Mythology of the grahas

Sun

The solar deity is probably the most well known deity in the entire history and
field of mythology permeating every religion. Among the most famous story is
recounted of the radiance and effulgence of Surya – Sanjna (literally means
“consciousness”) the daughter of the divine architect Twashtar & the wife of
Surya could not stand the effulgence of her husband, Surya and waited for the
moment for Surya to be away doing his penance for her to hatch the scheme
of creating a duplicate of herself, Chaya (literally means “shadow”) while she
ran away to stay with her father, Twashtar. Before she left, she asked Chaya to
take care of her three children Manu Vivasvat, Yama & Yami. Not able to
stand her father Twashtar’s pleading to return to her husband, Sanjna ran to
earth as a mare to subsist on dry grass & practice penance. Meanwhile, Chaya
lived unsuspecting with the returning Surya and she too bore him three
children Manu Savarni, Sani and Tapati. Practising favouritism with her own
children over Samjna’s, Chaya unwittingly cursed Yama to lose his foot due to
Yama’s petulance. This caused Surya to suspect Chaya is not his true wife,
who fearing the worst, admitted the truth to Surya. Surya, angered, rushed to
Twashtar’s house demanding to vituperate Sanjna. Twashtar calmed Surya
explaining that Sanjna was virtuous practicing austerities as a mare subsisting
on dry grass but had simply found her husband’s effulgence too much to
tolerate. Surya pacified allowed Twashtar to lathe off the surfeit radiance to
the correct proportion and the balance effulgence was used to shape the
weapons of the Devas like the Sudarshan discus of Vishnu, the trident of Shiva
and the chariots of the gods. Surya then quickly left as a stallion in search of
Sanjna and the two reunited in passion and she gave birth to the twins, the
Ashvin Kumaras who were to become the celestial physicians and
compassionate helpers.

The solar dynasties of India, le Roi Soleil or King Louis the 14th French
Royalty, the English House of York all identify with and trace back to the
ancient heritage and lineage of the Sun. Hinduism has also been associated
with the Sun primarily because it is the only surviving ancient and relic
religion tracing back its primeval practices to ancient civilization.

In Hinduism, the dichotomy of akam and puram is best expressed in the

division of the Sun and Moon deities and in the two fundamental religions of
India ie Shivaism and Vaishnavism, the former relating to the Sun and the
latter to the Moon.

Myth - Moon

Like her consort Surya, Chandra also appears in many mythologies. In one
myth, the Moon was cursed with consumption by his father-in-law
 Daksha/Brahma when he placed too much attention and favouritism to
Rohini out of the 27 wives of Moon and daughters of Daksha. Fearing the
debilitating effects of consumption, the 27 daughters pleaded to Daksha to
restore the Moon but since the curse could not be totally removed, the Moon
wanes and waxes periodically to this day, half suffering and half recovering
from the curse of consumption.

In another story, Tara was not satisfied with her husband Jupiter and eloped
with the Moon and their dalliance produced the child Mercury. Despite being
an illegitimate child or bastard, Jupiter accepted Mercury as his own son due
to Mercury’s brilliant charm and intellect. The tale is an allegory of the need
for the mind or Moon to link with the shakti of knowledge or spouse of Jupiter
to produce intellect or Mercury. Without the mind of Moon, the rituals,
conventions, rules and ethics of Jupiter would seem empty and meaningless.

The Moon is personified as the Mother or Aditi. She is flowing with universal
kindness, accommodating tolerance, friendliness and sociability. She is the
great nurturer and nourisher with plenty of care and concern, full of affection
and consideration and is the symbol of fertility and the closest graha in
characteristics to humans and human events – the ebb and crest of success
and failure, the vicissitudes and vagaries, the waxing and waning moods and
sentiments. In the Tarot card, she is the Empress or card number 4
symbolizing fertility and productivity. She is also the Moon or Tarot card
number 18 which represents the biorhythms of life.

Myth - Mars

Mars is always symbolized in mythology as the warrior or courageous military

commander. The nakshatra Karthigai is presided by the deity Karttikeya
which is said to symbolize Mars as the warrior who defeated the tyrannical
asura Taraka. Born of the sweat and anger of Shiva from his third eye and
nurtured by Bumidevi or Mother Earth, Karttikeya was nurtured as an infant
in Saravana Bhavan or Forest of Reed in absolute secrecy and vigilant
protection by the seven sisters of Karthigai nakshatra or Pleiades. Such was
his aggressiveness and impetuosity that the seven sisters of seven heads and
one body became six heads by accident (thus, Karttikeya or Murugan was
known as Arumugam or “six” in Tamil). Until he was seven day old to fulfil
the prophecy of “a child born of no woman and seven day old” and entrusted
with the weapon of Mars, Karttikeya was able to vanquish the demon Taraka.
Thus, Mars is always suggestive of qualities like sweat, physical activity,
courage, anger, earth element, military, secrecy, vigilance, alertness,
protection, aggression, impetuosity, accident, weapons, battle against
negative elements and ailments, victory etc. This myth is a metaphor for the
belief that humanity originated from a single primal African man with a
determinate Y-chromosome and his seven female consorts with indeterminate
X-chromosomes who constitute the seven strands of mankind namely the
 Dravidians, Caucasians, Mayans, Orientals, Middle-Easterns, Polynesians and
Negroids.

