Rahu (North Node) and Ketu (South Node) are not physical planets — they are the two points where the Moon's orbital path intersects the Sun's apparent path (the ecliptic). Despite having no physical body, they are among the most powerful influences in Jyotish, treated as full planets with their own significations, nakshatras, and 18-year Dasha periods.
They are always exactly 180° apart — whatever sign Rahu occupies, Ketu is in the opposite sign. They move slowly backward through the zodiac, completing a full cycle in approximately 18.6 years.
Rahu represents the direction your soul is moving toward in this lifetime — the experiences, qualities, and worldly engagements you are here to accumulate. Rahu's house and sign show where you will feel an almost compulsive fascination — a hunger that never quite feels satisfied, but which produces tremendous growth through its pursuit.
Rahu amplifies and distorts. It intensifies the significations of whatever planet it conjuncts and whatever house it occupies. Rahu is associated with foreign things, technology, ambition, and the unconventional path.
Ketu represents past-life mastery — the skills, qualities, and experiences your soul has already accumulated. In this lifetime, Ketu's house and sign show where you have deep, often unconscious competence, but also where you may feel disconnected, disinterested, or strangely detached.
Ketu is associated with spirituality, liberation (moksha), psychic ability, and the dissolution of ego. Where Rahu creates attachment, Ketu creates release. Where Rahu says "more," Ketu says "enough."
The houses Rahu and Ketu occupy reveal one of the central themes of your life. Rahu in the 7th house and Ketu in the 1st, for example, suggests a soul moving toward partnership and learning to exist in relationship to others — having perhaps spent previous lifetimes in isolation or self-focused development.
Rahu's Dasha period lasts 18 years and is often a time of intense worldly engagement — ambition, foreign connections, and dramatic change. Ketu's 7-year Dasha tends toward withdrawal, spiritual seeking, and the release of what no longer serves. Both are among the most transformative periods a person can experience.
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