Rahu in 3rd House / Ketu in 9th House

Dear ardent readers here comes the third in series of Rahu / Ketu (The Nodes) in 3rd House / 9th House, The earlier series on Rahu / Ketu in Signs published in 2007 also is equally important & worthwhile reading, however care should be taken not to apply these writings verbatim on any chart, as there are many other factors, combinations, aspects etc which need to be studied always before coming to any conclusion

The Rahu in the Third House is a sure sign of the native’s good education and of his/her being able to live on good terms with those around him/her; it means harmonious relations with brothers and sisters. It procures the means of success in an intellectual occupation, especially in literature, history or geography. The native has an observant, studious and imaginative mind; ideas flow in abundance, and they are usually good and help him/her to progress rapidly, as much on account of his/her skilful management as on account of the help given by those around him/her. This purpose is also favorable for traveling for educational purposes.

The Descending Node in the Ninth House denotes a practical, and often materialistic mind, which either scoffs at religion or else is very superstitious. In this House it indicates danger while traveling, trouble in connection with a journey regarding mysterious matters, or matters of which the native alone has any knowledge and no one else knows about it.

The integration lies in the development of the mental power. The ability to reason logically and the power to analyze the objective world realistically must be brought to bear on the environing conditions. The person has had blind faith and has been religious in the past, but it has been in a non-thinking dogmatic fashion. He/she also has to learn to stick to routine and everyday matters and not think far away fields are greener. His/her pastures lies close at hand. His/her opportunities and challenges are in the environment close at hand. His/her subconscious motivations of the past will make him/her long for far-distant places and give him/her a desire to escape from the near-at-hand pressures.

Rahu in the 3^rd makes it difficult for the person to express his/her deepest feelings. This must be learned by constantly exchanging ideas and feelings with others. This must be forced before he/she/she can reap fulfillment. He/she needs to develop the ability to share his/her sensory awareness in his/her life with those in his/her social environment, and needs to receive from them their awareness and impressions. He/she needs to relate easily to his/her environment and to work for the betterment of that society. The key words are communication and subjectivity.

Ketu in the ninth is objectivity. This gives instinctive knowledge of philosophy, theology, and science. It gives an objective desire to study higher abstract truth. There may be many changes in religious thinking because of an inner need to seek the truth of our being. But on a lower scale this may result in a tendency to cross-examine. It promotes interest in the basic theories and concepts of religion, social ideas, and the metaphysical. The person should learn to study these subjects realistically with his/her intellect instead of day-dreaming. Ketu in the ninth, at its best, is a genius at separating fact from fancy, especially when favorably aspects to Mercury.. This position gives creative intelligence, aside from book knowledge. It also causes the person to think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence.

This condition often signifies unusual intellectual abilities and their use in this life. These people seem to bring vast knowledge and philosophies from previous life and utilize them on a practical level. Their communicative means are fairly strange and odd at times. Excellent relationships with brothers or sisters are noticed. They have a strange subconscious fear for foreign culture or foreign people. During this lifetime they may not achieve fame or recognition, but they will have dispersed their knowledge to many who surround them. Often one notices a hidden coldness towards their father figure in this life. Benefits from travel and short moves are often noticed in their life.

These Nodes represent a karma in relationships. The individual is here to learn how to fit the intertwining of people and ideas into the scope of his/her understanding.

The ninth house Ketu shows an accent on growth in former lives. Literally millions of hours of thought were spent on developing an abundance of wisdom. Much was sacrificed to do this, particularly the enjoyment of meaningful relationships with others. So that a large amount of soul growth could be accomplished, a freedom to explore without restriction or limitation had to be developed first.

Now in the current life the individual is habitually linked to his/her past incarnation sense of freedom, which although he/she feels he/she must retain, he/she can no longer consciously remember why.

From time to time he/she feels a wanderlust to visit different horizons, for somewhere off in the distance is the rainbow he/she is used to seeking. He/she is a mental nomad, constantly traveling through the great expanse of his/her consciousness, stopping only for rest at each oasis which offers temporary shelter from his/her restless urge.