Mars as Subrahmanya supposedly traveled from North to South India and

using the Vel or lance weapon sought out and defeated the immortal demon
Soorapadman who pleaded for mercy and became his vahana or vehicle, the
peacock. Thus, in the South of India, Karttikeya is known as Subrahmanya or
Skanda. “Murugan” as the Vaideeswaran or Shiva as medicine is the common
epithet in Malaysia. Vaideeswaran refers also to Mars’s eternal youth aspect.

The brawn of Mars or Murugan is however no match for the knowledge,

insight and intellect of Ganesha who outwitted his brother when asked to
search for the amrita of knowledge or to marry the bride of knowledge.
Murugan took off and went to all four corners of the universe while his
sibling, wise Ganesha knowing that the source of knowledge is found within
Shiva and Parvati simply circled nine times his parents and was granted the
boon of being wedded to the bride of knowledge.

Mars is also known for being the apparent cause of friction or problem in the
marital state due to hyperactivity or anger ie Manglikdosa or Kujadosha when
Mars aspects or is located in the 7th house. Mars as Shiva is mythologized as a
spiritual aspirant deep in penance and when disturbed in meditative focus by
Kamadeva, the Indian cupid, who tried to shoot an arrow of passion to bind
Shiva with his spouse Parvati, was reduced to ashes. Shiva was unlucky in his
first marriage to Sati who committed suicide due to the spiritual, ascetic and
hermit tendencies of Shiva.

Myth - Mercury

Mercury is born from the illegitimate dalliance of Moon and Tara, Jupiter’s
spouse ie the union of mind and knowledge’s shakti to produce intellect.
Mercury is typified as bisexual and dualistic. This quality is metaphorically
shown in the myth of Mercury’s marriage to Ida, the daughter of Manu and
granddaughter of Surya. Manu had performed rites to obtain a son but
because of a botched mistake, a girl Ida was born. Later through the
intervention of Mitra and Varuna, Ida became a man and was named
Sudyumma. Later, Sudyumma stepped accidentally into Parvati’s sacred
grove forbidden to all men and became a woman again. It was at this stage
that Mercury married her and bore him the son Pururavas who became the
first king of the lunar dynasty. After Pururavas was born, Ida prayed to be a
man again and her wish was granted by Vishnu and he as Sudyumma fathered
three sons before passing away. Thus Mercury is the dualistic hermaphrodite
who could accept both Ida and Sudyumma as his mutable consort.

Mercury is the youthful Hermes of communication, despatch, travel and

speech. Mercury literally means mercantile or merchant ie trade and
commerce and mercurial means swift and quick.
Myth - Jupiter

Jupiter and Venus are the Gurus or Teachers to the Devas and asuras
respectively. Although known as the greater and lesser benefic, Jupiter and
Venus are always depicted as at loggerheads. The tale of Kaca in the epic
Mahabharata accentuates this point. Jupiter got wind of Venus’s knowledge of
the Sanjivini vidya mantra which gave the asuras an unfair advantage over the
Devas because its chanting had the ability of reviving the dead. So Jupiter
hatched the plot to steal the knowledge of that mantra. He sent his son Kaca
to learn from Venus. Venus accepted Kaca as his student but was always on
guard not to reveal the secret of the Sanjivini mantra. Devayani, the daughter
of Venus, fell in love with Kaca and both were always seen serenading. The
asuras were not happy with the arrangement of Jupiter’s son learning under
their guru, Venus and plotted to kill him.

Each time when Kaca was alone, they trapped and killed him but each time
Devayani complained and Venus was forced to recite the mantra to resurrect
Kaca. The third time, the asuras decided to kill him and cremated his ashes in
the gourd of wine for Venus to drink thinking that this will get rid of Kaca
once and for all. Venus happily drank the wine presented by the gleeful asuras
but Devayani came back again crying for Kaca. This time, Venus recited the
Sanjivini mantra and Kaca called out from Venus stomach telling him that he
is inside Venus. Venus had no choice but to teach Kaca the Sanjivini mantra to
revive Venus when Kaca comes out of Venus stomach killing Venus in the
process.

