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

Rahu in Leo puts the node in the Sun's sign and Ketu in Aquarius, a Saturn sign - the same Sun-Saturn polarity as the Cancer-Capricorn axis next to it, shifted by one sign. It is also the axis on which Ketu occupies the sign BPHS names as Rahu's own. Background: Rahu in Vedic astrology, Ketu in Vedic astrology, Leo, Simha rashi and Aquarius, Kumbha rashi.

As on every transit page here, the content is a computed timetable and a named rule. To apply the rule to your Moon sign on a given date, use the Gochar calculator; nothing on this page is a personal forecast.

Dates: when Rahu is in Leo and Ketu in Aquarius

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 Leo below is a single interval. The window is 1990-2050.

Rahu entered Leo at 22:13 UTC on 29 January 2016 - 03:43 on 30 January in India - coming from Virgo, and left on 18 August 2017 for Cancer. The 1997-1999 stay is the earlier pass in the window. The next, 5 September 2034 to 24 March 2036, comes after Rahu's run back through Capricorn, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Libra and Virgo.

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 Leo and Ketu in Aquarius 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.

Here the Capricorn Moon has Rahu in the 8th (testing) and Ketu in the 2nd (favourable, Ketu's intensified house) - two nodes, two opposite verdicts. The Sagittarius Moon has Leo as its 9th, Rahu's intensified house, with a neutral verdict. A Leo Moon has Rahu on the Moon sign and an Aquarius Moon has Ketu on its own. For a Scorpio Moon Rahu is in the 10th (neutral) and Ketu in the 4th (testing).

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 Leo, that puts the Gemini, Libra, Scorpio and Pisces Moons on the good side and the Aries, Taurus, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Capricorn and Aquarius Moons on the bad side. Two rows differ from the engine outright. Leo is the 2nd from a Cancer Moon - favourable in the engine, bad in the book - and the 10th from a Scorpio Moon - good in the book, neutral in the engine. Both are reported; neither is averaged away.

Advanced Predictive Astrology says Rahu's transit over the natal Sun "cause[s] worries" for the father. That is a degree-level contact with the natal Sun wherever it is, not a rule about the sign Leo, and the engine does not compute it; it is reported here because readers often assume Rahu in the Sun's sign carries the same meaning. In the engine, Rahu in Leo is read only by house from the Moon.

The sign itself: Leo with Aquarius opposite

By BPHS Ch. 47 Sl. 34-39 1/2, "the own Rasis of Rahu and Ketu are Kumbh and Vrischik" - so on this axis Ketu sits in Aquarius, the sign the text gives to Rahu, while Rahu sits in Leo, which the text gives to neither. The Bhrigu Sutras acknowledge "quite a controversy" over these assignments, and this app does not use them: engine-facts reports both Rahu in Leo and Ketu in Aquarius as neutral. Leo's lord is the Sun; Aquarius's is Saturn.

Natal readings for these positions: Rahu in Leo and Ketu in Aquarius. For the own-sign term, see swakshetra.

One structural fact about this axis is easy to check from the table: each Leo stay is 566 days, and Rahu returns to Leo after about eighteen and a half years - 1997, 2016, 2034 - which is the nodal cycle the Bhrigu Sutras' rate of 19 degrees 20 minutes a year implies. Saturn's and Jupiter's cycles do not line up with it, which is why the three slow transits through Leo fall on different years.

That cycle has a practical consequence. Someone born during the 1997-1999 stay has natal Rahu in Leo, so the 2016-2017 stay was their nodal return and 2034-2036 will be the next. Advanced Predictive Astrology says two things about such a return in the same section: that the nodes give poor results passing over the signs they held at birth, and that the 1.5-year return of transit Rahu to its natal place proves "quite rewarding" when natal Rahu is strongly placed. The book leaves the two side by side; the engine computes neither, and this page does not choose between them.

Worked example: a Capricorn Moon from 2014 to 2019

Take a natal Moon in Capricorn. Leo is the 8th sign from it and Aquarius the 2nd. The run of three passes:

1. 1.12 July 2014 to 29 January 2016: Rahu in Virgo, the 9th from this Moon (neutral, flagged intensified for Rahu); Ketu in Pisces, the 3rd (favourable).
2. 2.29 January 2016 to 18 August 2017: Rahu in Leo, the 8th (testing); Ketu in Aquarius, the 2nd (favourable, flagged intensified for Ketu).
3. 3.18 August 2017 to 7 March 2019: Rahu in Cancer, the 7th (neutral); Ketu on the Moon sign, Capricorn, the 1st (testing).

For this Moon the "testing" verdict moves from Rahu to Ketu as the axis advances: Rahu is the testing node in the Leo step, Ketu in the Cancer step. Advanced Predictive Astrology would mark the Leo step bad for Rahu (the 8th) and the Cancer step bad as well (the 7th), where the engine says neutral. The dasha running alongside shapes how either is read; see the Rahu Mahadasha.

Before Leo the node is in Virgo, after it in Cancer: Rahu transit in Virgo, Rahu transit in Cancer. Saturn and Jupiter through Leo: Saturn transit in Leo, Jupiter transit in Leo.

When is Rahu next in Leo?

In this app's computation, 5 September 2034 to 24 March 2036 (UTC), with Ketu in Aquarius. The last stay was 29 January 2016 to 18 August 2017.

Is Aquarius Rahu's own sign?

BPHS Ch. 47 says so (with Scorpio for Ketu). On this axis that puts Ketu, not Rahu, in Aquarius. This app does not apply node dignities.

Which Moon signs have a testing Rahu in Leo?

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

Does Rahu in the Sun's sign affect the father?

Advanced Predictive Astrology ties worries about the father to Rahu crossing the natal Sun, a degree contact in any sign. It says nothing of the kind about the sign Leo, and the engine does not compute it. Your own house reading is in the Gochar calculator.

Why is the 2016 ingress dated 29 January on one site and 30 January on another?

This app's ingress is 22:13 UTC on 29 January 2016, which is already 30 January in India. Different node models and ayanamsas can move it further.

Which Moon signs have Ketu in Aquarius favourable?

Capricorn (2nd, also Ketu's intensified house), Sagittarius (3rd), Virgo (6th) and Aries (11th). Ketu in Aquarius is testing for Aquarius (1st), Pisces (12th), Cancer (8th) and Scorpio (4th) Moons, and neutral for the rest.