Rahu & Ketu - What Are They ?

Rahu and Ketu are two of the most mysterious and symbolically powerful elements in Vedic (Jyotish) astrology. Unlike the other grahas (planets), they are not physical celestial bodies, but rather mathematical points — yet they can shape profoundly our realisation.

🌑 What Are Rahu and Ketu?

Churning of the Ocean of Milk

🌘 The Myth of Rahu and Ketu – The Churning of the Ocean of Milk

In the age-old times, the Devas (gods) and Asuras (demons) were at war. Weary of endless conflict, they agreed to churn the Kshira Sagara - the Cosmic Ocean of Milk - to obtain Amrita, the nectar of immortality. The churning was a divine endeavor, involving Mount Mandara as the churning rod and the serpent Vasuki as the rope.

After much effort, Dhanvantari, the celestial healer, emerged holding the pot of Amrita. The Devas, fearing the Asuras would misuse it, tried to keep it for themselves.

But one Asura, cunning and ambitious, disguised himself as a Deva and sat in line to drink the nectar. His name was Swarbhanu.

As Swarbhanu brought the nectar to his lips, Surya (the Sun) and Chandra (the Moon) noticed the deceit and alerted Lord Vishnu. In a flash, Vishnu took his discus (Sudarshana Chakra) and beheaded Swarbhanu.

But it was too late - a drop of Amrita had already touched his tongue. Thus, his head became immortal, and so did his body, split in two.

• The head lived on as Rahu - representing illusion, obsession, and insatiable desire.

• The headless body became Ketu - the shadow of detachment, liberation, and spiritual awakening.

Since that moment, Rahu and Ketu harbor eternal enmity toward the Sun and Moon, chasing them across the sky. When they catch them, we see eclipses - Rahu swallowing the Sun or Moon.

Rahu & Ketu Astronomically - The North & South Lunar Nodes

The Moon's orbit intersects the Earth's orbit around the Sun (the ecliptic) at two points, called the lunar nodes: the North and South Lunar Nodes.

When we perform astronomical calculations or create celestial diagrams from Earth’s perspective, we typically position the Earth at the center, because we - as observers - are located on Earth. As a result, we don’t draw the Earth’s orbit directly, but instead depict the Sun’s apparent path around the Earth, which is known as the ecliptic. The ecliptic represents the projection of the Earth’s orbital plane onto the celestial sphere and serves as the reference line for tracking the positions of the Sun, Moon, and planets in the sky.

This is where eclipses happen when Sun and Moon align here.

Geocentric & Heliocentric reference system

• Represent the points where the Moon’s orbit crosses the ecliptic (the Sun’s apparent path)

• Ascending Node = Rahu

• Descending Node = Ketu

• This is where eclipses happen when Sun and Moon align here

Rahu & Ketu - The North & South Lunar Nodes

🌘 How an Eclipse Occurs

An eclipse happens when the Sun, Moon, and Earth align in a straight line - but crucially, this alignment must happen near the lunar nodes, the points where the Moon’s orbit crosses the Earth’s orbit (the ecliptic plane).

Solar & Lunar Eclipse

 Solar Eclipse:

• Occurs during a New Moon.

• The Moon is between the Earth and the Sun.

• The Moon casts a shadow on the Earth, partially or totally blocking the Sun.

• Must happen at or very near the North or South Node.

  
  

Alignment:

Sun - Moon - Earth

 Lunar Eclipse:

• Occurs during a Full Moon.

• The Earth is between the Sun and the Moon.

• The Earth casts its shadow on the Moon, which can turn reddish (a "blood moon").

• Also happens at or near one of the nodes.

  
  

Alignment:

Sun - Earth - Moon

 Symbolic Meaning in Jyotish

Rahu – The Head of the Dragon

• Illusion (Maya)

• Virtual Reality

• Mass media, innovation, latest technology

• Inflation

• Extreme dynamic: sudden rise, sudden drop

• In the chart, Rahu shows the our zone of complexes, the area we try to avoid no matter what, the area where we are scared to go in.

• Rahu is our zone of growth for this incarnation. However, as Rahu is a master of illusion he can drag us into this zone too early. We don't know what to do there and behave there absolutely awkwardly and unnaturaly, thus entering zone of Rahu requires realisation of whole natal chart before that. (with exceptions of course )

• Rahu - zone where we could potentially be the best.

  
  

Purpose - Evolution of Consciousness

Ketu – The Tail of the Dragon

• Detachment, past life mastery

• Moksha, mysticism, renunciation

• Deep spiritual insight, but also apathy

• In the chart, Ketu shows what we’re already familiar with - gifts from the past, karmic inheritance, legacy of the bloodline but also areas of disinterest or detachment.

🌗 Why Rahu and Ketu Move

1. They are always 180° apart (on opposite sides of the zodiac).

2. The Moon’s orbit is tilted (~5°) relative to the Earth's orbit around the Sun.

   • This tilt causes the Moon to intersect the ecliptic at two points: the ascending node (Rahu) and the descending node (Ketu).

3. Due to gravitational influences, especially from the Sun, the Moon’s orbital plane slowly rotates - a phenomenon called precession of the lunar nodes.

4. This precession causes Rahu and Ketu to move backward (retrograde) through the zodiac at an average rate of about 19 months per sign (or about 18.6 years per full cycle).