#demonicpath

Javanese Rāhu.

Rahu (North Lunar Node), the Shadow Planet : Embrace the Demonic Path.

In astrology, the Lunar Nodes are the two points where the Moon’s orbital path crosses the ecliptic. The North Node is where the Moon moves into the northern ecliptic hemisphere, while the South Node is where Moon enters the southern ecliptic hemisphere. The importance of the Nodes has been highlighted by the so-called « karmic » astrology, but we can trace its use since the birth of babylonian astrology. While hellenistic and arabic astrologers have not written a lot about the Lunar Nodes, most of them (Valens, Ptolemy, Ibn Ezra) have stressed the inauspicious, negative and malefic effects of the North Lunar Node, especially when it is « with » the Moon (i.e . Conjunct the Moon). In contrast, indian/vedic astrologers possess an extensive literature about the Lunar Nodes because they are part of the vedic mythology. Svarbhānu was a demon (asura) who stole the Amrita (elixir of immortality) from the Gods. Surya (the Sun) and Chandra (The Moon) noticed that and denounced him. Svarbhānu was beheaded, and his head came to be known as Rahu (the North Lunar Node), while his body came to be known as Ketu (the South Lunar Node). But henceforth immortals, Rahu and Ketu gained the status of planets (Graha) as the other Gods, and could influence the lives of humans. Thus, Rahu became one of the nine planets (Navagraha) of vedic astrology, but is considered a Shadow Planet (Chaya Graha), that is, he has no causal form but rather is an acausal presence. Rahu is the demon of eclipses for its desire to consume and swallow the Sun and the Moon as a revenge, but as he is a head without a body, he can’t « digest » them, and they always escaped, leaving him with an unquenchable hunger. This endless cycle is responsible for the eclipses.

Consequently, in natal charts, Rahu is a strong and dark influence. He is the owner of desire, obsession and extreme passion. Rahu is a compulsive force that amplifies your desire or specific behaviour, but being a demon with unquenchable hunger, he instils unsatisfied sentiments inside us. So, someone under Rahu’s influence remains unsatisfied, always wanting more and more. Rahu represents all that is « exotic », i.e. everything stranger to the norm, odd, unusual, unconventional, taboo, forbidden, eerie, sinister, uncanny, bizarre. Rahu also stands for ambition, materialism, fear, mischief, obsession, over-attachment. A person with a strong Rahu/North Node (that is, conjunct the Chart Ruler, a luminary, an angle or in the 6th, 8th or 12th Houses - The Dark Houses -) is a lover of the strange and unusual, endowed with a dark and mysterious aura and may « transcend » to the dark side of life.