Rahu appears in 3 systems: the same name is used for more than one thing. Both are shown below.
Deities
Rahu
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.
Correspondences
- Planetary Correspondence
- Saturn
Offerings
- Offerings
- Black sesameBlack clothIronMustard oilDurva
Sacred timing
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- The North NodeThe Dragon's Head
- Gender Expression
- Masculine
- Titles
- The Shadow PlanetThe Dragon's HeadThe Eclipse-Bringer
- Symbols
- Dragon headSerpentSmoke
Practice
- Invocation Approach
- ToneCareful appeasementAddressLord RahuThe Dragon's HeadRelationshipShadow that swallows the lightWarningHe amplifies whatever he touchesResonanceThose under the nodes or seeking sudden change
- Modern Practice
Invoked in Jyotish for the nodal periods; his remedies are sesame, iron and mustard oil.
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- EclipseIllusionAmbitionObsessionForeignnessSudden change
- Mythology Summary
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.
Details
- Correspondences
- ColorsBlackSmokeBlueScentsCamphorSandalwoodMetalsLeadIronAnimalsSerpentVulture
Calculated points
Rahu and Ketu are the lunar nodes, not planets; in Vedic astrology they are the eclipse-demons and the karmic axis. Western astrology calls them the North and South Nodes and reads them psychologically.
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- North NodeCaput Draconis
Practice
- Magical Uses
- AmbitionBreaking patternsForeign travelShadow work
Nature and meaning
- Domain
- EclipseObsessionForeignAmbitionSmoke
Details
- Calculation
- The north point where the Moon's orbit crosses the ecliptic; it moves retrograde through the zodiac in about 18.6 years.
- Keywords
- North nodeEclipseHungerForeignKarma
Jyotisha
Rahu is not a planet but a node: it is recorded in points.json as a lunar_node, and this entry does not force a planet id on it (the same convention nakshatras.json uses, where the nodes get ruler_name rather than ruler). It owns no sign, has no weekday in the seven-day week, and is always retrograde; its moolatrikona is undefined. Its exaltation is disputed - BPHS says plainly that on the exaltation of the nodes 'there are different views' - and Taurus (with Gemini as the common variant) is given here for exaltation and Scorpio (with Sagittarius as the variant) for debilitation. BPHS makes it a friend of Jupiter, Venus and Saturn, an enemy of the Sun, Moon and Mars, and neutral to Mercury. The Western files read the nodes psychologically as the North and South Nodes and give them no dasha, gem or deity; Jyotish treats them as full grahas with all of these.
Symbols and forms
- Alternate Names
- North NodeCaput Draconisthe eclipse-demonthe seizer
Nature and meaning
- Kind
- Graha
- Sanskrit
- राहु
- English
- the north lunar node (a chaya graha, not a planet)
- Nature
- ClassKruraQualityMaleficCondition
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).
ReadingRahu 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.
- Meaning
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.
Details
One of 3,120 entries in the Grimoire — the whole library, every cross-reference, is free to take. Take the whole thing Is it wrong somewhere?
Referenced by 4
Every entry that names Rahu, grouped by the system it comes from.
☊ Jyotisha 2
- Rahu Point · Deity
- Rahu Dasha Graha
☥ Deities 1
- Ketu Related Deities
More in Deities
The entries either side of this one in the same catalogue.
All of Deities →New entries, when they land
Occasional notes when a section of the grimoire is added or revised. No account, no tracking across sites, and one line to leave.