Now that Kaca had obtained what he wanted, he begged to return to Jupiter.
Venus forced his love-smitten daughter to marry Kaca to prevent him from
returning to Jupiter. Kaca rejected Devayani’s proposal to which Devayani
cursed Kaca never to be able to use the Sanjivini mantra. However, now that
Kaca knew the mantra, he could teach Jupiter to use it and the odds in the
conflict between the Devas and asuras had once more been levelled.

Myth - Venus

Shukra & Vamana. The myths of Venus are almost as abundant as the Sun if
not for the fact that it is stated as the “other Sun”. Shukra or Venus is the
Guru of the Asuras in counterpoint to Jupiter, the Guru of the Devas. Shukra
was also renowned for his penance although he is the master of hedonism. In
one of Venus’ absences to practice austerities, Jupiter appeared and disguised
as Shukra and proceeded to convert all the nefarious qualities of the asura
followers. When Shukra eventually returned, all the asuras were
dumbfounded to see two Shukras and refused to believe that their returning
master was the actual Shukra!
 Shukra is also known as the adviser to the asuras and will defend his turf
against the Devas and Kshatriyas. In the story of the avatara Vamana, King
Bali and the asuras on the prescient advice of Shukra had conquered all the
three universes ie materialism had conquered the universe. The Devas were
beaten into total submission and sought the advice of Vishnu to restore
spirituality to its rightful place in the universe. King Bali, a Brahmin himself,
as also Shukra, had always respected Brahmin priests. Vishnu incarnated as
Vamana the dwarf priest and sought the audience of King Bali to ask a request
of the King to grant him a piece of land the size of his three steps. The King
immediately granted this wish in reverential deference to the Brahmin priest
and considering Vamana’s physical stature. The omniscient Shukra knew of
the trick and instantly transform to block the spout from pouring to begin the
ritual to allow Vamana to perform his three steps. Vamana knew of Shukra’s
intervention and poked the spout with a darpai grass to pour the waters
signifying the completion of the ritual to begin the three steps to pervade and
permeate the three universes of spirit, mentality and materiality with
spirituality. Goodness was eventually restored to the universe and the Devas
were returned to their rightful place atop the asuras. Shukra thence became
one eyed. As the saying goes “love is blind” or one must close an eye to the
faults of the beloved.

Shukra is worshipped to a fault by the Mayans and the edifice of the Mayan
calendar is based and founded on the synodic movement of Venus.

Myth - Saturn

Sani exudes fear in all its mythologies. Sani is the son of Surya and Chaya ie
born of the shadow or “chaya martanda” which explains its psychological
complexities. When he was born, his gaze fell on his father and caused vitiligo,
next on Surya’s charioteer who fell and broke his thigh and then finally on the
seven horses of Surya which became stone-blind. It was only when Sani’s gaze
left them when Sani retired to become a hermit that the Sun’s skin, the Sun’s
charioteer’s thigh and the horses eyes were healed. When Parvati gave birth to
Ganesha, she wanted to show her son to the visiting Sani but was politely
refused by Sani. Parvati insisted and Sani gazed with one eye causing
Ganesha’s head to be reduced to ashes. To prevent Parvati’s anger from
unbalancing the universe, Vishnu searched for the head of the first animal
which happened to be an elephant and cut-off to join to Ganesha’s head.

Robert Svoboda’s excellent book “The Greatness of Saturn” illustrates the tale
of a dispute between the nine grahas as to who was superior among them.
When they couldn’t decide they all went to Indra who was equally nonplused
to decide such an issue and pointed them to the wise and just King
Vikramaditya. King Vikramaditya asked them to narrate their greatness. The
Sun spoke of his rulership and grandeur, the Moon of his lordship of their
mind, emotions and senses, the Mars of his power and strength, vigour and
vitality, the Mercury of his brilliant charm and wit, intellect and eloquence,
Jupiter of his erudition and benevolence, principles and magnanimity, Venus
of his beauty and elegance, artistry and happiness, Rahu of his mastery of
destiny and science, Kethu of his enlightened state and insights into the
secrets of the universe and lastly Saturn’s ability to inflict suffering. While all
the grahas narrated at great length and breadth of their fortes, achievements
and uniqueness, Saturn’s narration was terse and simple. Saturn wisely knew
and realized that he was no match for the inborn talents of the others – he
was an old wizened lame slow mover handicapped with limping gait and had
needed perseverance and character to emulate the rest. King Vikramaditya
after great contemplation decided to sit all the grahas, the first seat made of
gold and the last of iron. Saturn knew that his seat was the last seat, the iron
seat and thus was recognized by the King as the inferior of the lot. Therefore
Saturn decided to curse the King and said, “The Sun stays in a Rashi for one
month, the Moon for two days, Mars for one and a half month, Mercury and
Venus for one month each and Rahu and Kethu for eighteen months only but
I Saturn stay in one Rashi for thirty months; I have made many gods and
kings suffer due to my power and influence. Many have been exiled and lost
their kingdoms. So as a king, you better beware of my wrath.” King
Vikramaditya responded, “Whatever be my luck, I shall face it.” And when the
time came to pass, King Vikramaditya suffered the most excruciating of
misfortunes and predicaments for seven and a half years courtesy of Saturn’s
sade sati. On completion of the seven and a half years, Saturn returned to visit
King Vikramaditya who was now remorseful for having slighted and insulted
Saturn. Instead of cursing or begging Saturn, he beseeched Saturn that such
misery should not be visited on any sentient being. Saturn pleased with his
selflessness bestowed on him the greatest of boon, the awareness of suffering
and happiness.

