myth of Rahu and Ketu, Rahu is the head of a snake and Ketu
the tail, each half desperately needing to join the other to become whole. Rahu, as
a creature without a body, has a mental approach to life, as well as an insatiable
appetite, as he can consume without ever becoming full. In the horoscope, he
shows our deepest desires and where we will strive the hardest but may also find
it difficult to feel fulfilled. Rahu shows the area of life where our talents are
beginning to flourish and expand but also the areas where we can become
overwhelmed and loose control of our destiny due to over expansion. Therefore
he can also create addictions, extremes and unstoppable compulsions. As the
cosmic force exposing all the possibilities and extremes within the realm of
existence, Rahu is necessary for the sustenance of life. He is in every horoscope
and we all have the free will to either drown in his intensity, or utilize his energy
to free ourselves.

Ketu as a headless creature is dissatisfied and disenchanted by what it comes into

contact with in the horoscope. He represents the no-mind and introspective
approach to life. He internalizes the energy of the planets he conjuncts and the
area of life he influences in the horoscope. Ketu represents territories we have
conquered and mastered in past lives and are detaching from in this life. Until
ketu is totally purified, we may reject that area but still deep down
simultaneously crave it, just as with Rahu we may be drawn to something but
deep down be critical of it. There will be a feeling of being used up in the areas
that Ketu contacts, or we may have an eccentric approach that does not fit social
norms and boundaries. Ketu paints a very idealistic picture in search for the
impossible and is obsessed with revealing all that is fake and imperfect. He is
impractical and perceives life through very subtle and narrow confines, creating
geniuses, revolutionaries and spiritual masters but also conspiracy theorists and
neighborhood critics. Ketu’s negation needs to be channeled into the divine and
not simply into embitterment with the world in order to reveal its higher gifts,
otherwise he may end up neglecting his worldly duties and causing suffering.
Non-conformists, anarchists, loners, psychics, yogis, hermits and of course
astrologers all have a strongly placed Ketu in their birth chart.

Rahu pursues life with such intensity that it can give sudden inspiration and and
phenomenal success, but unless the experience is spiritually integrated the
success will not have the proper foundation to sustain itself, nor bring lasting
peace. Ketu has reserves of knowledge and skills developed in past lives and when
working from its higher principles can give penetrating insight into the area of
the horoscope that it is influencing, as well as liberation from the cycle of birth
and death. Both Rahu and Ketu are “out of the box” thinkers and revolutionaries
with an innate dislike for authority and convention. When working through their
higher principles they have the potential to bring about revolutions and
meaningful change in society.

Rahu and Ketu whip up our life and toss us back and forth creating confusion but
their ultimate goal is to help us integrate the polarities of the physical world with
the metaphysical world. They are the main representatives of the duality we all
engage in as spiritual beings temporarily residing in the physical plane.

1/7 Axis: In the first house Rahu will obsess and fear losing our self identity to the
partner and Ketu in seven will be highly idealistic, seeking only perfect partners.
In reverse, Ketu in the first will negate the self and Rahu in seven will become
compulsive about needing to lose itself in relationships. Harmonizing our needs
with those of our partner will bring this axis into balance.

2/8 Axis:. Rahu in the second house can become attached and fearful of not
having our tangible needs met and Ketu in the eighth will reject the deeper
intangible mysteries of life. In reverse, Ketu in the second will shun its material
responsibilities and Rahu in the eighth will become fixated with exploring life on
the deepest emotional and intangible level. In the second and eighth house we
have to balance our tangible and intangible resources and needs to grow and
evolve.

3/9 Axis: Rahu in the third will have an insatiable appetite for acquiring skills
and information and Ketu in the ninth will reject higher philosophical teachings.
In addition, Rahu in the third will rely on its own skills and knowledge to achieve
its goals and Ketu will reject the spiritual path. In reverse, Rahu will be consumed
with god, religion, and spiritual matters in the ninth house and Ketu will reject
practical efforts required to achieve the goals. In the third and ninth house axis
we are learning to balance the lower concrete mind with the higher perceptive
mind and self effort with God’s grace.

4/10 Axis:Rahu in the fourth house will be overwhelmed by its feelings, instincts,
intuition, home and emotions and Ketu in the tenth will be afraid to carry out its
responsibilities and express its full potential in the outer world (especially
career). In reverse, Rahu in the tenth will become very ambitious in seeking
power and status, and Ketu in fourth will sacrifice the inner alter, home and
emotional life. In the fourth and tenth house axis the polarities of our masculine
and feminine natures collide and we are learning to harmonize our inner and
outer life.
5/11 Axis: Rahu in the fifth house will be bent upon leaving its distinct mark in
the world, often giving very fertile and creative talents and Ketu in the eleventh
will resist loosing its identity to the greater whole. In reverse, Rahu in eleven will
become infatuated with name, fame, material gains or sacrifice for the greater
good and Ketu in the fifth house will reject the development of our unique
individuality and creativity. In the fifth and eleventh axis we are learning to
balance our unique individuality with that of our place in the larger community.

