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Ketu in Indian astrology
Ketu is the opposite point to Rahu, always exactly 180 degrees away, where the Moon's path crosses the ecliptic going south.
- Sanskrit
- Ketu (केतु)
- Weekday
- Tuesday (with Mars)
- Nature
- a shadow planet, treated like a malefic
- Rules
- No sign of its own in the usual tables
- Exalted
- Scorpio (the choice used in our calculations; some traditions say Sagittarius)
- Debilitated
- Taurus (some traditions say Gemini)
- Dasha length
- 7 years of the 120-year Vimshottari cycle
- Signifies
- detachment, past habits, spiritual inclination and endings
- Rules the stars
- Ashwini, Magha, Mula
It is read as the part of the self that has been there before: skill without effort, but also a pull away from worldly attachment. Like Rahu it always moves backward.
In the dasha cycle
In the Vimshottari order, Ketu is followed by Venus. The period of Ketu lasts 7 years when it runs in full. Read more about the system on the dasha page.
See it in your own chart
The terms on this page appear in every birth chart report, explained for your own planets and dates.