Last Updated on September 26, 2023 by astrologerbydefault

Ketu is the other half of the Lunar node axis. Rahu is the energy of desire for experience and Ketu is the energy of apathy to experience. Rahu- Ketu are thus very important and should be analysed carefully to get an insight into the deepest motivations of an individual. They tell you where the subconscious is directed, the flow of Experience. You can get a sense of the karmic connection between two people if their charts have some similarity in their Rahu and Ketu placement patterns.

Relationships defined by Rahu are are forward-oriented and focussed on growth potential, an opportunity to grow and accomplish some work together which perhaps either could not complete alone in this life. But relationships defined by Ketu ‘look backwards’.  These represent the experiences you have already have completed to your fill in your past lives. Ketu will diminish the things he controls in material life and give his gains on the spiritual front. And most of us are quite unaware of the spiritual. So Ketu’s gifts are neither registered nor are welcome. These learnings and the wisdom from these experiences exist with you but you are unaware, apathetic. The experiences will be the keywords related to the house Ketu is placed in, the sign/its owner planet and the planets he is conjunct/aspected by.

Pull out your chart for this mini exercise. And of someone with whom you this curious feeling of ‘push-away on the material’ but a ‘pull-towards on the subconscious’ levels. Your brother/sister, parent, husband/wife, child, best friend or even your worst enemy! This is how you go about it, e.g.

• If your Ketu is in your 11th house and your friend’s Jupiter is his 11th house, the house matters will usually not be in the focus in your material relationship together. You will feel very relaxed about this house matters, as you both will have a deep understanding regarding the matters of this house together. Your relationship will be based on the deeper patterns linked to this house.
• You can check out the signs too, if your Ketu is in Virgo and his Mercury is in Virgo, both will never suffer from Virgo-related matters. Both of you will have a deep link related to the patterns/understanding of Virgo-matters. e.g. both of you might be in the service sector, or methodical, which will be your common link. But this effect will be less intense as compared to the houses as above.
• The matters of the other planet will be understood subconsciously in the relationship together. Now this subconscious understanding of patterns may soothe or agitate depending on the malefic/benefic placement of Ketu. But in all cases it will be of benefit on the spiritual levels and loss on the material levels.
• The person whose Ketu involved benefits from the planet of the other. This other planet provides the direction. And Ketu provides his energy of dissociation. Thus both move forward in the spiritual direction.

Ketu – Sun

This combination can lead to dominance of the Sun-person over the Ketu-person, so there might be initial ego-clashes. Ketu – Sun, just like Rahu-Sun, is a deeply felt soul connection. This energy if channelised well, can lead to growth in spirituality and understanding of the deeper concepts of ‘ego’, ‘self’, ‘creation’, etc. Sun is the agent of the individual soul, he hides the Universal Soul/Paramatma by his brilliant light. When Ketu obscures the individual soul, the immensity of the Universe can be viewed. Both friends, when together, will seem to radiate the Sun’s energy less and internalise it more. So this not good in the material context but can remind both of their achievements in the past lives in this context. Is is possible that the Sun-person was a Teacher or a paternal figure to the Ketu-person in some past life.

 Ketu – Moon

This diminishes the outwardly felt emotional connection with time. Both might start off feeling quite in-love with each other. Both might feel a sense of emotional security with each other initially, but this would be more ‘liberating’ not ‘clingy’ or ‘needy’. This connect would be good on the spiritual levels but not from a material or emotional levels. There may be some common subconscious experiences that they both might see. They might remember their common past lives. Over time their emotional link to each other will diminish and be replaced by a barely felt sense of ‘comfort’, ‘easiness’, ‘contentment’. But because it is Ketu, this may be barely perceptible. But if there is a possibility of spiritual growth this can work. Is is possible that the Moon-person was a maternal figure to the Ketu-person in some past life.

Ketu – Mars

This combination can work as this reduces the arguments and tensions between the two persons. The two have already worked out their disagreements in the past lives. There will be a few intense arguments in the initial phases, which in time will diminish rapidly. However with time, this particular relationship may give the Mars-person a vague sense of suffocation as his Mars energies will be internalised. This connection works better in professional relationships. It is possible that the two were linked by war, arms, or were soldiers in some past life together.

Ketu – Mercury

This connect adds depth to the expressions of a relationship. Problems can arise if the Mercury-person is too changeable and superficial and the Ketu-person is too hazy and detached. On the positive side this can initially start with good communication and common interest activities, but it can descend into plain-ness quite soon. This is not good for material or long term personal relationships. But Mercury as the owner of Gemini and Virgo is intricately linked to the creation and understanding of karma. This connect can grant learnings on the esoteric levels if both are aware of what options they have and choose well. It is possible that the two were sister/brother in some past life.

