In ancient Hindu
Astrology, the North Node of the Moon is called "Rahu" and the South Node is
called Ketu. They are called dark or shadow planets, because of the Nodes' association
with the phenomena of eclipses. To set the record straight they are not planets but points
where the Moon in its orbit intersects the celestial equator. Rahu and Ketu do not rule any signs (unlike, say Mars
rules Aries, Venus rules Taurus), although they are said to favour Mercury (Gemini &
Virgo) and Jupiter's (Sagittarius and Pisces) signs, while others claim that Rahu favours
the sign of Aquarius and Ketu the sign of Scorpio - which happen to be their trine (Mool
Trikone).
Rahu, the North Node of the Moon means to conceal, engulf or hide in Sanskrit. This planet
is associated with the world of material manifestation and worldly desire - with the
process of regression and the ultimate engrossing of our spirit in the material world.
Hence, from a spiritual point of view - Rahu is considered a high grade malefic.
According to the ancient Indian holy
man Sage Parasara: "Rahu has smoky appearance with blue-mix physique. He resides in
forests and is horrible. He is windy in temperament and is intelligent. Ketu is akin to
Rahu."
Rahu is an indicator, of worldly
desire, fame, greed, high intelligence, manipulation, obsessive behaviour, foreigners,
mass disease, dementia and inertia. It's nature is "Airy". Rahu reaches full
maturity at age 42.
A final note for the believers: The
gemstone for warding off Rahu's evil influence is called "Gomed"
(pronounced "go- made") a maroon hessonite stone.
