Ketu Transit in Uttara Bhadrapada

Uttara Bhadrapada is Saturn's nakshatra in Pisces. Ahirbudhnya, the serpent of the deep, is its deity, and the back legs of a funeral cot its symbol. Mars counts Saturn neutral and Ketu takes Mars's relationships, so Ketu is neutral toward the lord, and Jupiter owns the sign and is a friend. Ketu is itself a serpent. It meets its own image here.

Around seven months pass in the stay, backward from the fourth pada to the first, and the true node's direct spells sometimes split it into two visits. Rahu stands in Hasta for the first half and in Uttara Phalguni for the second.

Depth, patience, renunciation held without bitterness and the counsel of one who knows the bottom are the themes. Sadhana begun in these months takes root and stays. Public life loses its hold, dreams grow instructive, and the person is drawn to water, to quiet and to the long practice.

Capricorn, Libra and Taurus Moons receive Ketu in the third, sixth and eleventh, the houses Phaladeepika names favourable. Pisces Moons carry Ketu on the lagna and Rahu on the partner, and should watch the feet, sleep and the marriage. Virgo Moons have Rahu on the lagna and Ketu in the seventh. Aries Moons hold Ketu in the twelfth and Leo Moons in the eighth; read the lagna by the same count.

Uttara Kalamrita names Ketu a karaka of moksha, and Pisces is the sign of moksha, so for a person of practice this is one of the most valuable transits of the cycle. The transit shows how deep a person is willing to go.

The remedy is Ganesha and Om Kem Ketave Namah, with meditation at a fixed hour before dawn. Parashara prescribes mantra and dana for Ketu, and the traditional gifts are a blanket, sesame or food for dogs on Tuesday.