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Sarpa Dosha: Ketu in 1st, Rahu in 7th


Sarpa Disha is planetary combination when Ketu is placed in 1st house, and Rahu in 7th. These archetypes are as old as the world itself and sometimes we can find their depictions in literature such as the fairy tale of the Little Mermaid by Danish author Hans Andersen. ”The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a human soul. (Wikipedia)”


Welp…let’s dissect…


Ketu in a 1st house affects the physical body of the person, personality, and represents the life of a person in a seed form, how he or she will interact with the world. It is the most important house in the chart. Ketu is a tail of a dragon in Vedic mythology, often associated with fish. Mermaid as we know was a half human, half fish. Little Mermaid lived in underwater kingdom with her widowed father. Ketu in 1st often points to the idea of coming from two a background where parents are of two different backgrounds, one half belonging to one, and the other half of the person belonging to the other.


This idea of being split in half, having two natures, one of Ketu and one of Rahu is very descriptive of Ketu/Rahu combination in 1/7 houses. Mermaid was half fish, half human.


Rahu in 7th is associated with illusion, infatuation, and loosing yourself in partnerships. This is exactly what happened to mermaid. She saw a prince, a human, someone from a different background all together and fell in love with him. The story goes that violent storm hits the the ship the prince is on, mermaid saves him from drowning, but to her dismay, prince never sees her and even realizes it wad her who saved him. It’s very frequent experience of people with Ketu in 1st: being not noticed, missed, and feeling invisible even, not recognized.

The Little Mermaid finds a human statue under the sea and treasures it.

Little mermaid becomes melancholic because of it. She is longing for prince, infatuated by desire, feeling as if partnership with prince will make her whole and complete. This is a typical Rahu in 7th illustration, as people with this combination feel like the partner is a missing half, missing element in life. They are prone to loosing themselves, being infatuation by other, falling for someone who is from completely different background, which makes the partnership difficult.


Little Mermaid goes to the Sea Witch in a dangerous part of the ocean and asks for potion that would give her human legs. Using magic and tricks to change the situation is also Rahu signification. The witch warns her that once she uses the potion, she will never be able to return to the sea, and feel human legs will feel like she is walking on sharp knives. Desire to get the prince at all costs makes her agree to this arrangement. Rahu in 7th makes people loose their head, and themselves for the desire to have a partner.


However, prince marries a human princess and Little Mermaid turns to sea foam as Sea Witch warned about. The story continues: “Her body dissolves into foam, but instead of ceasing to exist, she feels the warm sun and discovers that she has turned into a luminous and ethereal earthbound spirit, a daughter of the air. As the Little Mermaid ascends into the atmosphere, she is greeted by other daughters, who tell her she has become like them because she strove with all her heart to obtain an immortal soul. ”


This desire for immortality was the driving force of demon Svarbhanu in Hindu mythology, who got cut in half by Vishnu. In fact this is the very reason Rahu and Ketu came into existence.


The conclusion that we can draw from this story for those who do have this combination affecting their 1/7 axis in Rashi chart or Navamsha is this: do not loose yourself, your nature, who you are for the desire to be with another. Respect where you are coming from. The partnership is just an illusion of wholeness and it might take a life time to realize. You are whole, complete, and perfect just as you’re. Self sacrifice will not be appreciated by the other and more often than not will not be noticed.

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