Rahu and Technology: a Vedic glimpse into Digital Art.

In Vedic tradition, astrology (Jyotiṣa) means “light”: a tool for prediction, but more so a path of knowledge that reveals the rhythms of the cosmos and the human being.

The planets (graha) are archetypes shaping both psyche and reality, while Rahu and Ketu, the lunar nodes, are mathematical points.

Rahu, the head of the invisible lunar axis, is depicted as a serpent without a body.

His counterpart, Ketu, is the headless body, a torso and feet without a mind.

Together they form the two lunar nodes, the points where the paths of the Sun and Moon intersect. It is at these points that eclipses occur, moments when light is swallowed by shadow. In myth, Rahu is said to “devour” the Sun and Moon, casting temporary darkness - an act that reveals his deeper meaning as a force that disrupts, conceals, and transforms.

Together they form the karmic axis, pushing the soul to face unresolved patterns and evolve. From this lens, Rahu can also be understood as an archetype of our time, reflected in technology and digital art, modern forms of maya through which humanity continues to dream, create, and expand consciousness.

In the Purāṇic myth, Rahu was an asura who disguised himself as a god to taste the nectar of immortality. Exposed by the Sun and Moon, he was decapitated by Viṣṇu, yet having already drunk a drop, he became immortal. A head without a body, eternally eclipsing the light. Ketu, the severed body, became its own cosmic power. Rahu thus symbolizes insatiable desire, transgression, and the breaking of order.

On a symbolic level, Rahu represents the very reason for our rebirth. The image of the serpent in fact recalls the umbilical cord: just as the fetus remains bound to the mother for nine months, Rahu is the vector that connects us to matter, holding us and binding us to the cycle of births. Not by chance, astrological texts say that Rahu gains strength in hidden places, moving like a serpent in the shadows. Tradition also considers him particularly powerful in the earth sign of Virgo (Kanyā), where the serpent finds nourishment among the grass.

Ketu, by contrast, is the way of release. He points to detachment and liberation (moksha). Together, they form the karmic axis that propels the soul to confront shadow and evolve.

Even if it's not a planet, Rahu’s influence is among the strongest. He creates desire, obsession, sudden attraction, illusion, but also innovation and breakthroughs. His power lies not only in darkness, but in the lessons it forces us to face: to confront attachment, to learn detachment, and to transcend the lower desires that hold back spiritual growth.

Rahu as the archetype of technology

Rahu finds a clear parallel in modern technology.

As Rahu is the master of illusion, so technology creates vivid simulations: virtual reality, deepfakes, avatars etc, that captivate the senses and veil direct perception, much like an eclipse. At the same time, both embody the urge to cross boundaries.

Rahu transgresses, technology pushes the boundaries of progress, expanding human potential into artificial and virtual realms.

Rahu is also desire without end, and in this we see the engine of technological progress: the pursuit of immortality, limitless knowledge, global connection. Seen this way, Rahu is the perfect archetype of technology , both generate powerful illusions, and both mirror humanity’s restless drive to go beyond the known.

Māyā and Technology in a Non-Dual Perspective

In Vedic and especially Tantric non-dual philosophy, māyā is not just deception, but the creative play of Śakti, the power through which the Absolute consciousness manifests as the many. Illusion is not error, but the very condition of experience: without it, there would be no perception, no world.

Seen in this light, technology is not outside the divine order but part of it. Digital illusions, virtual reality, artificial intelligence, immersive worlds - are new forms of the divine play, offering another playground for consciousness to experience itself.

Humans are compelled to illusions because illusion is the very fabric of experience. Without māyā, there is no perception, no story, no growth. Desire, projection, and imagination pull us into experiences that shape us, even when they later dissolve. Illusory games are the stage on which karma unfolds, giving the soul opportunities to taste, to struggle, to learn.

Digital art becomes a modern reflection of this need. Humans consciously recreate illusion, entering realms that never “exist” materially but that evoke emotion, meaning, and transformation. Just as Rahu veils the Sun and Moon, digital art veils reality to show another face of it. These illusory creations are mirrors of our subconscious needs, allowing us to rehearse, experiment, and dream. In this sense, Rahu, the lord of illusion, is not only a deceiver but also a teacher. He reminds us that even in the most artificial, seductive, or shadowy forms, the divine is present. He offers humans the chance to explore hidden knowledge, to get lost in illusory forms and to experience new realms. To embrace Rahu is to recognize technology itself as a possible path of evolution, learning and growth.

The NFTs ecosystem is a clear example: the digital artworks only exist within the blockchain, yet the crypto space was able to create a very tight net of enthusiast and people that formed connections between people and created new experiences.

However illusion is ambivalent. What nurtures growth can also become a prison. Rahu’s shadows appear when desire hardens into obsession, when fascination blinds us, when we mistake projections for truth. Technology reflects this danger vividly, as digital worlds that captivate can just as easily consume, breeding dependency, alienation, and endless chasing of images that never satisfy. The risk is to get lost and enclosed within an artificial story that is completely man-made and detached from truth. The same power that expands imagination can contract awareness, keeping us bound in loops of distraction.

What redeems digital art from pure bondage is the aesthetic pursuit, the longing for pleasure, but more especially, its potential as an authentic form of self-expression, a tool for consciousness to explore itself. In the end, all forms of illusion dissolve, but the creative impulse, rooted in consciousness itself, endures.