Rahu transit in Aquarius (Ketu in Leo): the dates, and what it means for each Moon sign

This is the current position of the axis: Rahu in Aquarius, Saturn's airy fixed sign, and Ketu in Leo, the Sun's fiery one. On BPHS's main list Aquarius is Rahu's own sign, so this is the axis on which Rahu sits in the sign the text assigns it. For the nodes see Rahu in Vedic astrology and Ketu in Vedic astrology; for the signs, Aquarius, Kumbha rashi and Leo, Simha rashi.

The page sets out the computed dates and the rule, Moon sign by Moon sign. For where this pass stands for you today, the Gochar calculator gives each node's house, degree and verdict from your own Moon.

Dates: when Rahu is in Aquarius and Ketu in Leo

This app places Rahu at the mean lunar node and Ketu 180 degrees from it. The mean node only ever moves backwards (vakri in the classical word), so unlike Saturn or Jupiter it has no retrograde loops at a sign boundary and no re-entries: each stay in Aquarius below is a single interval. The window is 1990-2050.

The current stay began at 16:01 UTC on 18 May 2025 (21:31 in India, the same date) when Rahu left Pisces, and ends at 18:59 UTC on 5 December 2026, which is already 6 December in India. The previous Aquarius stay was 12 October 2006 to 30 April 2008; the next is 24 December 2043 to 12 July 2045.

Counted from your Moon: the house Rahu and Ketu fall in

The house is counted from the natal Moon (the Moon sign), with the Moon's own sign as the 1st; that is the convention of Gochara. Rahu in Aquarius and Ketu in Leo always land in houses six apart - 1st and 7th, 2nd and 8th, and so on. computeGochara() reads both nodes by the malefic rule: testing in the 1st, 4th, 8th and 12th, favourable in the 2nd, 3rd, 6th and 11th, neutral in the 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th. Separately it raises an "intensified" flag for Rahu in the 9th and Ketu in the 2nd.

Gemini Moons carry Rahu's flag (Aquarius is their 9th, neutral, with Ketu favourable in the 3rd) and Cancer Moons carry Ketu's (Leo is their 2nd, favourable) while Rahu in Aquarius is their 8th, testing. A Scorpio Moon has Rahu in the 4th (testing) and Ketu in the 10th; a Taurus Moon has Ketu in the 4th (testing) and Rahu in the 10th (neutral). Aquarius and Leo Moons each have one node on the Moon sign.

What the classical texts say about the nodes in transit

The corpus text that speaks most directly to a Rahu transit is Advanced Predictive Astrology Vol. II, pp. 317-318. Its rule: good when Rahu reaches the 3rd, 6th, 10th or 11th from the Moon (or Sun, or Ascendant); "very bad" when it crosses the Moon sign or stands 2nd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th or 12th from it. With Rahu in Aquarius, that puts the Aries, Taurus, Virgo and Sagittarius Moons on the good side and the Cancer, Leo, Libra, Scorpio, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces Moons on the bad side. Two rows differ from the engine outright. Aquarius is the 2nd from a Capricorn Moon - favourable in the engine, bad in the book - and the 10th from a Taurus Moon - good in the book, neutral in the engine. Both are reported; neither is averaged away.

The BPHS passage that names Aquarius uses it for the dasha, not the transit: "Should Rahu be in his exaltation Rasi etc." introduces the list of gains in a Rahu Mahadasha, and the conditions that follow are about the natal Rahu during its own period. For a transiting Rahu the corpus's rules are the house-from-Moon ones above, and nothing in them changes because Aquarius is Rahu's sign.

The sign itself: Aquarius with Leo opposite

BPHS Ch. 47 Sl. 34-39 1/2: "The own Rasis of Rahu and Ketu are Kumbh and Vrischik" - Aquarius for Rahu. The same passage adds that "some sages" give Rahu Virgo instead, and the Bhrigu Sutras call the subject "quite a controversy". The app keeps out of it: its dignity table has no node entries, and engine-facts reports Rahu in Aquarius and Ketu in Leo as neutral throughout. Aquarius's lord is Saturn and Leo's the Sun.

Natal readings: Rahu in Aquarius and Ketu in Leo. The own-sign term is in swakshetra.

Advanced Predictive Astrology adds a rule that uses aspects rather than houses: when transiting Rahu casts its 5th, 7th, 9th or 12th aspect on the natal Lagna, Sun or Moon, the book reads it as a warning sign, in strong language. Counted from Aquarius, those aspects fall on Gemini, Leo, Libra and Capricorn. The engine does not use node aspects in its Gochara reading, so this rule is reported as the book's and does not appear in the table.

Because this pass is under way, the degree matters more than the sign. The calculator returns each node's degree in its sign; for a backward-moving node a high degree means the passage has just begun and a low degree that it is nearly over - the reverse of Saturn or Jupiter. As 5 December 2026 approaches, Rahu nears 0 degrees Aquarius and Ketu nears 0 degrees Leo.

Saturn was in Aquarius just before this: in this app's Saturn dates it left Aquarius on 29 March 2025, about seven weeks before Rahu arrived on 18 May 2025, so the two did not share the sign in this pass. Saturn's transit has its own page and its own rules.

Worked example: a Gemini Moon from 2023 to 2028

Take a natal Moon in Gemini. Aquarius is the 9th sign from it and Leo the 3rd. The passes either side of today:

1. 1.30 October 2023 to 18 May 2025: Rahu in Pisces, the 10th from this Moon (neutral); Ketu in Virgo, the 4th (testing).
2. 2.18 May 2025 to 5 December 2026: Rahu in Aquarius, the 9th (neutral, flagged intensified for Rahu); Ketu in Leo, the 3rd (favourable).
3. 3.5 December 2026 to 23 June 2028: Rahu in Capricorn, the 8th (testing); Ketu in Cancer, the 2nd (favourable, flagged intensified for Ketu).

For a Gemini Moon the current pass is the quiet one of the three in the engine's terms: no testing verdict, one favourable node, and a flag on Rahu that the engine reports without changing the verdict. Advanced Predictive Astrology's Rahu list does not mention the 9th at all. The next pass brings Rahu into the 8th, a bad house in both sources. How any of it bears on a life depends on the full chart and the dasha; see the Rahu Mahadasha.

The pass before is Rahu transit in Pisces; the pass after is Rahu transit in Capricorn. Also through Aquarius: Saturn transit in Aquarius and Jupiter transit in Aquarius.

When does Rahu leave Aquarius?

In this app's computation, at 18:59 UTC on 5 December 2026 (6 December in India), moving into Capricorn. Ketu leaves Leo for Cancer at the same moment.

Is Rahu strong in Aquarius because it is its own sign?

BPHS names Aquarius as Rahu's own sign, in a passage about dashas. This app uses no node dignities, so in transit only the house from your Moon matters.

Which Moon signs have Rahu in Aquarius favourable right now?

Capricorn (2nd), Sagittarius (3rd), Virgo (6th) and Aries (11th).

Which Moon signs have Ketu in Leo testing?

Leo (1st), Virgo (12th), Capricorn (8th) and Taurus (4th).

How do I see where Rahu is today, to the degree?

The Gochar calculator returns each node's sign, degree and verdict from your Moon for any date, including today.

Which Moon signs have Ketu in Leo favourable?

Cancer (2nd, Ketu's intensified house), Gemini (3rd), Pisces (6th) and Libra (11th).