Another tale tells of how a king bought the humble image of Sani and installed
in his palace prayer room with reverence. All the other deities were unhappy.
At night he dreamed of a luminous woman going out of the palace grounds.
On enquiry, the king learnt that it was Lakshmi. She told that she could not
stay in the place where Sani is present. After some time a male image went out
and was told to be Kubera, lord of prosperity. Similarly, Dharma (Virtues),
Dheriye (Patience), Kshama (Pardon) and all others went out. When the last,
Satya (Truth) was going out, the king protested and said that because of his
faith in Satya, it was unfair for Satya to leave also. Satya, aware of the king’s
sentiment, therefore stopped. All the deities were waiting outside for Satya to
come out but when Satya did not come out, Dharma told that he could not live
without Satya and proceeded to go back to the palace prayer room. Similarly
all the deities followed suit and status quo was restored. They told the king
that only because of his devotion to Satya, Lakshmi and Sani and all the other
deities came to live together to the benefit of of the king and devotees.

In Western mythology, Saturn was known as the god of harvest and exalted in
Libra, the sign of harvesting. Saturn is the grim reaper that castrated and
overthrew his father Uranus and devoured his children for it was prophesied
 that one of them would destroy Saturn. In the end, he was eventually
overthrown by his son Jupiter which heralded the beginning of civilization.

Saturn is the personification of suffering. His gaze alone causes pain and
suffering. So much so that even Saturn himself suffers the ignoble reputation
of being considered the worst graha.

Myth – Rahu & Kethu

The myth of Rahu and Kethu and the churning of the ocean is probably the
most popular astrological myth. The story goes that the asuras under the
guidance of Shukra was winning the battle against the Devas. (The Asuras are
the materialistic deities while the Devas are the spiritual deities). Shukra had
learnt the Sanjivini vidya mantra and could chant the mantra to raise the dead
thus increasing the number of asuras in the battle against the Devas. Indra, on
the other hand, as the protector of the Devas was cursed by Durvasas, the
bedraggled sage because his elephant vahana, Airavata trampled on the sage’s
gift of scented garland.

Annihilation of the Devas seemed imminent. Brahma sounded the conch for
an emergency council and declared to all devas present that the only way to
stave off the impending rout was to imbibe the amrita or nectar of immortality
which is hidden deep in the ocean of milk and can only be obtained by
churning the ocean. But the strength of the Devas to churn out the ambrosia
from the abyss depths of the oceans was not enough. The monumental task
required the collaboration of both the Devas and asuras. A truce was agreed
but the asuras insist on receiving half of the amrita which gave immortal life.
Mount Meru or Mandara was chosen as the churning stick and Vishnu
transformed into the avatar Kurma the tortoise to serve as the pivot base of
the stick at the bottom of the bottomless ocean of milk. Vasuki, the serpent of
time also called Sesha or Ananta, was recruited to act as the rope that turns
the churning stick. On Brahma’s advice, the Devas cast herbs into the ocean of
milk and chanted. Then with the asuras holding the tail and the Devas holding
the head end of Vasuki, they began churning the ocean.

The head asura protested the insult that the asuras were beneath themselves
to hold the tail-end. Thus, the Devas and asuras switched sides and in
consequence, the arrogance of the asuras suffered the heat of Vasuki’s breath
holding the head-end. The first object to appear from the buttery broth was
hala-hala, the poisonous vapours which choke everyone. All Devas and asuras
fled scampering. Vishnu and Brahma tried to halt the poisonous vapours but
failed. They hastened to Mount Kailash to wake Shiva out of his meditative
trance for assistance. Shiva rushed to the scene and calmly drank up the
entire hala-hala vapour, the concoction of all wicked human hearts and evil
thoughts. Parvati, Shiva’s spouse, panicked and clamped Shiva’s throat from
swallowing. The poison got stuck in Shiva’s neck turning him turquoise blue
and Shiva was stuck with the epithet, Nilakanta the dark blue Deva.

