I see people shivering or downright stunned when they hear about transits of Rahu-Ketu. The serpentine shadow planets have caused enough mayhem by their names alone in India. Ask any person who is scared of their birth chart and they will almost always talk about Rahu and Ketu, with the exception of Saturn.
However, Rahu and Ketu remain misunderstood. Just like true shadows, they always remain hidden. Their true nature, thus, is hidden as well. It is not easy to figure these two out, but I often wonder if they enjoy being shrouded in mystery. The nature of Rahu and Ketu is such that seeing them with the average eye will always result in a skewed perception.
Rahu and Ketu- the mythology behind it all
Rahu and Ketu are two halves of the same equation, two faces of the same coin. The mythology of Rahu and Ketu is rooted in the Samudra Manthan that occurred eons ago. This churning of the ocean happened after a long fight between the devs and the asurs over amrit. It was found that Amrit or the nectar of immortality is hidden deep within the ocean. Getting it would be impossible.
So after a series of events, the devs and asurs decide that they will churn the ocean together. Shri Hari Vishnu‘s Kacchap (tortoise) avatar became the base upon which Mandrachal or Mandar Mountain was to be placed. This mountain was to be rolled like an old school milk churner using a divine serpent. Some call it Vasuki nag, some others call it by other names. The devs were placed on the tail end, while the asurs were placed on the head end, where the serpent, like a dragon, breaths fire.
On this divine background of a tug-of-war played between the devs and asurs, the ocean was slowly churned. A number of beautiful and horrifying things slowly started coming out of the ocean. This included halahal, a potent poison that threatened eternity. It was drunk by Mahadev Shiv. Several other items emerged- like Bhagwan Dhanvantari and his knowledge of Ayruveda, Ucchayshrava- the divine horse, and the beautiful, divine Laxmi who accepted Shri Hari Vishnu as her husband.
(There is a lot of symbolic knowledge hidden in these stories. Let me know if you want me to talk about them as well)
After tremendous effort, Amrit finally emerged in a pot. This Amrit was to be divided among Devs and Asurs and grant them immortality. But here, Shri Hari Vishnu, took on the form of Mohini- a celestial nymph. Her alluring form and beauty mesmerized everyone at once. She took hold of the pot of amrit and suggested that she would equally distribute it among the Devs and Asurs.
Seeing a beautiful third party offer their help to end the quarrel, both parties agreed. But this is where the Mohini Maya of Vishnu, gave amrit to the devs and supplied plain water to the asurs. Nobody could see through her deceit, except for Swarbhanu.
Swarbhanu was a powerful asur who had exceptionally mayavi ability. This means that he could create illusions and shape shift at will. He was also extremely intelligent, a trait that is not found very commonly with the simple-minded asurs. His intelligence and keen eye made his realize what Vishnu was doing through Mohini. This is where he made an important decision.
Instead of creating a scene, Swarbhanu- the famed son of Simhika, took on the form of a Dev himself and very quietly sat in the Dev queue to get Amrit for himself. He successfully did that too. But this is when Vishnu realized his true form and quickly brought on his chakra to behead Swarbhanu.
However, as he has already had amrit, Swarbhanu was now immortal and both parts of his body lived on separately as two separate, but deeply connected entities. They were later appointed as planets or grahas and continue to haunt the dream of innocent and simple-minded folks who do not understand the true beauty and intellect of Swarbhanu.
Rahu Ketu in astrology and in the sky
Even though Rahu and Ketu are regarded as planets in the vedic astrological system, they are not so. Rahu and Ketu are not entities in the sky. They do not have mass and they do not have any gravity of their own. Instead, Rahu and Ketu are astronomical points connected to the Moon and its orbit around the Earth, correlated with that of the Sun.
This orbit is not perfect at all angles and hence, we get two distinctive ‘points’ of eclipse, one ascending and one descending. The ascending point is called Rahu or North Node of the Moon or the Dragon’s head. The descending point is called Ketu or South Node of the Moon or Dragon’s tail.
A solar eclipse will happen only on new moon and a lunar eclipse will happen only on a full moon. This is why you will see how these two create two opposing polarities, which is reflected in the position of Rahu and Ketu in a birth chart. They are always at opposing ends, 180 degree or 7 signs apart, always slashing a chart into two equal halves.
In astrology, Rahu represents an obsessive, often delusional part of our psyche while Ketu represents the detached, disengaged part of our psyche. We live our lives struggling between the two.
Rahu will make you run after things, while Ketu will make you run away from things.
We will go into their specific natures in a separate article. For now, we must keep in mind that Rahu is obsessively engaged while Ketu is dispassionately disengaged.
Rahu and Ketu remain in one sign for 18 months and take 18 years to complete one cycle around the zodiac. These two will always be 180 degree apart and always going in retrograde motion. Moreover, these two have a unique ability to adapt to the qualities of whatever sign they are occupying. This ability is more pronounced with Rahu, with his illusions and delusions. Ketu will seek to pull back and look within.
