Ketu Transit in Hasta

Hasta is the hand, the Moon's nakshatra in Virgo, with Savitr as its deity. Mars counts the Moon a friend, and Ketu takes the Kujavat relationships, so the graha sits comfortably under the lord of the star. Mercury owns the sign and is an enemy.

The stay runs about eight months, backward from the fourth pada to the first, and divides into two visits when the true node runs direct for some weeks. Rahu stands in Revati for the first half and in Uttara Bhadrapada for the second.

Hasta rules craft, dexterity, healing touch, humour and the control of small things. Ketu is the karaka of skill carried over from before, and in Hasta that skill surfaces: a person finds their hands know something they were never taught, a craft, a script, a way of touching the sick. Work done by hand becomes a sadhana. Detail work should not be hurried.

Cancer, Aries and Scorpio Moons receive Ketu in the third, sixth and eleventh, the houses Phaladeepika names favourable. Virgo Moons carry Ketu on the lagna and Rahu in the seventh, and the digestion and the marriage are touched. Pisces Moons have Rahu on the lagna and Ketu on the partner. Libra Moons hold Ketu in the twelfth and Aquarius Moons in the eighth, and the lagna is read the same way.

The transit shows what a person can do without thinking. Savitr sets everything in motion and asks nothing of it, and Ketu in Hasta invites the same ease.

The remedy is Ganesha and Om Kem Ketave Namah, with the Gayatri at sunrise for Savitr. Parashara prescribes mantra and dana for Ketu, and the traditional gifts are a blanket, sesame or food for dogs on Tuesday. Give something made by hand.