The Rahu Time Period in the US

...Vedic astrology's take on a country in crisis

No question, the United States is at a tumultuous point in its history.

The recent (somewhat?) shocking reelection of Donald Trump as the country’s 47th president is rejoiced by some. By others, it is considered a harrowing sign that democracy has failed and will soon be replaced by autocratic rule; our civil liberties will vanish in the shadow and tyranny of the straight, white, “Christian” man.

In Western astrology, this period of crisis, upheaval and transition is reflected in the country’s Pluto Return, which you can read about here, as well as the approaching Uranus return in summer 2025.

In Vedic astrology, we see a similar dynamic: the country was founded in a Rahu Mahadasha, and returned to this time period yet again in the fall of 2015 (if you know nothing at Vimshottari dasha, read this post first).

I found this video about the country’s return to the Rahu Mahadasha the day after the election. Although the video was made in 2018, much of what the astrologer has to say still rings true.

The Rahu lowdown

Although I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of Jung, as I often find his archetypes rather cliche and overly simplistic, I do think the astrologer summed up a lot of what Rahu is about quite well in the video.

Let’s go through the main takeaways about Rahu she mentions, plus a few others.

Rahu:

• is unorthodox, an out of the box thinker, that which is foreign and strange, sometimes a radical or an outcast

• seeks to disrupt the status quo, defy established institutions and civil behavior

• distorts reality and warps perception

• operates from a hidden agenda and and fans the flames of doubt and fear

• leads to extremes, disconnection and insatiable desire

• is not interesting in playing fair and square, but instead thrives on sowing the seeds of chaos and turmoil

• a grifter and con man, as well as criminals and criminal activities in general

• a cunning master of manipulation, shocking events and deceit

• loves the material world and money; in fact, a strong, well-placed Rahu in a chart can be fantastic for material and monetary gains

Yes, Trump is definitely a Rahu-like figure, but we’ll get into that later.

First, let’s take a deeper dive on how Rahu dasha affects the collective consciousness of the United States in general.

Rahu dashas in the United States

The country chart for the United States is set for July 4, 1776 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the day of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Although the astrologer in the video mentioned a US “birth” time of 6:30 pm, the most commonly used chart is actually the Sibly chart, which lists the time as 5:10 pm.

While a birth chart represents a particular individual, a country’s chart represents the nation as a whole as well as its collective consciousness. In particular, the moon in this chart represents the mind and mood of the people. In the US country chart, the Nakshatra of the moon is Dhaniṣṭā.

I haven’t yet written a profile, for this Nakshatra in my 27 Moons Project, so here are a few keywords for a Dhaniṣṭā consciousness.

A Dhaniṣṭā collective consciousness suggests a culture where people have:

• a focus on wealth and prosperity

• a strong drive to make money that can also lead to greed

• an inherently generous nature

• a somewhat impersonal feeling towards work (i.e., work is done to achieve material gain)

• a love for music and creativity

• a desire to shine and be in the spotlight

Although each person who lives in the United States has their own Nakshatra that may or may not fit these same characteristics, these keywords are useful for understanding American consciousness as a whole.

The moon-Rahu dilemma

In the chart for the US, the moon and Rahu are in what is called a Parivartana.

In Vedic astrology, a Parivartana occurs when two planets are in each other’s sign. In this case, Rahu is in moon-ruled Cancer, and the moon is in Aquarius, which is co-ruled by Rahu. Along with conjunction, a Parivartana is the strongest connection a planet can have with another.

Moon-Rahu combinations are difficult. They bring anxiety, confusion, obsessive thinking, sensory overload and extreme emotions, both high and low. In mental health terms, they are connected to PTSD, disassociation, delusion and bi-polar disorder. Rahu is also associated with trauma and that which is too overwhelming to process and digest.

As shady as he can be, Rahu is also extremely intelligent. When paired with the moon, he can bring boundless creativity and innovative thinking, as well as a strong capacity for in-depth research. Moon-Rahu people are also shape-shifters and master mimics, which can make them great actors.

Because these two planets are in exchange in the chart, Americans have a Moon-Rahu influence in their collective identity in general, both in a positive and negative sense. However, during a Rahu dasha, this tendency is heightened and made more extreme.

How I would sum this up is that the American consciousness tends towards dramatic emotions and an overall environment that can lead to extreme anxiety and sensory overload. As a disembodied head, Rahu symbolizes an insatiable desire for material consumption – he can literally never get full.