A new 18-Year Cycle Begins
Do you remember what happened 18 years ago? Well YouTube was born and shortly after, the world of fiances came crashing down. Furthermore, there was a state of confusion for a while till a new crop of extremely rich, powerful and elite people emerged. New technological advancements happened and people got more access to things. Like earlier, you could only get famous and be on a video if you were an actor and that was difficult. But with YouTube, you could literally record videos and share them with the world.
That’s not all. Big companies that allowed people to get access to technology and to speak their minds also started or gained fame between 2004 and 2006, a time when Rahu and Ketu were making their Pisces-Ketu transits. This includes Facebook as well as Twitter. So we started living in a completely different world. A world where everyone could be connected to everyone.
Not only this, technology access became more commonplace to everyone during this entire 18 year cycle. So during the past 18 years, stock market investments, technology, applying filters to your photos, connecting with people via instant messages became very commonplace. I remember back in the day, you could not access information that quickly. People, regular people like us, simply could not do a lot of things quickly and efficiently. Now, well, its all about the click of a button. Just think about it. Your life has really changed considerably, in ways you hadn’t even imagined. Even if you had to learn astrology, you could have never done that without being born in an astrological family or spending years with a guru who may not teach you everything.
But now, here we are. Learning astrology. If Rahu did not work, would we even meet? Would you hear me?
Let’s understand this “people effect” of Rahu a little further. I said that everything was for everyone. In India, an ultra low cost airline called GoAir was founded which tried to make air travel affordable for everyone. I think SpiceJet and a couple of other airlines also did the same and I seriously very distinctly remember how becoming an air hostess was quite a hot job for tall girls.
But that was a different time. When Rahu enters Pisces then it had to share the house with mercury, venus and sun. Ketu shared the house with Jupiter and Moon. Mars was exalted in Capricorn and Saturn was in a communicate and chatty sign of Aquarius. Mercury and Jupiter were both retrograde, You see a lot of miscommunication and you also see how real experts in a field are sidelined for someone who looks cool. So you will not listen to your doctor who is giving you a treatment but you will definitely listen to a “health influencer” who tells you that carbs are killing you, all the while listening to another influencer who is selling you sugar-loaded smoothies and powders for “better health”
This time, things are different.
This time Rahu and Ketu are alone in their respective houses. They do not have any influences as such to begin with. So they can do more of what they please.
Saturn will be in Mooltikona of Aquarius.
Moon will be exalted in Taurus.
Venus will be self-focused in Leo.
Sun, Mars and Mercury will be in Libra, with Sun being debilitated.
Jupiter and Saturn will both be retrograded this time.
Let’s understand what Rahu and Ketu generally do in Pisces and Virgo and add our predictions then.
Rahu in Pisces
When rahu goes to Pisces, it is interacting with a water sign that naturally occupies the 12th house. This sign is ruled by Jupiter. It is the nature of Rahu to start behaving like the owner of any sign’s owner when it occupies the house. So in a way, Rahu will start acting like Jupiter. But it will not give the results of Jupiter. It will only act, as if Jupiter was placed here. Not like the benevolent Jupiter himself. So its basically an artificial Jupiter.
So what does the artificial JUpiter do? Does it tell you to go and look for real gurus? No. It makes you gravitate towards fake gurus. It makes you gravitate towards completely fake and “out there” concepts. Since Pisces is a sign that dissolves a lot of things, people could see a dissolution in their identities. The world will be a huge melting pot of identities and blurring lines.
That;s why I also made a video on how running away from the world will bring you no good. Because Rahu will be like, move away, go, escape. There is a need to disappear. I am not against finding spirituality. Not at all. I am quite spiritual myself. But even spirituality needs a fertile ground to work on. And if you cannot provide that fertile ground, if you are still all about your money, your kids ad all that you will lose your sense of being.
I will tell you what I believe very strongly. I think spirituality and worldliness are not fundamentally opposed to each other. Since you are in this world and since you have a body, you are a worldly being. So you cannot truly escape that worldliness and the vices and karma attached to the body. However, with discipline and time, you can definitely improve the element of spirituality in your life. Everything or many things you do could be spiritual. What you say and do should be spiritual. What you wear doesn’t need to be spiritual. If you want me to talk more on these subjects, let me know. I will make a video on those subjects as well.
So anyway, you basically want to disappear. You want to go off grid. Switch off your phones for a while. Stay off social media for a while. This is not entirely bad because it helps you in getting rid of the information overload. So of course this will happen. You can definitely disengage from the world but don’t use it as a means to escape.;
During this time, you will see a lot of images, messages etc in dreams. Your mind will be more active on a subconscious level and you will feel unexplained attraction to people who are in a particular field but slightly different. People who do not like to follow the “orthodox approach”. Now whether it is an approach for their caste, community, religion, city, state or whatever. Whoever is different and unique catches your attention. And yes, you cannot wake up one day and decide you will be the black sheep. No. Either you are or you are not. If you try to be this unique snowflake, you can succeed for a couple days but it is not possible to keep up with Rahu. So you wither away.
Of course, people who have a very positive and powerful Rahu personality will just bloom in this period. They will be like, I am a butterfly who has finally spread its wings. BTW if you want to check the symbolisms associated with butterflies, go to my second channel Bhagyashree Holistic Lifestyle.