Ketu – Jupiter

The Ketu-person contributes spiritual detachment and the Jupiter person grants the understanding of this. This is a good spiritually positive connect which can last a life time. Both of them will initially have a lot of philosophies to discuss and share with each other which over time will reduce but will give a comfortable feeling of bonding. However this is not good for material gains, if this is in a marriage chart, there should be other positive influences to support, hope, higher learning, health of children etc, the material gains of marriage. It is possible that the Jupiter-person was a husband/wife, peer/patron or teacher of the Ketu-person in some past life.

Ketu – Venus

Venus is not just the ‘planet of love’, this is his lower energy form. He is in reality Daityaguru Shukracharya, with all the knowledge and seriousness that goes with it. The strictest Teacher of the most difficult students. And Rahu/ Ketu (Svarbhanu) is a Daitya. So Shukracharya is Rahu/Ketu’s Guru! There will always be an undercurrent of teaching and learning in this relationship. This is a very important connect which if the two use mindfully, they can achieve significant progress on the spiritual levels. This connection will start with mutual attraction but ultimately will be a platonic, spiritual one. This connect is not good for a material long term relationship. Ketu is disconnected, headless so can experience on the non-conscious levels. If Venus is operating on his highest levels this can be great, but if Venus is on his materialistic lower energy levels then this will cause frustration to both persons. Venus will express his dissatisfaction while the Ketu-Person will be vague and disinterested about it. It is possible that the Venus-person was a husband/wife/lover or teacher of the Ketu-person in some past life.

Ketu – Saturn

This is a serious connection, quite heavy duty karmic bindings from the past lives. Initially this will be a mini-repeat of the past lessons which can be restrictive, constrictive and suffocating, coupled with dissociation. Both will not be sure if they have to be together or separate. It can get unbearable in the initial phases but if the two learn through their experiences it can get better with time. However it is better for professional relationships rather than personal ones. It is possible that the Saturn-person was in a position of authority over the Ketu-person in some past life.

Ketu – Rahu

This in my opinion is the deepest and most ‘karmic’ of all possible Rahu or Ketu linked connections. This is very good for companionship in the real sense and is usually a life-time connect, growing deeper with time. A connect of two opposites who are actually One. This gives each an understanding of the other which can neither be articulated not understood completely, just experienced. There is genuine sympathy, affection and each appreciates the other’s life path intensely. The simplest reason is this, the Ketu-friend knows at the deepest levels what the Rahu-friend is going through at present, and will go through in the future. The Rahu’s present/future is Ketu’s past experience. And vice-versa! Both are astral graha, complete when with each other. Thus the two friends feel the other as the missing-link which completes each at the deepest level. But this will also lead to several misunderstandings on the material levels as they are both motivated and apathetic to exactly opposite things. It will take some time and effort to sort out things, but once they do it will be a very complete experience. (I know a couple of friends, with a Rahu-Ketu linkage in the birth chart and the same combination in their divisional chart-9, navamsha chart also. Unbelievably linked on all levels.)

Ketu – Ketu

This is the same as Rahu-Rahu because if two charts have their Rahu-Rahu together it automatically means that in both Ketu-Ketu also exists. Both persons are very similar in what they have learnt deeply from their past lives. They have gone through the same sort of experiences and internalised the same learnings in the past. Ketu in the same house (or sign) in each’s chart, will ensure that both are disconnected from similar things. Both thus have a non-conscious understanding of each other’s deepest motivations and inclinations. This is a good combination for companionship and friendship.

The finer details will depend a great deal on the house in which this connect occurs. Also keep the social and cultural background in mind. Ketu does not mean that the two will disregard the socio-cultural norms and engage in mindless aberrant behaviour. These are mental and psychological patterns you are analysing.

Synastry, i.e. matching patterns in two charts is done while matching charts for marriages. In the Indian system, matching charts is very detailed and goes into more details than what synastry (in the western context) does. However it is important to remember that on the psychological levels, the woman feels better when she receives and the man feels better when he gives. This keeps both the partners satisfied on the inner levels. So when you are checking the Nodes connection for marriage charts, keep this in mind. e.g. a woman-Ketu and man-Mars would be a much more fulfilling relationship on the psychological levels than a woman-Mars and man-Ketu connect. Or a woman-Sun with man-Ketu is better than the other way round.

Ketu’s experiences are always liberating on the spiritual levels. They will be felt as a loss on the material levels. But remember that whatever Ketu means to you, you have already given it up in your past lives. But not given up in despair! You have transcended that experience, it is a very positive thing in the spiritual context. The current Ketu position in your horoscope is a reflection of this reality. In the present life, Ketu will give at least one intense jolt of separation so that the past life’s subconscious learning gets triggered and is available in this life too. And because it is Ketu, this experience will simply slip away from your consciousness. Try to be conscious of this ‘jolt’, so that you can use its energy more effectively when this happens in your current life.