On May 18, 2025, Rahu and Ketu, the shadowy nodes of the Moon, shifted signs in the sidereal zodiac.
Rahu is now in Aquarius and Ketu into Leo, where they will remain for the next 18 months.
The nodes change signs every eighteen months, moving the eclipse axis with them. This sets the stage for where eclipses will fall over the coming year and a half. Wherever they land in your chart, something tends to stir, often through disruption, reversal, or a break from the familiar.
Some eclipses arrive like thunderclaps. Others pass more quietly. How dramatic or lasting they are depends on where they fall in your chart and what they touch.
But more on that soon.
What you need to know about Rahu and Ketu
To understand what this transit means, we need to know the nature of the forces behind it. And for that, we go to the story.
Born of a cosmic betrayal: the myth of Rahu and Ketu
In the old stories of the Purāṇas – classical Indian texts that blend mythology, cosmology, and spiritual teachings – Rāhu and Ketu are born from an act of cosmic deception.
During the great churning of the ocean, the gods and antigods (asuras) lined up to drink amṛta, the nectar of immortality. One of the antigods slipped into the line disguised as a god and managed a sip.
The Sun and Moon noticed this deception. They alerted the God Viṣṇu, who then cut off this antigod’s head before he could swallow. But the nectar already had touched him. The head lived on as Rāhu; the body as Ketu.
Ever since, both have pursued the Sun and Moon across the sky, trying to swallow their light. When they catch them, we get eclipses.
This is more than a story; it reflects the nature of the nodes.
Rāhu is all head, making him hunger that cannot be satisfied. He craves power, recognition, and experience – anything that pulls us outward and promises more. He magnifies desire, clouds judgment, and tempts us toward what is just out of reach, often through illusion or overreach.
Ketu severs, isolates, and obscures. What Rāhu inflates, Ketu empties out. He rules detachment, but not the gentle kind: his lessons often come through loss, confusion, or rejection.
In worldly matters, he is deeply malefic. But in spiritual terms, he can drive the soul toward liberation, sometimes by stripping away what no longer holds meaning.
Together, they form the eclipse axis in every chart. Wherever they fall, something destabilizes. Rāhu shows where we grasp and crave. Ketu shows where we are forced to let go.
Neither is easy, but both are karmically charged.
Why they are called the shadow planets
Rāhu and Ketu aren’t physical planets like Mars or Jupiter. They’re mathematical points – the lunar nodes – where the Moon’s path crosses the Sun’s path in the sky. Because eclipses occur when the Sun and Moon align near these points, they’re known as the shadow planets, or chāyāgrahas.
They cast no light of their own, yet their impact is unmistakable.
Rāhu is like a thick haze that distorts what we see, amplifying desire while blurring consequence. Ketu is the pale smoke that lingers after something has burned away: quiet, obscuring, and disorienting.
These are the planets of the unseen and the unresolved.
What Rahu and Ketu stand for in the chart
Rāhu and Ketu are not kind planets. They are harsh malefics, bringers of difficulty and distortion. They represent a severed serpent: Rāhu is the head; Ketu is the tail. Their form is snake-like, and their movement is winding, hidden, and unpredictable. Like serpents, they strike sideways. They unsettle, obscure, and disrupt.
Rāhu inflames desire. He pulls us toward what is foreign and forbidden. He governs illusion, intoxication, and overreach. His energy can bring worldly gain – status, money, innovation, ambition – but often through craving or deception.
Rāhu doesn’t give peace. He gives appetite.
Ketu moves the opposite way. He cuts, blinds, and turns inward. He severs us from what we thought we wanted: a career path, a relationship, even a sense of identity. He governs loss and withdrawal. Yet through that stripping away, he opens the gate to insight.
Ketu is tied to mokṣa – liberation – but not always without cost.
His bite can feel like rejection, isolation, or failure before it brings clarity. He rules mistakes, and just might cause you to make some.
Together, Rāhu and Ketu show where we are bound and where something must be released. Their influence isn’t gentle. Like a snake shedding its skin, the transformation they bring is necessary – but not always comfortable.
Rahu in Aquarius, Ketu in Leo: What this transit means in general
Rahu and Ketu will be in Aquarius and Leo from May 18, 2025 until December 5, 2026.
As Rāhu moves into Aquarius, the field of desire shifts toward systems, ideologies, and collective structures. Rāhu here craves relevance through causes, movements, or emerging technologies. The hunger is for innovation, influence, and recognition, not through personal status, but rather association with ideas or frameworks larger than the self.
Rāhu is considered a co-ruler of Aquarius alongside Saturn, and his placement here is strong. But strength doesn’t mean ease. Rāhu magnifies and distorts just as much as he energizes. Fixation on reform, group belonging, or abstract ideals can become obsessive – or catalytic – depending on how the desire is handled.
Ketu in Leo, meanwhile, withdraws energy from the personal spotlight. Leo is the sign of performance, self-expression, and royal dignity, things Ketu has no use for. His presence here often brings detachment from egoic pursuits: recognition, status, or the need to be seen.
There may be loss, rejection, or simply a deep inner shift away from the outer forms of power. At best, Ketu here can lead to humility and spiritual depth – if we’re willing to let go of personal glory.
Why it matters even more if Rahu or Ketu touch your Arudha Lagna, Lagna, Moon, or their lords
Not all transits are created equal. When Rahu or Ketu touch the Lagna (ascendant), the Lagna lord, the Moon, or the Arudha Lagna, the impact is more personal and visible.
Lagna or Lagna lord: Your health, intelligence, and critical thinking are activated or destabilized. This can be a time of major change in how you see yourself and your path.
Moon: The mind and emotional body is stirred. This can lead to confusion, mental unrest, or spiritual breakthroughs – sometimes all at once.
Arudha Lagna: This is how the world perceives you. Rahu or Ketu here can bring sudden visibility or sudden invisibility. In other words, dramatic shifts in reputation, appearance, or projection.
For paid subscribers, I’ll be writing a longer post soon exploring how the current transits – Jupiter in Gemini, Rāhu and Ketu in Aquarius and Leo, Saturn in Pisces –may unfold in your chart. This is a time of major shifts, with several slow-moving planets changing signs at once. If you’d like to go deeper and learn how to apply these movements to your own chart, consider upgrading your subscription.
Michelle R. Dean is a Vedic astrologer and writer based in Berlin. To find out more about Michelle, swing by here.
Share this post