A meditation on the lunar nodes. Download contains bonus track, the single mix of RAHU with mantra.
From IRON AGE JYOTISH:
The Nodes - Rahu and Ketu
Rahu and Ketu are known as the Northern and Southern Nodes of the Moon in the West. They are points in the Moon's eliptic which indicate where the Moon can interact with the position of the Earth and the Sun to cause either a Solar or Lunar eclipse. These Nodes are thus not represented in the Heavens by physical bodies and are thus counted as Shadow Planets- Occult actors whose purview is illusion, delusion, darkness, Karma, Maya, and the Secrets of Manifestation and Liberation, amoung other domains of activity.
Rahu is often depicted as the severed head of a demon, or the dismbodied head of a dragon or serpent. Ketu, conversely, is often depicted as a headless demon, or the tail of a dragon or serpent. They were, at one time, a single entity, the Serpent Demon Vasuki, whose head was severed by Lord Vishnu for attempting (with the aid of a disguise) to drink the Nectar of the Gods, the Amrita, but not before it swallowed a single drop of the nectar, which was sufficient to grant the severed head and its body immortality and divine powers. Legend also has it that Lord Vishnu could see through Vasuki's disguise from the moment he had arrived amoungst the Gods to partake of the nectar and that the creation of Rahu and Ketu were in accordance with Vishnu's design.
The Nodes do not submit themselves to easy understanding, many of their attributes appear self-contradictory at first glance and only through regular study will their nature begin to reveal itself.
Today we will focus on Rahu.
Rahu, in addition to the depiction provided above, is also represented in many sources as an immense Mountain of Darkness. Sometimes he is shown as a black or blue-skinned figure, with four arms, who rides a lioness. He wields a scimitar, a spear and a shield and one hand is empty.
With the scimitar he dissects and destroys intimately, this represents Rahu at his most intellectual and obvious, wherein his activity is felt as analysis, conjecture, philosophies of critique and complexification.
The Spear is the tool with wich Rahu strikes from hidden places, this represents the sudden upending of order, of reason, of stability. When things suddenly confuse, cease to make sense, or inexplicably go awry, his Spear has struck at a distance from an unseen or occluded position. This often takes the form of some physical or political event, which despite its material severity (whether great or small) is felt more intensely on the psychological plane.
The Shield is what Rahu uses to protect and obscure his devotees and those who act on his behalf, having learned from his trials and understood his Mysteries. This is the cover of Darkness, the Night and the Hidden Benefactor. This is also what deflects any attempt to alleviate his activity or oppose him. Rahu and Ketu (and to a certain degree, Saturn) are the only planets which are not beholden to the Luminaries (The Sun and Moon) in some way and they are ultimately beholden to a higher Cosmic Order than the one with which the other planetary bodies are charged.
With Rahu's open hand, he bestows his blessings. These may take many forms, some of which may appear more akin to curses at first glance. These blessings may also be in the form of fame, influence or wealth, which the recipient may put to use however he or she sees fit, though Rahu will watch from afar and dispense with his judgements and interventions in accordance with how these gifts are utilized or abused.
Rahu is the Lord of Maya, illusions, obsession, arrogance and insatiability. He also presides over technology, progress and the manifestation of forms. Being bodiless, his hunger cannot be satisfied and he has no sense of what nourishes or poisons, and devours all things alike and thus the world of Modernity is largely his purview, for he exacerbates the conditions of ambiguity, confusion and falsehood which typify the times in which we live.
Of all the technological developments which persist under his influence, none are more connected to his obfuscating and distorting nature than radio, television and the internet. Each of these developments has heralded a new level of confusion, misunderstanding and conversely a new platform for competing versions of the "truth" and a new channel through which the human intellect might be engaged. This is, of course, a double-edged sword.
Rahu is not fundamentally wicked, though his methodology is harsh and torturous. His travails are the oppressions of the Mind and Soul by Maya, the Alchemy of Becoming. As the potential for falsehood multiplies, enduring mockeries of the truth are also dissolved. Established falsehoods are just as readily torn down by Rahu's diversifying, novelty-obsessed and perturbating influence. The once hegemonious engine of pseudo-reality that was employed by governments and institutions, the Media, has run amok and has escaped the control of oligarchic actors. Memes, "fake news", parody news sites, alternative news outlets, competing reality models as propagated in forums, digital newsletters, blogs etc have created powerful channels for outsider science, conspiracy theories, revolutionary politics and obscure occult and spiritual currents to propagate in the minds of a public which did not before have access to such a bounty of information.
Rahu cannot truly serve those who attempt to abuse his dissolutive and caustic power. Everything that is created through Rahu takes on a life of its own and those who give into his temptations shall be counted amoung his most severely punished pupils, as their efforts turn upon them in their greatest hour of self-adulation.
Rahu is also a portal or gateway, through which the Hidden Dimensions, and the more alien and foreign reaches of reality (and beyond) may find entry into our world. This is due to Rahu's role as the Eater of the Sun and Moon. When the luminaries are occluded by Rahu, the Light of Order and Stability is also occluded, and strange influences and forces may enter our world in the abscence of those Ordering and Stabilizing powers. Such intrusions may take the form of political assassinations, novel pandemics, the invention or use of new and destructive technologies or even things as surreal as UFO or crpytid sightings (even if later found to be hoaxes, since the primary activity of Rahu is illusory and psychological, thus the effect on the human imagination is the actual locus of the event).
Rahu is the Innovator, the Revolutionary Intellect and the Secret of Evolution. Many political upheavals involve a deeply Rahuvian influence and his prominence in the charts of political upstarts is great.
He is often seen as a servant or emanation of Shiva and thus serves Lord Shiva as a Great Destroyer, who propells the Ages towards their conclusions, clearing away the forces of stagnation.Thus his tribulations always serve a higher purpose and even those who attempt to abuse his gifts will only contribute to his design.
Rahu is forward-looking, self-gratifying and obsessive, but its powers are also the keys to Spiritual Success, provided they are employed in conjuction with the benefic influences latent in Ketu. Its focus is a vital component to all manner of devotional practices, and asceticism which exist in the Tantric and Left-Hand-Path traditions. As the creator of Illusions, Rahu is also well equipped to identify and see through what is illusory or false. Rahu, when it is acting most benefically, affords powerful faculties of perception and intuition and can help one navigate the World of Distortion in which we now live.
When we look at Rahu in our own chart, we are looking at the Locus of many of our darkest and most dangerous Karmic challenges in this life. Rahu is our Great Obsession, the Pith of our Ego's wildest dreams and attachments. Rahu is also one half of the Key to our Liberation, the attainment of which lies in the application of Rahu's focus on the spiritual source of the lowly shell with which it is initially concerned, in accordance with those past life lessons represented by our Ketu placement. Rahu holds within it an immense potential for spiritual progression, but the challenges are great and require much that many natives may be unwilling to devote or muster in this life.
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