Thus, the process of churning could continue and other wondrous objects
appeared like Kamadhenu, the wish-fulfilling cow which was given to the sage
Vishwamitra, Ucchaishrava the white horse was gifted to King Bali, Airavata
the elephant became the vahana or vehicle of Indra the Hindu equivalent of
Dionysus, Kaustubha the precious gem was to embellish Vishnu, the fragrant
paradise tree of life was heaven-sent to the maiden nymphs, the Moon became
the diadem of Shiva as crest on his head. Then Lakshmi the water goddess of
wealth, beauty and love appeared from the churning and became the consort
of Vishnu. Finally, Dhanvantari, the celestial physician appeared with his
kumbha or pot of amrita, the raison d’etre of all the hard work and
collaboration. The asuras greedily tried to snatch the kumbha of amrita all for
themselves but Vishnu quickly transformed into the grand seductress, Mohini
to distract their attention. It is said that the enchanted Brahma grew five
heads to watch Mohini from every direction. The asuras were tricked by the
power of Vishnu’s maya illusion and driven by desire, chased after her thus
losing their portion of the amrita. Even Shiva lost his senses and squirted
lingams all over earth and the union of Shiva and Mohini produced the
offspring, Ayyapan or Hari-Hara the deity which is the unison blend of Shiva-
Vishnu, a deity popularly worshipped in South India.

However, Vasuki, the snake as the pillar and the most intelligent of asuras,
created a “doppelganger” shadow of himself but as a replica of a Deva called
Svarbhanu, who had all the while stealthily observed events and pretended to
work hard but lazily did nothing, saw through the chicanery of Mohini, quietly
disguised as a Deva and queued alongside the Devas to imbibe the amrita.
Nobody, not even the all-seeing and all-knowing Devas and even Mr Vishnu
himself could detect the presence of Svarbhanu since he was just a shadow!
He alone single handedly and daringly stood singularly as the only asura
among the throngs of Devas awaiting their sip of the elixir ambrosia or Soma
amrita. When it was Svarbhanu’s turn to imbibe the amrita, Sun and the
Moon saw through the disguise, as befitting the all-seeing luminaries (shining
lights or eyes), and complained to Vishnu. Quickly, Vishnu, who had already
poured the amrita, threw his sudarshan chakra, the divine discus, to cut-off
the imbibing Rahu into two, the head becoming Rahu and the tail, Kethu. As it
was too late, the snake demon became the immortal Rahu & Kethu who
continue to haunt the whistleblowers, Sun and Moon annually during the
solar and lunar eclipses. Thus, at least twice a year or about four times
annually, Rahu and Kethu continually churn the soul and consciousness of
humanity via its eclipses by causing upheavals and cutting off what had been
gained.
The myth of churning of the ocean can be metaphorically and spiritually
explained as follows:

