‘Ketu’ in 1st house of birth chart

Hari Om!

The nakshatra of Ashwini.

The first nakshatra of the 27 nakshatras in the sidereal constellation system. The nakshatra lying within Aries and the nakshatra where the Sun is exalted.

Guess who is the ruler of this nakshatra?

The South Node of the Moon Ketu.

My approach is to try to comprehend the vedang jyotisha system like a coded puzzle. There are no coincidences here. Everything is the way it is for a reason.

It’s not a coincidence that there are 12 months and 12 signs of the zodiac. There are 12 months because there are 12 zodiac signs. There’s a logic to the design.

It’s not a coincidence either that there are 27 constellations and 9 planets with each planet ruling exactly 3 constellations. That’s part of the design as well.

So how can it be a coincidence that Ashwini.. ‘the first‘ is ruled by the South Node Ketu?

Here are a few significations of the South Node Of the Moon:

• It represents past life karma.
• It is a representation of Kaali… an energy that supersedes death itself?
• It is represented by Lord Ganesha… ‘the God of great beginnings‘.
• It is also represented by the first Avatar of Vishnu… the Matsya Avatar.
• It represents ancestors and family lineage… forefathers.. Pitris.

The South Node dear friends, is where we all came from. Without understanding the significance of the south node in the chart, it is impossible to tell the native what his life purpose is. So how do we decode the placement based interpretations of the south node Ketu through the 12 houses of a birth chart?

In this 12 part series on the South Node through the houses, I will cover the interpretations of the placement and the associated past life karma associated with this shadow planet. At the end of each part I will share the affirmation and life mantra associated with each placement that can help the natives with this placement work with the energies of the South Node exceptionally.

So Ketu in the first house… Where do we start?

Seriously, that’s what this placement is about…

“Where do we start?”

If you are familiar with electional astrology (muhurtas), you would know that no matter how great a muhurta is, the mere presence of the nodes in the Kendra houses(1,4,7,10 house) is enough to destroy the entire exercise of finding the muhurta in the first place.

When the nodes fall within the Kendra houses, as a rule of thumb is to realize that you must learn to surrender to a higher will at work in your life. Things could be exceptionally good and also exceptionally bad depending on your karma and the will of the divine.

When the nodes walk in, your will walks out. You yield all control and yet no control.

When Ketu is placed in the first house of the birth chart, the native is well aware of the potential he holds within himself. His problem throughout his life is the lack of understanding about the starting point.

He knows he can do this and do that and he’s good at this and that but he just doesn’t know where he should start and how he should exert his will. The only thing left to do in the end is to learn to surrender.

Interestingly, as soon as the native surrenders to the will of a higher power…

** Doors Open! **

• Any opportunities that weren’t visible before, appear suddenly.
• Any opportunities that were stuck before, resolve suddenly.
• Any challenges that seemed insurmountable, crumble suddenly.
• Anything that seemed impossible.. happens so easily and so fast.. it doesn’t seem real.

But try to exert your will with this placement and you will find that anything that can happen, will happen! Of course, you could still try to do that if other placements are well supportive and obviously, I’m a firm believer of free will and self expression.

However, this is a spiritual idea and people with this placement may have noticed so.

A some what accurate interpretation to this can be found in the story of the Matsya avatar found in the Yajur Veda:

One day, water was brought to Manu for his ablutions. In the water, there was a tiny fish. The fish stated that it feared being swallowed by a larger fish and appealed to Manu to protect him. In return, the fish promised Manu that it will save him from an impending flood. Manu accepted the request. He put the fish in a pot of water where it began to grow in size. Ultimately however, it became too big for the pot.

So then a ditch filled with water was prepared and the fish left in it to grow freely. Once again the fish grew steadily until it had become too big for the ditch. Then it had to be transferred to lake where once again it became so big that it became too big for the lake.

Finally, the fish grew bigger and bigger ultimately to be too big to be contained in smaller water bodies and big enough to be free from being eaten by other fishes. Manu thus transferred the fish into the ocean. The fish thanks him, forewarning him about the date of the great flood, and asking Manu to build a boat by that day, one he could attach to its horn.

On the predicted day, Manu visited the fish with his boat. The devastating floods came, Manu tied the boat to the horn. The fish carried the boat with Manu to the high grounds of the Himalayas and so Manu re-established life by performing austerities and by performing yajnas.

Ketu is like the fish in the tiny bowl. There is no limit to how much you can feed Ketu power, ultimately, Ketu will become too big for you to be able to feed it anymore.

The catch here is this: Ketu is what will lead you to liberation. 

In the first house of the birth chart, the self has been developed over many lifetimes and even in this life time, those patterns are visible in the independent and self aware nature of the native.

However, the lesson for the native to achieve salvation is to realize that the self must now be developed not through deliberate self development but oneness with existence itself.

The self may have been developed through conscious yogic practices or physical disciplinary practices in past lifetimes but in this life time, development needs to happen in the way of the Zen… being able to take any number of attacks from the blind side and still be able to fend off all of them.. while acting in the moment..

First house Ketu people and also people with the life path number 7, need to understand that they must build themselves up like the quintessential ‘peaceful warrior’. The will must be exerted and self confidence developed by nimbly dealing with the situations life throws at them. In time they will learn that self mastery comes from being able to tame their inner power to surrender to a higher power in times of trial and struggle while retaining the necessary force to do what is needed.

Towards the second half of their life, especially after the age of 47, these people will come to be admired for their great skill in dealing with pressure situations and finding superhuman strength and adaptability within their soul to stand up and deliver in situations no one else thought possible.

Some famous number 7s : John F Kennedy, Princess Diana, Julia Roberts, Leonardo DiCaprio, Marilyn Monroe, Queen Elizabeth.

Ketu in ascendant life mantra: “I surrender to the will of God.”

Ketu in ascendant life affirmation: “I am firmly on path to fulfilling my destiny.”

For a deeper dive into the topic, you can watch my video on Ketu in 2nd house and life purpose and destiny guidance:

Hari Om!

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