The Positive Side of Ketu
Ketu has so many positive sides to him that to ignore them and only attribute negative influences to his presence can only be attributed to a lack of intimacy with the planets and their role in our lives.
Moksha:
First, Ketu's influence is absolutely essential for moksha (liberation) to occur. In the Mahabharata, Rahu is first mentioned in the churning of the ocean to release the nectar of immortality. Of course, we know that Ketu is Rahu's counterpart. I don't want to spend time explaining the the interconnectedness between this story in the Mahabharata, astrology, and Kundalini Yoga. Still, in all three cases, the role of the nodes is to provide a push and pull force that produces the churning motion.
In terms of astrology, Rahu is the one who gives while Ketu is the one who takes away. For this reason, Rahu is credited with being the deceiver, manipulator, the one who clouds your vision. This is because anything you are given that you desire binds you to attachment, desire, and the illusion of happiness through material gains or even spiritual powers. Ketu is the emancipator because he removes the things that Rahu has given you to hopefully show you that you are complete without the name, fame, power, and wealth Rahu bestows. Ketu shows you that all worldly gains are merely temporary and therefore permanent happiness must be sought elsewhere.
Clarity:
There are worldly benefits from the purifying, clarifying influences of Ketu. The influence of Ketu upon any house can be quite beneficial. In fact, what I am saying here can equally be applied to his influence on planets.
Let me give you an example. Suppose Ketu aspects your 3rd house equal bhava madhya (EBM) - the house of written communications and younger siblings. While it is true that this influence is "likely" to either deny younger siblings or cause problems with them, it is equally true that there will be clarity in the person's writings. Naturally, we would look for supporting or contradicting influences in this regard, such as the strength of Mercury to provide sound objectivity and judgment.
Here are some keys that, to my knowledge, have not been made clear prior to this publication:
1. The most difficult influence of Ketu is on physical health, mental health, and material possessions.
2. The most beneficial influence of Ketu is on the transmission of spiritual knowledge, intellectual insights, expression of art (which, in its true form, is an expression of spirit).
3) The conjunction and opposition aspect of Ketu are much more difficult than are the trine aspects because of the push/pull influence with Rahu.
4) The trine aspects tend to be the most beneficial because those influences are unimpeded by the push/pull dynamic that exists between Rahu and Ketu.
5) Ketu's impact on mental health is negative to the degree that a person is attached to the "gifts"of name, fame, power, and wealth granted by Rahu. It is positive to the degree that one can let go.
6) Ketu's impact on physical health is similar to what was stated about his impact on mental health, since physical health often starts in the mind.
Case in Point:
You will remember that I stated the influence of Ketu on planets can be as equally beneficial as it is on houses, and so I want to use a case study that illustrates this very thing. I can think of no better chart than that of Albert Einstein for this purpose. According to Astrodatabank.com, his birth data is as follows, with a "AA" rating:
March 14th 1879
11:30:00 AM
Ulm, Germany
Lat: 48 N 25
Lon: 10 E 00
Sidereal Asc: Gemini 19d 28'
Tropical Asc: Cancer 11d 39'
11:30:00 AM
Ulm, Germany
Lat: 48 N 25
Lon: 10 E 00
Sidereal Asc: Gemini 19d 28'
Tropical Asc: Cancer 11d 39'
To say Albert Einstein was absolutely brilliant is about as redundant as saying the July Sun is bright and hot. Yet, if we were to accept the negative view of Ketu, propogated by strict SA practitioners, one would be hard pressed to explain the near 100% "affliction" by Ketu upon a debilitated Mercury, through his trinal aspect.
Mercury is the natural significator of judgment, discrimination, and objectivity. Also, in this chart, Mercury is functional significator for the mind and mental function, due to his ownership of the 4th house. Given Mercury's status as multiple indicator of mental function, surely a near 100% aspect by Ketu would be devastating - especially when you consider he ran Mercury and Ketu dasas the first sixteen years of life.
Instead, the influence proves to be much more like I have described in this article: the trinal aspect of Ketu clarifies and refines the "transmission of spiritual knowledge, intellectual insights, expression of art".
I also stated the most difficult influence is Ketu's conjunction and opposition aspect. Does this hold true in Albert Einstein's chart? Yes. It is well known that he had difficulty with dyslexia, which causes difficulties in speech due to reading problems wherein letter reversals are perceived. Of course, the fact that English was not his first language also created another barrier in speech, which is a second house issue. As you can see, his chart suffers the contrary energy of Ketu and Rahu in this house, due to Ketu's residence in the 2nd and Rahu's opposition aspect.
Did the 8th house also suffer? Yes. While he was highly instrumental in the development of the world's most powerful destructive weapon, he also beseeched nations to give up all nuclear weapons. He was deeply torn about his role in this instrument of death.
So, we can see that both 2nd and 8th house matters did suffer the most, while the trinal aspects gave only beneficial results.
It is my sincere hope that astrologers will take these principles and verify for themselves the veracity of what has been presented here. I believe that the application of these principles in readings will produce much more positive readings for your clients.
- Ron Grimes