1. in imminent defeat, Brahma sounds the conch to find a last resort solution
- in times of trouble, we go to god
2. asuras were winning the war against the Devas – in the stereotype motif of
battle of good versus evil, evil nearly always win. Materialism or hedonism
versus spirituality will nearly always see materialism winning
3. the Sanjivini vidya mantra – the mantra of never-ending multiplicity of
desires. This mantra, in the myth, represents the ability to
revive/resuscitate or resurrect the dead and fallen
4. Indra insults the gift of Durvasas – even the virtuous can be vain and
suffer the consequence of overweening vanity
5. churning the butter from the ocean of milk – metaphor for the process of
meditation. One must work assiduously, suffer immensely, overcome
temptations and tirelessly persevere to obtain spiritual wealth
6. collaboration of the Devas & asuras – the need to acknowledge our dual
nature and to transcend the dualism. To achieve a common objective, we
must even unite our aspirations and basal desires and teamwork to
succeed. Even our enemies must be roped in to succeed. Teamwork and
the ability to work with the opposition is the secret to success. For upward
progression to arise, there must be a blend or combining of the akam
(Devas) and puram (Asuras). We must integrate and combine the spiritual
(Devas) with the material (Asuras), the idealistic and the practical, mind
and body, intention and action, aspiration and pragmatism in order to
spiral upwards.
7. Centering on the Kundalini spinal cord as depicted by Mount Mandara or
world mountain which is supported by the turtle or primordial reptilian
level of consciousness, the meditating aspirant fathoms the abyss of the
unconscious mind churning the ocean of consciousness. To obtain
spirituality, we must first have a basic material foundation to furnish the
requirements of our mooladhara chakra ie be physically nourished as
depicted by the turtle kurma. Then, we must obtain wisdom from
experiences of life as depicted by Vasuki, the world snake which represents
wisdom and depth of philosophical understanding
8. The Devas and asuras (the constructive and destructive elements within or
akam and puram combined to move up the spiral of life) work
harmoniously to bring siddhic powers or spiritual gifts to the surface or
light of consciousness as represented by archetypes such as the
Kamadhenu the wish-fulfilling cow, tree of life, dancing nymphs or
apsaras, the white elephant of mooladhara chakra, the white horse &
Lakshmi of anahata chakra, the vehicles or vahana of divine consciousness
trundling along and the Kaustubha gem adorning Vishnu as representative
of Visuddha chakra, the Moon on Shiva’s head crest as representative of
Ajna chakra, and finally the appearance of Dhanvantari and kumbha of
amrita as representative of the thousand-petalled Sahasrara chakra.
9. However, to enjoy these siddhic gifts of Kundalini, one must confront the
ascetic Shiva in penance within us to drink up the poison of our old karma
which have settled in the bottom of our souls. Only through drinking the
last drop of bitterness of the world, only through identifying with the
mythical saviours and martyrs do we transcend the mundane world of
desires
10. Vishnu transforms into the alluring Mohini – only through piercing the
veil of maya or illusion can we obtain the amrita of eternal spirituality
11. driven by desires, the asuras were tricked by Mohini – our desires create
the illusion to hinder us from understanding our true selves
12. Shiva unites with Vishnu as Mohini – Hari-Hara or Ayyapan is the deity
worshipped in South India as the embodiment of all the qualities of Shiva
and Vishnu
13. Svarbhanu or Rahu is most intelligent, has the ability to get to the root of
any issues, the great pretender to the throne and hypocrite, the politician
and manipulator, the indolent but shrewd, the pretender to the virtuous,
the insatiable greed and incorrigible, the one who maximises reward for
the least and minimum work, the most clever that he cheats the deities &
even Vishnu except the luminaries who represent the two eyes, the soul
and the physical body, Rahu is the great retaliator and revengeful also
seeking retribution of the Sun and Moon via its eclipses; Rahu’s deception
and cleverness gained the amrita just like the fake monks and priests who
control the scriptures. Rahu and Kethu had become the master of destiny
forever terrorizing the Sun as soul and the Moon as mind and body. Thus,
we must transcend the karmic masters, the nodes which afflict our soul
and mind-body.
14. Rahu is so deceptive and intelligent he even tricked the all-seeing and all-
knowing Devas with just being a mere shadow because Devas and humans
cannot see their own shadows.
15. we have to continually cut off the eternal snakes of hedonism and
materialism which blind us on the road to spirituality
16. our lives is a continual churning of the consciousness like the churning of
the ocean of milk
17. the snakes represent the karmic forces which bind us due to our desires
and actions which carry its consequences which stick permanently like the
imprint of the shadows
18.desire and karma are eternal and integral part of the human psyche
18. at least twice annually, the eclipses occur causing a churning, tumult,
chaos, upheaval and cutting-off of the soul and consciousness. Few people
escape these lessons except the spiritual and enlightened
19. essentially, the myth of churning of the ocean is the movement of the
Kundalini towards the Sahasrara chakra

Rahu and Kethu are God’s way to play tiddle with human incarnation and to
withhold the mysteries of life except for the initiate. Because of the nodes, life
cannot be predicted with 100 percent accuracy. The nodes imbue that bizarre
twist of fate and cast its long shadows to ensure that humanity do not receive
true knowledge except for the sincere initiate and deserving. The nodes cause
upheavals and churning of the consciousness in its upward movement along
the spiral of life. Life is unpredictable and precarious because of the nodes.

When Einstein said that God plays with dice when God manipulates the
universal laws, he is stating the characteristics of the nodes to twist and turn
and confound the greatest of human intellects. The nodes hide great mysteries
and unravel it at the appropriate moment to its deserving recipient.

The nodes are the foreign elements which disrupt the normal conventions of
life by rebelling and rioting against the establishment. They intrude into our
lives by introducing new elements which are either disruptive or innovative.
The nodes are borderless and international in perspective and view everything
from a worldwide stance – thus its impact, negative or positive, on a nation is
irrelevant for the nodes are concerned with the entire world and not a
particular nation.