Always he/she is seeking, yet it is difficult for him/her to define exactly what he/she is looking for. He/she finds others puzzling as he/she curiously tries to understand what makes them tick. Herein are some of his/her major karmic lessons. He/she must learn how to interact with people. Though he/she may be happily married or involved in close relationships, he/she still retains a sense of brotherhood in his/her thoughts. He/she must learn how to make his/her life fit into the exact puzzle slot allowed by all the other lives around him/her.

The ways in which he/she relates and communicates will constantly be put through one test after another. Ultimately he/she will find himself enmeshed in a network of people, so that all the knowledge he/she has acquired in previous lifetimes can be put to practical use.

In his/her current-life relationships, he/she feels frustrated with not enough room to move. This enclosure of people around him/her eventually comes to extinguish his/her past-life tendencies to be vague and evasive, and in its place teaches him/her the art of pinpoint communication.

He/she is very much concerned with the values of sexuality, feeling obliged to conquer any grip this force has on him/her. Now he/she sees clearly the presence of a higher and a lower self, and it is the pull from both which he/she must karmically wrestle out.

The individual is less concerned with gain than with protection against loss. He/she is terribly fearful of losing the freedom he/she was accustomed to in past incarnations; yet he/she must risk such loss if he/she is to interact with humanity. As soon as he/she is willing to take this risk, he/she is ready to receive his/her greatest rewards.

Ultimately he/she elevates himself through reading and purposeful study; and although he/she is more used to informal ways of learning, it will be a formal education that now puts it all together for him/her.

This Nodal position often causes a friction marriage, since the individual is prone to seeking out-of-wedlock relationships in which to work out the understanding of personality interactions that he/she must develop.

One of his/her biggest lessons is to learn how to consolidate his/her energies, for each time he/she feels the urgency to move on with things, he/she tends to leave loose ends scattered behind him/her.

His/her life is wide in scope, not only in areas of knowledge, but also in the myriad of people he/she meets, and the multitude of places he/she travels.

He/she will ultimately be known as a Messenger, bringing to all those who need it the specific bits of information.

In essence, he/she is a teacher’s teacher, for although he/she has little patience with a classroom situation, he/she is well capable of feeding information wherever and whenever it’s needed. He/she likes doing things because it fulfills his/her past-life need for movement. As such, he/she never gets a chance to see how important the information he/she is disseminating actually is. Nevertheless, he/she has an enormous effect on the awareness of all those whose lives he/she touches.

His/her own life is as interesting and full as an encyclopedia, for he/she tries to live much of what he/she reads about.

For all of his/her movement, one would think him/her desirous of having a rest, but underneath he/she is highly nervous and needs this amount of movement in his/her life. The nervousness is not to be considered a negative trait, but rather as part of his/her mission. It reminds him/her that he/she has a task to do. Every moment, a piece of information comes into his/her mind, the nervousness gets triggered, reminding him/her that he/she must deliver it somewhere.

In past incarnations he/she avoided conclusions. Now he/she refuses to make a final judgment on anything. This is part of his/her understanding that if he/she were to make a final decision it would be premature for he/she knows that new information will constantly be coming.

He/she is superficially conversant in almost all areas. Still, on the personal plane he/she is highly misunderstood, for the messages he/she delivers are so uniquely disguised that they have a tendency to go over the heads of others who only see him/her as eternally gossiping about nothing.

The truth is that all of his/her words are important, but they must be seen to have deeper than surface value before they can be interpreted properly. He/she is truly the fast-winged messenger of the gods.

The sign which contains the Ketu indicates the unintelligible ways in which the independent higher mind is accustomed to receiving its coded information. The sign which contains the Rahu shows the ways in which the individual can now translate his/her knowledge into a language which society can understand and accept.

