Rahu Transit in Krittika

Agni is the deity of Krittika, the Sun its lord, and a razor or a flame its symbol. The nakshatra begins in the last pada of Aries and runs through the first ten degrees of Taurus. The Sun is Rahu's enemy in the usual lists, and the eclipse is the old story of these two. Rahu in a star of fire is rarely quiet.

The stay runs around seven months, backward from the fourth pada in Taurus to the first pada in Aries. A direct spell of the true node can split it into two visits. Krittika's themes are cutting, cooking, purification, sharp speech and the father's authority. Rahu enlarges them into sudden severance, scandal around those in power, fever, and a hunger to be seen.

Ketu stands in Anuradha for the first half of the stay and in Vishakha for the second, which takes in the Aries pada. The axis pairs a Rahu that wants to burn what is stale with a Ketu that has lost interest in loyalty.

From the Moon, the Taurus padas favour Pisces, Sagittarius and Cancer, who hold Rahu in the third, sixth and eleventh. Taurus Moons carry it in the first, Scorpio Moons have Ketu there, and Gemini and Libra Moons take the twelfth and eighth. For the Aries pada the favoured signs become Aquarius, Scorpio and Gemini, and Aries Moons carry Rahu in the first. The lagna is read by the same count.

What the transit shows is one's use of the blade. Some cut what needed cutting long ago. Others cut in anger and spend a year mending. The eyes, the face and the digestion need care.

Durga is the deity to worship. Offer ghee to Agni at the evening lamp and recite Om Ram Rahave Namah. Parashara prescribes mantra and dana for Rahu; the traditional gifts are dark cloth, sesame and oil on Saturday. Avoid intoxicants and hot words alike.