Rahu also warps and distorts. When paired with the moon, this can create an energy where it’s difficult to see things clearly; at it’s most extreme it can lead to delusional thinking.

However, although Rahu connected to the moon can be destabilizing, it also can bring extreme creativity and innovation, both of which are definitely defining characteristics of the country.

How Rahu Mahadasha alters this

Since the Moon is always in a Parivartana with Rahu in the US country chart, the collective consciousness of its people always has characteristics like the ones I described above. However, the focus placed on Rahu during its dasha both amplifies and destabilizes these tendencies.

Rahu-Mercury conjunction

During a planet’s dasha, the planets it directly aspects or interacts with are also activated. Because of the Parivartana, this includes the moon, which is why the energy of this dasha has a particular impact on the minds and mood of the people.

Rahu is also conjunct Mercury in the US country chart, which means elements of this combination are particularly active during this time period. In a country chart, Mercury stands for all forms of communication, strategists to the heads of state, business, money, technology and analytical and critical thinking.

Again, Rahu distorts, confuses, pollutes and overwhelms. He favors the shock of the new and disruption over maintaining the status quo. He brings extremes and loves money and the material world.

Therefore, when the Rahu-Mercury conjunction in the US chart is emphasized during its Rahu Mahadasha, this can lead to issues with:

• distorted, confusing or misleading information and communication

• communication on overdrive; a tendency toward exaggerating, stretching the truth, and even outright lying

• cunning, crafty and sometimes dishonest media figures or stategists

• extreme breakthroughs in technology

• extreme financial boons/fluctuations or innovations in business or currency

• rumors or distortions about issues involving mothers and motherhood (=Rahu-Mercury in Cancer)

• using images (Cancer) and words (Mercury) to purposely manipulate others for personal gain

That which causes loss

Any planet that is 12th from Rahu can bring loss during its Mahadasha time period.

Since the Sun, Mars, Venus and Jupiter are all 12th from Rahu in the US country chart, this can indicate a time period with losses related to and/or involving:

• government and government leaders, large social industries and state/public sector enterprises (Sun)

• the military, police, men, industry, engineers, and vocations involving fire and metal (Mars)

• women, women’s power, material comfort, financial administration, the entertainment, creative and luxury industries (Venus)

• judges, the legal and justice system, advisors to the heads of state, financial services and institutions, ministers and religious leaders, the very wealthy (Jupiter)

How much emphasis is placed on each depends on the current Mahadasha-Antardasha combination (see my previous post on Vimshottari Dasha for more on this).

House placement (?)

In her video, the astrologer makes a case for Rahu in the 8th house, which fits the current Rahu dasha quite well. However, the time listed in the Sibly chart (which I tend to favor) places Rahu in the 9th. I examined the difference and found arguments why that would work as well.

Instead of spending time here comparing and contrasting the two proposed times, I think it makes more sense to stick with what we know for sure, which are the planets and planetary combination I’ve presented here, which stay the same despite the change in time.

The United States and the return to Rahu

So much for the theory. Let’s move on to some examples.

Here are the dates of all three Rahu dashas the country experienced:

The first US Rahu dasha: July 4, 1776 to September 18, 1793

The second US Rahu dasha: September 20, 1895 to September 21, 1913

The current US Rahu dasha: September 22, 2015 to September 21, 2033

US Rahu dasha trends

It’s interesting to see some of the parallels between the different Rahu dasha periods, especially the one the country is currently in and the one that took place at the turn of the 19th century.

All three time periods tend to favor leaders who are a bit rough and tumble and seek to dismantle, defeat and breakdown (or at least reform) established powers and bloated institutions.

Teddy Roosevelt, president during the second Rahu dasha, is an interesting Rahu character in a positive sense. Although from a wealthy New York family, he was a bit of an outsider and a colorful character who loved the outdoors. He volunteered for the Rough Riders during the Spanish-American war, an elite calvary made up of Ivy League gentlemen like himself, cowboys, police officers and native Americans.

Rahu is pollution and toxic waste, but he is also the untameable wild man in the woods. In fact, a common remedy for Rahu issues in your chart is to donate to environmental protection and conservation charities. Helping keep nature pristine and untouched allows you to keep a positive expression of Rahu in your life, which pacifies the negative effects. Roosevelt is famous for being the “Conservation President” who established 150 national forests, the first 55 federal bird and game preserves and five national parks.

During his first administration, Roosevelt also sought to take on and break up business monopolies, and was successful with trust-busting of major corporations such as the Northern Securities Company, the largest railroad monopoly, as well as regulating the largest oil company, Standard Oil.

