Malefic by nature, though its effect follows its dispositor, its house and its company; it is read as a benefic in a few placements (the 3rd, 6th and 11th especially).
Reading
Rahu is a chaya graha, a shadow-graha: it has no body, no sign of its own and no phase. Its malefic quality is that of hunger and illusion rather than of heat, and the tradition says it behaves like the graha it is conjoined with or the lord of the sign it occupies. It gives sudden rise and sudden loss, foreign things, and the wish for what one does not have.
Rahu is the north lunar node, one of the two chaya grahas, the eclipse-demon of the Purana. It is read as the hunger that drives a life: ambition, foreignness, the appetite for what is forbidden or unknown, and the illusion that what is gained is what was wanted. Its gem is the hessonite (gomed), which is a grossular garnet and is carried here as the family head garnet; its metal is lead.
☥ Deities
Tradition · Vedic
Alternate Names
The North NodeThe Dragon's Head
Gender Expression
Masculine
Titles
The Shadow PlanetThe Dragon's HeadThe Eclipse-Bringer
Rahu is the ascending lunar node, the shadow planet (chhaya graha) of Vedic astrology: the severed head of the asura who drank the amrita and was beheaded by Vishnu. The head and tail, Rahu and Ketu, swallow the sun and moon to cause eclipses. He is invoked for relief from the nodes' effects and for ambition, foreign travel and sudden change.
Modern Practice
Invoked in Jyotish for the nodal periods; his remedies are sesame, iron and mustard oil.