Why Ketu in the 7th creates distance
Ketu detaches from whatever it touches. In the 7th house, this can show up as emotional distance, a partner who is physically or emotionally absent, dissatisfaction even in a good relationship, or a feeling that something is missing. The native may unconsciously pull away from intimacy, or attract a partner who does. Ketu owns no sign and holds no house lordship; it works through its sign and dispositor, so those determine how the detachment actually plays out.
The spiritual and karmic theme
Classically, Ketu in the 7th carries a sense of unfinished karma in partnership — the feeling of having known the partner before, and a pull toward something beyond the relationship (spirituality, inner life, service). The deeper lesson is presence: learning to be fully in a relationship without either clinging or fleeing. When integrated, the partner is often spiritually inclined or otherworldly, and the bond can be quietly profound rather than passionate.
Working with Ketu in the 7th
The growth is engagement — choosing intimacy consciously rather than drifting. The strength, once integrated, is a relationship freed from neediness and ego. The full reading depends on Ketu’s sign, its dispositor, aspects, and the Navamsa (D9), and is best read alongside Rahu in the opposite (1st) house, since the nodes always work as an axis.