Ketu is the south lunar node, the second of the two shadow planets (chhaya graha) in Vedic astrology, and the karaka of detachment, spiritual insight, past skills and sudden cuts. It sits exactly opposite Rahu, always moves backwards at about 18 months per sign, owns no sign in BPHS, and rules a 7-year mahadasha that opens the Vimshottari sequence.
Where Rahu is the point at which the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic going north, Ketu is the southward crossing. The word ketu also means a banner or a comet, a sign in the sky, and older texts used it for comets and flags as well as for the node.
The headless body
In the Svarbhanu story, told on the Rahu page, Vishnu's discus separates the asura's head from his body after he has tasted the nectar. The head becomes Rahu; the body becomes Ketu. The images matter. Rahu is a head with endless appetite. Ketu is a body without a head: it acts, it knows by instinct, but it does not ask for more.
That is why Ketu is read as the planet of letting go. Whatever house it occupies is often an area where the person has natural, almost inherited skill, yet feels curiously unattached to the results. Some traditions describe this as ability carried over from past lives; others simply read it as talent that comes without effort and therefore without much hunger.
What Ketu signifies
- Detachment and renunciation, the inclination to step back from worldly pursuits.
- Spiritual insight and moksha. Ketu is widely called the moksha karaka.
- Intuition, sudden knowing and subtle research.
- Skills that seem to come ready-made, as if already learned.
- Sudden cuts, separations and endings that clear the way for something new.
- In the family, common karaka lists give Ketu the maternal grandfather.
BPHS describes Ketu as acting like Mars, sharp, quick and decisive, while Rahu acts like Saturn. Like Rahu, Ketu is also said to give the results of the lord of the sign it occupies and of any planets joined with it, so a reading of Ketu starts with its dispositor.
Where the schools differ
As with Rahu, authorities disagree on almost every "dignity" question for Ketu. It is simpler to state the positions openly.
- Exaltation: many texts place it in Scorpio, others in Sagittarius.
- Debilitation: usually the sign opposite whichever exaltation is used, so Taurus or Gemini.
- Rulership: BPHS gives Ketu no sign; some authors make it co-ruler of Scorpio alongside Mars.
- Aspects: some give Ketu the 5th, 7th and 9th aspects; others only the 7th; many astrologers do not use a Ketu aspect at all, since it has no head to look with.
- Node calculation: mean node or true node, depending on the software, which can move Ketu's degree slightly.
These are differences of lineage, not errors. What matters is that a reading is consistent about the convention it follows.
Ketu's nakshatras and gandanta
Ketu rules Ashwini, Magha and Mula. Each is the first nakshatra of a fire sign (Aries, Leo and Sagittarius), just after a water sign ends. Those junctions are called gandanta, and tradition treats them as sensitive points of transition. That fits Ketu well: it is the planet of endings that turn into beginnings. Being born in these nakshatras is common and is not a misfortune; it is one factor among many.
Ketu mahadasha: 7 years
The Ketu mahadasha lasts seven years. In the Vimshottari sequence it follows Mercury and precedes Venus, and because Ashwini is the first nakshatra, Ketu is also the first dasha in the cycle. People born with the Moon in Ashwini, Magha or Mula start life in a Ketu period.
A Ketu dasha often turns attention inward. Common themes are loss of interest in old goals, sudden changes or separations, an interest in spirituality, study of subtle subjects, and a simplifying of life. After the restless Rahu-like wanting of other periods, Ketu tends to ask "what do I actually need?" Its results depend on the house it occupies, the sign lord, and the planets that join or aspect it. Ketu in the 3rd, 6th or 11th is widely considered helpful; in the 12th, tradition links it with liberation and spiritual life.
Ketu's transit
Ketu moves backwards through the zodiac with Rahu, about 18 months per sign and roughly 18.6 years for the full round, always in the sign opposite Rahu. Its transit over the natal Moon or lagna is commonly read as a phase of detachment or re-evaluation. Classical gochar rules generally count the nodes' transits through the 3rd, 6th and 11th from the Moon as the favourable ones.
Ketu in the houses, briefly
- 1st: an unusual, inward or quietly intense personality.
- 4th: some distance from home or from settled comfort.
- 7th: a partner who is unconventional or spiritual, or a detached style in relationships.
- 10th: good at the work, less attached to recognition for it.
- 12th: the traditional seat of moksha; drawn to retreat, meditation and service.
Ketu makes sense only when read with Rahu, its opposite end, with the running dasha, and with Mars, whose nature it is said to share. One placement never decides a chart; the whole kundli is read together. To see where your Ketu sits, make a free kundli, or return to the grahas index.