Reflections on

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Predicting the Effects of Ketu period

Rahu-Ketu gochara Trimshamsha lagna

What to expect (in general) during bhukti of Ketu:

Ketu Mahadasha according to Parashara

KetuYuti Other Graha

Rahu-Ketu Amplify, magnify, and exacerbate the fluctuations of Manas, the Moon. Rahu is always, if reluctantly," seeing" by drishti His Other Half, shri Ketu. Ketu is always, if somewhat mutely," seeing" His Other Half, shri Rahu.

• Rahu periods and Ketu periods are dominated by two-ness, the bifurcated mental state of being in bondage to another personality - usually someone with dangerously different or incompatible objectives.

Psycho-mental Bondage of Rahu-Ketu

• In Rahu periods, it is a bondage of desire for the Other . The mind is enflamed with a hunger for material power and sensually indulgent experience. The object of desire may be the affections of a human being, aform of power such as magical or political or financial capability, atype of sensual experience such as sexual or travel or the exhilarating, satiating, drug-like effects of food and drink.

• At the higher levels of consciousness, the native realizes their incarnational bondage to egoic-mind desire-Mind as a tremendous obstacle to enlightenment.

• Although one accepts the need for an orderly expression of the Mind's desires as the inevitable play-out of the Rules of the Game, one achieves a neutral acceptance of the inevitability of sensual-desire-Mind without feeling entangled in it or enslaved to it.

• In Ketu periods, it is a bondage of resentful servitudeto the Other . The mind is obsessed with an unresponsive, withholding, always-promising but never providing partner of some type. The partner may be a human being, adeity, amaterial goal, or the Mind itself.

• (The projected object = described by Ketu's incoming drishti, rashi and bhava.)

• At the higher levels of consciousness, one may realize their incarnational bondage to image-projection-Mind as a tremendous weight and obstacle to enlightenment.

• Ideally, one achieves a neutral acceptance of the inevitability of image-projection-Mind without feeling entangled in it or enslaved to it. If this neutral realization is achieved, bhukti of wandering Ketu can induce deep calm.

Rāhu

• During Rahu periods - whether the longer 18-year mahadasha or any Rahu bhukti - the native is attractive and attractable. Risk-rewarding Rahu increases the desire energy.

• Details of Rahu 's position - lordship, rashi, drishti etc. - will explain the nature of the desire and its object.

• According to the nature of Rahu in the individual nativity, aRahu period will enflame one's particular desires. Unless the native is super-conscious, rahu tends to embroil one in intrigue and a sticky web of fascinating desires.

• One will connect most intensely with Others who are themselves experiencing Vimshottari periods of Rahu, Ketu, or Shukra .

• Rahu also imbues the various relationships that serve as vehicles for desire expression with a sense of urgency and drive toward The promise of intense satisfaction .

Myth of Rahu-Ketu

• When forecasting the effects of Rahu and Ketu periods, keep in mind the narrative of this myth and its structural dynamic of attraction * akarshana *and repulsion * vikarshana * .

• Rahu has a passionate desire for the Amrita or nectar of divine life, which causes Him to break all the rules.

• Professor Rahu is an impostor. Rahu-desire is not a divine force. But, in human life, professor Rahu often tricks His students into thinking that Desire will lead to divine enlightenment! In fact, the opposite is true: desire almost always leads to more desire.

Desire is the single leading cause of reincarnation.

Good desires, bad desires, all desires are Rahu :)

• Even morally 'good' desires are still desires, and they still force reincarnation.

• Even the 'last time around' type of desires, such as the desire to relieve the suffering of others or the desire to repay one's own akashic-memory debt, are still the causes of return to the cycle of birth and death. Yes these are praiseworthy desires but they still have the same mechanical force as any other desire, which is to get the spirit entrapped in a whole complex of incarnational delusions.

A tragic narrative:

• Rahu's desires are partiallysatisfied, but it is Rahu's nature to Always want more. Before Vishnu's discus slices the snake-god Rahu in half (thus creating Ketu from Rahu's tail), rahu does get that drop of amrita. But His power to join the divine celebration is forever destroyed.

