Rahu Transit in Anuradha

Anuradha is Saturn's nakshatra in Scorpio, the sign of Mars. Mitra, the friend, is its deity, and its symbols are a lotus and an archway. In the usual lists Saturn is Rahu's friend and Mars its enemy, so by the dictum Shanivat Rahu, Rahu is at ease in Saturn's star and Mars's sign keeps it on guard.

The stay is around seven months, backward from the fourth pada to the first. Measured as the true node, Rahu sometimes runs direct for a few weeks, which splits the stay into two visits. Friendship, devotion, alliance, foreign residence and the discipline that makes a lotus grow in mud are the themes.

Rahu enlarges alliance. Friendships form across borders and groups gather around a cause, and a person may find a guru, or a false one. Ketu stands in Rohini during the first half of the stay and in Krittika during the second, withdrawing from comfort.

From the Moon, Virgo, Gemini and Capricorn hold Rahu in the third, sixth and eleventh, the houses Phaladeepika names favourable. Scorpio Moons carry Rahu in the first and should watch the reproductive system, the company they keep and their trust. Taurus Moons have Ketu in the first and Rahu in the seventh. Sagittarius and Aries Moons take the twelfth and the eighth, with the same count read from the lagna.

The transit shows whom a person calls a friend, and why. Mitra keeps faith, and Rahu tests each bond for what it was built on.

Light a sesame oil lamp on Saturday for Saturn, whose star this is, and worship Durga with Om Ram Rahave Namah. Avoid intoxicants. Parashara's dana for Rahu, dark cloth, sesame and oil on Saturday, goes well with a meal shared with an old friend.