Ketu in Vedic Astrology
In Vedic astrology (Jyotish) Ketu, the south lunar node, is a chhaya graha, a shadow point rather than a physical planet. It is the significator of release and severance: the turning away from what is already known, the distilling of prior mastery, and the pull toward detachment and discontinuity. Where Rahu reaches for more, Ketu lets go, and whatever it touches it tends to thin out, question, or withdraw from.
But Ketu is read differently from the seven planets, and never from its sign alone. Having no light of its own, it is read largely through its dispositor (the ruler of the sign it occupies), the house it sits in, and above all the planets it joins, since it takes strongly on their character. Ketu co-lords one sign, Scorpio, together with Mars, who remains the primary lord; it owns no other sign, so it never carries two houses. Its dignity is genuinely disputed across the classical schools, so these pages give it a discussion rather than a verdict: you will not see a green “exalted” badge here, because the sources do not agree that there should be one. Each page explains the general placement first, then what changes it, so you can see where the general rule ends and your own chart begins.
Ketu through the 12 houses
The house shows the area of life Ketu thins, questions, and withdraws from, from the 1st house of the self to the 4th of home and belonging, the 8th of the hidden and the occult, and the 12th of loss and release.
Ketu through the 12 signs
The sign gives Ketu its register and, more importantly, its dispositor, the planet Ketu is read through. Because node dignity is school-disputed, these pages discuss rather than grade Ketu's exaltation or debilitation in each sign.
Your Ketu
Where is your Ketu, and what does it mean?
These pages explain Ketu in general. Cast your chart to see your own Ketu by sign, house, dispositor, and conjunctions, then ask Vyoma what it means for you.
See your Ketu→Casting your chart is free.
Sources & method: classical Jyotish principles including Brihat Parashara Hora Shastra, interpreted through VyomaVeda’s structured rules.