6/12 Axis: Rahu in the sixth can become obsessive compulsive, competitive in
seeking order and discipline just as Ketu in the twelfth rejects surrendering or
letting things follow their own course. In reverse, Ketu in the sixth will be critical
of having to follow routines, regulations and traditional work ethic and Rahu can
lose itself to the pursuit of other worldly mystical experiences or escape from real
life responsibilities. Harmonizing the need for discipline and order with
surrendering and letting go brings this axis into balance.

The famous line from Hamlet “The

lady doth protest too much, methinks”, reminds me of Rahu and Ketu. If you are
protesting too much about an aspect of life, or ignoring and rejecting one area of
life over another and not finding a peaceful resolution you probably have some
work to do on your Rahu Ketu axis. The nodes are trying to take us to the
understanding that ultimately both ends of the spectrum are the same and
harmony is achieved when you are able to give something to the opposite party.
Let us work towards bringing the polarities within us together consciously rather
than allowing ourselves to be pulled apart by them.
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March 28, 2011 at 4:31 pm

I love the Phantom doll! I really appreciate the article since I am in Ketu right
now. I have to go home and check on which house it is in. It makes much more
sense than just doing more on Saturday to make appeasements with the planet.
Thanks for helping me understand them both, Rahu and Ketu better.
Reply

1. shannon mckeown says:

March 28, 2011 at 5:45 pm
“When all longings cease and everything is embraced as an aspect of the divine,
the journey is complete, and the soul merges back into its source.” In this
paragraph where you discuss the central principle…. it differs slightly from my
belief system. Does that make any difference in the result of my journey? For
instance: within my belief system, “I am God” created in Its image….. thus I am
NOT separate from my Source, not needing to merge back to It, but ideally
bringing forth in transformation the Divine aspects of that “I AM consciousness.”

“Their formless influences are harder to grasp and are usually the most
entrenched aspects of our personality and psyche, as well as the most resistant to
change, especially when afflicted in the birth chart.” What is an affliction?

“Non-conformists, anarchists, loners, psychics, yogis, hermits and of course

astrologers all have a strongly placed Ketu in their birth chart.” When you
discussed at your lecture the six axis aspects you used words like (easy, most
often seen, most difficult) but you didn’t use the word strongly placed. What is a
strongly placed Ketu?

“Rahu in the second house can become attached and fearful of not having our
tangible needs met and Ketu in the eighth will reject the deeper intangible
mysteries of life. In the second and eighth house we have to balance our tangible
and intangible resources and needs to grow and evolve.” I know what the word
intangible means, but maybe not in the context of astrology……. “intangible
mysteries and
intangible resources.” What do you mean by this? I did some research to find that
Mars and Saturn are considered malefic (misfortune) heavenly bodies. I have
Mars in the second house with Rahu and Saturn along with Venus and Ketu in
my eighth house. What does it mean to my journey to have the two malefic bodies
along with the two ghost bodies together in the 2/8 axis?
This is the second lecture of yours I’ve attended and I thoroughly enjoy your
engagements. I look forward to attending your future lectures and plan on
making an appointment with you as soon as I find employment. I have a strong
resonance with the number “11″ and I feel alot of movement in my energy
body…… just want to touch base with you and maybe find out more from you
with regards to that and a relationship that maybe going to the next level.

Blessing Renu,
Shannon
Reply

o Renu says:
March 30, 2011 at 2:22 am
Hi Shannon,

There is only difference of symantics in the two beliefs – “bringing forth the
transformation to know your own divinity” requires seeing everything as an
aspect of the divine, which means surrendering our longings for things to be a
certain way.

An affliction is an astrological term for “difficult” astrological influences on the

planet. Strongly placed is also astrological lingo – it means a well placed planet
that is having a signficant influence on the horoscope. You have to be a trained
astrologer to figure out if the planet is afflicted (and how much, what will be the
result etc.) and if it is strongly placed. The audiece on Friday included both
astrologers and lay persons (as does my reading audience).

Mars and Saturn will add difficulty along the rahu ketu axis, in the area of second
house (tangible support ie. money) and with the intangible resources (ie.
emotional support). Venus will try and make it easier.

Blessings,

Renu
Reply
 2. Jeff Patterson says:
March 29, 2011 at 3:33 am
Renu, I love your articles. You’re a beautiful writer -and they are all so
interesting. Please keep them coming!
Reply

3. Gabriela says:
March 29, 2011 at 9:05 pm
Thank you for this really great article, Renu! This piece is especially timely for me
because I will be entering Sa-Ke soon, and Ketu is in the 8th House of my
relationship chart. My partner and I are trying to go into this with our eyes open.
Your article provides a lot of perspective!
Reply