Ketu Mahadasha

Ketu is the south lunar node — the natural significator of detachment, spirituality, sudden and unexpected change, past-life karma and liberation. Being a shadow planet, it colours the period with the qualities of the sign it occupies and the planets it associates with.

Ketu Mahadasha is a short 7-year period that can be sharply transformative. Results depend critically on Ketu's house, sign, and above all its association with the lords of the Ascendant, 4th, 9th and 10th houses. Well-linked Ketu bestows wealth, status and spiritual grace; an afflicted Ketu turns the period towards health strain, separation and inner unrest.

How house lordship shapes this period

• Ketu conjoined the Ascendant lord in an Angle or Trine → prosperity, comforts, recognition from authority.
• Ketu with the 4th lord in the 11th house → gain of property, land and material expansion.
• Ketu conjoined the 9th or 10th lord → fortune, career elevation and success in ambitions.
• Ketu in the sign of a well-placed planet in an auspicious house → benefic, harvest-like results, and a broadly good Mahadasha.
• Ketu in the 2nd or 7th house, or linked with their lords (Maraka) → health and relationship challenges requiring care and remedy.
• Ketu debilitated, combust, or in Trik (6/8/12) → loss of wealth, defamation, heart ailment and distress to family.
• Because Ketu is ever-retrograde, the period often brings change, reversal, and the recovery of lost position or possessions.

The nine antardashas of Ketu Mahadasha