It’s interesting to note that President Biden also adopted an antitrust agenda – a stance abandoned by the Democrats after neoliberalism came to town in the early 90s – and has passed some significant environmental protection regulations. Again, these are Rahu-related actions that are fitting to the times in ways that are a positive rather than destructive expression of the energy.

That said, Rahu loves money, and the more the better. Many large banks were established in the country during Rahu’s first dasha, and US Steel became the country’s first billion dollar corporation during Rahu’s second go-round. Now, in Rahu’s third dasha, we see Big Tech billionaires, the richest guys in the history of the world, becoming increasingly involved in politics on both sides of the political spectrum – as long as the word “antitrust” is off the table, that is.

Rahu is the planet of trauma and shock, and both the second and current Rahu dasha have some examples of shocking, traumatic events that catapulted a common injustice into the collective consciousness in a powerful way. Example include the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire, where 146 factory workers died horrible deaths by fire, asphyxiation or jumping out the windows because the stairwells and exits were locked when the fire broke out; this was a standard factory practice at the time, designed to prevent working from taking unauthorized breaks or stealing.

In more recent times, the murders of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd sparked global protests and outcry about police brutality against blacks in the United States, and the continual lack of accountability for their actions.

Although not based on a specific traumatic incident, Upton Sinclair’s book The Jungle was no less shocking when it was published in 1904. To research the book, Sinclair worked anonymously at the Chicago meatpacking plants. His descriptions led to public outcry over the health violations and unsanitary conditions at the plants, which eventually led to the passing the Federal Meat Inspection Act in 1906.

The last Rahu time period brought major breakthroughs in modes of transportation that eventually changed our world forever. This included the Wright Brother’s historic first flight and the launch of the Model T Ford. Although not the first car available on the market, the Model T was the first to be mass produced and affordable enough for ordinary people to buy, which made its launch a significant milestone.

Electric vehicles have gained in popularity this Rahu time around, and self-driving robotaxis from companies like Waymo are already cruising the streets in Phoenix, LA and San Francisco. Will rockets and space travel be the next Rahu acceleration? Time will tell.

Rahu and the election

Rahu is the planet of the politician.

Cunning and clever, he gives one the ability to sense what people want to hear. He can be all charm and promises, kissing babies and shaking hands, convincing the masses he’s the only one who can deliver on their desires. Behind the scenes, he’s just as good at turning about face and pushing through his actual agenda.

Anyone who wants to succeed in politics needs these Rahu skills, which come when the planet is strong in their chart and associated in some way with career. Whether they use these powers for good or for ill will depend on other factors.

Both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have strong Rahu energy: she has an exalted Rahu in Gemini in the first house, and Donald Trump was born during an eclipse, with Rahu conjunct his Sun in the 10th and Moon conjunct Ketu in the 4th.

So, why did he win?

Well, I’m no political pundit, but from from an astrological point of view, I’d say Donald Trump and his advisors had an almost supernatural (Rahu, again!) ability to energetically read the room.

The moon in the US chart is the mood of the people, and Rahu is how you seize the mind of the masses. The Moon-Rahu parivartana means people are anxious, particularly about money (Dhanista Nakshatra); Saturn has been transiting the moon since January 2023, which increases the feeling of hardship, restriction and hopelessness.

The Rahu-Mercury conjunction I mentioned above is active during the entire Rahu dasha, and can lead to distorted and confusing communication, where it’s hard to determine what is true and what’s not. We’ve definitely been seeing plenty of that since 2015.

However, the country has been in its Rahu mahadasha-Mercury antardasha since the beginning of September 2023. This amps up and intensifies the dynamic of this combination.

In short, the US is in a period right now when lies have even more power than usual.

Rahu is fear. He is also foreigners, criminals and those outside the status quo. Therefore, exaggerations and lies about illegal thugs storming across the nation’s border to wreck havoc on the lives of normal Americans or that the “radical left” plan to give children sex changes to make them trans were the perfect lies to tell.

It doesn’t matter that many of these lies could be easily debunked; in fact, the more bold and outrageous the lie, probably the better. Either way, they served their purpose: to stoke the flames of fear and anxiety of voters and sway the majority towards supporting Trump.

Mercury also stands for business, money and markets, and fears and uneasiness around these topics were also on people’s minds, and it didn’t help that Biden happened to be the one who was president during a major global recession.