People with a negative Rahu, will start propagating their false ideals. They will be like God I am done with this world so let’s just remove all boundaries and let’s just let loose. So fake gurus are going to rise. Lots of them. They will propagate their own styles, their own way of living. But remember, when a guru is fake, you will see complete narcissism in them. Like there is real, total, complete narcissism. It’s all about them. They don’t discuss ideas, they sell themselves. They want big posters, celebrity photos and videos.
Since it is Pisces, the real guru could be hiding somewhere. Just like Zuckerberg came to Neem Karoli babaji. For the world, baba ji was hidden. In Zuckerberg’s connected world, there was no guru like Neem Karoli Maharaj. But he met him in hiding. Same with Steve Jobs. So gurus are hidden. You never know if your guru is hiding in plain sight, being the very epitome of spirituality and buying vegetables with you from the same place like an average, normal householder. They will talk like you, live like you and you will never know about their spiritual distinguished characteristics. I always tell you I don’t believe in “looking spiritual”. I am not interested in wearing big teekas, malas and dreadlocks and speaking in a particular fake tone and weird cryptic language. A lot of people do this for effect because lagna chahiye na jyotishi jaisa. Nothing against them. But I don’t believe in it. Exactly the same feeling could be shared by lots of spiritual people who are out there but not willing to show themselves as such. Earn worldwide fame and stuff.
This Rahu can also make people travel to foreign places, specially to go on teerths and to meet gurus. But at the same time, it could also increase addictions, especially alcohol. If you have Moon in Pisces, you be especially careful during this time about overdoing alcohol and alcohol related damage.
Finally, do not rush to make spiritual progress. No progress in any field can be made without discipline. You have to train your mind, body and soul to attain any kind of progress. Even if you are mega talented, you will need to discipline yourself and hone your skills to be able to make any real difference in the world.
Ketu in Virgo
This is actually a fantastic placement for people who want to work on long term diseases or on lifestyle diseases. Because Ketu really detaches you from whatever sign it sits in. So there will be diseases that could thankfully come to an end. I will not be surprised if we find cures for some deadly diseases really soon and make great medical progress.
At the same time, you will also make major lifestyle decisions. There are people who get great results from Ketu. These people will actually be able to move away from their old belief systems, they will make completely different lifestyle choices and they will not even remotely hesitate in breaking away from things that really harm them. So for them, it will be truly amazing.
Some people will also have to move their house. They will either do this because they have to move to a different place or maybe something happens. But there will be some displacement for sure. At the same time, a large number of people, on a huge scale, will be inclined towards helping others. They would want to do something for people. There could be breakthroughs in agriculture as well. How to make people’s lives better. That’s important. In fact, a lot of people will look into holistic healing to get rid of their spiritual illnesses.
There will be a deep interest in spiritual learning and teachings. A lot more people would want to learn spiritual things and lets say astrology. But since it is Ketu which is kind of disengaged, they just want to learn on the surface. It’s like Babaji is looking cool, background is cool, surroundings are cool. He is saying things that I like to hear. So yeah! Let’s listen to him. There is no in depth interest in learning, neither within your baba nor you.
You may even lose interest in enemies. You are like who is the enemy, what rival, what competition. I don’t know if I care. It will be difficult to engage you in conflict, but if you are engaged, you would want to completely obliterate the enemy.
Overall world trends
The world is going to go back towards its roots. Instead of everything for everybody, we would want to do some things for some people.
Instead of connecting everyone, we would want to connect only with those who really share a bond.
Since the Moon will be exalted in the beginning of this transit, you will notice that you will have very tightly held beliefs about things- whether right or wrong. So of course, there will be more conflicts about ideas. And at the same time, more boundaries will be broken, more orthodox policies will come to an end.
We are certainly making great discoveries in the medical field, We are certainly making great advances in agriculture, especially after facing a crisis. There could be large scale displacement of people. More people will move to more places and their socio-cultural identities will be dissolved. And with this amalgamation, a new something will be born.
Like Samosa. Samosas are not of Indian origin and it is said that they originally had meat fillings. But later Indians added potatoes to them. Interestingly, potatoes themselves are not Indian and came to us 150-200 years ago with the portuguese. And the tomato chutney or ketchup you use with it was also introduced barely 150 years ago. However, the second imli chutney is totally Indian. So even with this amalgamation, when we talk about the best friend of Indian tea, we talk about the Samoas. Well, even tea is not a native Indian plant. But… whether it is chilli or potatoes, we have accepted them and innovated with them, making them amazing and unique. That’s what we are looking at.
Now since this transit is 18 months long, it will dictate the entirety of 2024 and some part of 2025 as well. So you better stay prepared. Rahu will also meet Saturn while moving away from pisces which will lead to quite an extraordinary event. But we will talk about it when it happens.
For now, you should be ready to experience a brand new world. Things will change.
To see how they do, just check how your social media feed changes. What kind of narratives the large scale media and ads take up and how you start feeling like you don’t need the world, you just need your own spiritual growth.