Conflicts: Good practical education vs. mind expansion. Familiar day-to-day contacts (siblings, neighbors, school chums) vs. new contacts (in-laws, foreigners, people whose experiences are different from yours). Liking for your environment vs. desire to explore new areas.

Lack of concern with education’s practical application. Extensive contacts lead to loss of touch with family, old friends etc. Craving for travel causes drifting. Superficial intellectualism replaces true understanding.

Travel, with an eye to successfully settling down somewhere. Strive to understand, and make yourself understood to siblings, close kin, etc.. Study with an eye to using your knowledge. Share your practical knowledge. Use your common sense.

In the third house, there’s a hang-up about relationships. This generally stems from repressed or misdirected concentration on one area to the detriment of the other. Problems can range from fanaticism to cynicism. There’s often a sense of not belonging which may lead to anything from unhealthy rivalries to bigotry to involvement in cults. In extreme cases, there can be a turning against your own culture and absorption into a completely alien one.

Rahu in the third house dreams of mental vitality and of respect in some traditional field. He/she wants to be thought of as someone worth talking to. This is a person of changing interests and philosophy who’s often been strongly influenced - consciously or unconsciously - by early religious, educational, or cultural dogma. These ingrained beliefs can lead to a wasting of mental ability or less traditional but nonetheless valuable talents.

One of the native’s primary impulses is toward freedom, whether physical freedom and the need to travel, or a mental freedom to explore intellectually, inquire, and satisfy curiosity. One probably feel this as a restless energy, perpetually striving for release from any restrictions and breaking free from limitations. Yet this search can lack a fixed direction or purpose, and one could find it difficult to rationalize these needs for escape and change that agitate the native. Likewise, others may consider the native’s reasons and explanations unsatisfactory. One need to understand how this impulse operates and choose to control and direct its activity, or this could damage your life-style, relationships, or employment ability.

Relationships will be a major area for self-discovery. One may lack understanding of others and have problems in interaction. Even though one experience relationships, one retain the desire for freedom; how this is expressed is very important, both for the native and for others. Often, one feels relationships become limiting after a while, but, as one’s freedom need is often selfish, one may find that a discipline of staying within the relationship and dealing with this freedom impulse could deepen self-understanding. The native react against threats to this freedom; but modifying responses may enable oneself to enjoy other benefits. The value of good relationships is priceless. Both partners are enabled to enjoy life and develop in their unique ways. This joy could be what one loses if one decides for freedom at any cost, because it is inevitable that the native’s solitary experience of a selfish freedom will not be at all pleasurable.

The native’s social friendliness and flexibility will create a variety of relationships; and this is a source of experience which aids one to attain greater understanding of others. Yet this - allied with your freedom needs - could also encourage oneself to enter affairs without much forethought or consideration. Surrendering to this impulse could complicate one’s life, leaving many issues unresolved and causing pain and confusion. One’s future well-being could be affected by his/her pursuing the temptation of change without fulfilling obligations or responsibilities.

Knowledge is absorbed easily, accumulating a multitude of pieces of information from all sources, whether from formal study (likely to be of great value) or from people and places. Such information can be valuable to others; and the native enjosy sharing it with those in need. The native may fulfill a function of disseminating such ‘information messages’. He/she may be attracted to becoming a teacher or educative communicator, preferably one who disseminates information rather than evaluates and interprets, due to a difficulty piecing together disparate pieces of information into a coherent whole. Decision-making or judgments may not be one’s strong point, as you continue to wait for more information which may influence your choices; often life circumstances will decide for you.

An essential lesson is to understand your freedom impulse. Learn how to express it positively within relationships, and your life will be enriched through greater harmony. Fail to apply it correctly through selfish expression, and your freedom will lead to greater suffering for yourself and others.

The first two houses are still very much involved with the self. In the 3^rd house, we enter the collective sphere, and our attitude to the group is important. In order to pick up the thoughts of the group, I must listen to, and understand, the language they are using. I must make my unconscious states of dependence conscious and, above all, I must be aware of any tendency to tell people what they want to hear.