The tone of Kamala Harris’s campaign was unity, a call to repair and restore. This kind of message, delivered by a politician who is very much a part of the establishment, is not one that is likely to appeal to enough people to win during a Rahu time period.

Rahu energy is decidedly anti-establishment; it calls for disruption, dismantling and radical reform. It favors the offbeat, bizarre and irreverent, which is perhaps why calling the MAGA crew “weird” did not manage to convince enough people this was reason enough not to vote for them.

From the side of the democrats, a voice like Bernie Sanders would likely have been more popular than one that largely focused on upholding democracy and bringing back a sense of decency (not a word Rahu is fond of) so the country can go back to keeping calm and carrying on. Whether or not this would be the better choice is beside the point. Energetically, it does not fit with the times.

So where does that leave us?

Donald Trump is definitely a Rahu-like character, but he’s Rahu in his darkest, most twisted form: a convicted felon who enjoys the company of crooks and shady folks and leaves constant chaos in his wake, someone with a (black) magic ability to win over people, despite (because of?) his outrageous behavior, blustering exaggerations and bold-faced lies. Unpredictable and hard to manage, his powers lie in his capacity to divide, defy, dismantle and destroy.

I’m not going to lie: I’m extremely worried about what a second Trump presidency might mean, not just for the United States (and my family who still live there), but for the world.

That said, researching and writing this post made me feel a touch more optimistic.

Historically, Rahu dashas in the United States have not been periods when tyranny prevailed. Instead, they have been volatile, even revolutionary moments in history marked by breakthroughs, surprises and dramatic turns of fortune.

In many ways, Trump’s return to massive corporate tax cuts, deregulation, draconian deportation or a “drill, baby, drill!” energy policy are same-old, same-old Republican approaches, even if they are more extreme. In this story, there is still room for a defiant voice with new ideas to enter the stage.

A reckoning for Big Tech?

In many ways, this US Rahu dasha has been as much about exposing the dark underbelly of Big Tech as about Trump, or at least the two have been deeply intertwined.

That Trump would have never won the first election if it weren’t for the echo chambers and mis/disinformation campaigns made possible by social media nor the second without more of the same plus a major cash infusion made by certain members of the PayPal Mafia, is certainly not a far-fetched idea.

Pre-2015 Rahu dasha, the tech industry was mostly lauded for its innovation and disruptive-yet-pioneering spirit. These companies were here to do good and change our world for the better. Rules, accountability or regulations would put too big a damper on their creative prowess.

Ten years later we see (surprise, surprise) it’s about the money, stupid. Eight of the ten richest people are in Big Tech, and they want to be richer. Some of them, including the richest of all, Elon Musk, are increasingly seeking political influence, power and control.

But forget Musk for a minute. Personally, I’m more concerned about the don of the PayPal mafia, Peter Thiel. That guy gives off some serious Bond-villian vibes, although maybe he’s just the money man. Both he and his boy Vance have an agenda, unlike Trump, who only believes in himself at the end of the day. You can read about it in this this Vanity Fair piece from 2022.

When I analyzed JD Vance’s chart and went through his Vimshottari dasha, I thought (i.e., was hoping) Harris would be the next president. I still stand by my argument that it would be difficult for him to win an election on his own in politics.

However, what I wasn’t really taking into account at the time was that he might not have to.

Considering Trump’s age and physical and mental state, there’s a fairly good chance we’ll automatically end up with a President Vance before his term is up.

If so, will he succeed in pushing through his antidemocratic ideas inspired by Neo-reactionary thinkers like Curtis Yarvin?

I have my doubts here as well.

Big Tech is good with innovation, the abstract and theoretical. It’s good at creating algorithms that steer our thoughts and enslave our minds. It sure as hell is good at making money. But, as I’ve heard from everyone who has ever worked at one of these companies, it fails miserably at truly understanding the flesh-and-blood human quotient, which is far messier and much more unpredictable.

The fact that people like Thiel consider someone like JD Vance as the “people person” who can be the persuasive public face of their ideology shows just how out of touch they really are. Those rumors about him having sex with a couch stuck for a reason: the guy is so awkward and off-putting, they’re almost believable.

If Thiel and co. do get the chance to attempt to put an authoritarian system in place with a tech-style CEO ruling in place of a president, Rahu may just turn around and bite them in the ass. When it comes to struggles for power, Rahu dashas in the United States seem to ultimately favor David – and Big Tech is definitely Goliath.

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Michelle R. Dean is a Vedic astrologer and writer based in Berlin. To find out more about Michelle, swing by here.