Like Rahu, Ketu is not a celestial body but a point where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic.
The ascending point is Rahu, the North Node; the descending point is Ketu, the South Node. Being two intersections of the same orbit, Ketu always sits directly opposite Rahu in your chart, 180 degrees away.
What does Ketu signify in Vedic astrology?
If Rahu is the future, Ketu's nature is the past.
In the traditional imagery Rahu is a head and Ketu is a tail. A god severed the head, and from then on head and tail were separate — so Rahu has a head and no tail, forever consuming and pressing forward, while Ketu has no head at all, only the tail.
With no head there are no eyes, ears, nose or tongue to take in fresh stimulation, and no brain endlessly announcing what it likes and dislikes. So Ketu remains behind, living in the past — it has no wish to move forward.
Why is Ketu exalted in Scorpio and debilitated in Taurus?
Scorpio is dark and secretive. Rahu is frightened by such places; Ketu is at its strongest there — because Ketu signifies the past, and it knows this territory already. It knows the way, and it knows what to do, having been through all of it before. Darkness holds no fear for it.
Taurus is material wealth and enjoyment. Rahu is strongest there; Ketu is weakest — though not from fear but from disinterest.
Ketu's attitude is simply: I have had all this before, it does not impress me, I am not interested. That is the root of Ketu's characteristic detachment.
Ketu's own sign is Scorpio — it is content to remain in that darkness.
Ketu is our spine
If Rahu is our head, then Ketu is our spine.
The comparison is apt, because we take the spine entirely for granted. Unless you meditate, practise yoga or exercise sensibly, you give it no thought at all.
The spine holds your whole body up, and you never consider it. So you hunch as you work, and hunch further, and by old age your back is bent.
That is Ketu's position: always present, always supporting you, always overlooked. The capacities you cultivated in a previous life work the same way — they have been there all along, and you do not think them valuable.
Ketu and the gifts you already have
We arrive here having lost our memory, knowing nothing of our own past. The birth chart offers a way to recover some of it.
Looking at how Rahu and Ketu fall in your chart shows you what you already carry — talents, tendencies, karma, and even the good and difficult inheritance of your ancestors.
Wherever Ketu sits is usually an area you handle with ease and yet feel no enthusiasm for. To Ketu, it is a road already walked.
What you came here to accomplish is read from Rahu instead.
Key facts about Ketu
- Name: Ketu (South Node)
- Nature: not a celestial body, but the descending intersection of the Moon's orbit with the ecliptic
- Signifies: the past, abilities from previous lives, detachment, liberation
- Symbol: the tail — a dragon's tail with no head
- In the body: the spine
- Exalted: Scorpio
- Debilitated: Taurus
- Own sign: Scorpio
- No day of the week is assigned to it
- Always 180 degrees from Rahu