The story of Rahu and Ketu

Once Durvasa Rishi was offered a garland of divine flowers by an apsara of the forest. When he saw Indra passing by on his elephant Airavat, he gifted the garland to Indra who placed it on the head of his elephant. The strong fragrance of the flowers attracted the bees which disturbed the elephant who removed the garland and threw it on the ground. An enraged Durvasa cursed Indra and all his Gods that they would lose all their strength.

When Asuras led by Bali came to know about this, they fought with Devas and started defeating them. Seeing them on their way to conquer all the three worlds, the Devas rushed to Vishnu to intervene. He proposed an alliance during which they will do a mammoth exercise called Samudra Manthan, for the ultimate prize, Amrit or the nectar of immortality.

The Manthan threw up all kinds of ratnas as well as some toxins which were distributed between the Devas and Asuras. When Dhanvantari emerged with Amrit, the asuras took it away and ran. Vishnu took the form of Mohini and mesmerised the Asuras to surrender the jar of Amrit so that she could distribute it justly. However she began to first give it to the Devas, while keeping the Asuras waiting. One of the Asuras by the name Svarbhanu disguised himself as a deva and drank some of the amrit. The Sun and Moon Gods, however, caught him in the act and informed Vishnu about the deceit. An enraged Vishnu cut off the head of Svarbhanu with his Sudarshan Chakra. The head portion is called ‘Rahu’ and the rest of the body ‘Ketu’. From that day on, Rahu and Ketu were responsible for causing the eclipse of the Sun and Moon and were given the status of planets based on the strong influence they have on humans on earth.

While traveling from South to North, when the Moon crosses the ecliptic, the intersection point is known as Rahu or the Ascending/North node. The point where the Moon crosses the ecliptic while moving from North to South is known as Ketu or the Descending/South node. Hence , logically Rahu and Ketu are always 180 degrees apart from each other. So if you see Rahu in the first house it’s obvious that Ketu would be in the seventh house. 

Given their background, Rahu and Ketu are accorded the status of malefics in Vedic astrology. Their association with the luminaries i.e the Sun and Moon is said to cause much damage. However, much depends on the signs they are placed in. Being shadowy in nature they act like the planet whose house they occupy. 

The nodes look like opposite energies where Rahu creates a pull for the factors it represents in the birth chart whereas Ketu creates detachment from the areas it influences.

Rahu represents Maya (illusion) where it casts influences and Ketu tries hard to liberate one from the material cycles of life. In a chart, Rahu’s placement shows areas of new growth in the present cycle of life (janma). Our capacity to learn is also influenced by Rahu. Ketu, on the other hand, is more resistant to change as it loves to hold on to the past, its comfort zone. It wants to teach the lessons learnt in earlier lives. The way Rahu and Ketu harmonize in the birth chart yields a lot of clues about a native’s life.