Saints and the rest of us:

• For a great saint, rahu may enflame their desire to relieve human suffering. Rahu is usually the culprit behind extreme saintly actions like self-immolation in political protest.The saint is possessed by a powerful desire, and might do pretty much anything in their passion to reach their goal.

• For the average person, rahu often functions as Shukra's 'evil twin', stimulating sensual passions, extramarital affairs and provoking impulsive marriages. At the very least one's social life tends to increase because one is perceived as desirable. Even people who are normally shy and retiring will surprise the public with rather sudden bursts of passion during Vimshottari periods of Rahu.

• Sometimes Rahu is positioned to crave not love but rather He wants cintamani * mani * money or raw power, or some other egoic-mind membrane food. Whatever Rahu wants will be vigorously pursued without much concern for others.

Forewarned is forearmed:

• Rahu is neither good nor bad in the big picture. However, rahu is always intense. It's good to be aware of the mechanics of Rahu, to prepare to negotiate Rahu periods when they come around.

Moral justification/rationale:

• he supposed reasoning behind Rahu's desire-driven actions usually follows the line of 'love conquers all' or 'I deserve it' or 'nothing ventured, nothing gained' or 'life is too short ' etc.

• Rahu periods are naturally impulsive and not reasonable, therefore actions may disregard the Law. Rahu periods are famous for errors in moral reasoning such as 'the end justifies the means'. For the conscious psychic Rahu gives major 'growth periods'. (In the psychic community, 'growth period' is a euphemism for people who are being childish or manipulative or otherwise impossible!)

What to expect (in general) during bhukti of Ketu:

• Ketu is mokshakaraka, the significator of spiritual liberation. Ketu periods are very effective for meditation, and very frustrating for everything else.

• Ketu supports and rewards a wide variety of observer-intensive spiritual practices. Ketu bhukti is always a fertile time to pursue psychotherapy and other forms of reflective interior healing. However, even for very alert people, Ketu periods will generally produce some disturbances on the external social and material planes.

• Shri Ganesha is the remover of obstacles. He is also the facilitator, when He is acknowledged, of tremendous gains in consciousness. The primary obstacle to achieving the bliss of spiritual merger with the divine is attachment to material delusion. So, when Shri Ganesha enters his rulership period, He will direct Ketu to detach us from delusions on the emotional, social-psychological, physical, and material planes.

• Ketu's specific detachment/dysfunction depends on His rashi, bhava, drishti's etc., but Shri Ganesha' s effects overall are unmistakable: the person becomes disengaged from external perceptions of material reality and focused on internal perceptions of psycho-spiritual truth.

• Common expressions of Ketu periods are loss of self-confidence and a wavering, uncertain social behavior distinguished by lack of motivation, poor follow-through, etc. Here something very GOOD is happening spiritually for those who are able to identify it.

• The person' s awareness has shifted very predominantly into observer mode.

• But also something quite dysfunctional according to normal social standards is happening. The person is not actively participating in the socially-validated behaviors of egoic-mind development, acquisition of material goods, making and keeping of promises, being on time, other social-psychological conformist behaviors.

• Most people are social creatures, so a shortfall in social validation during Ketu's period can result in serious depression, anxiety, and seemingly irretrievable lack of self-esteem.

• The tantric elite in certain vivid imagistic meditation traditions can become dynamically engaged in communication with spirits. For this elite Ketu periods are delicious, delightful, and supremely validating . For the rest of us who have many elaborate egoic-mind attachments to the material world, especially the world of public opinion based on personal productivity, Ketu can be very destabilizing. Many people with strong but unconscious Ketu effects will turn to tamasic practices such as escape drugs, alcohol, long sleeps etc. To avoid the social-psychological pain of Ketu-genic alienation.

Nine Antaradashas (Bhukti, or sub-dashas) of Rahu Mahadasha
Mangala bhukti	Shani bhukti	Shukra bhukti
Rahu bhukti	Budha bhukti	Surya bhukti
Guru bhukti	Ketu bhukti	Chandra bhukti