Inherently, the collective sphere is always a problem in the horoscope, because it is too close to us. Our reactions to the group, whether in thought (3^rd house) or feeling (4^th house) are completely automatic; as, for example, when I say something on the spur of the moment which, although it flatters the other person, is not absolutely true. And, with the Node in the 3^rd house, we need to guard our tongues, because speech is the means of communication there. At least we should go over what we have said and consider whether or not we were right to advocate it, and whether or not it is objectively true. Possibly we have agreed with someone simply to please them or to avoid an argument.

If we make it a rule to check what we say, we can come to terms fairly quickly, something that is very important when there is an opposition. Naturally, we have to talk in the same way as everybody else, but we must do so with common sense and avoid exaggeration. In other words, we must use contemporary ideas and thought structures but without discrimination. Only then can we find our true niche, and avoid being pigeon-holed. The individual has to conform within reason, but the group has no right to demand submission. On the other hand, the individual is not entitled to expect submission from the group. There is a world of difference between heedlessly allowing oneself to be controlled by others, and seeing how far one can accommodate them after making up one’s own mind via the 9^th house. The need to do the latter is indicated by the placement of the Node in the 3^rd house.

If the Rahu is in the third house, the person’s greatest growth, evolution, and fulfillment come through mental expression and rational analysis of objective truth. In past lifetimes, the person may have been idealistic and emotional in his/her thinking. Now he/she must use discrimination, and focus on the facts and figures in the here and now. He/she should follow his/her instincts of avoiding dogmas, creeds, religions, and higher philosophies. The person gains little from meditation, astrology, metaphysics, and any disciplines which are not verifiable through traditional science. The person suffers when he/she goes by faith and intuition. He/she does not fare well whenever he/she follows blindly. He/she must abide by his/her newfound skepticism, and make his/her way to the truth by way of logic and reasoning.

Happiness will be found in mental professions such as teaching, lecturing, debating, and writing. The person is a good salesman. He/she thrives on city life, and should be as active as possible. Public relations or co-ordinating -type careers are favored. During previous incarnations, the person could have been sentimental, philosophical, and too taken with theories, principles, doctrines, and conjectures. Now he/she must plant his/her feet firmly on the ground and embrace the notion that ‘what you sow is what you get’. The person should cultivate good relations with siblings and relatives. He/she must work on versatility and adaptability, and try to experience as much variety and ‘spice of life’ as possible. The person may often find himself thrust into situations that require great precision and attention to details.

The daily environment is important; long-distance travel is not. The person is well-advised to meet as many people as possible and continually expand his/her social life. He/she should avoid gambling or trying to predict the future, except through serious investigation and statistical research. The more he/she gains of useful information and practical knowledge, the happier he/she will be and the greater his/her growth and evolution. He/she must not allow his/her feelings and emotions to interfere when trying to understand an issue. The person should not concern himself/herself with broad viewpoints, abstract ideas, fanciful inspirations, and spiritual realities. He/she must learn through personal experience, not gurus and mentors.

It may be that the person is exceedingly blessed because he/she is making great evolutionary strides simply by living with physical reality. Perhaps he/she has had such unshakeable faith in previous lives that his/her only present necessity is to deal squarely with life as it is. The person feels no need whatsoever to inject meaning and significance into his/her existence through conceptual and philosophical beliefs. Certainly, the person with the Rahu in 3^rd has an easier time with practicalities than anyone else. He/she pays attention and quickly learns how things work here on planet Earth.

Rahu in the third house indicates an enormously strong will and an interesting personality. The person is courageous and adventurous. He/she works well with his/her hands, has intense cravings, and fulfills his/her desires easily. The Ketu in the ninth house may indicate troubles with religious or spiritual leaders. Or the person may have a guru or mentor who is strange, weird, occultish, extremely introverted, or invisible in a way or whom the native is unable to decipher or understand easily.