Rahu and Ketu on the Virgo - Pisces Axis

Rahu and Ketu on the Pisces/Virgo Axis

In Western Astrology, Rahu is known as the North Node, and Ketu as the South Node. These are the points at which the Moon crosses the ecliptic of the Sun, the North Node is the point at which the Moon moves in an upward direction passing over the ecliptic, and the South Node is the point at which the Moon moves down across the ecliptic. So, while these Nodes of the Moon are as important as the physical Grahas in Astrology, they are not physically embodied planets. In Vedic Astrology they are known as Shadow planets. Because Rahu and Ketu are not physical planets, we need to look to their dispositors (the planet that rules the sign they are found in) to determine their strengths.

Rahu expands out into the house and sign it’s placed in, as well as attracting to us experiences needed to help us grow out of our comfort zone. Rahu is said to seize our consciousness with powerful desires to experience. It gives an obsessive/compulsive desire to experience the things indicated by his placement by sign, house and aspect. We need this strong desire with Rahu, or we would never have the impulse to grow. Rahu also indicates more worldly, material desires, whereas Ketu is considered to be a detached, spiritual energy, or at least Ketu is leading us toward detachment, even if we don’t consider ourselves spiritually inclined. Before detachment happens, there is usually obsessions related to the Ketu placement, and a hyper focus on that area of life, however satisfaction is always out of reach.

A good analogy for how Rahu behaves in terms of human behaviour, is like that of a drunk person. In Rahu areas of life, we feel unsteady on our feet, we can’t think properly or logically, we zig and zag, and we fall quite often. With Rahu we are learning through trial and error. We cannot help but to make mistakes. There is no getting around it, we will fall flat on our faces repeatedly as we learn to work with our Rahu area of life.

With Ketu, we put an excessive amount of attention on this part of life, and it sucks us in like a black hole and this can delay our expansion. But we can’t get satisfaction from that area of life, it will leave us wanting the more we try to make it satisfy us. The problem is that we want to rely too heavily on the skills learned where Ketu is, but we need to move toward Rahu and grow in that direction. We have already spent much time in past lives focusing on the area that Ketu represents, and we will be pushed away from Ketu through a lack of satisfaction the more we try to make it satisfy us, and we will be pulled toward the Rahu area of life, even though it’s not an area we’re comfortable with.

Ketu in Pisces

Ketu in Pisces will show a person who put a lot of attention toward spirituality, meditation, expanding the consciousness beyond the mind, and possibly focusing on surrender of the ego to a Higher Power. With this placement, there is a powerful ability to attain Enlightenment. These people do well in seclusion, are good at profound contemplation of the greater mysteries of life. They can be psychic and intuitive and also get pertinent information through dreams.

Pisces also deals with escapist tendencies of an unhealthy nature, like drug addiction, sex addiction, fantasy and anything that pulls you away from the physical, material world and routine, the necessary daily routines and activities. Pisces is expansive and boundary-less. With Ketu in Pisces, the person will have a hard time defining boundaries or maintaining healthy boundaries in their life, especially in the area of life described by the house it’s situated in. They will prefer to float away in dreams and project into the future, creating their world oftentimes in the mind, but not taking the practical steps to achieve those dreams.

If Ketu or its dispositor is not healthy, these people can go into debt in erratic ways, or they may want to live off others rather than working consistently for themselves, and they can be irregular with spiritual practices. They could be spiritually hypocritical and may have a holier than thou attitude toward others. They might look the part of a deeply devoted aspirant, but in reality, they could be hiding an erratic or ungrounded spiritual experience.

Rahu in Virgo

With Rahu in Virgo, we need to learn to not try to escape the world, but to go through the tedious issues of the world. These people will hopefully learn throughout their life that they are a spiritual being in the world, that they have a role to play in the world. They can’t escape by pushing it all away, they will have to go through the aspects of daily life that they would rather ignore or resist. Ideally, they learn detachment and surrender while also dealing with the practical things of life.

With Rahu in Virgo, the person will have to develop themselves by suffering through mental stagnation, restlessness and mental insecurities. They will experience irritations, frustrations and issues with an imbalanced temper. This sign also relates to the capacity to digest, assimilate and nourish themselves and others. The Sixth sign deals with service, and people with Rahu in Virgo will want to be of service, but they need to learn balance in this service so as to not over-give to others and then have no energy left to nourish themselves. They will naturally be able to take the authority or command of others, but they are learning to be self-directed and use their will power to decide for themselves what direction is right for them.

Rahu in Virgo indicates the work that must be done in order to move on to the next stage of development. The types of work that must be done here are practical, mundane tasks, and often they aren’t experienced as fulfilling, but rather boring and uninspiring, but they are necessary none the less, and so this placement must simply do what needs doing, without the need for fulfilment from the action. If we don’t complete these duties, we can’t move on to the next stage of completion. All the work will build up and become overwhelming, making the unresolved issues worse.

Rahu in Virgo, if good, the person can be courageous and determined. They can overcome their diseases and competitors or enemies in a clever way. They can find the resources to make things work or make things happen. They can have alternative healing skills. If negative, the person can be combative. They can be prone to smoking, drinking and drug problems, which would be taken up to relieve stress that they feel in the body. They can have digestive sensitivity, allergies, and are prone to inflammation.

Ketu in Virgo

People with Ketu in Virgo will be very focused and intense in the things they are interested in. They will be over controlling about the things they feel responsible for. They are quite fixated on being able to give the best service to others and they feel a duty to give of themselves in this way to a very high standard, as you may expect from the perfectionistic sign of Virgo. They are also fixated on themselves, they want to make sure they have enough time to rest and digest and assimilate everything from the day, so that they are able to perform their best again the next day. Ketu in Virgo people are often the person everyone goes to them for help, because they know they will do a good job and are reliable. They can accomplish what others can’t or at least would have greater difficulty in accomplishing. Ketu in Virgo people don’t miss any details, so they do things correctly the first time, because they don’t miss details.

But Ketu in Virgo people need to learn to surrender to something beyond their ego or personal self. They must let go of needing to be the best at everything and wanting to control everything. This will give a deep frustration with life, because they are always trying to be perfect in everything they do, and this gets very frustrating, as the more they try to force things to work the way they think they should, through a forceful effort, it doesn’t work the way it is supposed to. This causes stress and exhaustion. They are being directed away from this obsessive and perfectionistic sort of behaviour and toward surrender and letting go of the results of one’s actions.

Rahu in Pisces

With Rahu in Pisces, the person is learning to surrender control and to let go of the mental attachment to getting the results they desire, due to the Ketu in Virgo position. With this placement, the person is learning to work or do what we do, but to let go of attachment to the outcome of the actions and practical steps one takes. Life can be messy and not under one’s control at all times, and this is part of surrender to a higher order.

The person with Rahu in Pisces may also be directed to develop through spiritual practice and bettering one’s self at the deepest level, the soul level. Pisces is the final stage of development, where all the signs integrate (ideally), and it goes beyond any particular characteristic that is part of the human expression. We are reaching beyond our humanness here, and into the expansive, boundless Sentience that we are without form. Rahu in Pisces is learning how to let go of that which they cannot control. They are learning how to be the humble spiritual aspirant who are entitled to their actions only, and not the results of their actions. This will create surrender of the ego. They are trying to find peace within themselves so they can begin to have a taste of Enlightenment, or the Peace which passes understanding.

Written by: Jehan LaFerriere

References:

Ashville Vedic Astrology Teachable Course on Rahu and Ketu

Ernst Wilhelm YouTube videos on Rahu and Ketu in the houses

Michael Reed YouTube videos on Rahu and Ketu in Pisces and Virgo