8rahu8′s Weblog

Definition of RahuThe Sanskrit name for the Dragon’s Head – the Moon’s North node. In Hindu mythology Rahu is a Daitya (demon) who possessed an appendage like a dragon’s tail, and made himself immortal by stealing from the gods some Amrita – elixir of divine life – which they obtained by churning an ocean of milk. Unable to deprive him of his immortality, Vishnu exiled him from Earth and made of him the constellation Draco: his head called Rahu, and tail Ketu – astronomically speaking, the Moon’s ascending and descending nodes. Using his appendage as a weapon, he has ever since waged a destructive war on the denouncers of his robbery, the Sun and the Moon, which he swallows during the eclipse. The fable is presumed to have a mystic or occult meaning. (v. Nodes, Moon’s.)