The nodes on the personal level are the insatiable desires which can become
overwhelming and cause us to do illegal means to obtain our ends. Just like
Venus, Rahu represents desires which are never ending but unlike Venus,
Rahu’s desires can border on the extreme. It can lead some to rob a bank or
mercenarily kill for money. The nodes are the reason why the shrewd, clever
and cunning find ways to make the fast buck with the least effort or with the
most intelligent of devices. Unlike Saturn who doesn’t believe in shortcuts to
success, the nodes notably Rahu will work hard to devise the methodology to
earn the big bucks with leverage and the least amount of strife. Rahu
represent the criminals, the illegal trades, the pirates, the politicians and
manipulators of mass media who create the illusions and fictions of human
melodrama to the layman and masses. They have perfected the art of
hoodwink and get away with the booty and fame to boot. The Rahuites are the
“great personages” enshrined in our history books as supposed men of virtues
and values. Rahu realizes the verity that it is only the victorious who shape
history, not the truth that shapes history. The actual truth is a grand illusion
while historical truth is manufactured by the victorious. Remember the adage
that it is the victorious and not the truth which shapes history. Rahuites have
created religions, institutions, beliefs through their deception and will
continue to shape history. Our human history is a history of deceptions,
distortions, delinquencies and derelictions of the truth, cynics believe it or
not.

Rahu signifies many people especially the P’s whom we cannot trust ie the
politicians and prophets. For some others, it’s their p inside their trousers in
whom they cannot trust! The phenomena of religion and history of religion is
another aspect of Rahu in which the swaying of the masses and the
profiteering and reckoning impact cannot be denied. Many myths which
function to unravel the psyche of the individual mind had been incorporated
into as religious truths and historical facts to corroborate an entire fabricated
corpus to buttress their institutions.

Rahu enjoys swaying the masses and is the master of the mass media and the
art of propaganda.

Rahu is the deviant today, the establishment tomorrow and the milestone
yesterday. It is not truth which shapes history but the victorious who shape
history by their grand manipulative visions and distortions.

According to Madame Blavatsky, the grand dame of the Theosophical Society,

the Rahu-Kethu nodes are the repositories which hold hostage our minds
coiled in its Kalasarpic bind. The contents of our consciousness define its
boundaries and only thought leaders and insightful geniuses can, at the
appropriate and purposeful evolutionary times, manage to escape the veiled
boundaries of Rahu-Kethu’s impositions and reveal true innovations and
revelatory ideas and concepts which revolutionize mankind. While the Rahu-
Kethu coil enclose, envelop and encompass the past, present and future
knowledge and content of human consciousness, its long shadows leave an
indelible ethereal and intuitive imprint on all human thoughts, thought
processes and aftermath which is recorded in the akashic records. This
spherical boundary of human consciousness which contains all human
knowledge and actions past, present and future is technically known as the
“draconian tranverse.”

Rahu represents the imprints that we record our present karma or prarabdha
karma onto the akashic records and all past, present and future actions of
ours and all knowledge is contained within the draconian transverse. Rupert
Sheldrake postulated that all our actions and consciousness have a universal
quality owing to these imprint of our consciousness and action to where we
just left behind our thoughts and done deeds and these imprints are
intuitively and subconsciously understood and “absorbed” by other sentient
beings and become unconscious learning for others. Examples are the
“morphic resonance” of coordinated behaviour among animals, insects and of
rats in a maze. David Bohm, of the renowned Bohm-Krishnamurti talks,
postulates that we live in a holographic world of this earth as phenomenon
which our very own consciousness and senses shape the tangible world and
that this illusory or maya world of ours is a reflection of another actual world
which is the source of all as the Tao or noumenon. The phenomenal world or
explicate order as David Bohm defined is connected to the noumenon world
or implicate order via the link of akasha or ether. It is the thought process
which can connect through the ether to bridge to get to the noumenon source
and it is thought leaders or insightful people who can penetrate the veil of the
noosphere to get to its source. Rahu is significator of akasha as the etheric or
ethereal dimension or bahana sharira in Hinduism.
Rahu and Kethu are known as the dragons in Chinese mythology who engulf
the Moon as pearl in its mouth and as Sarpas or snakes of the underworld in
Hindu mythology who hoard treasures, possess immense wisdom and secret
knowledge to attain the Kundalini of enlightenment. These Sarpas are revered
and respected in the highest order because:

