by Robert Wilkinson
I was recently asked this by a fan of the site, and so I had to find out what a “Black Rahu” is. I know that Rahu is what they call the Moon’s North Node in Vedic astrology, and Ketu is what they call the South Node. What is “Black Rahu?”
We are told that during a Solar Eclipse, “a dark planet called Rahu comes between the Sun and the Earth.” I read from one source that allegedly the Vedas state Solar Eclipses are caused by a dark planet, “currently unknown in the Western world, which hides in the shadow of the Moon.” We are told “Rahu is relatively close to us, around about the same distance as we think the Moon is, but it is completely black,” and doesn’t reflect any light and that’s why we see the Sun blacked out on a Total Eclipse.
Rahu is considered inauspicious and a “rogue planet.” The fact that it’s considered a “planet” is not astronomically correct, since it represents the plane of the Moon’s ecliptic rather than being a planet in its own right with a solid body, electromagnetic gravitational field, rotation and revolution, and all the other things we associate with planets. It may have been considered a planet, a type of "shadow Moon" by the ancient Astrologers, but in fact it would be more properly termed a "Moonshadow" that appears under very precise astronomical conditions.
So while it is considered one of the 9 planets in Vedic astrology, we know that it astronomically serves an entirely difference function than any of the planets. In fact, each planet has a North and South Node due to its ecliptic, so each planet has its own "Rahu" and "Ketu." That's why we have the phenomenon called "the occultation of Venus." We had one a few years ago that had the whole world buzzing. That was an "eclipse" of Venus. Remember our entire view of the solar system is due to where Earth with its Moon is relative to the Sun. 4 times a year it creates an Eclipse.
Again, would be impossible for a "peekaboo" planet that “eats the Sun during eclipses” to show up and disappear. It's the recurring phenomenon of the alignments of the Sun, Moon, and Earth on certain planes of space, specifically the precise position of the Moon between the Earth and the Sun, which creates a Solar Eclipse. I know some alleged Vedic scholars will take exception on scriptural grounds, but I do know something about the science of this phenomenon. To my Vedic friends, please don't take offense if I don't believe a black planet eats the Sun.
I won’t get into the advanced astrophysics of this, but I will state that a Solar Eclipse does in fact mean the Moon is between the Sun and Earth on the plane of its own ecliptic (defined by the Nodes, Rahu and Ketu). That is the direct astronomical "cause" of an eclipse. The Moon seems larger than normal because of the exact lineup with its own Nodes, and it is highly unlikely that there is another planet lurking out there that only shows up during Total Eclipses! One would think that 10 million telescopes would have found it at some other point in time than only during total Eclipses.
We can have an eclipse ONLY when the Sun and Moon line up with Earth. We usually only have two Solar and two Lunar eclipses each year because our Sun and Moon lunations are only aligned with the Moon's nodes twice a year. There are rare exceptions to this. This year is not one of them, since there have not been more than one New or Full Moon this month close enough to conjunct Rahu and Ketu.
I believe that the Vedas may have been misinterpreted somewhere in the past several thousand years, and that a “black Rahu" is more properly attributed to Rahu in the same sign as the Sun (unlike last February's eclipse in Pisces when Rahu was in Virgo.) One Solar eclipse each year occurs when both the Sun and Moon is conjunct Rahu, so the Moon is conjunct its own NN. This happens every year throughout eternity. How "bad" could it be?
I have a much more positive take on the Lunar nodes than most Vedic texts. I believe that though Rahu can be tough, it's also the line of greatest evolutionary development. I believe that Ketu is where we "show what we know." We may not grow there, but we can be very expert in showing how we have developed the virtues of our Rahu through our Ketu.
As you know if you’ve read my numerous articles on the Moon’s Node, I consider Eclipses as Cosmic Recyclers, removing only what has outlived its time in our lives. We cannot lose what is truly ours, and we can't, and shouldn't, hold on to things that no longer serve our evolutionary purpose. Most don't voluntarily let go of the old, so four times a year we initiate long term periods of letting go of certain things.
And though an Eclipse conjunct one of our planets will in fact shut down an old way of manifesting that planet, even an Eclipse on our Sun can give us magic and miracles! In one article, I offered a specific example in my own life of an eclipse in 1997 taking away an old life and introducing a new one. The new one has been far more satisfactory and enjoyable these past 20 years than the old one was before then.
So my take is that both Rahu and Ketu are favorable factors in our evolution, are entirely related to the Moon’s orbit, and show us our lines of greatest development and how we “show what we know.” There is no “black planet” that “eats the Sun.” There are only the eternal movements of the Sun, Moon, and planets, with the Moon and each planet having their Nodes, all in a dance around the Sun with the Fixed stars as a backdrop. It all works to reveal the miracle of evolution and our place in the Eternity of Light.
© Copyright 2017 Robert Wilkinson
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