Rahu Enters Capricorn, Ketu Enters Cancer: December 2026

Rahu and Ketu, the two nodes of the Moon, always stand exactly opposite each other and always move backwards through the zodiac. Every eighteen months or so they change signs together. The next change comes on Saturday 5 December 2026 at 22:32 IST, when Rahu leaves Aquarius for Capricorn and Ketu leaves Leo for Cancer. They will stay there until 24 June 2028, when Rahu moves on into Sagittarius.

What the nodes are

The nodes are not bodies in the sky. They are the two points where the Moon's path crosses the Sun's path, and they matter because eclipses happen only when the Sun and Moon are near them. Rahu is the north node and Ketu the south node. The site's ephemeris follows the mean node, the smoothed position most Indian almanacs use. Some almanacs follow the true node, which wobbles around the mean, so dates for the nodes can differ by hours or even days between sources. Drik Panchang lists 19:28 IST on the same day, 5 December, for Rahu's entry into Makara (Capricorn).

Because the nodes move steadily backwards, they never "turn" retrograde or direct as the planets do. Rahu entered Aquarius on 18 May 2025, so this change ends a stay of a little over eighteen months.

What the classical texts give them

Here the honest answer is: less than for the planets. Varahamihira's Brihat Jataka, which the site uses for the meaning of each planet in each sign, gives Rahu and Ketu nothing in the signs, and the site's reports do not invent a reading for them. Nor does the site make a node the lord of any house when it reads a chart: a node speaks for the sign it stands in and that sign's lord. What the tradition does give them is a place in the gochara table: like Saturn and Mars, the nodes are counted as helpful in the 3rd, 6th and 11th houses from the Moon sign, the houses of effort, overcoming obstacles and gains, and as trying elsewhere.

In the site's phrase banks, Rahu in a helpful house "can amplify ambition, gains and unconventional success", while elsewhere it "can scatter focus and create confusion or anxiety". Ketu in a helpful house "favours detachment, research and spiritual progress"; elsewhere it "can bring detachment, losses or unexpected separations", and the advice is to avoid impulsive cuts.

The axis for the next eighteen months

The new axis runs Capricorn–Cancer. Cancer is where the Moon is at home and Jupiter is exalted; Capricorn is Saturn's sign. Jupiter itself returns to Cancer between 25 January and 26 June 2027 (see our article on Jupiter's return to Cancer), so for five months Jupiter and Ketu share that sign.

Your Moon sign

Count from the sign the Moon was in at your birth, your sign being the 1st; a free birth chart shows it. Rahu's house is named first, then Ketu's, which is always the seventh house from Rahu's. This is general guidance for a Moon sign; the nodes' effect in any one chart depends greatly on the dasha running and on the lords of the signs they occupy.

Aries Moon (Mesha). Rahu is in your 10th house and Ketu in your 4th. The 10th is not one of Rahu's favourable houses: ambitions at work grow restless, so keep goals clear. Ketu in the 4th asks for patience with matters of home.

Taurus Moon (Vrishabha). Rahu is in your 9th house and Ketu in your 3rd. The 9th is not one of Rahu's favourable houses, so take care over beliefs and advisers; Ketu in the 3rd is a helpful house for it, and courage comes quietly.

Gemini Moon (Mithuna). Rahu is in your 8th house and Ketu in your 2nd. The 8th is not one of Rahu's favourable houses: caution with shared money, loans and risk. Ketu in the 2nd asks for care with speech and savings.

Cancer Moon (Karka). Rahu is in your 7th house and Ketu in your 1st. The 7th is not one of Rahu's favourable houses, so keep agreements and partnerships clear. Ketu over your own sign can make you withdrawn; stay grounded.

Leo Moon (Simha). Rahu is in your 6th house, a favourable house for Rahu, and Ketu in your 12th. Competition and daily work go your way; Ketu in the 12th suits retreat, charity and spiritual practice.

Virgo Moon (Kanya). Rahu is in your 5th house and Ketu in your 11th. The 5th is not one of Rahu's favourable houses, so avoid speculation; Ketu in the 11th is a helpful house for it and favours quiet gains.

Libra Moon (Tula). Rahu is in your 4th house and Ketu in your 10th. The 4th is not one of Rahu's favourable houses: peace at home needs tending. Ketu in the 10th asks you not to make sudden changes at work.

Scorpio Moon (Vrishchika). Rahu is in your 3rd house, a favourable house for Rahu, and Ketu in your 9th. Initiative, writing and short journeys are well supported; Ketu in the 9th turns the mind to study and pilgrimage.

Sagittarius Moon (Dhanu). Rahu is in your 2nd house and Ketu in your 8th. The 2nd is not one of Rahu's favourable houses, so watch spending and words; Ketu in the 8th favours research but asks for care with health.

Capricorn Moon (Makara). Rahu is in your 1st house and Ketu in your 7th. Rahu over your own sign is not one of Rahu's favourable houses: focus can scatter, so keep routines steady. Be patient with partners.

Aquarius Moon (Kumbha). Rahu is in your 12th house and Ketu in your 6th. The 12th is not one of Rahu's favourable houses: watch expenses and sleep. Ketu in the 6th is a helpful house for it and helps you clear old problems.

Pisces Moon (Meena). Rahu is in your 11th house, a favourable house for Rahu, and Ketu in your 5th. Gains through networks and unconventional paths are supported; Ketu in the 5th asks for patience with children and study.

Observances

The tradition's correspondences for the nodes, as the site keeps them: Rahu's deity is Goddess Durga, its mantra "Om Rahave Namah", and the customary gifts are mustard oil, blankets or coconut, with feeding stray dogs. Ketu's deity is Lord Ganesha, its mantra "Om Ketave Namah", and its gifts are multi-coloured cloth or sesame, with care for dogs. Hessonite (Gomed) and cat's eye (Lehsunia) are the nodes' stones, and the site's reference says to wear either only on an astrologer's advice for your own chart.

Eclipses fall near the nodal axis, and the tradition keeps them for reflection and prayer rather than for beginnings. The day's tithi and nakshatra are on the panchang page.

Use the tools

• Where the nodes fall in your own chart, and whether Kaal Sarp Dosha is formed: free birth chart.
• Your horoscope for 2027, whose yearly reading names each slow planet's house with its dates.
• A good day for a beginning: the muhurta finder.

General guidance for a Moon sign, not a personal reading.