1. bearers of hidden knowledge, metaphysics and esoterica, hidden wisdom

and great secrets of life
2. cure, medicine, elixir to many ailments
3. power, source of energy, potency, dormant latency yet to be unleashed
4. kundalini shakti – key to enlightenment and awakening
5. key between man and Sun as the kundalini shakti
6. the DNA twisty slithery structure – the snake DNA gene of mankind
7. gatekeepers of deep ocean and deep bowels of earth
8. link between man and earth and ocean secrets of medicine and cures
9. gatekeepers of earth and ocean deep treasures
10. magnetic, hypnotic, mesmeric, charming, diplomatic, need a snake
charmer to charm the charmer with sweet beguiling music and vibration
movement
11. deceitful, dangerous, deceptive, forked tongue, deviant, source of deviation
12. bring you to wrong path, distorter, truth bender
13. veil of truth and only giving truth to deserving initiate at right time
14. poison is both and dualistically curative and death inflicting
15. revengeful, vindictive, retributive, biting, caustic, sarcastic, sharp,
penetrative, ironic, turn around and backstab, undermine
16. clever, cunning, sly, penetrative sharp incisive intelligence, shrewd, astute
17. possessor of akam and puram wealth, knowledge and material wealth
18. protector of medicinal wealth (sign of Hippocrates oath) and dollar sign
19. obscure, obscurantist, hidden, veiled, underground
20. slithery, escapist, elusive, difficult to catch, twisting & turning, bullshitting
& bluffology, slick, sophisticated, unconventional, not straight and
transparent path, underground and below radar, twisty movement
21. twisting and turning of bullshitting and of human destiny – the ups and
downs vicissitudes
22. cold & calculating (reptiles are cold blooded), taking the right time to
quickly bite and kill, appropriate time to go for the kill, lull patiently the
victim with swings of the head before going for the kill,
23. instinctive, intuitive , automatic reptilian brain
24. fear inducing, frightening, protective
25. possessor and protector of Kubera’s wealth
26. addictive, intoxicated, insatiable, attachment and possessive of the great
wealth of the earth, tied down to the earth
27. insatiable appetite – can eat more than his size, do not underestimate
28. can kill quickly with poison even an elephant with a small drop of poison,
potent, powerful
29. female hoarder and attachment to great wealth and treasures – female
aspect of puram keepers of wealth, magical shakti and potent powers
30. found in all human beings of reflective consciousness as kundalini shakti
ie ubiquitous and very important but only few can tap and activate the
kundalini shakti powers – powers of the feminine
31. protector of secret knowledge and great inner treasures especially moksha
32. serpents or Sarpas (sounds the same!) continually shed their skin in
continual process of death and rebirth and renewal. The ourobourus
marks the continuity of eternal life as we undergo process of
reincarnations to innovate and improve ourselves.
33. the serpents coil and attach themselves into a circular coiled rings of
containment which permits no release and no entry into the inner circle
34. serpents are known to have great powers, latency and magic like the sly
cunning woman
35. the serpents are instinctive, binding, boundary, limiting and forces us to
bind to our destinies and fulfill our destinies as though trapped in the
trappings of wealth, karma and fate
36. the serpents trap and bound us in materialistic attitudes and yet they are
ironically and dualistically the key and force to reach enlightenment. The
serpents are materialistic and bind us to the mooladhara and
svaddhisthana chakras as though life is one continual process of satiating
our material and physical needs.

What attributes of the nodes can we gather from the earlier mentioned myth
of the churning of the ocean?

1. the nodes excel in times of crisis, danger and opportunism. Danger is

opportunism.
2. the nodes can smell an opportunity from a mile away – great opportunist
3. in times of emergency and utter defeat, the nodes can come to the rescue
with their guile, wiles, cunning, cleverness, shrewdness, astuteness, super
intelligence
4. the nodes knew what they wanted and were not dissuaded nor seduced by
distractions – they were very focused, they were there to complete the
mission
5. the nodes had objective and way beyond normal ambition – they wanted
not just the amrita but everything
6. the nodes like all asuras suffer from arrogance and great pride and pride is
usually the root of downfall and the self is usually the cause of own
downfall
7. the nodes are never genuinely charitable and magnanimous – they will do
work or charity for something, for an ulterior motive
8. the nodes are the shadow of the Sarpa Vasuki – they are elusive, illusive
and great pretender and disguiser and covert operator that the Devas
except the eyes or the luminaries, the Sun and Moon, could see through.
They are the master conman and can create mirages which can fool
everyone including themselves! With their mirage, they love to distort the
truth and only the winners and not the truth seekers or upholders of truth
 who create history. History is not told or narrated but created. The nodes
are responsible for veiling the truth and presenting a version of the truth
9. the nodes can trick others but is seldom ever tricked by others; they have
great plans, they are good strategist, behind the scenes masterminds who
plot and ploy the chicaneries
10. the nodes will do anything scrupulous or unscrupulous, legal or illegal,
ethical or unethical, to achieve their aims
11. the nodes are immortal and masters of the universe – they are the only
asuras who have become immortal
12. the nodes not only want to be immortal but also seek moksha
13. the nodes are vindictive, revengeful and retributive – they continually
eclipse the Sun as consciousness and the Moon as mind about four times a
year as revenge for their whistling blowing just like UMNO on
whistleblowers Raja Petra and Tan Hoon Cheng
14. the nodes churn our consciousness to move up the spiral and not be
trapped in the circles of mechanical way of living
15. the nodes were cut into two by the Sudarshan discus ie the cutter effect of
the nodes especially Kethu
16.