South Node Eclipse Remediation + Rituals

In my other Eclipse Misconceptions post, I talked about how Eclipses are not good times to perform typical Full Moon rituals having to do with abundance, growth, or protection. In this post, we’ll talk about some appropriate mundane and ritual activities to do during Eclipses. South Node eclipses specifically, since one is happening in Aquarius today (when posted, on July 27th.)

Ketu is the Vedic term for the descending Lunar Node, AKA Dragon’s Tail. The Vedic tradition works a lot with the Nodes and offers us much in the way of lore and remedial guidance.

But first, why bother? Because the Eclipse is happening somewhere in your chart, and in the world. Eclipses are big doses of negative energy, and working with them intentionally will help reduce potential ill-effects. It makes the most of a bad transit, and can improve your real-time experience and emotional state.

The Effects of Ketu

Ketu at its best offers clarity of thought and action, grants spirituality, and helps cleanse and purify. At worst, it utterly deprives, stripping away that which we need to sustain ourselves and our lives, and can cause mental illness. Working with the South Node intentionally will help safeguard your body, possessions, and loved ones, while also helping clear your mind and heart of negativity and delusion. A win-win, if you ask me!

Associations, Altars, and Ritual Activities

Magically, Ketu is associated with black items and foods. Good offerings include black cloth, cooked black rice, and black sesame seeds. Activated charcoal and black salt, both of which absorb negativity, would also be appropriate to offer or place on a Ketu altar, an example of which could include:

• Black altar cloth (or in a pinch, a black piece of paper to place the items on)
• Virgin candle, white or black
• Bowl of salt water
• Cat’s Eye (the stone used for Ketu remediation)
• Bowl of black rice or black sesame seeds as an offering
• Incense
• An image or statue of Lord Ganesha, the deity associated with Ketu, and offerings for him specifically. He likes bananas and coconuts, but appreciates many fruits and foods, and also conch shells.

As far as a ritual process goes, I recommend taking a pre-game salt bath. This is remedial in and of itself, but it also cleanses your body and energy, and Ketu likes clean things and clean people. Put on clean clothes or be nude. If smudging is your thing, go for it – for extra credit, use dharba grass.

Light the candle and incense and listen to or chant Ketu mantras while meditating, simply being with the altar. When you’ve had your fill (or more aptly, sufficiently emptied!), pray aloud to Lord Ketu. An example script could be:

Lord Ketu! Bringer of clarity and purification! I have set this altar and prepared this offering of black rice and sesame seeds for you! Please accept it and grant me your blessings of enlightenment, and a clear heart and mind. Only remove that which brings delusion and negativity. I pray for your blessings, and thank you for them!

If you also have Lord Ganesha on your Ketu altar, make sure to give him his own prayer and dedicated offering. If you already work with Ganesha and he has a place in your home, South Node Eclipses are a good time to clean and feed him.

Leave the food offerings out overnight, and then remove them the next day. It’s generally not a great idea to let food and beverage offerings rot on an altar, but Ketu’s preference for cleanliness and freshness makes it an even bigger insult if the offerings go bad.

Other ritual activities suitable to Eclipse times include:

• Banishing
• Smudging and energetic cleansing
• Tie/ cord cutting
• White spirit baths, as per Lucumi and similar traditions
• Triple Purification of Asclepius ritual, or using any of the items from the Asclepius series. These help cleanse and transform toxic energies.

What you want to avoid are rituals and magic intended for financial, material, or physical gain. Those are the type that will likely backfire.

Mundane Activities for Eclipses

Taking salt baths can be a ritual activity, or just a mundane action. Either way, they are the primary remedial action I always recommend during Eclipses.

Cleansing, organizing, and getting rid of old things are great Eclipse activities. Clean your house, garage, closets, car, or office desk. Get rid of clutter and old things you no longer have a use for. Bust out your copy of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, or order it at this time.

Eclipses can be great opportunities to get RID of things and people you no longer want in your life. If there is a big project you’ve been avoiding and need to get done, and you’re feeling productive, it may be a good time to tackle that and do yourself the favor of getting it off your plate. Give yourself a literal or metaphorical enema.

Or, give yourself the day off! Eclipses very often result in lack of energy and motivation. Breathe deeply. Drink water. Meditate. Fast (or eat lightly and healthily). Reduce exposure to Eclipse light. Be kind to yourself. Rest 🙏

Any and all of these suggestions can be done during the live Eclipse window, but are also good to enact until the Moon leaves the sign in which the Eclipse occurred. The Moon leaves Aquarius and enters Pisces on Sunday, July 29th at 4:30PM Pacific Daylight Time.

Note that the next New Moon in Leo is also an Eclipse. Usually they occur in pairs, but this time around there are three in a row. That Eclipse will be on Rahu, AKA the North Node. I will prepare a similar article with ritual and remediation suggestions for Rahu Eclipses as well and post it in the coming week.